alright, lots to report since the last update. I will try to do these experiences a bit of justice while we have our first night off in ten days.
MILAN, GENOA & TREVISO:
update: I realized that I didn't include a post about Milan, which was AWESOME. I will add some photos from that day later on. Long story short, it was an amazing show at the La Cruda microbrewery (great, American style craft beers). Killer venue, huge crowd, all great people. Last show of the tour with THE RITA. Excellent performances all around, got to check out a Giallo film store, and lots of time with good friends Barbara, Steffano, Giovanni, Christiano, Luca & Lorenzo. Thank you for everything, Milano, we can't wait to see you again. Sam flew back to Vancouver in the morning, a bit sad but I will see him again soon and now the tour crew is a compact, brutal Italian/American power trio.
Genoa is the birthplace of pesto so I could never hate on a place that claims such. I guess they are known for being kind of stingy with portions, my gnocchi was quite good, but, come on guys, you could be a little more kind. The city is half beautiful, half ugly-grey-urban, and reminded me a lot of Naples, but much less chaotic. We had some time to kill so we drove up to the heights of the city into a beautiful pastoral zone and came up on a fantastic cemetery full of very distinctly stylized statues.
The gig was at a really awesome dingy space called Spazio Targa. Really nice vibe, great people, great PA, great night. Federico was an awesome host and we got to eat farrenata for breakfast (surely misspelled, it is a pancake-ish square of fried chickpeas. not bad at all, and apparently very Genovese). Then we got up and drove northeast to Treviso, in the Venezio area. Another nice, dingier DIY space beneath a massive Section-8 apartment tower. More nice folks, good vibes, great night. Thanks for everything, Italy. See you again in a few weeks.
VIENNA & PRAGUE:
We got up in the AM and drove into Austria. I fell asleep a nice, dry, warm northern Italian scene and when I woke up 40 minutes later, we were in the ALPS and it was immense, grey, pouring rain and kind of terrifying. Peppe handled the FIAT perfectly. We got some lottery tickets and cruised into Vienna, late for the first time in a string of being-late-to-shows (sorry folks, please try to understand the important part is us getting there alive & performing happily). The show was at Subterrarium, where Charlie & I played last year. It seemed exactly the same, which is a compliment because I really like that place. It was a long, strange, and pretty drunken night. Thanks everyone. In the morning, we checked out a massive, bizarre & very Austrian carnival/fairgrounds full of oddly themed rides and super awkward airbrush art (one of my all time favorite things). We got a late start out of town because we had to wait to pick up copies of my new record then cruised to Prague. Of course we had to stop at EXCALIBUR CITY, one of the most weird-call tourist traps I have ever witnessed. There is a giant, disused jet plane, a bunch of wack King Arthur shit, and of course, tons of garbage for sale.
I really love Prague, the aesthetic of the art design, street flow, and architecture is very dialed into my tastes. Still looking good, Prague. The show was in a weird basement student center, complete with some Italian tourists who were very bummed on our soundcheck. Sorry dudes, I am not sure why you guys were hanging there in the first place. Unfortunately, they were about half the audience as it was the onset of a major Czech holiday, celebrating the end of the German occupation. Regardless, everyone who actually attended the show was great, friendly and really nice to talk with. Vaclav was a wonderful host, and I got to hang with my old friend Freddy and drink some very harsh Czech plum liquor (not liquor, this was some pretty blinding BOOZE).
After the show we wandered around Prague and went up the hill to the massive metronome that used to be a massive statue of Stalin. Coincidentally(???), we came across a very wasted man who was wandering up the hill, swilling the last of his vodka bottle & blasting mega-distorted Slavic radio from a little CD-AM/FM combo. We got a photo with him, which he decided was an appropriate time to gesture a seig-heil. It was definitely the first time I witnessed a man wearing a Che Guevera t-shirt while simultaneously hailing Hitler. Unfortunately the photo was not taken with my camera. We made our way back to Vaclav's neighborhood, where I decided to get some sleep while he took Peppe & Francesco to the local pub to drink a million beers until 7 AM. Dudes looked a bit rough when it was time to head for Wroclaw at noon but powered through the drive like real road doggs. Thanks for everything, Vaclav, and Prague.
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