Story of our middle European tour

I love playing shows. A lot. This is why I organized our first European tour. You get on the road, each day new city, new people, new cultures and languages. It's an incredibly fulfilling and enriching experience. You always return as someone else. It changes you. 

The plan was to play middle Europe for two and a half weeks. I booked the shows, since I'm a DIY guy, and because I really don't have anyone else to do it. It took me a couple of months of e-mailing back and forth, knocking on thousands of doors, so just a few of them would answer. But it was worth the time and the energy. Since I've already booked and played five EU tours, this one was a bit easier to organize. We borrowed the car from my bassist's other band and their sound guy, Kerez, agreed to drive us and do the sound. Just a week before the beginning, we were notified that the car broke down. So we needed to repair it, send the money to Serbia, which is hell using the usual payment methods, SEPA and stuff. If only we could have done it via bitcoin, it would have spared us a few days of hassle. Anyway, we managed, and everything was ready. 

Our first show was home in Zagreb, in Tvornica Kulture. The show went really well and, since this was basically our first independent band show in front of our audience, it was a success. 

(photo credits : Balkanrock.com, Ravnododna.com)

Needless to say, since we were leaving in the morning, afterparty was off :)

OFF WE GO!

The moment we packed our car and wanted to exit to the main street, being so heavy, we've managed to hit a little pin which prevents illegal parking and one of the cables at the bottom of the care came detached. Huh, shit. Hour and a half of duct-taping. Fast forward. Izola, Slovenian seaside. The gig was nice and we stayed in a little suite upstairs where we spent the next day chilling and reading since there was no show that day.

So, actually, this first two shows don't really count as the beginning of the tour. And man, when it started the next day, it was tough. Two shows, one in Pazin, Croatia, and Škofja Loka, Slovenia, didn't go that well. Very few people, sleeping on the floor afterwards, a really frustrating beginning. We wouldn't have been able to pull it off in this manner, I mean the whole tour. Fortunately, Tuesday brought relief. We played a show in Vienna in a little club called AU. 

The show was fantastic, the crowd loved us and we finally got in nice playing shape. This was really important, to have a such a great show after a couple of crappy ones. 

I'm not going to describe in this detail the whole tour. Primarily because it wasn't that eventful, and also because I don't want to bother you with the tour routine of waking up, eating a little, then driving for a couple of hours, or more if you're unlucky, then reaching the venue, unpacking the car, drinking beer, doing the soundcheck, more drinking beer, eating, waiting for the show to start, playing the show, hanging out with the people, drinking beer some more and going to sleep. This is what every day looks like. But the shows, the adrenaline, the pleasure, keeps you going. 

After Vienna, we played Bratislava (SK) and then had a couple of shows in Czech Republic. I really like the Czech, they are so nice, really friendly, and look like they couldn't ever get angry. And of course, the beer (being such an important part of the tour) is fantastic. We played Brno, Kromeriž, Breclav, Prague and Ostrava. This is from a little communal place in Kromeriž:

After Czech Republic, we went to Warszaw, Poland. And this was maybe the best show on the tour. The people were really attentive and found us brilliant. It was a spectacular evening. This is Warszaw.

The next day we were supposed to have a day off, but it turned out our promoter for Warszaw knew a guy in Krakow and they put us on a bill with another band from Italy. No rest for Seine. At that point we realized we'll be playing 14 shows in 14 days. How's that for getting into shape. Some photos from Krakow:

(photo credits :  Aleksandry Kuci)

On our way back to our beloved mother country, we played a show in Trnava. Some kids rented a building and used it as a safe place for expressing themselves through organizing shows, market exchanges, painting... Incredible what kids can accomplish when they organize themselves and care deeply about alternative culture. After Trnava, we had just two more stops. We visited Budapest and Szeged in Hungary, where we met up with our friends. Szeged show was especially nice and it finally involved late-night drinking and having fun, since it was our last show and you obviously can't do the partying part on tour that much because it would kill and drain you in a couple of days.

We finally got back home on Sunday the 23rd October (leaving on the 7th), unpacked the car and left to finally rest for a couple of days. Except it didn't happen because Boško the bassist and Kerez the sound guy left for Serbia the same evening and their car broke down in some god forsaken place. So they came home only Monday evening and it cost us a couple of euros to repair it. Again. But all in all, it was a great tour. We had a great time and the band got really tight. This was actually the plan, to get ready for the studio. Which is happening tomorrow! Thanks for reading and stay in tune for the news from the studio. * **