Non existent.

I've lost the desire to update about this tour as much as I have been. Reasons being a million, so that means you won't know.

To sum up the past 4 or 5 days.

Depression.
No Meds.
Writing at its prime.
Thoughts of better times.
Premonitions.
Nightmares.
Long Drives.
Longer nights.
Guilt.
Frustration.
Lack of motivation to do anything other than sleep.
Fluff Fest being insane.
Moshvalley fest.
Distortion at an all time high.
Laughs at an all time high.
Having a love hate relationship with wanting to be home.


I'm working on a day to day writing project. It should be...interesting. More updates...whenever I feel like it.

Day 15.

Last nights show was small...and by small I mean like 6 people. The past 2 nights our sleeping situations have been great though. This morning when we woke up we were surprised with a good amount of food. I had some granola and yogurt which is something I try to have on tour all the time. It felt good to eat something other than bread.

We stopped in Frankfurt on the way to the show to pick up our russian visas...we were successful. Hopefully we don't get turned away at the border...or hopefully I don't get jumped by Nazis.

Three hour drive to Castle, Germany. We got there early and went to the local mall. Eventually we got the security guards upset from yelling and throwing change down three stories. The show was actually really big tonight...about 100 people...that's good for this tour. I played sloppy, but I was into it.

Drunk German rappers are hilarious.

Tomorrow a fest called "mosh valley". Should be interesting.

Day 12. Day 13. Day 14.

Day 12.



We played a squat in Milan, Italy after our nice little stint in the hotel. We got into the city kind of early, so we went sight seeing. It seemed like the whole city was centered around a giant cathedral, we walked around and took some pictures. Architecture has always been a mild interest of mine and the structure and effort that was put into this giant religious building did not disappoint me. Timm got in trouble for riding a giant lion statue.



We got to the squat and there was a giant Turkey walking around...being a Turkey. After a nice little walk we came back to the squat and saw that the food was ready, a giant bowl of rice...literally the biggest bowl of food I have ever seen. It was possibly the best food we've had this whole tour. I felt like I was at 7 Gen show because there was a ton of crust punks there, I'm not going to lie, I felt at home. The crowd response was great, especially for Outrage. So far Italy has probably been the best country to be in and play to.

Day 13.



We had a 6 hour drive to Kontstanz, Germany. People tend to get a little crazy once they've been sitting in a van for that long. I'd rather be doing this than sitting in an office though. Luckily James has been kind enough to let me use his camera whenever I want.

The venue we played at was a small bar and the turn out was pretty alright for a Germany show. So far the shows in Germany have been less than good...but this one made up for it. There really wasn't much to say about the show.

Day 14.

I'm typing this as I sit in the same place BSI and Verse have played. It's a little anarchist collective and again...I feel good here. I don't have much to write, except that the guy at subway that hassled me for getting someone elses cup for my own drink was an idiot. Who cares about their job that much? It's a drink.

Maybe tomorrow I'll update this thing.


Playlist:

Brand New - The Devil...
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down In The Light
Swans - Various Failures
The Angels of Light - How I Loved You
Dinosaur JR. - Everything

Day 11.

I just woke up in our nice little hotel (I know, right?). This is the first time I've stayed in a hotel on tour, and on this tour. We've been sleeping in the van and on peoples floors like I'm used to, but apparently the promoter had some kind of deal worked out with the owner of the hotel. It was definitely nice to sleep a good nights sleep with out having to feel like we were intruding on someones home.

Last nights show was great. The crowd went wild for our set and the rest of the bands were fantastic. I'm really surprised on the way outrage sounds, they are heavily Quicksand influenced and I would have never guessed. We've been playing a lot of shows with this band from Argentina called Reconcile. They're a faster youth crew style band and they're actually really good. They're all incredibly nice as well.

Tonight we play a vegan cafe in Milan Italy, hopefully things go as well as they did last night.

Day 8. Day 9. Day 10.

Day 8 Lisboa Portugal.

It was about a 3 hour drive to Lisboa from Faro. Much like Faro, the town didn't liven up until the sun went down; well actually it didn't liven up at all. I was surprised as many people showed up as there were. The show did pretty good, although we didn't. Timm lost his voice and I broke a string for the second time this tour. After the show we drove to Toulouse, France.

Day 9 Toulouse France.

This was our third France show. We got into town pretty late and ended up hanging around a shopping mall so the guys could get their wifi on. I went the whole day with out the internet, but I didn't mind. It was nice to not be connected. The show was held at a Karaoke bar and it didn't do THAT well. I think it's expected these days. 2 semi unknown bands on tour for the first time. I think it's the experience that counts. After the show the bar opened up to the "normal" crowd and the Karaoke began. Some of the guys were singing Queen, Van Halen, and things of the like. It was funny for a couple songs, but after a while I just wanted to get going. So we began our second night drive for Vicenza, Italy.



Day 10 Vicenza Italy.

We got here mid day and I suddenly began to feel the heat of this country. There's a lot of good photo opportunities, I wish I had a camera but James is letting me use his camera. I finally had vegan gilato. This place had Chocolate flavored gilato. I got 5 Euros worth and it tasted amazing. It seems like I always type these things (blog updates) in public, where everyone stares at me. I suppose I'd do the same if I saw some weird tattooed guy on a computer in the middle of the street. I'm hoping our show goes well tonight. I remember I used to talk to this girl on the internet in like 2003 and she told me how good the shows were here. That was a long time ago though. That's all I got for right now. Tonight we stay in a hotel? How weird. I've never had a professionally booked tour done for me...and ironically I've never been on a tour this bad financially. Thankfully I'm not paying for it. I'll always stick to DIY booking when I tour.

Day 7.

I am typing this as we sit on the coastal town of Faro Portugal. We went to the beach today and the water was actually see through. It felt nice to finally get into an ocean...it was my first time in the Atlantic.

Last nights show in Spain was a good time. We played a pretty solid set, except for the fact that I broke a string. Dan, Outrages guitarists was nice enough to lend me his guitar. After the show we took more group pictures and then we headed on our way to Portugal for a nice 12 hour drive (sarcasm). We got here early and proceeded to do what I said we did above.

I'll write more later

Day 6

So the show last night was a good turn out. It seems as though Europeans love the music and love watching live bands, but they don’t really mind what band it is as long as it’s live music they can have fun to. I can appreciate that. I’ve never been one to tour for money, so I don’t think it really matters if we sell merch or not. This has already been an unforgettable experience.

I’m typing this as we drive through Spain. We’re playing Bilbao tonight. I want to point out the irony of the fact that the song “Mexico” came on as we were driving through. It’s no secret that my bloodline comes from Mexico, which comes from Spain by conquest. This city is just as gorgeous as the deeper parts of Mexico. I suppose it should help that I know Spanish when we need to get around tonight. We have a night drive tonight, hopefully we all get some sleep. So far this tour has been the no sleep tour, I think our bodies are still adjusting to the time change, so we stay up late. France has treated us well. I hope I can say the same about Spain.

Tomorrow we get to go to the beach. That’s pretty crazy.

Play list so far on this tour:
City & Colour – Bring Me Your Love Demos
Swans – White Light To The Mouth of Infinity
Dinosaur Jr. – Where You Been? Dinosaur and Farm
Morrissey – Years of Refusal
New Order – Collections
Death In June – The Guilty Have No Past
Jets To Brazil – Perfecting Loneliness

Day 4 and 5

Day 4 - Paris France.

Let me say that it lives up to the hype. The people are very nice. The culture is fantastic. Gypsies are real. And the Eiffel Tower is a great piece of architectural history. The show was the best of the tour so far. The people at the show were nice as well. The food was great. I really have no complaints.

After our show we went to the eiffel tower with our new French friends and did a bunch of toursity stuff. We stayed out until 3 in the morning. I got to do the whole kiss a person on both sides of the cheek goodbye thing.

Day 5 - Bordeaux France.

I'm sitting in front of a cathedral right now as I type this. We drove 7 hours to get here and it is one of the nicest places I have ever been to. We watched Goodfellas in the van on our way here. I will up date this later after the show, if I can.

I will also add a lot of pictures.

Day 3.

So after the show we go back to the place where we ate lunch. It was really accommodating...I showered finally after 3 days and then as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a loud rumbling coming from down stairs. The promoter forgot to mention that the place we were staying at was on top of a disco tech. Europeans love drum N bass, especially their bass. We couldn't sleep at all, literally, everyone was annoyed at how loud everything was and then by the end of the night/day it was hilarious. Finally at 5 am, they stopped and we slept for 3 hours. I woke up feeling worse than I did before and I was literally sweating in my sleeping bag. I woke up three times because I was drenched in sweat. When the promoter came in to give us break fast we got the usual, bread and hummus with olive spread. He was vegan so he knew what was up, but I'm already sick of the bread stuff. I want a salad. I'm surprised Europeans aren't that fat considering their diet is made up mostly of meat and all that crap. We drove back to Germany and now I'm sitting in the middle of down town as I type this. I'll upload and edit all my photos that I've taken with James' camera tonight.

Day 2.

I'm typing this as I sit outside of an Irish pub using their wifi. The things we do for technology. I should be out enjoying the scenery, but my head is throbbing too much to even care about seeing anything. It's the second day of tour and I'm already sick. I think my body shuts off its immune system when I go on tour because I always end up sick. Last nights show was a good practice run. There were like 5 kids there watching us and the local band and outrage that played. I didn't mess up, so I didn't mind. I woke up early in the morning do to my ability to not get comfortable while sleeping and I walked around the Frankfurt, it was very nice. It looks like the pictures in my German book in high school. After my walk, the guys who took car eof our sleeping arrangements took me to a german super market and we got chocolate soymilk, rolls, and a couple of other things to make for breakfast.

Today I'm in the Netherlands, we're playing at a small punk pub and it's ok inside. It's a last minute show but there's still a good amount of kids watching us. The guy who's hosting us tonight made us a nice lunch of curry, fake meat with spices, a salad and a roll. I was very happy to have live foods in my system because I'm sick. That's about it. 2nd day of tour is almost over and it's barely noon back at home, I find that very crazy for some reason.

Day One.

So we flew out of LAX at 11:30 into Toronto Canada at 6:00 PM. We flew into Germany at about noon their time...so that was about 3 AM our time? I think.

The plane ride was filled with funny times and good chick flicks. I forgot to mention that we flew into Canada with KISS on our plane.

Highlights so far:

Flying with KISS

Timm yelling at an entire family for their child kicking his seat for 5 hours.

Seeing people shooting heroin in broad day light, in front of everybody.

Turk, our driver being heavily tattooed and talking shit on Russians

Playing a show at 9 in the morning.

I'll update this more when I get the chance.