Jet-lagged & trying to get it together today. Hard to stay asleep for longer than a few hours. Went for a walk through the Hutongs in Beijing before 6am to tire ourselves out & get back to sleep. It worked. Woke from deep sleep at 9:30 & stayed groggy for the rest of the day, including 5 hours of rehearsal. Out for dinner tonight with friends. Early morning tomorrow – a travel day to the first show in Xin Xiang at Xin Xiang University. We’ll be flying on a bullet train.
Rehearsal today in Beijing.
Uploading the next episode of the tour diaries right now. Hopefully it gets through (a little tougher to upload from here).
Got in to Beijing midday yesterday direct from Frankfurt. Kevin rolled in from Houston about 3 hours later. Went out on the town & stayed out way too late. Sitting in a cool little cafe this morning just around the corner from the hotel. Rehearsal in an hour.
We’re on our way from Germany to China. Probably in the air as you read this. Pic below from our last German tour show at Gorilla Bar Münster. Killer show – great crowd, lovely people, amazing fun, amazing Vagrants.
Last show in Germany tonight. Emotional. For 3 weeks we’ve been touring with The Vagrants, smelling each others underwear, kissing each others microphone sweat, drinking each others unfinished beer. And tonight it’s over, just like that. We’re gonna really miss em. All of em. Dammit. Tonight’s show was awesome. The best of the tour. Wild crowd, crazy into it. Couldn’t ask for a better send off. Gorilla Bar. Check out the 4th episode of our video tour diary below.
I worry about the last show of every tour (try not to admit that to myself). It’s either gonna be icing on the cake or a bitter taste. Icing tonight, alright. This has been my favourite tour of all. German people love rock, young and old. They love punk, art & attitude, young and old. No sitting at the pokies on a lazy Sunday. They’re at the pub watching bands kick it, young and old. You can’t not love it. Pubs feed and give bands all they can drink. And put us up. Coming from Melbourne, you feel like crying when that kind of hospitality implies the respect this society has for artists who live hand to mouth to bring the joy. Danke Schön Deutschland.
China looms like a vast monster on the horizon, heaving for breathe in its petrochemical air. We’ll be there late tomorrow. Even that is hard to believe as I sit here in a hostel lounge at 3am in Muenster, Germany. Shit – what a ride.
We drove in through stunning ancient castle walls. Insane. Pulled in, unloaded the cars & van for set up. Feeling like millions of people had been in this place, lived and died for hundreds, thousands of years before us. Kids going off in the university, loving the show. Vagrants were great – they’re hitting it big now. Killed it.
Big long drive tomorrow for the next show in Zweibrücken at Sutter. 8 hours. Jeezus. It’s 3am. Signing off…
Last night was massive. Great show in Berlin at Dazzle. Beer flowing, small but very vocal excited crowd. It sounded amazing. We stayed up til the wee hours, pumped after the show. A great night with a stack of classic rock & roll moments. Our good friend Danny came along for the show & we hung out front-of-stage for the Vagrants’ headline set. We first met Danny 6 years ago on our debut European tour. Fantastic to see him again – such a nice guy.
On stage last night at Dazzle ,Berlin – right before the final song (Max waiting for me to put the camera down).
The Vagrants absolutely killed it last night. I’ve never seen them blitz a show like that. A balls-to-the-wall, double guitar onslaught that blew my mind. Me, Danny & Max stood there in awe – classic high energy pub rock at it’s finest. They were so locked-in and tight, the bass & drums thundering. Ren’s vocals were a little drowned up front (with the guitar volume) – but the power and feel was all there. A massive sonic flood in the tradition of epic guitar-rock bands. MC5 comes to mind.
Day off today.
3 shows in a row starting tomorrow (to round off the German tour). China next week.
Had an OK show last night in Breman at Meisenfrei. Not our best, had a few technical probs (caused by me). But we had fun with it. If the same thing had happened a few weeks ago, panic would have ensued. We’re getting used to dealing with ‘mishaps’ & turning them into something else – so I guess we’re getting more and more comfortable with the new way of doing things. ‘Sky Caves In’ turned into a trash-fest at the end, me writhing on the stage & Max standing over me – I hit the wrong loop & everything went haywire. The crowd loved it (thank god). Encore-chanting at the end of the set.
The guys in the Vagrants were a little miffed we didn’t continue with an encore. I just had this feeling we’d pushed it as far as we could, my brain-freezing at critical points with the looping & octaving. So I figured, better to leave it on a high, than engage in a kamikaze mission for one more song.
We visited Wartburg castle yesterday, on our way from Eisenach to Bremen. Perched on a rugged hill top with 360 degree views, the castle is over a thousand years old.
Max on the tower at Wartburg Castle, Eisenach Germany 15 April 2013.
We didn’t have long, about half an hour to look around. Could have stayed for hours but had to get to Bremen by 5pm. Couple more castle shots below. Mind-blowing place.
Video tour diaries – part 3. This one has a bunch of back-stage & after show stuff – hopefully good for a laugh.
We’re here in Bremen for the show tomorrow night at Meisenfrei. 4 hour drive from Eisenach today, after last night’s show there. We stopped to look at a thousand-year-old castle. Insane – gotta get pics up here.
We’re couch-surfing in this amazing, beautiful apartment tonight & tomorrow. It’s in an uber-funky part of town. Noise & music coming from the streets. Wish I was out there but gotta sleep. Big weeks coming up. Final leg of the German tour & the China tour following.
Back on the road again today. Long sleep last night. Up at 11. Feeling vagued out. Staying in a beautiful old town called Erfurt, resting. Show tonight at Schorschl Club in Eisenach. Got a few hours before we leave for there (about an hour’s drive).
After the show in Sommerda – 10th April (pic by Simon Marrow).
The shot above from our Facebook. Check out the latest video tour diaires, posted yesterday (below) – and on Facebook. Next episode coming soon.
