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Archive Sunday #23

Added 2023-11-19 17:00:05 +0000 UTC

SD: From Barcelona we went back up north to Nimes, France to play the This Is Not A Love Song festival. It took place in this large venue complex with multiple rooms kinda like a movie theater. We loaded in our gear then played some ping pong before our early show. I remember watching Kamasi Washington's band warm up when we were setting up. We checked out the city a bit before turning in for the night. The Roman coliseum was especially cool lit up at night.

We set course for Switzerland to play a festival in Düdingen called Bad Bonn Kilbi Festival. It had been raining all weekend and the whole place was muddy, but I remember the locally grown/raised food at catering was super delicious. We caught the sets from Protomartyr and Metz after we played then had a bit more driving to do before we got to a city for the night.

We spent the night in Fribourg, Switzerland. Right when we got there the clouds cleared, so Andrew and I decided to walk around town and check out the city nestled in the valley along the river. Everything we saw was amazing in the evening light, and we even saw a rainbow on the other side of town. As we were finding our way back to the hotel, we cut down an alley along a steep cliff to catch another view of the town below. About halfway down we noticed that this was one of the only streets around with people hanging out on the sidewalk, and mostly women. It took us a moment, but we looked at each other when we both realized we stumbled upon the city's red-light district haha. The sex workers didn't really believe us when we told them we were just passing through, and they singled out Andrew as a prime customer. We laughed them off, and eventually made it back to the hotel.

The next day we drove through the many tunnels and winding roads through the Alps into Northern Italy. We played a small show in Carpi at a venue called Mattatoio. It was a nice break to play a smaller venue show between a bunch of festivals. Usually the sound on stage is a lot better compared to an open-air gig outside.

Then we headed to the Mediterranean coast to play a festival in Ravenna, Italy. It was a special day because it was Andrew's birthday. He took the opportunity to assimilate with the Italian culture surrounding him, and crushed a bunch of red-bull vodkas in between several hand-rolled cigarettes all night after the show. Ethan probably had a few too many as well, because I remember him "washing" all of his dirty socks in the bathroom sink of the Air Bnb after we got back. He forgot the most important step of hanging them out to dry and just left them sopping wet for the next morning haha. He was so upset the next morning being hungover and having to put on a pair of soaking socks on before we left.

Our next show was back in France in a city that Luke warned us something always goes wrong in called Toulouse. He was spot-on because when we got to the venue my bass guitar stopped working. Luckily a quick soldering job fixed the issue, and the show went pretty well afterwards. That night we split up because the promoter offered to find us all some place to stay, and we couldn't pass up a free bed. But when Andrew, Ethan, and I got to the flat we were staying, we soon realized there were many more people than beds haha. The flat-mates had invited a friend over for the show, so it made things a bit awkward when we had to decide who was going to share a twin bed with her. Thankfully Andrew stepped up and was pinned up against a wall all night next to their guest, while Ethan and I shared a futon a couple feet away.

The following day we drove west through Spain and stopped in Leon for the night. We walked into town to find some dinner, and Andrew got to show us some of the Spanish he learned in school. We stepped into a restaurant and Andrew tried to explain to the waiter that I was vegetarian. He forgot the word for it in Spanish though, so he kept on saying "ensalada" and pointing at me. The waiter nodded in agreement and put in our order. Minutes later the waiter brought a plate piled high with chunks of ham all but covering the lettuce underneath. We all broke out in laughter at the misunderstanding and assured the waiter that it was totally fine. Luckily there were enough veggies and bread around the table to fill up on haha.

For the last show of this run we played NOS Primavera in Porto. We had some time to explore the city and check out the beach before we made it to the festival grounds. It was our first experience playing to a Portuguese crowd, and boy they did not disappoint. They were going crazy throughout our set, and when we finished with Something Soon they continued singing the outro all the way through our changeover. It was an excellent way to cap off a great run of shows!

AK: I smoked way too many ciggies in Italy. I don't even smoke. I got hammered and swept into the Italian spirit. Great birthday though. I think Luc, our tour manager, even got me a cake?