Wednesday, March 30, 2011

TRANSFER TOUR BLOG - MUNICH to VEGAS

Finally home from the 5 night stint in Las Vegas that closed the chapter on our two month journey. Still reeling from the recent barrage of events passed, I find myself at home, shuffling about on scarce fumes of energy between intervals of consciousness. It seems like that is the normal pre-recovery adjustment when you hit the emergency brake on a 90 mph tour schedule.

I guess the last place that I left off was our escape from Prague in a rented van. I'm sad to say that our splitter van, The White Rider has gone to the big mechanic in the sky and will be sorely missed. We drove her to the ground…although I do have a sneaking suspicion the garage may have hosed us and is using the van as Milosh's Gypsy Taxi Service. A fuel pump can't be that hard to find. Whatevs…we made the shows and got back to the states in one piece.

CITIES WE PLAYED WITH ROMPER ROOM VAN:

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MUNICH- Got some beers and bockwurst at the Hofbräuhaus. Bockwurst was identical to a 7-11 Big Bite and our waiter was a total dick. Andy stole a commemorative beer glass to feel better about the experience.

Awesome graffiti on the outside of the venue

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ZURICH- In and out…barely had time to see anything apart from the Swiss Alps to our left as we drove in and the reflections of the villages on the perfectly still lakes at night as we made our way to Italy after the show. That was beautiful. We were also drunk and being incredulous so you can take that with a grain of salt but I remember it as beautiful!

BOLOGNA- Show was in an airplane hanger in a deserted parking lot. Cooker was extremely paranoid about theft so I was on heightened alert the whole time. After the show we went to a club where the Crocodiles were doing a DJ set. Everything went foggy after that…I do remember Card making requests and dropping his beer on the ground immediately after. Awesome!

TOULOUSE- Le Bikini was the coolest venue. They had a swimming pool and a rad set up for the bands. The owner of the place was the chef as well. He prepared a three course meal for all three bands and crew, the main dish being my favorite, Duck Confit. Finished off with red wine and a serving of almond crusted ice cream. DAAAAMN! Felt spoiled. After show was a backstage party with the bands. Someone made off with my crazy disco laser pen…I'm looking' fer yew! Following Marco from the Crocodiles lead I wound up crawling on the ledge of the third story window to the White Lies dressing room. What a tit. Made for a funny entrance…Thanks for spearheading that movement Marco! Life and limb is a small sacrifice for a good laugh.

HIGHLIGHT- Daniel was leaving the Crocodiles' van after they dropped us off at the hotel and had an EPIC wipeout in the middle of the street. Cooker got footage. AMAZING.

The drive between Bologna and Toulouse was incredible, as was the trip to Barcelona.

BARCELONA- Great crowd. Very enthusiastic about the set. Also ran into some babies who had made their way both from France AND the UK to come and support. So incredible. This was also Cooker's last show with us on the tour. He was stoked to get a shout from both the Crocodiles and White Lies dedicating songs to him for his send off. Wish we had more time in the city. Had such a cool vibe. I was able to get some rad shots of some graffiti at the skate park next to the venue.

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Here is a photo of Crocodiles' Anna and Brandon playing baseball backstage with the fruits and veggies. Shaun's depth perception is a little off as this pitch exploded his cigarette in his face.

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MADRID- This show was unique as the stage setup was very tight. It was cool playing close together on stage. Also really enjoyed watching the Crocodiles and White Lies perform in this setting as well. Very Rock and Roll. Post show, we went out with our friend and host for the evening Byron. A couple friendly fans joined us for a nightcap at a pub that reminded me of a Spanish Casbah. COOL! About five minutes after we parted ways we heard a scream in the distance. Investigated the sound and found it to be that one of the friends we were with got her purse snatched off of her arm. Didn't get the purse just broke it, but scared the shit out of the poor girl. All turned out ok and nobody got hurt. Just shaken…petty thieves are bold as hell.

The trip to Bordeaux, FR was very scenic. We traveled through the Pyrenees Mountains on the border of France and Spain which made for some incredible views. It made us prematurely nostalgic as we felt the end of the tour coming closer by the moment.

BORDEAUX- I don't particularly remember what the hell happened here. Hazard of the road worn brain. The venue…the place we stayed…shit. I DO remember drinking whiskey backstage and Anna (Crocodiles) talked me into dedicating a song to her and Robin in French. For all I know, I may have said "Hello, I'm wearing an adult diaper!". Ahhhh the faith. I don't think so!

RENNES- Great food! We played the set and ate a fantastic meal afterward. The kid that served all the bands dinner was wearing an Alf shirt! So tubular. Just before we played this show, Anna (Ginger Princess/tour mgr/Queen Bee) MADE us drink whiskey as we were so lethargic before our set time approached…whaddaya know, it worked! Ginger smarts.

We drove for a few hours after the show to make it to Cologne by the next day as we were meeting the White Lies crew for dinner on our day off. This was to be our last show before heading back to the states. Dinner was at a cool German restaurant and was great. White Lies gents picked up the tab, once again proving their chivalry and graciousness. After dinner we went to a small pub nearby and celebrated the last chance to tie one on with our new mates and surrogate road kin. Weird jukebox with a cross-eyed robotic accordion player along with his tuba playing sidekick split our sides with laughter as they squawked out Michael Jackson's 'Billy Jean', polka style. Unreal…It was like Chuckee Cheese in the German Twilight Zone.

COLOGNE- Before we went to the venue we explored the main square where we saw the Cologne Cathedral.

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Blown away by the size of this gothic structure. A monolithic spectacle. We wandered about before heading to the venue to prepare for the grand finale.

The show was televised on WDR Rockpalast. So many incredible bands have had history on this program and it was quite an honor to join the list. Our set was accompanied by the White Lies crew doing our sound and lights as a final gesture before we split off the tour. I have to say one last time how amazing of a time we had getting to know everyone. Crocodiles and White Lies made this tour an amazing journey for us and we shall pour 3oz's of each 40 on the ground as tribute to each of you wild bastards…one for my homeys. RESPEC


After the last show we played in Cologne, DE, we drove all night to London to catch our flight directly to Las Vegas where we were set to do 4 nights in a row at The Cosmopolitan. Two sets each night, 10-11 and 12-1…Now about Vegas…


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