Today we woke up in the squat, ate some cereal said our goodbyes to Jonpi and drove over to the beach. We stumbled upon a small skate park right on the beach. Mr. Shit and Alastair got their boards and tried to skate it. The transition was too steep. The beach was beautiful, the surfers were killing it, and I never wanted to leave. A few minutes after we left the beach our gps broke, so we had to go back to the squat to figure out what was wrong with it. Gps’ are actually illegal in Spain so we thought that might be part of the issue, no satellites to tell us where to go. So we looked up directions on my computer and used the atlas to figure out how to get to Leon. We got lost of course.
Finally got to the show. Migel booked this show (and the Madrid show in 2 days) and the place is called Shark Bar. It was (and probably will be) the nicest venue we played thus far on the tour. It was a Saturday and there was soccer (futbol) on so the bar didn’t want to start the show till 10. So we hung out in this real nice bar for awhile and they ended up feeding us a lot of bread and hummus. I thought that was dinner but I was wrong. Then the show started. There was NO ONE there besides bands, and about 5 minutes before the first band started a bunch of people showed up. They were good and super nice dudes. I later found out that they made us dinner that we were going to eat after the show at their practice space/party spot and then sleep at their tattoo studio. Pretty wild. People were into both BearTrap and Witch Cult. Then the show was over and we went to dinner. They made us some mushroom pasta and risotto. The best part was the dudes whipped out a bag of apples. I only ever really want to eat fruit and nuts so I ate a few apples and it was awesome. Then we headed to the tattoo studio to sleep. It was cool and a lot more like and apartment with a front room for tattooing. My shitty American charm (also known as ignorance) didn’t get me any free tattoos, but I showered and slept for a few hours.
The show today is a matinee in Lisbon, Portugal at the university of Lisbon. We went to bed at like 3 am and got up at 8 am to make the drive on time. Only later did I find out we gain an hour time zone wise and I could have slept another hour. The drive was thru many huge, foggy mountains that looked like the set of Jurassic Park. Driving into Lisbon it got really sunny and nice out. We got to the show which was in a room at the university of Lisbon. It looked like a common area where people hang, but there was a stage. It was an early show because it was a Sunday and there were a lot of people there when we got there. Bruno booked the show and helped us load in. We were then given hummus sandwiches and told that we would eat dinner where we were staying later. The first band started a few minutes later. They were called Revengence and are probably the best band we will play with all tour. The Skrotes also played and were an awesome fast skate core band. Witch Cult and BearTrap sets were awesome. People went nuts and there were a lot of them. Everyone was so nice and this show was the best of tour so far. Then we went to the other promoter of the shows house to eat and sleep. Tomorrow we wake up and drive to Madrid
Day 15&16/show 10&11/Madrid,Spain/Barcelona,Spain
Woke up earlier than everyone else today which was odd. Stood out on Raphael's porch and looked out over Lisbon, it’s a beautiful place. In the past 2 days our gps and our guitar head broke. Alastair and Mazz went out to try and get both fixed. Neither one got fixed. We started the drive. The landscape between Lisbon and Madrid looks a lot like Mexico or Arizona, but with more trees and animals that aren’t on factory farms. Our Ipod transmitter is broken also so we have been listening to the radio. One station kept playing tv show themes for some reason. We heard Arrested Development, Benny Hill, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Rosanne and a bunch of others. Seems kind of odd. We got to the venue about a half hour before the show started. Migel (the dude who also booked our Leon, Spain show) booked this show for us. He is an extremely nice dude and has helped us greatly on this tour. His English is phenomenal. The venue was called La Faena 2, and it was the basement of some huge building. It had a small bar and was a small, awesome room to play in. We heard that Madrid was not too good for shows. People were so wrong. When we got there Migel gave us pasta, hummus, fruit, and cake. After dinner the first band played. Then BearTrap played and kids seemed into it. Witch Cult played after us and people were even more into them. Some shows are BearTrap nights, some are Witch Cult nights. After the show we went to where we were sleeping.
The gps is fully broken so we have to buy a new one tomorrow. I also hope we somehow get this shitty guitar head fixed. Woke up early this morning to get to Barcelona early to deal with both. The drive was cool and it reminded me of Mexico again. I didn’t realize that the show wasn’t in Barcelona until today. It was in a small town 15 minutes outside Barcelona called Mollet De Valles. This bummed me out because Barcelona is a huge city with a lot of squats and places to play/people to play to. The venue was called La Bombeta and was a cool art space with a small bar. With the gps broken we just have to drive around the towns looking for the venues. Today was the worst. It took almost an hour to find. We got to the show and unloaded. Then Alastair left right away to get a new gps. The guitar shop was closed so we have to wake up early to drive to Marseille, France to get it fixed. At the venue we eat some seitan and vegetables, rice, and some banana, graham cracker, and chocolate cake thing. Kox made the food and booked the show, thanks to him for that. It was really good, maybe the best thing we have eaten thus far. The show as a whole was decent. All everyone said was that if it happened in Barcelona a lot more people would have come. It seem’d like people were into BearTrap. Witch Cult had a lot of technical difficulties so the set wasn’t the best.
Now here is where the ok day went to shit. Someone from the show was talking to our bassist outside and asked where we were from and then told him that the whole time both bands were playing the first band was mocking us because some of us are straight edge. She then told us we “don’t belong here” in the nicest way possible. I had no clue about any of this until we got to the squat we are staying at. I was also informed that the singer of the second band told them all to “shut the fuck up” and stood up for us. His band was also good so thanks to him for not having a sucky band and being a stand up dude. So basically the first band was a bunch of weak pieces of shit who couldn’t have a civil conversation with us about our life choices instead of mocking us. I wonder where they got this warped view that because we were straight edge and they were not that we were any different and “didn’t belong in the same place” They can fuck off. After the show was over I talked to the dudes from the 2nd band and then we packed up and headed to the squat we are staying at. Not one thing went right today (besides the food) and now we have to wake up early to get the head fixed.
Day 17/Show 12/ Marseille,France
Woke up early today to start driving to Mariselle. We got here around 2 and went straight to the guitar shop. Then we went to the world famous skate park from Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. It was right next to the beach and so we went over there and the water was super blue. Then we headed back to the guitar shop. The head needs 2 power transformers. The shop didn’t have them and could not get them. We now have to try to get it fixed somewhere else. The only cool part is they didn’t charge us for looking at it. Then we walked around town for a little while. The show tonight was at O’Bundys. It is an anti racist organization that has a bar upstairs in the meeting room and a basement for show. It’s awesome that they are active in the community outside of hardcore while also having a space in the city for show too. Before the show started, the promoter (Rolland) had fruit and chips for us. Then we went and bought us all falaful and fries. Super nice dude. Then the show started and kids seemed to be into both bands. There was hard mosh for Witch Cult which is the first time all tour. After the show we walked to the apartment we are staying at. Now I’m about to sleep next to a bag full of fresh fruit for breakfast tomorrow.
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