Woke up today and went to the grocery store. Then we drove out of Istanbul. The traffic there rivals rush hour New York City traffic. It took awhile to get out. Then crossing the border took awhile also. We didn’t really get hassled at all tho so that’s a plus. On this ride I finished a book called The Ethics Of What We Eat. Vegan or not, I suggest you read it. We got to the show and it is in a pretty nice bar called Beriozka. Danail and Nevelina booked the show and they are very nice.
I was particularly tired at this show for some reason so I slept thru the 3 opening bands behind the merch. My in and out of sleep memory reminds me of a death metal band that yelled the song name before every song. The other 2 were kinda grindcore/metal from what I remember. Playing with bands like these reminds me that Hardcore/Punk Rock isn’t everywhere in the world. When we toured in Central America 2 years ago it was like that in Honduras. We were told we were the fastest band to ever tour/play in most of Central America. We both played and everyone moshed and circle pitted. The lights in the place made me sweat a lot and now I feel like shit but it was a good show so it was a good night. After the show we drove to Danial’s house to sleep. We got here at 12 and are ready for sleep. Most of the shows we have played recently wouldn’t have started yet. This is awesome. We have to wake up early for a long drive tomorrow but other than that today was alright.
Day 33/Show 27/Sibiu, Romania
This is the half way point of the trip for BearTrap. 65 days total and we have hit the half way point. Today we woke up early to drive to Sibiu. It was a 9 hour drive thru mountains, across borders, on ill-paved back roads. The amount of dead dogs we saw on the side of the road was disgusting. Finally we make it to the show. We eat some fake chicken, vegetable mix kinda thing and some rice. It was awesome.
The club we are playing tonight is called Bohemian Flow and it is 2 rooms shaped like tunnels underground. There is absolutely no ventilation and every one is smoking. It will be hard to breathe tonight. The first band, Stuck in a Rut plays. They are a fastcore band and the kids go wild for them. After them it’s Witch Cult and kids also go wild. The same for BearTrap. I like the room the show was in a lot. I liked the people also. It was a good show. After the show we drove to the apartment we are sleeping at. I was told that Stuck In A Rut is playing with us in Timisoara tomorrow as well. I was also told the show will be really good tomorrow. Most of the time when people say the show will be bad, it’s good, and when it will be good it’s real good. So hopefully it all works out tomorrow.
Day 34/Show 28/ Timisoara,Romania
Today we woke up and drove to Timisoara after we stopped at a grocery store. Outside of the gas station across the street is a dude in a Municipal Waste shirt who was at the show the night before. I see he has a sign that has a different town on it and imagine he is hitchhiking home. It’s a 5 hour drive to Timisoara. When I got to the show this dude was there. This speaks volumes to me. I have friends in America that won’t be bothered to drive more than a half hour for a show and this dude hitchhiked 5 hours, and not even to his home. I forgot to thank him and now I feel like an asshole. Anyway when we got to town we met up with the promoter, Ionut. We went to his apartment and he gave us ample fruit and made us a shitload of pizza. It was awesome. Then we went to the venue.
It’s called Atelier DIY and I was told it’s the only diy spot in all of Romania. It’s a room in the 2nd floor of a factory that used to produce cloth for shirts and stuff. This room was pretty small and again everyone is smoking, I’ll never get used to this. Anyway, Stuck in a Rut played again. Tonight I actually talked to their friend, Alec, who went to both shows with them. She told us that everyone thought we didn’t like the show the night before and that we seemed mad or something. I always find this funny because it’s partly true, always. I find it funny that people always think that because we aren’t a talkative group of people and that we don’t ever seem happy that we automatically hate them and their shows. It has happened all over Europe. I sing in a punk rock/ hardcore band because I am mad, and playing the songs brings that out in me. Aren’t we all there because we are mad and socially awkward? Anyway, it was awesome to clear the air to Alec and hopefully she tells the rest of Romania we aren’t huge assholes, just misunderstood. I’m waiting for questions from her for an interview for her zine called Leave Me Alone.
Stuck in a Rut was good again tonight. Then I was on merch duty. Then Witch Cult and BearTrap played. It was cool and people seemed to dig both of us. It’s our drummer, Alastair’s, birthday so I sang happy birthday after the set and the crowd joined me. It’s the most sing-singing I’ve ever done in public. After that it was back to merch duty again for the last band. After the show we headed to the place we were staying and since the drive is short tomorrow we sat around and bullshitted. Falling asleep at 6am and hopefully not waking up any time soon.
these are awesome. keep it uppppppppp
ReplyDeleteThe dude with the Municipal Waste shirt says: don't feel like an asshole as I drove by my hometown (Deva) while going to Timisoara. But, because sometimes there is the possibility not to catch a car very easily by hitchhiking, I said "frack the food, I'll find something to eat at Timisoara". And this is something you can see very often in Romania, especially in the spring and summer, when it's nice and warm outside, and the day is longer - people hitchhiking from one city to another.
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