We woke up early and got the brakes worked on. Now we are about to drive the van onto a train that goes under the ocean in a tunnel to France. This is insane in my head.
After the tunnel I passed out for awhile and we ended up in Reims before I knew it. The show is at a place called Café Apart. It was a small bar and a pretty cool place. Michel booked the show for us and as soon as we got there he brought us upstairs in the venue and there was a bunch of food for us. Pasta and sauce, a bunch of baguettes and some vegetable salad. Then we went downstairs to play. It seemed like it’d be a typical bar show where no one would pay attention to the bands and were all there just to drink. I could not have been more wrong. The first band was Devour and they were a crust punk band and I dug them. Then Witch Cult played and there was a lot of head banging during the slow parts and fist pumping to the fast parts. For BearTrap people went off and circle pitted. This place wasn’t shaped for a circle pit so it was pretty cool. After the show Michel brought us back to the squat in town. It’s funny because we are sleeping better in a squat (beds for all, Super Nintendo) than we have in any of Witch Cult's friends' houses. Tomorrow is a day off and nothing kills the spirit of tour than a day off. We will probably drive to Toulouse and hopefully do something cool.
Day 10/day off/10 hour drive from Reims to Toulouse
Kill me now.
Day 11/show 6/Toulouse, France
Yesterday wasn’t all bad. The squat we stayed in was cool. After we woke up we went into Reims to exchange money and didn’t end up doing it. Instead we walked thru a GIGANTIC church that was 40 degrees colder inside than it was outside. It was awesome. Shit like that doesn’t exist in America. We started the drive from hell which didn’t end up being that bad. The worst part was having a day off and tolls. France is really shitty with tolls. We got to the squat we played tonight at 12 am. It’s the L’ emergence squat and this place is INSANE.
It’s not like a standalone building that’s squatted. It has businesses and people living/working on both sides of it. The bottom floor has a shower and bath room, front room, and then the back room is a huge hall. 2nd floor has a living room, some bedrooms and a smaller hall/practice space. The 3rd floor has some more sleeping space. Again, beds for all, and the internet worked every once in awhile. Woke up today and we walked for probably 6 miles to the center of Toulouse for currency exchange and wireless internet. We asked a bunch of different people for both and went on a wild goose chase. Finally I saw a dude in a True Colors shirt and I held my arms in X formation and said “straight edge”? He laughed and said yes and then I told him we are from America and that we needed McDonalds internet. We were standing right in front of it. So we dealt with all that stuff and walked back to the squat. We waited around awhile and they made us some stuffed peppers and rice. It was awesome. We waited for the show to start. It was punk o’clock as usual so it started late. There was a decent amount of people and they all seemed to be into all the bands. Fatal Nunchucka opened the show and they sounded like Spazz and were awesome. Phillipe from www.toulousecrust.blogspot.com booked the show and too care of us. Tomorrow we wake up and drive to Zarautz, Spain.
Day 12/show 7/Zarautz,Spain
Woke up in the squat and got a move on. We said thank you and goodbye to everyone. Then we drove to Zarautz, Spain. It is a small town on the northern coast of Spain nestled between 2 mountains and the surf is awesome. I never want to leave. Jonpi booked the show and gave us a tour of the Gaztetxe squat. It seems as if no one lives in here and that it’s only squatted as a venue/community center. It's an old factory with 2 different rooms with stages, smaller room and big room. We will be playing in the small room.
Upstairs is a kitchen, dining room, the room we will sleep in, and the radio station they run out of the squat. It's always pretty crazy to me that stuff like this exists cause in America the cops would kick you out on your ass on the first day. I walked down to the beach and daydreamed of never leaving. When I got back to the squat there was fruit for us to eat, which is all I ever want to eat. Then dinner came. Couscous, tomato sauce with veggies, hummus and bread, and potatoes. It was an awesome meal and I am thankful for how nice Jonpi is to us. The show started shortly after and it was pretty cool. Everyone enjoy’d the show and mostly told me “we played too short” and they “wish we played longer”. We are sleeping upstairs in the squat so I’m already in bed. Tomorrow we drive to Leon, Spain.
