Day 50/Show 43/ Munster, Germany
Woke up early in Aalborg and said goodbye to Streetwalker and Catheter. Then we headed to Munster. The drive was hell. It was raining the whole time and we hit traffic 3 times which made us late for the show. The show was at a place called Baracke. It’s a building on the campus of the university that they built so people would stop squatting a different building at the school for shows. Hendrick from the band Alpinist booked our show and he is a good dude. This show had no locals so right when we got to the show we set up and Witch Cult played. There was a good amount of people, especially for a Monday night. After that BearTrap played and it was cool, people seemed to be into it. After the show we headed to the place we were sleeping and I watched Mad Men and passed out.
Day 51/52/Show 44/ 45/Gottingen, Germany/Nijmegen, Netherlands
Woke up in Munster and had some breakfest. Then we went out to exchange some money and get some guitar strings/cables. Even the banks over here charge you to exchange currency, and they charge a lot. They only place that didn’t completely rob me was a currency exchange in a train station in Berlin. Anyway, the drive wasn’t that long, but its been shitty weather the past 2 drives/days. We get to the venue and it’s a graffiti covered youth center called Juzl. When we got there a lot of children were running around in costumes and there was a community dinner going on. We loaded into the room in the basement we were playing in. It was real small which I like.
The show started around 10 with the first band also being on tour from Scotland. Absolutist was their name. Then Witch Cult played and people seemed to enjoy it, same for BearTrap. Marcus and his collective (doomian) booked the show and they were all super nice. We stayed with him and woke up the next morning and went to the venue for breakfast. After that we headed to the next show.
When we crossed the border into The Netherlands we got stopped by the cops. This surprized us because we thought this was the most laid back country we would go to. The cops didn’t ask us about drugs or anything but told us it was to control Identity Theft. Weird.
This show is at a venue called De Onderbroek. Sascha booked this show. She plays in a band called Sloth. The venue is in the basement, then on the first floor is a kitchen and other rooms, and above it is a bunch of apartments. It’s a pretty nice place in a small downtown area. We had lasagna for dinner and it was awesome. The show started around 10. Landverraad played first and they we pretty good. Then Witch Cult played, then BearTrap. I couldn’t really tell if anyone really dug either of us or if it was more of a bar show/something to do. This is one of those wonderful venues where after the show I go upstairs and shower and sleep.
Day 53/Show 46/ Eindhoven, Netherlands
Woke up today and skated around Nijmegen. There was a small skate park and this awesome wall ride set up down the street. After that we came back to the venue for breakfast. Then we went to a relatively un-skateable skatepark. It didn’t have 1 redeeming quality. So we left and headed to the Café Alloys in Eindhoven. It seems for the past few days every drive the weather just turns to shit and starts raining/hailing really heavily. This drive was only an hour tho so that is awesome.
We got to the venue and sat around for awhile. The bar owner bought us all food from a Wok place next door. And gave us 50 drink tickets so we have unlimited juice for the rest of tour. Then we loaded in and the other bands showed up. We loaded in and set up what we needed and the show started late per usual (not too late tho, just punk o clock) and State Of Mind played first. I was zoned out in the back near the merch. Then Witch Cult played and it didn’t go too well. Same for BearTrap. It seemed like people were cheering to be polite. Then This Routine Is Hell played. It was also their record release show. People dug it and they sold some records. I kind of expected it to go this way, it was a nice bar and a different band's record release show, not our show. After we ate and got all the juice, it was all down hill from there. Then we walked to the apartment we were staying at. It was a way longer walk than I'd anticipated and Alastair rolled his ankle skating so we had to carry him half the way. But it was all in the name of sleep, and I love sleep.
Day 54/Show 47/ Antwerp, Belgium
Woke up today after sleeping thru some noise last night. Hung around for a little while. Spent the last euro change we had on fruit/peppers/granola because currency exchange doesn’t do coins. I also got peach soy milk and that was the biggest mistake all tour. Then we went to get the van and while I was gone we had been kicked out of where we stayed so everyone was waiting on the curb. I guess the dude had to leave. Today's drive is an hour long and I love it. The weather wasn’t even bad this drive.
The show is in the basement of a bigger venue called JC Den. The room in the basement legally fits 30 people. We hung around waiting for the show to start. At around 8:30 people started showing up. Around 9 the first band went on. Merch was upstairs so I didn’t see any of the bands again. Witch Cult and BearTrap both played next and it went pretty good. People seemed to be into us. What I don’t understand is why people stand so far away from a band when the room is so small? It forced people to stand outside the room and sit on the stairs and watch us thru a door. It was the 4th bands record release show so again, it wasn’t our show. After the show we went and stayed in an apartment building full of people who didn’t come to the show, we we didn’t know any of them. This situation is always awkward. We had a room to ourselves and it wasn’t too bad.
