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Post by delorentos on Feb 4, 2008 13:09:59 GMT
Saturday
Woke up around 4.30, after two hours sleep. Myself and Nial were djing last night and we ended up having a late night. Which probably wasn't sensible. Mashed loads of clothes into a shoulder bag and headed for the airport, where i met the others and our tech, the legendary Adrian "Goujons" Garry. Checked in around 5.30 and by about 12 we were standing outside Eurocar arguing with them about getting a GPS system. When we eventually got the GPS (off a different company) we collected the car and quickly realised all our guitars, drum stuff and pedal box wouldn't fit. Our trusty GPS informed us it was five hours to Rimini, so we sent a text to our promoter saying we wouldn't be on time for the 4 o'clock soundcheck... Got a new car, which turned out to be slightly bigger. After plenty of head scratching we set off and the Gouj began to get used to the wrong side of the road driving. Slowly. We sent a text to say we'd probably be at the venue around 7. Pretty soon i realised I'd left my passport, printed confirmations and various other stuff in the other car. Great! The GPS tried to take us up a road that was still under construction at around 5. We got lost. Another text was sent. We decided not to stop to eat because the GPS voice lady told us we were gonna now be there around 8. Sometime around 9 we arrived we collapsed out of the car, stretched our numb arses, apologised, rolled on stage and did a quick soundcheck. The Venue was great, a big warehouse on the outskirts of town with crazy art and lots of little rooms and stuff. After a quick pizza we went on and played. The sound was good and we tried out two new songs for the first time, currently called "You can make sound" and "Water over our heads". They sounded good, if a little nervous. The crowd was stuffed with kids in full fancy dress, some as lego men, clowns, a group as tetris blocks and a couple of Leprechauns. After the gig we'd a few beers by the book shop (yes, there was a book shop in the niteclub) and ate all the crisps and chocolate and little cakes on the rider. I wonder could we survive just eating the food after gigs? Bring on the mouth ulcers.
Gouj quote of the day: "Whassa story with them black cats? Cos one passed me there and i got me luck straight away cos the bus came quick. How long does my luck last?"
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Post by delorentos on Feb 4, 2008 13:39:21 GMT
Sunday
Woke up in the hostel around 10.30. Full European Breakfast was some easy singles on some tiny bread and some Coco pops. The rest of the lads arrived. Ro and Gouj had chocolate cake and coffee. Then me and Ross ate the last of the Pretzels from last nights rider. I took plenty of vitamins, it might end up being a tough week. We haven't a gig tonight so we headed up to The Republic Of San Marino. We drove up and up and up Mount Titano to the tiny tax free state. Ro is driving today, and its the foggiest day we've ever seen. He did a great job going up the bendy roads. We'd be lost without our GPS, you couldn't see past the bonnet. Its very beautiful and historic, as well as being very touristy. Every second shop is a souvenir shop. As its Sunday everything else is closed. I looked for a fridge magnet. If i wanted a laser sighted bb gun, a massive engraved sword or giant boxes of cigarettes i could've had my pick, but little novelty magnets must be banned. We took lots of impressive photos, but unfortunately the amazing views weren't available unless you wanted to see lots of different types of clouds. Afterwards we drove about 3 hours through beautiful valleys, along mountains, though massive tunnels. It was like the backdrop of a eighties Bond film. When we got to the Lochness pub in Riva le Garda we were wrecked. They were very kindly letting us sleep in the venue on couches. It was pretty cold, but they were very hospitable and we watched the superbowl and drank enough to sleep soundly. At the halftime show we discussed Alicia Keys Ghetto Booty. Its big. Probably shouldn't have worn white zebra skin pants.
Gouj quote of the day: (when the fog lifted) "does this mean we're driving above the clouds now?"
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Sir Duane
Senior Member
I'm the bassist of everything.
Posts: 497
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Post by Sir Duane on Feb 4, 2008 17:15:34 GMT
I'd love some Chocolate Cake, a fry, goujons, coco pops and pretzels...
that tour just made me hungry.
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Post by Hazey on Feb 5, 2008 2:13:53 GMT
Talk about having a stressful time! Moving is always stressful! They'd probablly take the lazer pointer off ye over here though cos theyre banned so be glad ye didnt waste yer mulas! I think the Gps lady can be very bold... she likes to play tricks on men with her sexy voice!
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Post by klaartje on Feb 5, 2008 9:26:48 GMT
I think the Gps lady can be very bold... she likes to play tricks on men with her sexy voice! And I thought it was the Italian men they had to worry about
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Post by Hazey on Feb 6, 2008 0:20:39 GMT
Oh no... the gps lady is evil when she wants to be! very evil!
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rojo
Full Member
Posts: 108
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Post by rojo on Feb 6, 2008 1:09:47 GMT
Sounds like an awesome roadtrip and tour is being had. You won't know yourself when you're cruising in a big tour bus!!
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Post by delorentos on Feb 6, 2008 21:07:43 GMT
Monday
Woke up shivering at around 9 o’clock to the sound of a kango hammer outside. Did a quick phone interview, and then the very enthusiastic Manager made us a pot of penne and mince, and as a pointer of the day to come, he encouraged us to have traditional liqueur aperitif. It was pretty revolting, but he was so friendly that we tried to drink. At least the rest of the lads did, I did a sneaky spill in the sink. I hope he doesn’t read this… We’re gonna have to get different accommodation tonight. Getting six hours sleep isn’t a good idea, regardless of how much we want to experience everything. We went for a walk and quickly realised we were in an incredibly beautiful little holiday town. The surrounding mountains seemed to completely enclose it, with snow capped peaks above us in every direction. Its pretty deserted as its off season, but we found a nice hotel, and then went for a walk along the beach. Ross and the Gouj muck about with the camera. I got a text this morning saying that Mainline, a band we kinda know of from Dublin, have broken up. Myself and Nial talked about how hard that decision must have been, as right now we couldn’t imagine not playing gigs or us not being a band. Wandering around an Italian Mountain village before souncheck reminds us how lucky we are and not take things for granted. We popped in to “Marilyn Irish Bar” (not sure of the connection there…) and had some cappacino’s and played electronic darts. It wasn’t very Irish, there was a Union Jack outside and a French tricolour. An English fella asked for a Latte in front of us. He wasn’t very happy when he got a glass of milk. Soundcheck was great, Tiny little venue, but it sounded lovely. Milo, the soundman, recorded it so we could listen to the new songs. We had a few beers, pizza and more darts, and after a quick lie down, we returned to the find a small crowd outside. Its “Carnivale” so all the staff and a couple of people were in fancy dress again. Buoyed by the soundcheck playback, we opened with “Water over our heads” and after a great gig and lovely response encored with “until the next time”. So far Italian audiences don’t go wild, but they kind of listen appreciatively if they like, or go out and smoke if they don’t. Afterwards, the manager made us drink all “Irish Carbombs”. Bad idea. You could see the bailey’s curdling with the coke as you drank it. He told us we had a free bar. We lived up the stereotype and got pretty drunk. There was lots of hugging. There’s a picture of Nial with a motorbike helmet on, and I’ve no idea when that happened. Packing the car with rain dripping from our faces in the pitch blackness while drunk – for some reason – is the last thing I remember.
Gouj quote of the day: “I’ve a small mickey, but a fast arse. There’s your f*cking quote of the day..."
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Post by delorentos on Feb 6, 2008 21:10:34 GMT
Tuesday
Woke up with a hangover and promptly decided never to drink or smoke again. We had kinda half planned to drop into Venice as its on the way to Udine, our venue tonight, but we slept in and nursed our heads. The Gouj took the wheel again today, and we took our time driving up through the mountains and later through fields and fields of vineyards. The amount we have to do is fairly mad, probably four or five hours a day, and there’s no radio worth listening to unless you like faceless emo or European pop punk. Over the last few days I’ve listened to Sigur Ros on my mp3 thing or read magazines to pass the time but as everyone else was asleep I read the map and talked to Gouj about Steve Staunton going to Leeds. As a Leeds fan, I dunno if that’s a good thing. There’s lots of cloned “AutoGrill” roadside restaurants along the motorway, and when we’ve been stopping we’ve had Pizza and ragu penne. I’m pretty sure I’ll get sick of Pizza soon, but right now, I’m starving and its cheap. After some mild getting lost, we found the very cool “No Fun” club and met Guy, the eccentric but wonderful promoter. The club is kinda like a music obsessives bedroom, with shelves of music books, racks and racks of cd’s and music magazines and drawers full of music documentaries and recorded videos of all sorts of music. Udine is close to the Slovenian border and the culture has a mix of both nationalities, both in Architecture and lifestyle. Guy brings us to a local restaurant, which is basically a big room in someones home. Our meal is delicious, tomatoes on pasta and some Slovenian beer (there goes resolution one). We finish that in a flash and when the waiter comes over we polietely ask if that was a starter. It wasn’t. He asks do we want more, we say Si, and he brings some slices of ham and some lettuce. The Italians don’t seem to eat as much as our hungry Irish selves, so we resolve to grab some pizza later. When we return to the venue (which is off a main road and in what seems to be the overgrown courtyard of some apartments) we’re surprised to find a big crowd outside smoking (there goes resolution two). We’ve been lucky so far in that we’ve had pretty good audiences since we’ve arrived, and tonight is no different. They clap loudly between songs and there’s even a few who’ve heard of us which is cool. We sell a few cd’s, have a few beers and chat to the locals (some of the cd’s are getting cracked because we’re mashing everything into the car, so we just give those ones out). Before we leave for an early night to our cottage b&b, One regular (his picture is behind the bar) tells me that Guy is crazy, but a wonderful drummer and completely passionate about music. For us, it would be perfect if every promoter was like that.
Quote of the day: (from me this time) “there’s a smunny fell in the car, y’know…”
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Sir Duane
Senior Member
I'm the bassist of everything.
Posts: 497
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Post by Sir Duane on Feb 6, 2008 22:53:36 GMT
TuesdayI read the map and talked to Gouj about Steve Staunton going to Leeds. As a Leeds fan, I dunno if that’s a good thing. I always thought you were a Leeds fan but then just thought i musta made it up because nobody likes leeds... come on kier like! your almost as bad as ross with spurs! hopefully ro and nial have decent taste because otherwise its just not right.
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Emma.
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We Hate The Silence
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Post by Emma. on Feb 7, 2008 9:16:36 GMT
Monday I got a text this morning saying that Mainline, a band we kinda know of from Dublin, have broken up. Mainline are now The Brothers Movement www.myspace.com/thebrothersmovement
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Post by dubh in oh ray gun on Feb 8, 2008 0:35:50 GMT
dang kieran, go back and get the big engraved souvenir sword-- it'll come in handy flying to sxsw, we amurricons love weapons on planes! it's traditional, like. and when you get to customs, do some ninja-yells. then the customs security people hug you. trust me!
pffft. leeds.
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Post by delorentos on Feb 8, 2008 15:44:19 GMT
Wednesday
Had a fairly sore throat this morning, and felt fairly wrecked, but we still managed to get up and have breakfast around 10. The little cottage is beautiful, but breakfast’s fairly simple. There’s some stupid rule that B&B’s can’t serve anything that isn’t in a packet (why? What about the personality of the owners? The girl who ran it told us her mother made fantastic jam but they weren’t allowed give it out… shame) so we had tiny slices of pre-packed toast and Nial and Ro got their coffee fix in. We were up early, and with Gouj in the driving seat we raced down to visit Venice. We parked in the massive carpark and got the public ferry around the Grand canal, taking photos and marveling at the buildings, the people (texting while driving is one thing, but texting while driving a speedboat is another) and of course, the smell (which isn’t as bad as we expected). Its very commercial and busy and as we sidestepped through arcades and laneways taking photos, sampling ice creams, trying on masks and generally being tourists we couldn’t help wishing we had more time. seeing Venice in an hour might be an experience, but it certainly wasn’t a perfect one. After a few photos (Ross feeding pigeons, Ross covered in pigeons, Ross with pigeon crap on his top) and a visit to St Mark’s grave we headed on to Piacenza. Another long drive was broken up by another half hour stop at another shitty AutoGrill, with more pasta. The whole pasta/pizza thing is beginning to wear thin at this stage. Arrived at the venue (after a bit of being lost) and was greeted at the venue by the friendly and enthusiastic Alessandro. He’s got great English and we set up, have a few beers, more pizza, then do our soundcheck. The venue, a converted paint warehouse just outside the town centre, has a sound limiter installed so it’s hard to get into the songs, but the Gouj stepped in and it sounded pretty good by the end. On the way to the hostel (a converted school we think) Alessandro takes me to the practice space he’s set up so I can get the itinerary for tomorrow. Himself and his friends set up a little company and run a festival, gigs, and practice rooms in their free time. Again, a dedicated music fan enabling music to get to people. I wonder if I’d be doing that if we’d never started. “Are you writing your blog?” he asks. He’s been reading it. I’d better write something nice… Unfortunately when we get back to the venue there is only a handful of people there, the gig is a victim of last night’s Carnivale and tonight’s Italy v Portugal match. We play to 9 or10 people, comprising the gentle support band, the staff, and girl who’s driven from Milan to see us. The presence of someone who travel so far encourages us to play as well as we can. There may have been only a few folks but they seemed to enjoy it. It’s a long way from the ambassador I suppose, but as Ro noted we met our worst Italian crowd, but our first Italian fan.
Quote of the day: Ro: “When I went to Ghostbusters 2 I got so scared that I begged my dad to take me home. He didn’t.”
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Post by delorentos on Feb 8, 2008 15:47:02 GMT
Thursday
We got up and went for a stroll around Piacenza. Another day, another very nice city. Myself and Nial got a cappuccino and a croissant in a little side street café while Ross and Ro and the Gouj took photos of each other in front of various buildings. Gouj is doing a kinda documentary on DV camera and its pretty funny so far. Might not be able to show our families without some heavy editing though. After a moment of panic where we lost the car, we paced it down the Motorway to a little town called Castillo Fiorentino. After last night we were dying to have a great gig so we didn’t know what to expect when the ancient walled city appeared in front of us. By far one of the most visually arresting places we’ve been, the mountaintop village is enclosed within high thick walls and the tiny streets play havoc with the GPS. When we pull up at the Velvet Underground (after lots of funny looks from locals and some precision steering from Goujons) we emptied the car and surveyed the damage of our trip so far. Two guitar cases are broken, a few leads need to be thrown out, lots of the cd cases are cracked and broken and a few of our power adapters are held together with tape. It’s a bit dispiriting, especially since we just bought new cases after the last airline broke the old ones. The venue, like the rest of the town, is spotless and after soundcheck we stroll about looking at the stunning views. “Beats the bollix outta Bray eh?” says Nial as he pans his camera over the landscape. Later we watch some Italian telly while we have a few beers and wait for dinner.. They love monkeys in adverts on the continent, and sexy girls in skimpy tops dancing about while a live audience claps. And why not? After a proper meal – pasta, lots of salad and cake (we’d all murder some vegetables and potatoes at this stage though) – we resign ourselves to a small crowd of older people from the old town and check into our pretty self service b&b at the bottom of the mountain. After a lie in we return to the Castillo, the gates of which close at ten. Using the key to the city we were given earlier (it was more of a garage door clicker than a big ornate steel key, disappointingly) we returned to the pub and to our happy surprise its stuffed. There’s an American school nearby and scores of art students from Colorado and Texas are sitting in front of the stage. From the start the reception is fantastic, and we go on to play our best gig of the tour so far in the most unlikely place. Encouragingly “You can make sound” gets one of the biggest cheers of the night. Afterwards we drank with the Americans until the owners asked us to leave, then stood outside being loud on the steep thin streets. Despite getting completely lost on the way home and driving round in circles til Ro spotted a landmark, it was a night to remember all round. “I had never considered Italy as somewhere I could live” said Nial later “but now? Now i can imagine it….”
Quote of the day: Ross “Whats the story with all this salad shit? I may as well be lying in a field with a face full of grass…”
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Emma.
Full Member
We Hate The Silence
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Post by Emma. on Feb 8, 2008 16:27:10 GMT
Sounds like you's are having a great time
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