2010/12/15

Day 32 – Club Studio, Krakow, Polen – 28.11.2010

Looking back at this day, I realize that it must have been my most immobile day so far. I woke up at 14.00, and since I had the privilege of counting the merchandise today, this more or less meant that I would not have time to check out the city center of Krakow. Once the merch was counted it was time for soundcheck, followed by a fight with the internet to publish my blog post from the travel day, “Crossing Donau”. While the video was uploading, I had some deep fried spring rolls, with deep fried potatoes, over cooked vegetables and mayonnaise on the side. In other words; an excellent way to fill up your energy level prior to the show.

Suddenly it was showtime, and as for me, I think this was one of the coolest shows soo far. Here’s one of the songs we will record on our upcoming album this january. The song is called Restless.



The energy both on stage and in the audience was really good, and the groove felt very natural. After playing in all the 17 countries of the tour, I hereby declare my top 3 best impressions of audiences, based on the nationalities (in random order): the Bulgarians, the Polish and the French. Of course, my personal impression can be affected by many different variables, and this doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the other shows. In fact, I hope we will be able to return to every single place we’ve visited, and hope some of you will want us back as well!

After the show, me and Einar went out in the neighbourhood, hunting for something to eat, but everything seemed to be closed. That was until we came across this place:



Out of absolutely nowhere, a kebab hut, not too different from the ones we have back in Norway, popped up in a street which up until that point only seemed to consist of residents. I must admit that the taste of the food probably wouldn’t have taken any harm in being a bit better, but as for my famishing stomach, it did the trick.

This was the last night we travelled with Therion, since tomorrow is the last show, so Kristoffer and Waldemar from Therion decided to ride with us this night. Kristoffer put on a Prog rock show off in the back of the bus, while Waldemar tried to get a party started in the front.



It all ended up with Joachim, our eminent sound engineer and tour manager, going for a walkabout in his sleep at 7.00 am. His destination was in the front of the bus whereas he found it convenient to spread his urine. Lawrence and Waldemar, sitting in only their underwear at the moment, gathered some cups, and cought approximately 0,8 liters of piss as it exited Joachim. As to how they managed to clean up the spillings, I wont’t go to much in the details, but I can go as far as to tell you it has something to do with Tobias eating some odd tasting chips afterwards…

Tomorrow will be the last concert for the support acts. Will everything go smoothly, or will somebody play a prank or two?

Stay tuned!

TorO

2010/12/13

Day 31/34 - Petofi Hall, Budapest, Hungary 27.11.2010

We arrived at the venue about 1 PM, which means lunch time for us. After entering the Petofi hall, we were met by a very nice local crew who showed us our backstage. The service on the venue turns out to be very good, and everything is in order. The concert hall is huge, the stage is great, the backstage is nice and the food is very good. Nothing to complain about so far.

I manage to gather the entire band (for once) for a trip to Budapest city centre. On our way out we met the best prepared autograph-hunter I’ve ever met. He has book in which he has made two pages each for all three bands which is decorated with a picture of the band and a compact disc. Everyone signs the two pages, and we head off to the city centre.



On our way to the metro, we encounter a castle which reminds us about the castle in “Tre nøtter til askepott” (originally called Tři oříšky pro Popelku). A CzechoslovakianIn adventure movie which is broadcasted on christmas morning every year.



In order to find the metro, we had to follow the GPS on my iPhone very thoroughly. The metro stop was located in the middle of a park, and there were know signs showing that it was located there. It was only a stairway without any signs. The trains themselves might have been the smallest I’ve ever witnessed, and they also had the coolest jingles I’ve ever heard on a metro.



I’ve heard so many good things about Budapest, and it absolutely lives up to my expectations! I wish we had more time to check out the City, but at least we managed to cross the almighty Donau on our way from Pest to Buda! After that we had to return to the venue for sound-checking.



What surprises me is how good shape we all still are in after 26 concerts - almost without breaks. I still look forward to every concert with great enthusiasm. Todays concert was really enjoyable, and I’m really looking forward to Krakow tomorrow!


All the best,
Einar

2010/12/12

30/34 - DK VLtavska, Prague, Czech Republic - 26.11.2010

We're spending one of our very last days on the tour in the Czech Republic. Last time it was Zlin, now Prague is up. Scott stops the engine outside a huge building; the DK Vltavska. Not much research were done on this place beforehand, but it would seem this is somekind of cultural center for all sorts of things. Later in the evening, loading out, we pass a swing dancing lesson. That's pretty damn cool. Anyway, the main stage is downstairs. Loch Vostok and us have two separate backstages. Usually this is a good thing, but when you're left with a 2 square meter room and can fit ONE chair in, you just know it won't be the center of tonights hang out. First come first served; Me and my laptop get the chair. On the other side of the wall is the stage for tonights eardrum-busting show.

Tobias, Halvor, Einar and Tor Oddmund leave to see how this place compares to the other 24 (!) cities we've visited so far this November. I decide that staying and working on my studies are much more fun!! You'd be crazy not wanting to grab this fantastic opportunity to spend some quality homework time..



It feels strange only having 4 shows left. We've played more shows this month than we have in years combined. Hopefully this will have only made us a much better live band, and we can't wait to show off after the tour;) As the tour is slowly coming to an end, some extra energy is unraveling on stage. Hope to see you in Budapest!!

Special news for today's blog:
As a part of Leprous, I am very proud to announce that we have received 25 000 NOK (about €3000) from "Willy Strandlis Minnefond", a foundation dedicated to the late Norwegian guitarist Willy Strandli. Anually the foundation chooses a local band from our hometown and this time it was Leprous. As touring is very expensive and our next album is yet to be recorded, these money could not have come at a better time. We are very thankful and can't wait to start recording in January. Even though the planned live video feed for the ceremony back in Norway didn't work out as planned, a short phone conversation did the trick.

- rockin' greetings from Øystein

2010/12/05

Day 29/34 - Backstage, Munich, Germany - 25.11.2010

We’re back in Germany! The village is called Munich, and the stage is named Backstage (?). Napalm Death has their tour bus parked alongside ours. It turns out we’re playing the same venue the same night. Luckily there’s more than one concert hall in this Backstage venue.

Before the soundcheck we went downtown to check out their largest musical instruments store. It was huge! Øystein and TorO tried out leftie guitars, Einar bought some new instrument cables, Halvor drooled over some analog synths and invested in 10 shiny new picks while Tobias tried out every cymbal in the huge drum department, and ended up buying quite a few. Tobias’ cymbal adventure ate up our possible soundcheck time, so we had no soundcheck this night. But we had new cymbals, picks and cables!



The venue was beautiful. Great backstage at Backstage! The show was ok, but unfortunately not great. After the show we ordered some pizza and checked out the Napalm Death show. And I believe the Vostok guys enjoyed a beer or two judging by their comfort level ☺



Next time we’re in Germany we’ll be on our way home from this great tour. But right now we’re hell bent on killing and destroying big time in Prague!

Watch out, Czech Republic!
Halvor

2010/12/02

Day 28/34 - Z7 ,Pratteln, Switzerland - 24.11.2010

Today the weather was kind of grey. And the venue was located far away from the centre. So we did not see the city of Pratteln.
Z7 (the venue) was really nice. The monitor-technician was as good as his mouth was big.
The experience from a show with bad monitor-sound compared to good, is of course huge. So we really appreciate having a guy that knows his craft.

We all enjoyed excellent home-cooked food, right from the kitchen. This is also something you start to compare, after a few days with in-door catering.
And as with technicians. It varies alot.

The Swiss audience were really nice to us. And its good to play after a really boring day off.
Although its not the biggest audience, it seemed like there were some that showed up mainly to see us. That is nice, for a opening act.


btw: thank you, the guy that gave us swiss money for the foosball-game! and thanks to Waldemar, being such a humble opponent in the game!



-tobias