These United Kingdom Tour Diaries: Part Three
Editors Note: We enjoyed the tour diaries J. Tom Hnatow wrote for us as part of These United States' last tour, so we asked him if he wouldn't mind doing it again as the band embark on their first ever intercontinental tour of the UK and Europe. He graciously agreed. This is the third installment of an ongoing series.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
A leisurely breakfast, then off to Bath. Bath is stunningly beautiful. And with three universities, it has a thriving city center – plenty of parks and people out and about, despite the cold.
We play in the basement of a place called the Porter. Our contact there, Hollis, takes great care of us. It's free to get in, so the audience is talkative. Combined with all of our collective exhaustion (and Hollis' generosity), we put on a unique show. At one point, Jesse stands up on top of a table in the middle of the audience. We also get our first encore of the tour, which is exciting. We get to spend a few hours hanging out after the show, then crash for – literally – 2 hours.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
As Hollis is coming back to his house from partying, he wakes us up and we're on our way again. We leave on a 6:15 a.m. train, starting out in Bath and ending up in Paris, France. We all stagger our way through the day, napping on the train and every moment we can. The highlight is catching the ferry from Dover across the channel to Calais. The three of us get a cheap bottle of wine, some cheese and bread, and celebrate as we watch the waves break across the immense bow — pictures don't do the ferries justice — in addition to the hundreds of people and cars, there are 50 to 60 full size 18 wheelers.
We land in Calais, discover that Mark's French is a little shaky, and after a 30 minute sprint to the station (we miss our planned train anyway), we're on…another train, en route to Paris.
After 13 straight hours of travel on two hours sleep, Paris is blindingly disorienting to me. I'm far too exhausted, and don't even speak a phrase of French. Mark is in fine spirits, though: his wife flew in and we're staying with his relatives, Marina and Michel. We make it to the tiny, packed, smoky venue and meet up with Tamuna (Mark's wife) and relatives. After the smoke-free UK (and D.C.), the solid walls of smoke are equally stunning. It takes about ¾ of the way through the These US set for me to start having any fun whatsoever. We get fed an amazing meal of cheese and lasagna post-show, then Jesse makes his way to go out partying. Mark, Tamuna and I go back to our hosts' house, where I get my own room (first time on this tour), bed (third time this tour) and hot shower (first time this tour) and collapse into bed.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Day 2 of Paris...currently being written by Vandaveer. Copy to come soon. It'll be worth the wait.
Friday, October 26, 2007
The best laid plans…
The goal is to get to Amsterdam early to have some time, so there's a frantic and early rush to the train station. I almost get stranded in Paris when the metro doors close in front of me, and I realize that I have no idea where we're going — but luck intervenes and Jesse's backpack holds the door open.
When we get to the station, we discover that the early train to Amsterdam is booked full. We're stuck in the station for 3 hours. We take turns watching the gear, walking around, killing time. Finally — on the train. Our Eurorail ticket entitles us to first class travel, so we snack and drink wine most of the way. We're 30 minutes from the station when the train…stops. There is a dead train on the tracks ahead of us, so we wait. And wait. And wait. I've never been to Amsterdam, so it breaks my heart a little that we won't have time to wander around. (I also coin a term for these type of shows, where we only see our route to and from the venue — RIRO. Road In, Road Out.)
After a series of reroutings we arrive, starving and dazed, and bolt to the venue. The first thing I do is step directly into the path of an oncoming tram, which I avoid at, literally, the last second. On the positive side, it wakes me right back up.
The show at Winston Kingdom is great. We're well into the point of the tour when we can just get onstage and play...it feels like no matter how exhausted or overwhelmed we are, when it comes time to perform everything starts clicking. It's a great feeling. And the sound and lights are great too: one more advantage of playing in places that double as clubs when the bands are done.
After the show, Mark and Tamuna head to their adjacent hostel, and Jesse and I head off with Jesse's friend Marietje, her sister Eva, and Eva's boyfriend. The three of them hop on bikes — and we hop on.
Flying through the streets of Amsterdam on the back of a bicycle at 2 a.m. — so beautiful and perfect. Time stops for a moment, long enough for the brain to think "I am here and I am doing this," and then moves on, leaving an indelible snapshot behind.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Marietje makes us breakfast and packs us sandwiches. On of the advantages of doing the tour by public transport is that people seem to think we're inherently crazier than normal musicians, and therefore are even kinder to us. Mark bids farewell to his wife (she's heading back to Paris for a few days, then home to the states), we hop on, and we're off – 3 Dudes On A Train, as it has been dubbed.
And now that we're back to that configuration, it would be a good time to acknowledge Jesse and Mark's roles in this whole endeavor. Mark is signed to a small D.C.-based label (Gypsy Eyes), and These United States are still entirely unsigned. As a result, Jesse and Mark have had to book and figure out the logistics and finances for this whole tour. From plane to train to ferry to venue to local support to places to stay, these guys have it figured out, and have managed to get us rolling along on a successful tour. Their planning skills amaze me on a daily basis, and I'm really lucky to be along for this ride.
We cross the border into Germany — country number 5 of the tour. We have no idea what to expect for the show tonight. It's a venue in a tiny town (Höxter-Albaxen) and is part of a complex called Tonenburg. We eventually hop off the train and travel by tram, a new mode of transport for us. As we roll deeper through the beautiful fall hills, we start to fantasize about what the place might look like. When we show up, we find that our fantasies were spot on. The entire complex was started in 1315, and we're playing in a beautiful old wooden hall built in 1675. It is absolutely stunning. We're shown the rooms in the hotel next door (built 1705), and marvel at the river running serenely behind it.
The hospitality proves as amazing as the view — we're treated to a gigantic fresh spread backstage, in addition to a traditional German meal from the restaurant next door, in addition all the beer and wine we can drink. Asking for a single beer yields us an entire spread brought backstage. Despite buying practically no meals on this whole tour (I think so far I've bought 2 meals), we've eaten better and fresher and healthier than we do back home.
The audience for the show is a perfect listening audience — both Vandaveer and These United States play what we all agree are the best sets of the tour. We both do encores, and both sell an amazing amount of merchandise which we stand around autographing after our sets. We then retire to our hotel rooms next door with boxes of food and bottles of wine. The past three shows — Paris, Amsterdam, and now Höxter-Albaxen — have been the best of the tour. We're feeling great now. This trip has certainly spoiled us. Best. Tour. Ever.
Sunday October 28, 2007
We wake up in the morning at 7 a.m., then discover that daylight saving time has taken effect, so we have an extra hour. Nicest surprise of the tour — wanting just one more hour to sleep and actually getting it. I go right back to bed.
A brutally long travel day to Lille, France. Up early with the sunrise, and after a short ride to the station, we're off. Seven train transfers. We navigate all of them, then get lost in Lille. It starts to drizzle, the first threat of rain all tour, somehow. Luckily, our hosts for the evening, Dorian and Ceilia, find us and pick us up. The show is fun, a small, smoky bar, and Ceilia's set is unbelievable…her voice slides and soars and jumps from sweet to harsh completely effortlessly. She and Dorian also made us a ton of food — and brought a microwave to warm it up in.
As soon as we're fed, the travel catches up with all three of us and we pass out on couches downstairs at the bar for a few minutes. We stagger through our own sets, delirious and punchy. Dorian gives Mark a bullhorn, which he immediately incorporates into his set. After the show, we hang out with the owner and the (stunningly beautiful) bartender, drinking champagne and wine and eating wine and cheese into the early morning. It seems like a distinctly French moment, and attempting to talk to the bartender makes me wish I knew how to speak French.
Monday October 29, 2007
Dorian and Ceilie prepare a great breakfast for us, pack some food for us, and we're off. Our last long travel day — an early morning metro ride, then a train to Calais, then we hop on a tiny bus with a smile painted on the front of it to take us near the ferry terminal (Jesse insists we add the "tiny buddy bus" to our list of modes of transport). Then the ferry, where Jesse discovers the joy of ginger wine. Then back into the UK – its strange how much being back here feels like "home" to all of us.
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Previously:
These United Kingdom Tour Diaries: Part One
These United Kingdom Tour Diaries: Part Two