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Finally have internet again after a few nights, just in time for the last show here in Hamburg.

Lots of fun times, which I think we'll all gush about when there's more time.

In the meantime, check out these rad videos from Frankfurt by Marc.

three easy steps from marc krause on Vimeo.

While you're at it, take a look at all the other awesome stuff Marc has been working on:

And check out these equally awesome pics from Munich. Thanks, sjaelv!

Check out these sweet photos that Marc took in Frankfurt. Thanks, Marc!

Ahhh Paris in autumn...

After our marathon drive of which we remember nothing but sleep and an amazing night sky through the Alps we dragged poor Rolf all over town until show time, on foot no less, at which point he retired to the van for the remainder of the evening. The 20th district on a cold Monday night is not the ideal setting for a killer show, but having good friends out see us really makes the room feel full. Michael played the roll of sound engineer for the evening and did a Tony-worthy job of it. We stayed with Ben, our soon-to-be famous author, who will at that point I assume begin collecting both royalties *and* furniture. His 2am pasta extravaganza really tied the room together, however. Many thanks for his hospitality!

I'd always assumed that the 'well I'm in a band' line can garner most any desire, but apparently it doesn't get us excused from parking tickets in Paris. Hmmm. Not since our van-over-the-weight-limit-ass-dragging incident have we been penalized in any way, so I guess we've been rather lucky all these years. C'est la vie...

Nancy was a return to form. The way she wore that dress the city was warm and inviting and we had a really cool show, put together by our friend Mylie, mayor of the scene there. Great bar, small room, and I'm now the world record holder for drum kit placed nearest to where I will later pee. I'm also closer to running out of brushes than I am sticks, and that's no small feat. So take that Buddy Rich. In your face.

The records continued to fall today as we drove the smallest distance ever for a tour; barely got 30 pages into Hemingway before we arrived in Metz. With the time afforded us I'm proud to say the pants I've been wearing everyday since October 8th are now
clean, our friends are arriving, and I'm off to find some more vino...

Below is our morning in Nancy. Bon Soire. For now.

It was a fucking long drive, about 13 hours, including 20 minutes for searching a parking space for the van in Paris. I filled my body with a lot of espresso more than never in my life before. It was crazy, usually I never drink coffee, but this time there was no other choice than acting in this way. After hours my stomach was hunting because of the coffee and tons of snacks. We started directly after the show into the night trying to find some fine tunes on the italian radio, but there was only shitty music.
Hours later we went through the tunnel of the Mont Blanc and sadly it was still dark in the Alps. So no sunrise above the mountain like we expected before. Later I kept myself awake with listening my favorite music and eating crisps and sending text messages with my mobile begging for some deflection from the seemingly never ending ride (Greetz and hugs - you know who you are). I had a nice break at a resting place in the sun and a brilliant overview over the countryside.
One heart-stopping moment where the french cops jumping out from there car directly on the road dazzling with theirs flashlights directly after leaving the Mont Blanc Tunnel. My first expression was that they stop my because of violating the speed limit. But the "only" wanted to check our passports.
The whole drive was a turning between being awake and struggling not to fall asleep. Especially when everybody is falling asleep in the car. So I don't know whether you will make this experience on your own. I would not recommend it. Now I am still tired and wasted, hanging around at the show in Nancy, in the west of France. The yesterday show in Paris I missed because I had to sleep in the car for a couple of hours, in front of the venue.

We arrived in Paris at 2PM yesterday, after the 12 hour drive. Cybertronic Rolf did it with seemingly no problems while the three of us lazies slept. Interesting show yesterday. No time for internetting again today...

Fun, weird show in Bologna having just ended, we're pounding some wine and coffee before we head straight to the next city, Paris. The longest drive of the tour–and the only one without sleeping first–begins in a half hour, and it happens to include a passage of the Alps. Call the Swiss embassy if you don't see an update in 48 hours.


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It's no fun to try to cram all of the stories from the past few days into 10 minutes worth of writing. Looking back at the past couple of posts, they're not much more than a travelog. More interesting anecdotes are promised when we've got more time.

For now, some quick pics:






First song at the Prague show. Since everyone was out in the bar and there was a piano in there, we decided to start the show right and Jason and I played a tune in there and then had everyone follow us into the show room, where Tim was already on stage and starting the next song. Pretty fun.




The crew.



Preparing? Meditating?



The amazingly local restaurant where we got some pasta with pesto, salad, pea soup, and salame until we breathed meat. It was awesome because the table to our left was full of elderly men and women playing cards and watching TV. And the table to our right was a group of 14 high school boys, all looking straight outta Staten Island, carb loading for a night of clubbing. Rolf (our German driver) incredibly honestly said something like that 'this place remains me of one of this bars which you can found on trailer parks. I never saw them with my own eyes, but I could think that it looks about this'.



Jason getting set up at the sit-down, Q&A show in Emilia-Romagna.




SNOW in the foothills of the Alps.



The legendary Franz and Michl midway through their 2-hour post-show DJ set of NOTHING but Bruce Springsteen. Notice the matching shirts: "The only BOSS I listen to is Bruce Springsteen".




Another shot of the amazing home in Regensburg. Built in the 1300's.





Rolf, Tim, Franz. Post-show drinks at a kick-ass bar in Regensburg.

Hey. This is Rolf, the German guy that's driving these fools around Europe. They're busy getting drunk on wine before they play tonight so I wanted to write something.
We are here in Bologna, in the northeast of Italia, waiting for the gig. The 11th gig on this tour trough a couple of european countries. I have to say that it was a pleasure to meet this guys and to spend weeks on the roads and to hang around and to discover european countries with them together. For me it is also a good point to stay away from Berlin, the city where I live, for some time, because it bores me after living for more than 22 years. Usually I don't leave the city for longer trips.
After the gig we will leave directly to go to Paris - a drive around 12 hours. Hopefully I'm not feeling like a dead man after this. But tomorrow I'll write some words about our experiences on the road.

Friday was another small town (Pegognaga, pop. 5,000), this time in the flatter lands of Lombardi.

On the way down from the hills, we drove through the Republic of San Marino on the way down to the coast to Rimini and then Ravenna. Always good to get ones tour feet wet.



The show was a little mismatched that night as the opening band was a pretty seriously loud 90's alternative-type thing. The audience sitting down didn't stop them from throwing their hair around. Love this picture of a mom covering her son's ears because he was so scared.



But the pumpkin rigatoni and the nice folks more than made the night. And Jason's unexpected tune in the middle of the audience was a fun surprise to everyone (including him, I think).



The best part of the night might have been the place Jason and I stayed. It was a 300-year old farmhouse that a family lives in for free in exchange for keeping it up. Super nice family, starring Sam, Italy's next guitar hero. Pictured here are Sam along with us and the couple that hosted Tim & Rolf that night. Pretty darn Italian.

Finally, a little internet at the venue in Bologna.

So:

Thursday was the first Italy show and was a funny, funny experience. First, it turns out that it was nowhere near Ravenna and instead in a super-small town in the Emilia-Romagna mountains near San Marino (about 10,000 people) called Novafeltria. Even our German GPS lady was confused. Here's Tim trying to get some directions using nothing but hands.



The show itself was in a sort of community arts center where we had a room full of white plastic chairs, occupied by an older crowd than we're used to. We got introduced by a trio of Italian charmers for quite a few minutes. Felt a lot like the variety shows on TV here--without the models. Check the video for those of you who speak Italian. The questions were pretty straightforward, at least as translated by the interpreter but it was still pretty fun to pretend we were playing some kind of fanclub show. Then we ended up signing every copy of the record we sold that night. Gotta love the small towns.




Best part was where we stayed. It was a B&B in hills even higher than the town, with a great view of an old mediæval castle town and a donkey named Pinocchio.






The next day we headed up to that castle town (San Leo) for a look around.

The only internet we've seen for four days here in Italy, and we've only got two minutes on it. Hard to imagine how anything gets done around here...

Lots of great stories once we've got a real connection. A Q&A session after a sit-down show in rural Emilio Romana was definitely a highlight.

More to come ASAP. Tonight is Bologna and after that we've got to make it to Paris the next night. Looks like it's going to be a rough 11-hour drive....

A fun show last night, playing along with our dear friend, Sebastian's band, Mason Dixon Line. This Bavarian town is old. We stayed in a friend's place that was built in 1358 and is the 5th oldest building in the town. Amazing. Plus the rent is still cheaper than any of our NYC apartments. Why don't we all live here again?

Last night in Prague we went back to the recording studio of Ondrej (Silver Rocket records) after the show and got to have some fun with "Czech's very first analog synthesizer". We also got to do a little recording of an awesome old piano, which may end up being part of the next record...

Check out this poster that our friend Marc made. It's up as part of exhibition he's got up in Berlin.

Here's a nice moment captured in Frankfurt: The big guy, our friend Michal, keeping an eye on his zuccinni tempura that he's considering serving at his killer vegan restaurant in Berlin, Hans Wurst. Sun Mee, Marc, and Sabine entertaining me with stories of lost keys and coffee cups. The first few days of this tour were so packed with all of our old friends and partying and even traveling in the van with us that it felt more like a spring break roadtrip than a tour. With Prague last night, we're finally starting to hit a groove.

Dear Moms,
Just wanted to let you know that we made it over to Europe safely and we're doing fine.
Sorry we didn't write sooner but we haven't had even a minute because we seem to have collected even more friends over here than ever--which means hanging til the wee hours every night. We'll give you more details and photos once we hit Prague tonight.
Love,
PS