Qui are currently on a two month European tour – covering Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, UK and Belgium. It’s the band’s longest tour to date, and they’ve partnered with us at New Noise Magazine to give you a look inside their European journey.
Week Two
Sunday, April 10. Pisa, IT.
I hate Metallica. That crap is the most insufferable bunch of meathead nonsense going. I know everyone says their old records are great but I was over them by the time I was 13. In fact, they went on to suck so bad that they make their old, allegedly good records suck, too. I bring this up because I woke up today with their shitty version of Bob Seger’s, “Turn The Page,” stuck in my head. It got me to thinking about the notion of the lonely, roadworn musician that is perpetuated by jokers like them. There are myriad songs, poems, books, films, et al, about how very difficult it is to live one’s life on the road, whether it’s Metallica, Bon Jovi, Journey, or whoever the hell else. It makes me wonder if any of those guys ever worked a real job. Compared to any job I’ve ever had touring is a breeze, and I would hazard a guess that Metallica is a bit more extravagant than we are. For instance, we can’t yet afford to bring our shrinks on the road. Being driven through scenic countrysides, then playing guitar for an hour is great work if you can get it and don’t let any crusty, old hair farmer tell you differently. Rather than singing about hardships on the road, perhaps a song about the difficulties of being a narcissistic alcoholic who plays awful music for stadiums full of retards would be more accurate.
In the past ten days we have been all over Italy and it has been wonderful. On previous tours, we’d been here, but never in so many cities and never so far south. After Avellino, we continued south for another several days. Our stellar tour manager, Carlos, had yet another of his many good ideas to avoid taking the toll roads for most of our travels in Italy, as they are very expensive. The main reason for this was to save what ended up being a significant chunk of money, but a happy side effect was that rather than staring at highway railings and gas stations, we were treated to the unbelievably scenic back roads; mountains, castles, vineyards, ancient ruins, and on and on. What a lovely way to while away the hours in the van.
A little more about Carlos; he is fucking great! We really hit the jackpot when we started working with him. In addition to tour manager, he is also our booking agent in EU and he does exceptional work. I’ve gotten to see firsthand how hard he works for us and it is truly inspirational. We have had a rash of flakey bullshit recently and it makes it all the more reassuring knowing that our guy over here is on the ball. Yay, Carlos!
Perhaps my favorite show so far has been at Perditempo in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto, Sicily. It was our first time in Sicily. We got to take the short ferry ride from the mainland and it was, you guessed it, beautiful! I still get to feeling wistful when I think of how lucky we are. We played on an outdoor plaza adjacent to a small bar. It was a Monday night in a weird venue and I assumed it would be a total bust. Wrong again. By the time we went on, the place was packed and lively and we played, if I do say so myself, a very good show for a very kind audience. Awesome. The following morning the promoter took us to a little cafe near the venue for breakfast and we were greeted by a delightful woman who was very excited to meet musicians all the way from LA. She told us her sons played drums and guitar and insisted we take a photo with her and sent us on our way with her own homemade biscotti for the road. How very charming.
The following night in Lamezia Terme was comparably enjoyable. Great club, wonderful promoter, incredible dinner and a packed house. I can’t wait to return in January. One thing worth mentioning is that southern Italians drive like absolute maniacs. There is no concept of right of way, nor any seeming regard for the safety of anyone, least of all oncoming traffic. It is nothing short of a miracle that anyone south of Rome is not dead or horribly maimed.
Tonight makes it eighteen nights in a row. We have another fourteen before a night off and that is just fine by me, fella. Tomorrow we leave Italy and begin our trek into eastern Europe; Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic. I have never had anything but the very best of times in that region and look very much forward to doing it again. I’m thrilled at the thought of seeing some old friends and playing in rooms we know. And again, the food is phenomenal. I have had some of the best meals of my life in Ljubljana and Prague. Bring it.
Thanks for reading, fuck Metallica, hail Satan!
