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.
Thursday, April 28, Vienna, Austria.
I’m in the little green room at a club called Fluc. We are in the 5th week of our European tour and it has, by and large, been killer. After the gig in Szeged, where I wrote my last entry, we had our first show in Budapest. We arrived hours before our scheduled load in time so we had a bit of time to a see some sights around the city and it was as spectacular as I had heard it described. The architecture is unbelievable. Our gig was well attended and fun, especially given that it was set up only a week before. Can’t wait to go back.
Next we travelled north to the Czech Republic. Goddamn, I love it there! I have had the pleasure of touring through CZ four times over the years and I have never had an unpleasant moment there. Our first stop was Brno, the second largest (I think) city in the country. We played a small club adjacent to a bike shop of the leftist/vegan/antifascist variety. I’m always a little suspicious of these places, mostly because their inhabitants are so often a bit of a drag, at least I find this to be true in the US. Fundamentally, I agree with nearly everything written on their back patches but I rarely agree with their personalities, ideas of etiquette, musical taste or hygiene. Anyway, this is rarely the case in the DIY punk venues we’ve played over here. On this tour they have consistently been among the funner and more well attended shows we’ve had. The gig in Brno was very much of that variety. Great club, stage, sound system, etc. The food was great, too.
The next night was Prague. Anyone who knows me has heard me babble on about my love of that beautiful city. The gothic architecture and the stone bridges that cross the Elbe River look straight out of a fairy tale and everyone we have met there has been gracious, charming and hilarious. We have been very fortunate to have gotten to work with our friend Ondrej Sturma of Scrape Sound for all of our Czech shows and he always sets us up in cool venues with large crowds. He also prepares one hell of a spread for breakfast. This visit to Prague we played at the Basement Bar supporting Protomartyr from Detroit. They were cool guys and seemed as excited as we were to speak to fellow countrymen. It can be quite comforting to hear an American accent when you’ve been traveling abroad for a while. Prague was a treat, as it always is.
The next night in Plzen was again very good. We played at the Pod Lampou as we did last time and had a ball with the two other bands, Core Belief and a band of New Zealanders called Hollywoodfun Downstairs. All very good company for the night.
Next we were off to Germany. Germany has always been weird for us. We’ve played there a lot, both as a duo and with David Yow singing, and it has never been especially good. Our very first time there, in Berlin in 2007, when I leaped off stage and hit a guy for spitting on me, was well attended but after that the whole country has been a little cold. I always feel trepidation about playing German shows, but this time our gigs in both Leipzig and Berlin were pretty good and we had some fun without any fistfights. It is pretty awful, however, that smoking in bars is allowed there. The thick, smoky air made it pretty difficult to sing and we both were left with sore throats. It’s funny, I smoked for almost twenty years. I always smoked inside at home and was often a bit of an asshole about it. Now, five years later, I find it unspeakable that anyone in the civilized world would commit such an atrocity.
Following Berlin we had two days off. The plan was to have no days off on this tour, however, we had two last minute cancellations and I must say, it was a welcome respite. We played thirty one shows, each in a different city, without a break and having a couple days to get some much needed rest was a godsend. We kicked around in Germany for a day and drove to Plzen, CZ, the following day to get close to our next show in Prachatice. We had played this small Czech town on our previous tour, enjoyed it very much, and were happy to be able to return for yet another lively show at a unique venue. Now we’re here in Vienna, going on in about an hour. Vienna, too, is usually a good tour stop for us. Hopefully that trend continues.
K, bye.
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