Week 2: Berlin / The Tour Begins

9/2/13, 9/3/13, 9/4/13 – Berlin

Night train. Very loud Vietnamese people. Legs weaved and staggered to attempt comfort. No avail. Few hours of sleep. Sun spills on fast winding river. Hollowed out bodies of pre-1940's industry. Plush green rolling hills. Wake up to very loud Vietnamese people. They leave. I pass out on empty seats. Miss station. Wake up at Berlin main station. Get on different train. Get off at stop I think is mine. Walk around trying to match street names I have on scribbled napkin map. Try to find wireless. No avail. Talk to guy. Stop isn't mine. Back on train. Get off. Walk in direction. Finally find wireless. Turns out I was going to wrong place all along. Get a hold of friend Steffi. She says something along the lines of “you're an idiot - wait there.” Go to her place 6 hours later than I should have. Finally rest. Shower. Food. Rest. Nothing. Nothing. Acoustic Astpai show at Ramones Museam. Drunken deep fried veggie smattering for like 1 Euro. Nothing. Some Turkish market. Somewhere else. Delicious vodka club soda drinks. Nothing. Roof. Skype calls. Nothing. Sleep. Nothing. More food. Check my Facebook like 12 times. Make blog. Nothing. Bars. Good Riddance show. Bars. Food. Sleep. Really cool gigantic park that is an old airport with community gardens, art mini golf, people who still roller blade, and the coolest remote control helicopters ever doing flips (cool!). Sunset. Food. Doing basically nothing for three days feels so good. Sleep.

9/5/13 – Ex-wives/ Villa Nachttanz, Heidleburg, GER

Depart Berlin. Meet up with ride share (Germany has a ride share system with many rides and specific times/prices going all over the continent – cool!). Martin. Works figuring statistics for distributing unemployment money. Just quit job because he hates it. Also quit to save marriage. But just recently wife left him. Driving to Heidleburg to drink with good friend and figure it all out. Super bummed. Story - “Growing up I lived with father in small East German town. I lost long term girlfriend. Father asks what I need. I say I want is a cold Coke in a glass bottle. Father comes back a half hour later with a cold Coke in a glass bottle (communism isn't a huge fan of Coke). He tells me “nothing is permanent – live for the small things.” I sigh. I tell him to come to show to figure it all out. He listens to good music though, so no. Drops me off at venue.

Villa Nachttanz. Three story building with show space in basement, themed art rooms for dance parties, outdoor stage, party tower, bunk trailer for bands, giant hammock, fire pit (cool!). Free - Appetizers. Drinks. Dinner. Drinks. More drinks. We play. Sweat. Dancing. So much sweat. So much dancing. Martin shows up and dances harder than literally anyone. Someone goes face first into Jared's bass. Show lets out. Drenched bodies hit cool air. I walk back and forth between the bar and the fire. Tired. Drunk. I pass out in trailer.

9/6/13 –  Sabot, Wiesbaden, GER/Melanie 

Wake up. Stumble to freezing cold shower made out of plumbing parts in a utility closet. I shoot bees with really huge squirt gun. Lay on sunny hammock for a while. Hangs. Depart to Wiesbaden. Arrive at Sabot. Skinny bar with no room for drums. Buy some beers and adult size juice boxes to mix. Hangs. Open bar with good vodka and torso length straws. Homemade pasta pretzel dinner. We play. Sweat. Dancing. More drinking. Good buddy hangs. We kill bottle of delicious weird mint Baileys like liquor. My friend Melanie. She tells me I'm a loud American dumps a bottle of sparkling water over my head and slaps me. We joke about moving a car. Melanie convinces as to move the car. Four of us on the count of three only crunch the bumper. Some thirteen year old gangster kid tries to convince me it's a not a “drag” of a cigarette but a “hip” in English. I ask him if he means “hit.” He makes some snarky “no” sound. Fucking idiot. 

9/7/13 – Practice Space, Hannover, GER/Dance parties

Wake up. Lionel Richie shower dancing. Everyone should listen to the new Kanye West “Yeezus” album. Donut coffee dipping and mozzarella sandwiches. Depart to Hannover. Awesome complex called Glocksee with skate ramp, squash court, multiple show spaces, metal sculptures, recording studio, apartments, theater (cool!). Drink with friends on picnic table. Pass out in van. Get woken up minutes before we're supposed to be on. We play. Tiny cement wheat pasted basement room. Sweat. Dancing. So much sweat. Unsuccessful crowed surfing. Someone bowled through the mic stands. Show lets out. Bummed my friend Anna of Russia didn't show (it turns out I gave her the wrong date and missed her by a handful of hours and kilometers. I sigh). Dance party in other room of the complex. We can't sneak in. Walk to weird German festival aftermath. Beer hall style bar full of people with suspenders, funny hats. Headset DJ playing traditional German songs. Walk to another bar. Ten very old haggard locals. Leave quickly. Go to another dance party. I dance with some girl for a minute before a fumbled beer hand off between Dave (our driver) and explodes. Leave. Everyone departs to sleep. Dave and I depart to sleep in van. Dance party at venue still going on. Get in. Too tired. Pass out in van. 

9/8/13 – BLA, Bonn, GER/Judith & the Lime Vodka Adventure 2.0

Wake up in van. Decide it's a good idea to walk barefoot in party aftermath to take pictures. Glass foot. Pick up everyone else at apartment. Two Euro sandwiches. Depart to Bonn. Arrive at BLA. Nice clean bar. Immediately start hearing stories about the last time Dave was at bar he proposed to the bartender and peed on someones face in his van. Dave clarifies it wasn't his face and proposes to the bartender again. Hangs. Drinks. Free veggie burger fry dinner from place next door. We play. No one really does anything. We talk shit to audience. Some people get mad. Hang out after. Invited to stay at some guys house watch sports and go to an amusement park. Instead we are told there's another dance party by some kids in a German electro punk band. We meet the girls house we originally planned to stay at. Head to dance party. Bottle of lime vodka appears. Tastes like a delicious Capri-sun. Empty bottle rolls down street. Get to dance party. It's a shitty bar playing Depeche Mode where a man with one ear is yelling at people outside to be quiet (ironic). We hang for a bit. Head back to Judith's place. Pick up empty vodka bottle. Replace with rack of beer. Binders of acoustic songs by Judith. Drum set made of pots and pans play with wooden spoons. A forbidden room. Pass out.

9/9/13 – Exhaus, Trier, GER/Bottle Cap Betting

Wake up. Awesome breakfast of cheeses, spreads, and dad's homemade jelly. Judith is great. Depart to Trier. Arrive at Exhaus. Graffitied old school house that is also an after school and kindergarten funded by the government and dance parties. Horizontally managed, and works (cool!). Big delicious fake meat chili sort of meal. Beers. Another bottle of vodka. Sting, Queen, and Kendrick Lamar. Finish bottle of Vodka. Turns out we missed the opening band. We play. Dancing. Sweat. Singing along. Finish. Go straight to bar. Invent game of throwing bottle caps into various sized containers behind the bar betting shots. Very cute bartender is very annoyed. Way too many shots. End up on back trying to load out. Pass out.