Saturday, October 3, 2009

Vienna & Linz


Austria, you have treated the entire Paganfest package with fervent devotion and we all appreciate it. Vienna had a crazy crowd and you treated Swashbuckle with particular admiration. For this, we hail you. Can't wait to come back. It was a rainy a day, so I didn't get a chance to check out the town. I hear there is alot of great history to see, around Mozart's old stomping grounds no less. Our bus call was very late (or early?), at 9 am. Luckily there were two bars close to the venue - one, a killer metal club sporting great 80's hits; the other, a raging reggae hip-hop club. We bounced back and forth between the two. Ever thought Korpiklaani was into reggae? Me neither. Apparently we were all wrong.

The show tonight in Linz is literally a circus. Unleashed is on stage now, and so far on stage we have had a shopping cart gundown, a ninja attack, a roman toga party, the chartoon character Obelix, a pirate dingie row across the backdrop, a "viking longboat", and there are still two more bands to go...

Backstage Beer Info:
Vienna:
Ottakringer

Linz:
Gösser
Salzburger Stiegl
Kaiser Fasstyp

Off to the United Kingdom for a bit 'o tea with the Queen and some needed r. & r.

Cheers
~RedRum

Picture unrelated.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Tour Bus Fire & Innsbuck

I have never found myself in more elegant surroundings prior to today's show in Innsbruck, Austria. The city is almost completely surrounded by the Alps. Every way you look, your eyes are greeted by these massive geologic wonders. Though, I am saddened to think that to the natives, these are just business as usual. I spoke to a few locals and they say they often forget what the horizon looks like. If they ever travel through the central Unites States, I'm sure they'll never forget such drab, static landscapes that exist in places like Tennesee and beyond.

I walked into the city center early with Alestorm and Anders from Unleashed. We were following signs to some sort of Alpine Zoo, but when we realized a cable car trip was necessary, we deserted this plan and had a few beers outside in the town square. The name of the brew escapes me, but trust me, there is nothing like enjoying a good beer accompanied by an ever better view.

Now that I've got all the enchanted hippie nature loving stuff out of the way, I suppose I should also discuss the horrible towering inferno that was our tour bus's engine two nights ago. After the show in Graz, we got on the road and started drinking. Heavily. About a half hour into the long drive to Milan, a couple people downstairs started noticing a fowl stench upon the air. After placing the blame on Anders of Unleashed, we realized (as did the driver) that it was a problem with the bus itself. We veered off into a timely placed gas station, half of us ran out to grab fire extinguishers, and the other half went upstairs to wake the sleeping passengers. I took some really great footage of the event, the only footage of the actual fire before it was doused, but the bus company is complaining that their good name may be tarnished should it be released. I'm not sure why I'm obeying this false authority. Their bus did catch on fucking fire. We rescued every drop of alchohol from that vehicle and got some rooms at a conveniently placed hotel across the street from the gas station. We spent the next day there, confined to the hotel and said gas station. In hindsight, it was great to have a day off, but apparently the crowd in Milan was incredible, and I really wanted to go to Italy. Ahh well, maybe next time.

The show tonight in Innsbruck was great. Nothing really special, but as we are winding down, the bands come closer together on tours like this, which is admirable. The best part was definitely the cliffs, crags, and mesas. This place will be sorely missed.

Backstage Beer Info:
Innsbruck:
Schwechater

Two dates left...
~RedRum