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
