Well I totally fell off the blog band wagon...

But it wasn't my fault! Internet has been crap the past 4 days. I'm finally getting a period of respite in which I can update all my social networking thingamajigs. Just so the train of thought hasn't been completely abandoned, post-Pratteln we've seen Illingen, Eindhoven, Stuttgart, and Zlin, in Germany, The Netherlands, Germany, and the Czech Republic respectively.

A basic grading of the shows is exhibited hereunder:
Illingen - Ok
Eindhoven - Great
Stuttgart - Tremendous
Zlin - Buttfuckingly shitty.

and tonight's show in Budapest - Buttfuckingly Awesome.

I suppose the most notable happening that was undertaken was Volksfest, Stuttgart's annual autumnal fair (essentially Oktoberfest). Our good friend Marc Raner of the company Vans for Bands came out to our show in Stuttgart and was kind enough to give me a lift to the festival. I had a towering mug of Fürstenberg, stole the stein, listened to a German cover band perform a not so favorable rendition of "Walking on Sunshine", walked around the carnival rides, then headed back to Paganfest. Good times were had by all.

Backstage Beer Info:
Budapest:
Soproni

The missing cities' beer info is lost to the halls of history. They weren't very good tasting anyway.

We're rounding out this tour with a couple Austria shows and one in Italy.

~RedRum

Pratteln

So we're back in Pratteln, at the venue Z7 where we played the Metal Dayz festival earlier this year. There is a large erotic shop right down the street that we were unable to get to last time, but we had plenty of time today so Stijn and I galavanted off for a while. There we stumbled across a very unique magazine...

This is the first, and only venue on this tour with a washing machine and dryer, so everyone is waiting patiently in queue. I don't think I brought enough clean cloths to last the whole tour, so this is quite the windfall.

Looking forward to a good show. Kai from Eluveitie is here running some of the merch from here on out, and I believe some other members of Eluveitie will be here later to watch the gig.

Backstage Beer Info:
Pratteln:
Gralsburg Export

See you all tonight
~RedRum

Lyon

Ahh, Southern France, why are you so beautiful? Lyon is a happening little city. Apparently there are something on the order of 25 colleges here. Staggering. The college area reminds me a lot of the school I went to, Rutgers University in Jersey. Alestorm (minus Dani) and I meandered across one of the rivers here to the more affluent area of the city, saw a couple nice cathedrals, almost made it to some badass castley looking structure, but had to take the metro back to the venue in time for Swashbuckle's soundcheck. I had some delicious chocolate tasting thing from a little pastry shop enroute.

This is a very nice venue as well. Although the net connection has been shotty at best. I'm lucky I had an opportunity to fire this post off. Pretty crap beer, but then I suppose France isn't necessarily known for its skills in that arena. Perhaps I should have tried to find some wine...

Backstage Beer Info:
Lyon:
Biere Blonde de Luxe

~RedRum

Paris and Magic Merlin's Birthday

Happy birthday to our mystical drum tech, Merlin (of Eluveitie fame). Hope all your dirty dirty Swiss birthday wishes come true, my friend. The man materializes from a mist of sorts, effortlessly constructs the kit to each drummer's specifications from memory and then tirelessly stands guard should a high-hat clutch fail or a stick disengage from hand. His consistency is something all should strive for. Can't wait to be on tour with him again next year alongside Eluveitie...

Paris packed some surprises for us. The venue we performed in is next door (quite literally) to the most famous cabaret in the world, The Moulin Rogue. Because of this, we were forbidden from sound checking, or making any noise of significance until after the show next door was through at 8pm. Then we subjected the Parisians to our unique brand of metal. They were clearly prepared. We were expecting a much tamer crowd, but the fuckers loved it. Simply put, the audience was beastly.

Prior to the show I walked, or rather scaled, the Montmarte area with Crashride and our sound engineer Stijn. Here, at the highest point in Paris, sits the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, and what a grand cathedral it is. As we entered, Crashride, in a completely honest display of piety, muttered: "Should we take off our PAGANFEST tour passes?". I laughed. Then we went in.

Because it is the highest point in Paris, from it's steps, you get a grand view of the entire city and can pick out such landmarks as Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower, and Les Invalides. It was at this point, as I gazed across the Paris skyline, that I smiled and pondered the thought that my droll little pirate band has taken me this far. It's funny how things work out. We probably won't have a better cityscape for the rest of the tour. It felt like we were in The Da Vinci Code. Both the movie, and the novel by Dan Brown.

Next time we're in Paris I will be sure to get down to the Louvre. I'm ashamed for not giving myself the opportunity to see the works from, among others, the masters of High Renaissance.

Oh well, we'll be back.

Backstage Beer Info:
Paris:
Kronenbourg

Since the only French I know is from those old Muzzy language learning commercials and Frasier episodes and a good Frasier quote escapes me, I'll leave you with this:

Je suis une jeune fille
~RedRum

Antwerpen

Belgium, you fuckers brew kick ass beer. Some wonderful fans brought us a case of Piraat, a delicious 10.5% alcohol content ale, which I'm still enjoying while typing this post. To put the proverbial icing on the cake, I am also eating a prepackaged Belgium waffle snack. It's a beautiful thing.

So this was the second of three extended shows and I'm rather saddened that I have to wait a whole week to see Moonsorrow again. They put on another great show tonight and will be missed during the rest of this tour, save the remaining extended date in Stuttgart.

Paris tomorrow.

Backstage Beer Info:
Antwerpen:
Karlsquell Pils

w00t!
~RedRum

Dortmund and Erfurt

Insane catering tonight in Dortmund. Look at all those options! God I love the way the Euro's do metal shows. Tonight was the first extended show in which Einherjer and Moonsorrow were added to the lineup. It was great to finally see Einherjer. I had heard many good things about their live show and they did not dissapoint. Moonsorrow had a 45 minute set and I am pleased to report they played only two songs. A 30 minute song, and a 15 minute song. Gotta love 'em. Its been too long. Their epicness eclipses the rest of the bands on this tour by leaps and bounds. Its a bummer that we only get to share a stage two more times with these guys.

Chris from Alestorm went to the hospital this morning complaining of stabbing pain behind his eyes. He came back in time to play the show, but had to borrow my sun glasses because his pupils had been dilated. Afterward, some chick and her boyfriend tried stealing them. Thankfully, Chris, in his half-drunken state, remembered that they were in fact mine and rectified the situation. People, get your own sunglasses. You do not need ours.

Can't wait for Belgium tomorrow for awesome beer and another extended show.

Backstage Beer Info:
Dortmund:
Brinkhoff's No. 1 Premium Pilsner
(Note: There is nothing Premium or No. 1 about it.)

Backstage Beer Info:
Erfurt:
Braugold Spezial Pilsner

Cheers all
~RedRum

Frankfurt

Its Gaz's birthday today. He is fucking GONE at the moment. I think he's drank everything we've put in front of him. Excellent.

I regretfully did not get to check out the surrounding area today near the venue, but I have been to Frankfurt before on our journey a few months back to Wacken, so I know it is a bit of a bore. This notwithstanding, it is my pleasure to tell you, Frankfurt, that you might be the craziest crowd we've seen yet on this tour. While this venue is fairly small, it is blessed with a certain charm that I can't quite pin down. Although the show was sold out, people came to hang around outside in a large outdoor patio type thing, knowing that they couldn't get in. I don't think you'd see that in the States for a show like this at a relatively small venue. Pretty cool.

Nobeard is getting over a bad head cold. Crashride has just fallen victim to it, I believe. I fear I may be next. I am fighting off this internal bilogical attack by means of awesome local pizza. Who would have thought there to be good pizza in, of all places, Frankfurt?

So we're in Germany for a couple more days then we'll hit up Belgium, hopefully for tasty chocolate.

Backstage Beer Info:
Frankfurt:
Binding Export

~RedRum