Toronto! Fuck yea!

Thanks for the awesome reception dudes and dudettes! Was great to be back and see some familiar faces.

This marks the first time Swashbuckle has played with a drummer who isn't Captain Crashride. As you may or may not be aware, Crashride was arrested for mopery (revealing himself to a blind person), thus negating is ability to legally enter Canada. We enlisted the likes of Paul Christian of the central New Jersey experimental metal band We All Have Day Jobs, who from this point forward shall be known as Bootsmann Collins. He killed it in Toronto and will be accompanying Nobeard and myself the rest of the Ensiferum tour.

We are pumped as fuck to play Quebec City tonight. This town was the BEST crowd on last year's North American Paganfest so we are expecting good things. See you all tonight!

Backstage Beer Info
Toronto:

Molson Canadian
Moosehead Lager

St. Paul

So it feels like I was just here. Oh wait... I was, with Heathenfest. Zing! Only this time, it has been brought to my attention that the club has one of my favorite beers on tap - Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat! w00t!

So, watching some football, enjoying some beer. About to sup on tasty chinese and/or pizza. Tonight marks the end of our first stint on the Monsters of Death tour with Vader. We book it home tonight and then meet up with Ensiferum December 1st in Canada.

Crazy Times

So Crashride was not let into Canada. Fuck us. We hauled ass from upstate New York to Detroit to catch our friends in Eluveitie and Alestorm kick some ass on Heathenfest. I ended up ditching my 'Buckle mates for some far more enticing company. I feel very lucky I was able to tag along with Heathenfest for a few days before meeting back up with the Monsters of Death package in Detroit again. Eluveitie puts on one fucking kick ass show. The recent shows have been mediocre at best. No showers, no food, what little beer we have is spread thin amoungst 6 bands and crew. I eagerly await our return to the Ensiferum tour at the beginning of December. Those shows are sure to be ass-whooping.

The show tonight in Addison, IL is actually pretty good. I had some tasty tortellini. Really good presale ticket wise. The much better venue here around Chicago called the Pearl Room closed down apparently, so we were forced to take refuge in this lesser known venue called the Pyramis Club. However, this turned into a fruitful gain as the venue is located directly next door to a great thrift store where Crashride and I plundered many a flannel shirt and mesh hat. Trucker Metal is the future.

Springfield, VA @ Jaxx

You people have no idea what a relief it is to finally play a show with bands whom I can enjoy musically. Tonight marks the first date on Ensiferum's From Afar tour. And fuck hell do I love me some Ensiferum. They are currently in the middle of Lai Lai Hei. A personal favorite. They might as well have perfected organized noise in my opinion. Petri was diggin or stuff heavily. Super stoked about this. Also get to enjoy the company of our old pals Blackguard again. Those crazy Canadians have not changed a bit. Good times. It is very sad to think that I only get another day of this and don't return to their tour until December.

Rolling into Allentown, PA for what may be considered out "hometown" show. Even thought its two hours away from home. Family and friends will pile in in droves.

Backstage Beer Info
Springfield:
Amstel Light

Baltimore, Maryland @ Sonar

This show kinda blows goats. No shower. No backstage. No food. No beer! Have we been spoiled by the might and wonder of European venues? Maybe? Or maybe this place just sucks the longest, girthy dick imaginable.

The only thing I ate today was a cold slice of pizza for breakfast at my house and then half of a sweet onion chicken terriyaki sandwich from Subway. I look forward to the Canadian shows for a bit more hospitality.

Worcester tomorrow @ The Palladium.

Backstage Beer Info:
Baltimore:
Beer? I wish.

~RR

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.

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