PROPAGANDHI- EUROPE 2008

Monday, July 28th, 2008


I am sitting here in pretty new airplane over the Atlantic Ocean heading to Frankfurt, Germany where I will meet up with the fellows in the rock group Propagandhi where we all will catch a flight to Helsinki, Finland too begin a Scandinavian/Belgium/German tour. The lighting in the vehicle is a very nice blue/ purple and the entertainment system is a touch screen state of the art system….I guess?

The last 2 months have been extremely go, go, go and I think it is slowly catching up to me. Unfortunately I can not sleep on flights so all my body will have to take this a little more until we finally arrive in Finland later today (or tomorrow shall I say).

In the past 2 months I did a 3 week Canadian tour with my friends in Strike Anywhere from Richmond, VA. I was home in Montreal for a couple days when I then I hitched a ride for 3 days to Philadelphia, PA with my friends The Loved Ones. I got to hang out with these fine folks and manage to watch Snoop Doggy Dog from side stage as well on this trip. Once in the US I headed to DC where I went camping in the Appalachians with my friend Helene before heading up to New Jersey to start the Warped Tour with the Bouncing Souls. The Souls and myself only did 8 shows on the summer circus which was quite enough for sure. The last 2 times doing this tour I have been on the whole thing which is a full 2 months of brutal work, and conditions and these 8 shows sometimes felt like it was 2 months.

Warped Tour is a extremely whack tour to begin with but this year was totally bonkers. You had huge pop-artists on this tour who had their own security guards and entourages with them at all time. You had one artist who would clear the womens bathroom before her set so she could do her make up. Bonkers!!! Out of about 100 bands I only liked 3 of them. The Bronx, Against Me!, and the wonderful and always amazing Bouncing Souls.
Thanx always!!!

Warped ended about 3 days ago when I then flew home for 12 hours to wash clothes, wash the parking lots out of my body, before driving to Toronto-yesterday- for a Propagandhi show before our actual adventures “over the pond”.

This next tour seems like it is going to be completely INSANE!! Places we are visiting on this run are Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and Germany. I am pumped because it’s another visit to Scandinavia for me. A first to Norway!! Propagandhi hasn’t played Sweden in about 13 years from what Jord was saying last night and have never played Finland and possibly Norway either though I am not sure.

Last night’s show in Toronto was totally off the wall. It was a sold out show-1000 cap- at the Phoenix which is a bigger venue in the city. I knew the kids were going to loose their minds as they always do with this band from what I have seen from my last tour plus the few times I had seen them in the past. Since their touring is very seldom it makes for extremely special events and the whole thing is basically a spectacle of sorts.
This tour it seems is always going to be special because the set list from what I heard last night #1 RULED!!!! and #2 had about 4 new tight jams for everyone to take in. This is a band who takes their musicianship extremely extremely serious. Yes they do not tour that often- and who could blame them- so while at home they practice around 3-5 times a week, have been doing this for years and you can tell from their tunes (new and old). Practice makes perfect.

These days bands have the routine they stick too. Record a record, tour on this record for a good year and a half and then record another record, repeat repeat repeat until either everyone is burned out or the fans are over it. All good things come to an end always!!
There are some who can definitely pull it together and do this very very well but for the most part this isn’t the norm.

And then again on the other side of it you have bands who do not tour that much and don’t put out records that often and nowadays there shows aren’t what they used to be. So…..it just all depends… On what? I’m not sure.


WEDNESDAY- JULY 30, 2008- HELSINKI- FINLAND

So today I met Saku Koivu the captain of the one and only Montreal Canadiens!!!
Rad!!!

I went to the downstairs of our hotel to get a password for the internet and as I was walking inside the lobby I see Saku just sitting there. As soon as I saw him I knew it was him so I said “right on man!!. I’m from Montreal” and then we started talking for awhile about the Habs last year, how they are looking this year, who we may still get on our team and when training camp starts. He mentioned he was at the hotel because the Finnish National team was having a meeting. That means if this was the case tere was a lot more NHL players in the hotel but I didn’t see any of them. He asked what I was doing in Finland and I mentioned I was on tour with a band playing in town tonight and Turku tomorrow. It turns out his home town is Turk, Finland and he will be there tomorrow night. So he told me to put him on the guest list “plus a few guys” and he may show. YEEHAAW!!! After I mentioned I would put him on the list I asked for a signature and that was that.

I went up stairs and went straight to Chris and Beave’s room due to my giddiness and knowing they have the same giddiness. As soon as word came out that Koivu was in the building and the rest of the National team Chris seriously LEAPED out of bed and said “WHERE WHERE!!!? NO WAY!!!”
Classic!!!

Okay so we arrived in here in Helsinki yesterday afternoon after a long couple hours of plane rides and layovers. Flying into Helsinki ruled hard. I have been here once before but came by ferry which also rules but seeing the landscape, and the coast from the air is definitely amazing. Once we flew over Germany the flight path took us over the Baltic Sea towards the coast of I would say Eastern Sweden and then onto Finland. The coast of Finland is so absolutely beautiful with tons and tons of waterways, inlets with tons and tons of Islands everywhere. It’s really special. ITS FINLAND!!

We landed, gathered our gear and were picked up by a fellow named Janne who took us to the hotel. There wasn’t any sort of a border whatsoever which was funny to witness. We walked through 2 automatic doors to the main lobby of the airport and all joked “well that was the border”

Most of us were completely delirious with jet lag and exhaustion but all our stomachs were empty so after we dropped our bags off we headed our to a Nepalese restaurant to eat some pretty good food before heading back to the hotel to call it a night.

This morning I woke up from a knock from Chris who informed Todd and I that there was a really good breakfast downstairs that is worth checking out. I felt pretty weird-jet lag- but figured I needed to get up and get used to it. Walking into the banquet hall for breakfast was definitely interesting and crazy. Usually most hotels free breakfast are beyond basic and there is just a couple people eating. Well not here in Helsinki. The hall was filled with every seat taken-about 100 people id say- and there was about 4 buffet stations plus counters filled with stuff most of which non of us could eat but it was still amazing. There was tons and tons of fruit which we all piled onto our plates and a nice berry salad which was had native(Scandinavia) Lingonberries with strawberries.

After eating I went back up to my room where I did some yoga due to a sore back from the travels and exhaustion. I met up with Jord/ Sam where we cruised the streets of Helsinki, and ate before we had to head to the venue. I like Helsinki and I love Scandinavia!!. Always have. We stopped into a café and had ourselves and afternoon Finnish beer before heading back to the hotel.

Now I find myself at the venue where the doors are open and kids are filtering in.
Tonight’s show is going to rule hard as they all will. Propagandhi has never played in Finland before so it’s going to be a special night.

I must say their new songs completely destroy and I would say are the most technical to date which is insane too think about seeing how this band is already crazy technical.


Friday- August 1, 2008- in and airplane heading to Norway

Currently we are flying from Helsinki, Finland to Oslo, Norway where we then hop on another plane to Trondheim, Norway located on the west coast of Norway about half way up country. From there we will then hop in a van to drive 2 hours south for a fest this evening where we play at midnight. Other bands on this fest are bands such as Sons & Daughters/ Blondie/ and Lee Scratch Perry however due to our travels today and tomorrow I don’t think we will catch any of them which is fine. On our flight today is Blonde Redhead who are doing the same shows as us so we all talked in the security line about where we were heading, them, and about our shows.

We have played 2 shows (Helsinki, and Turku- Finland) so far on this adventure with more to come.
Helsinki’s show was at a venue named Tavastia’s Klubi which was around the corner from our hotel. A nice venue with a capacity of 450 or so I’d say. From what Barney said the venue had an incredible PA system which he was pumped on which ultimately pumps everyone up due to good sound. The show was sold out and was part of some festival however I am not sure of its name. This particular day there was 4 bands and 2 stages in the venue so while one band was playing downstairs a band would be setting up their stage upstairs and rotate like such. The show was sold out and the kids were pumped. It’s a lot of fun doing stage for this band and getting to see the show up close and the kids loosing their minds. The show went off without a hitch and everyone was content for their first show in Finland. After the show a couple of us joined Barney in his room for a coulple beers and laughs.

Yesterday Todd and I slept in right until check out so I am assuming that was the jet lag kicking in. We headed down stairs where Janne picked us up to drive to Turku, Finland the birthplace of Saku Koivu and Toskala (don’t know how to spell homeboys first name). On the drive we pulled over at a gas station to relief ourselves and they had vegan ice cream bars/ cones. RIGHT ON!! In the middle of Finland at some random gas station we could get a nice little treat on a nice sunny day.

We arrived in Turku where the venue manager greeted us and was a very nice fellow. The venue yesterday was also called Klubi and was the same situation as the night before with it being a festival with bands downstairs and upstairs. After we loaded in and soundchecked we all headed out to an Indian food joint to eat some dinner before the nights events. Some people went back to the hotel before heading to the venue for a quick nap while I cruised back to the venue to watch things go down. The band that played before us was a band named The Unseen who are from Boston and who I am somewhat familiar with. I have never ever heard them really but my friend Matt did play with them on a tour a couple years ago. They were nice dudes but not really my thing.

After they were done and the stage was clear we set up our gear and waited for the band downstairs to finish before we could start. The venue was packed with people waiting patiently for Propagandhi to take the stage. We used some of the backline that we brought with us from Helsinki and some of the backline that was at the venue.

I/ or non of us are fans of barricades at venues just due to them being pretty weird and “separating”. Last nights venue had a barricade however it wasn’t anything huge and was only about 1.5 ft from the stage plus was at peoples mid sections. I do think the show would have been the exact same vibe even if had the barricade not been in place and it definitely cut back on people getting on stage. When there are people jumping on stage from all directions sometimes it gets a little crazy.

Last nights show was a very hot show. The stage floor within the first couple songs become pretty damp/ slippery so much that Todd ditched his shoes/ socks and ended up putting towels under both feet to rock out. A sight too see! It looked as if he was mopping the stage floor. Later on in the set a beach ball came flying on the stage as one did in Helsinki however last night right after the ball an actual rubber raft came flying over the crowd and found its way on stage. A rubber dingy!!!! Funniest thing ever. So Chris hopped in it and played a song while standing inside this inflatable boat. Too funny. Towards the end of the set Beaves guitar started acting up so I ran over to try diagnose the problem the best I could. We couldn’t figure out the problem so we ditched all the patching and went straight into the amp which made things a little better but not how they should have been. Thankfully it was at the end of the set so nothing crucial was lost. After the show we checked things out and we are pretty sure it was the amp so fingers crossed.

We are now descending to Oslo, Norway!!! YEAH!!!

August 4, 2008- flying from Copenhagen, Denmark to Brussels, Belgium

The last couple of days have been pretty interesting with some crazy travels, 2 moose spottings in Norway and many sleepless hours. About 48 of no sleep at all. Fortunately yesterday was the first real day off of tour and today is a day off as well except for our flight from Denmark to Brussels.

We woke up in Finland a couple days ago around 9 AM to drive 2 hours from Turku to Helsinki to catch a 12:30 flight which took us from Finland, through Oslo, and then onto Trondheim, Norway which we arrived in the late afternoon. From there we jumped in a van and drove about 2 hours to Medal, Norway where we were playing a festival with Lee Scratch Perry, Blondie and some others.

When we arrived in Medal we went straight to the hotel due to the “hideous” travels ahead with no sleep in sight. The hotel in Medal was absolutely amazing. I’ll do my best to describe what I can. There were 3 different log cabins on the grounds which had probably 5 separate hotel rooms in them. Each cabin had grass, greenery, moss and even a tree growing on top and out of the roof. A very very outdoorsy feel it was. There was a huge herb garden on the ground’s which I think is used in the kitchen of the place. This hotel was literally in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the mountains. I think it was being used by the fest for all the bands. There was no time to sleep so wee killed a couple hours of rest by eating some pasta which the cook made for us, hanging outside trying out stilts that were there too be used, and playing badminton. The funniest thing ever was seeing Barney walk on these stilts while Chris and himself tried to have fight each other while on this wooden legs. The lady who ran the place was super nice and brought us out a huge bowl of strawberries and sugar while we waited to get picked up so we could head to the fest grounds.

A van arrived to pick us up and it had been decided to bring all our belongings with us because from the fest we would head straight to the airport instead of coming 30 mins back to the hotel which was in the opposite direction making. The drive then would be the 2 hours from Trondheim to Medal not 2.5 hours from out hotel. On the way back to the venue site Todd spotted 1 moose which I managed to catch after hearing “Moose!” and then within 5 mins I hear Todd again yell “Moose, Moose, Moose” and there was another wonderful beast of the north. In NORWAY non the less!!!

Once at the fest grounds we unloaded, and Barney and I headed to our stage to take a look at everything.

This fest was a first for Propagandhi. It is not too often where you will find these dudes playing an outdoor fest which has huge barricades which separate the crowd/ band and on a huge stage. But seeing how there was no corporate sponsors they had agreed to play such fest.
On this show we didn’t have any sort of a real set up or sound check. Once the band before was done we had 1 hour to set up our stage/ dial in everything/ and do a quick line change. All went smoothly and Propagandhi went on at midnight as soon as Lee Scratch Perry was done “jamming”. Kids were pumped but the energy was definitely separated due to the barricade however it made my job a lil easier at that moment due to no kids on the stage and seeing how tired I/ we were I was okay with it.

After the set which was good considering our tiredness and only a line check we waited until 2:30AM to get picked up and drive back to Trondheim where we had a 6 AM flight to Oslo, onto Stockholm and then hop in a van for 6 hours to drive to Lund, Sweden.
Pheeewwyy!! Crazy travels.

The trip from Medal to Trondheim was in this Ford van mini which only had room for 6 not 7 people which we are. So seeing how late/ or early it was and how completely insane we all felt with no sleep at that time I volunteered to sit on the floor so we could just get to the airport. This sucked big time and was definitely not comfortable but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. If it was more then 2 hours I probably would not have done this.

A couple days before these adventures took place the band had a meeting to decided quite what to do with all the travels. When the tour was first booked we had another fest in Sweden booked which got cancelled therefore this made all the travels completely crazy due to re-bookings of shows. The band voted for “hideous”.

We eventually arrived in Lund, Svergie (Sweden) around 6:30PM after being awake since 9AM the morning before.
The venue we played in Lund was a really nice place as they have all been but this particular show had only been booked a couple days before hand so we all knew the place wouldn’t be packed and considering everyone’s energy level I would say that it wasn’t a bad thing. We set up our stage, the band sound checked and then we were fed a nice home cooked vegan meal of chili, bread, and rice. It’s always a nice thing over here in Europe being cooked food with love from the kids at the venues.

The show in Lund turned out to be okay. My friend Robert made it out which was nice to see him and hang out. Robert and I toured together a couple years ago with the (I)NC. In fact on that tour years ago I went and bought Propagandhi’s latest album the day it came out and Robert and I one night listened to it in the back of the bus. Funny!
This show the band wasn’t stoked on their gear at all. I know Chris’s amp was just a total pile from what he was saying and he wasn’t able to get the right sound out of it from the first song. You could tell during the set that this all was an issue so with this plus the lack of sleep I know the band has had WAY WAY better shows. But again from being a fan I didn’t think the show was horrible at all and went off okay under all the strain/ stress.

After the show was done we all headed to the hotel where everyone was planning on having their first sleep in almost 2 days. I was on my 2nd wind as well as most others so Sam, Chris, Jord, Barney, and myself actually went out to some left wing bookstore which was having a “party” after the show. It wasn’t much of a party besides being a sausage party with about 15 dudes who some were pretty intense in your face type people. They did give us free beer so we hung out for awhile and just watched everything go down. It was definitely a little weird due to some of the people.

After hanging there for awhile we all cruised back to get that much needed sleep.

The next day which would have been yesterday we were supposed to have a show in Copenhagen, Denmark however that show was cancelled days ago so a group of kids somewhere else in Denmark were trying to put together a show. We ended up pulling the plug on this show because the promoters were not able to get us the right gear to pull off such a last minute show.
Jord on his drum set uses 3 rack toms plus a floor tom while Beave, and Chris have specific amps they like but still play on many others. For this show the promoters were only able to get a drum kit with 1 rack tom plus a floor tom. The dudes mentioned maybe they could play a “comedy” set however the type of songs these fellows play and the technicality of them there would be no way for Jord to pull this off. He mentioned he would not know how to play most songs with such a kit and therefore it wouldn’t even be funny so with that, plus our lack of sleep they decided to cancel the date that was already cancelled.

Canceling the show yesterday gave us 2 days off in a row- today being a travel day.

August 7, 2008- Bochum, Germany @ the Matrix

So we are on the last leg of the tour with 2 shows played and 3 more left. We were picked up at the airport by our driver/ now tour mate Thomas who is from the Czech Republic. We drove to Antwerp, Belgium where we had rooms booked for all of us for the next 2 nights. We got checked in and all went out too look for some food after a day of flying/ driving. The part of town we were staying in seemed like the suburbs and there was nothing at all to eat. Most of the gang settled for these vegie wraps from a donor place and I ended up searching out a falafel due to the vibe of the donor place which I wasn’t feeling. Turns out the donor place from what everyone said wasn’t that good however my falafel wasn’t super great either but I’m glad I made that choice.
After eating we all hung out on some patio and had beers in celebration of Barney’s 46 (I think..if not 45) birthday which was nice and fun. Our night was spent outside drinking Belgium beer’s in celebration of a good fellow’s day of birth.

The next day we had a show in Temse, Belgium which was about 25 mins away from our hotel. The venue was a sort of a community center and was really really nice as are most of the venues of this sort in these parts. This particular venue had a huge computer room (about 6 computers), a game room, hammocks everywhere outside, and a nice kitchen where we were cooked an incredible meal later in the evening of pastas, salads, garlic spreads, chili, and even desert after the show for Barney’s birthday….A vegan cake!!
Temse’s show was completely haywire. The kids lost their minds and their were bodies flying in every which direction on stage. It was nuts. I am still bruised and battered from the evenings events and my clothes are still damp. It was so hot I had to ditch everything but the shorts and shoes that night which is something I don’t do often if at all. Little me baring my hunk of a body. Aaahahahaha. Also for that nights show Chris had a bad cable which needed to be switched and Jord’s drums had to be taped down due to them moving. It is a very interesting thing being drenched, in a very humid venue, with dampness everywhere trying to tape things down in the middle of the set. Let’s just say under these circumstances nothing works. The band destroyed it this evening and the kids helped them out with their energy. It was funny after the show seeing the floor of the club covered in sweat, mud, and broken glasses/ bottles.

Yesterday we played in Trier, Germany which was quite different then the Belgium show. The venue (the Exhaus) was another sort of community center which was super nice and HUGE. However the crowd last night was super duper chilled out and not very energetic at all. As soon as the dudes walked on stage people just stood there and didn’t say a word. It was quite weird in fact. It made my night a little easier compared to the chaotic night before which was okay but I wouldn’t trade that in for anything. This band deserves and needs craziness every night to be honest. And last night due to their being none the show wasn’t what it should have been and you could tell even from the dudes set. Earlier in the day though it was quite fun due to a rad soccer game Chris, Barney, Thomas and I played (Chris and I on a team- we lost) inside the venue in the gym. Super hot work out but much fun. We had tried to go swimming at the pool across the street but they were closing when we arrived so we opted for a hot work out instead.