This Boy's Life

2009-05-06T01:04:00.000-07:00

For the love of Jeff, has it really been since christmas since I posted last? Unreal. Anyway, here's some of the stuff that's happened since then for those of you I haven't talked to in a while...

- After careful consideration, Rosie and I have moved from Brisbane back to Byron Bay. We did this for several reasons:

First, Rose decided that she wanted to finish the art degree that she had started many years ago in Sydney. Fortunately, there is a great University not far from Byron that is highly regarded and has a great art program. Rosie is once again studying visual arts at Southern Cross University and she is excelling past either of our expectations. I'm so proud of her. You'll hopefully be seeing some of her work soon.

Second, we felt we were ready for a change. Living in Brisbane was great because for the first time, we got to experience what life was like when we were together all the time - which is something that wasn't possible when I was in comeback kid. In that regard, living in Brisbane was a complete success. Our apartment was great, our neighborhood was the perfect place for a young couple to live, we had a small, but lovely group of friends, etc. However, it was a costly place to live and we both felt like we weren't making progress towards future goals. We both hated our jobs and felt like we were just treading water. Now however, being in Byron is helping us to save money and to put effort into things that will solidify our future together.

Third, all of our friends were moving away and Byron was a solid base for us. We have Rosie's family, friends, and familiarity here. Basically, Byron is home.

Fourth, for the love of Jeff, if i'm living in Australia, i want to KNOW that I live in Australia. I want to go to the beach, go for a surf and a snorkel, go hiking, see palm trees, see wildlife around every corner, etc. I did not experience many of those aforementioned things living in Brisbane. I might as well have been living in Tampa or some chicken shit bull shit.

Fifth, The Gordon Family avocado trees

Alright! What elese...

- I have been composing for a film that will be released this Winter/American Summer. It's a documentary about Rosie's brother's very successful band Parkway Drive. The band decided a while back to create a documentary about the history of the band and of them being born of the Byron Bay scene. Like everything else the band does, they are creating it themselves. I think it's so rad that the band takes such a hands on approach to everything that concerns them. Everything they've achieved, they've done on their own terms and with a strong work ethic. So it's very fitting that they are making this movie on their own. It's also very fitting that the movie about the band that formed in the basement of 30 Parkway Drive, is also being made in that same basement at 30 Parkway Drive. It's been really exciting to be a part of it. While Ben (rosie's brother and drummer of Parkway Drive) is editing the movie in the basement, i'm upstairs composing the music for it. So it's very much a movie concerning all things Parkway Drive. I'm very honored to be a part of the film. There will be a trailer up shortly and the movie will be released August 7th, so keep an eye out.

- To pay the bills whilst working on music projects, i've been working at the Fig Tree Restaurant in Ewingsdale, literally a 10 minute walk down the road from our place. It sits on top of a hill that looks out over all of Byron Bay. Check it out.

Not a bad place to work. For the first time since i've lived here, I actually enjoy my job. Good times.

- I have sent away all of the documents and paid all of the fees I needed and now i'm waiting to officially be a Australian Resident. I already have a medicare card, so now I can get free healthcare, but becoming a resident will allow me vote, go to school, get a license, work as little or as much as I want, adopt a kangaroo, kiss a snake, and even become mayor of murwillumbah, or hell even yerongapilly or mullumbimby.

- I have been surfing more and more and have been getting pretty good for a midwestern boy. For some reason, it comes really natural to me. I love it for the same reasons i love playing live music. I find when I play live music - I feel nothing - which is a wonderful thing. I spend so much of my time everyday being aware of things, contemplating actions, choices, words, emotions. Sometimes I feel like a slave to my emotions and anxieties. But when I perform music live, it's almost like I blackout for a little while and I just release myself, let the music take hold of me and let it do to me what it will. Then when it's over, i think "whoa..where was I? What happened?" For a short perios of time, I had no thoughts, no worries, no feelings, no questions, nothing.

I experience the same phenomena wen surfing. When I'm out in the ocean, sitting on the board - i'm still contemplating things, but great things. I'm feeling the water, watching for the sets of waves rolling in, trying to decided if i'm in the best position and then what wave will I choose. And then when I decide, I'm gone. I blackout. And after I've just spent time floating on top of water i think, "whoa...what just happened." I don't remember much, but I do remember that for a short period of time, I felt nothing. It's a wonderful thing.

- This season of LOST is the best yet. What a wonderful show.

- I actually like vegemite now - unreal.

Anyway, that's about all for now. I'm coming home in June, which I cannot wait for. So friends, if you're around in June - get a hold of me and let's hang!

Later dudes.

Merry Christmas Dammit!

2008-12-24T15:26:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family!

Just wanted to drop everyone a quick hello and say Merry Christmas to all!

It sure is weird being in a tropical environment for the holidays. I've been going back and forth with feelings of happiness for a new kind of Christmas and sadness and yearning for the Christmas i've had at home for every 27 years of my life. On the one hand there's the positives of being away from the cold, new traditions, new family, etc. I mean, I woke up on Christmas eve and Rosie and I promptly went out into the sun and heat and went snorkeling. I even saw a jellyfish! That's a pretty rad Christmas eve. But on the other hand - no snow, no cold, no Sinatra Christmas songs, no Christmas eve mass at the Basilica in Minneapolis, etc. - it just doesn't feel right. I guess Australia is the best place to be for Christmas if i'm not going to be home, simply because it doesn't feel like Christmas. If I were somewhere else in America, or somewhere in the Northern hemisphere where it's cold and Christmas is a bigger deal, I think it would put me in that holiday spirit and make me wish so badly that I was home. But since there's none of the usual Christmas things i'm used to - I don't really notice that it's Christmas and therefor don't yearn for home.

Anyway, Christmas has been pretty rad so far. Rosie and I opened the gifts we recieved from my family (the Poo-Lar bear was especially fantastic -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7aOqWkhYig) and each other and we recieved some prettty rad gear. Now we're just busy cooking up Christmas dinner ("dinner" means "lunch" over here) and then we're off to see the rest of the Gordon family. Good times.

Here are some photos of the Holiday season here in Byron Bay. Enjoy! Merry Christmas!

Photos -
1. Kevin and Ray go for a surf on Festivus.
2. The tree with presents
3. A special Christmas friend.
4. Tree hunting. Rosie and I found a tree out the front of her house. A rite of passage - I finally hunted and cut down my own tree. My old man would be proud.

Procrastination

2008-09-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone..

I apologize for my lack of updates. Recently my hard drive crashed and I lost all of my photos and other essential items which leaves me with no photos to show all of you. Combine that with not having internet access at home, and it all adds up to me procrastinating on blogging. Does anyone even check this thing anymore? Is this thing on?

I am, however, going to be making an informative video of my neighborhood to give you all a better idea of my life in Brisbane. So look out for that soon.

I'll give you a brief rundown of what's been happening the past few months.

1. Summer is just starting to kick into gear and that means HEAT. Even in the beginnings of Spring, if the sun is out it means it's going to be a hot day. It's great though - it's half the reason I moved out here so bring on the heat!

2. I've started a new band with a couple of friends - Winston who sings in Parkway Drive and a good buddy named Luke Weber. So look out for that, it will smash your brain.

3. Rosie and I have just been working and taking little trips to Byron and greater Queensland when we can, which has been great. We also took a whale watching trip to Hervey Bay which was magical. If you haven't seen it already, i've made of video which you can check out here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXiWe5tlkEE

4. I've been slowly making progress a music career. I've been composing music for a few projects including an independent samurai film, the Parkway Drive (Rosie's brothers band) DVD which will be released next year sometime, and have made some contacts for hopefully some more scoring projects.

5. Financial Crisis, Cubs having a chance to win the World Series, historical upcoming presidential election, hurricanes - Man, I leave the country and all sorts of crazy shit happens. Maybe I should come back and sort everything out.

Talk to you soon.

-Kevin

Playing Catch Up

2008-02-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

Wow. I"ve been so bad at updating this thing it's unreal. A lot has been happening the past couple weeks and it would be impossible for me to recount everything, so i'll just give a quick rundown.

1.On Tuesday, February 11th, Rosie and I moved into our new place on Elystan Road in the neighborhood of New Farm in Brisbane, Queensland. New Farm is a lovely little neighborhood full of leafy streets, nice parks, quaint restaurants, coffee shops, and specialty stores. Our apartment is an old "queenslander" style house that has been converted into four apartments. It has a great feel to it, complete with sparkling hardwood floors, modern kitchen, and huge bedroom. It's located on a quiet street that is a stones throw from New Farm Park, a minute and a half walk from the brisbane river, and about 5 minute walk from a small retail center with a grocery store, bookshop, bakery, deli, bank, bike shop, etc. All in all, it's a perfect location.

2. We said goodbye to Byron Bay (or rather, see you soon) on that same Tuesday and it was bittersweet. It was exciting to finally be moving into our own place, but it was also nice just having a 4 week vacation full of surfing, good eating, hiking, swimming, good visits with the Gordons, and just relaxing and doing nothing. It was definitely what my body and mind was craving after 5 years of heavy touring. But Rose and I will be back there soon enough.

3. Rosie has started school at the Australian College of Natural Medicine and so far she is loving it and has learned a lot in only her first three days.

4. I've managed to see a couple shows since i've been here and learned that Brisbane has a pretty thriving music scene with some good bands. Hopefully i'll be able to start up my own band soon. I've certainly got the itch, it's driving me crazy. This is the first time i've been without a band in at least 10 years and i'm about to go bonkers.

5. Rose and I will be going to Syndey this weekend for a friends wedding. It will be awesome for us to get a break from Brisbane and head to the big city. Let's just hope the weather is decent instead of pissing down rain like it has been lately.

6. Fun facts, stories, etc. about my time here so far :

-The bats here are absolutely gigantic, the first week in our new place was marked with the sound of numerous bats squealing, fighting, and flapping their giant leather wings in the tree right outside our window. I was starting to have second thoughts about our apartment - but luckily the bats ate all the fruit that was in the tree and moved on. Now our place is quiet and calm at night.

- According to my friend Garreth from Liverpool, it's been raining here in Brisbane more than it has been in England. Buh? I thought Queensland was supposed to be the sunshine state. Ah well, at least it's been cool and not scorching.

-It's impossible to find a bad coffee in this country.

-It's summer, so all the critters are out. Our apartment is a regular host to Geckos. They mind their business though and they're pretty cute, so it's not a problem.

That's it for now. I'll be posting pictures when I get to someplace with a faster internet connection than the coffee shop i'm sitting at now. I'll also be posting a list of things that make Australia great. See you then.

.

Living Life

2008-01-20T22:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, so i'll try to make a recap of all the notable things that have happened since I left - i'll try not to make a novel out of it as well. Sorry it has taken me so long.

January 6th -8th

Said goobye to the fam and went to Minneapolis-St.Paul International airport. Flight was delayed by an hour. Arrived in Los Angeles, had no gate for our flight and had to wait on the tarmac for 20 minutes. Finally got off the plance, checked in for my flight, killed some time. Boarded the plane but because of a storm, had to wait on the runway for 2 hours. Lucky, was able to sleep during most of the 11 hour plan ride - a first for me, usually I can't sleep on planes. Landed in Nadi, Fiji at 8am. Hung out, ate some breakfast and waited for my flight that was scheduled to leave at 12:15. Found out that our flight would be delayed until 12:45, then dealyed again until 2:15, then again until 3:30, and again until 4:15. Spent 8 hours alone in a tiny, tiny airport with no AC and bastard kids running around and screaming at the top of their lungs. Finally went to board my flight, walked out onto the runway right as a torrential downpour started. Got onto the plane soaking wet. Arrived in Brisbane around 7pm. Got to say hello and hug Rosie for the first time in over 2 months. Went to our hotel, ate some food, fell asleep.

January 9th -

I knew that Silverstein (the band that we had toured with this whole past summer) were suppose to play in Brisbane that night. I talked to their bass player, Billy, over email a little bit but still didn't know the details of their show or if they had time to hang out in Brisbane. Rosie and I decided to spend the day shopping around different neighborhoods for places to live. While looking for apartments in an area called New Farm, I looked out my window into a cafe and who do I see? - All the Silverstein guys. Rosie pulled over quickly and I ran in and asked them what was on the menu for today and they about shit themselves. Hung out with them for a while, had a juice and caught up. As we were getting ready to leave, I looked across the room and saw my buddy Nick Lucas, whom I had met in London a couple years ago but hadn't seen in probably a year. I ran over to him and said hello and he also about shit himself. So it was a great time seeing old friends and what a great introduction to my new life in Australia. I took it as a sign that we should concentrate on finding a place in the New Farm area.

After more apartment searching and some dinner Rosie and I checked out the show which was a lot of fun. Kids in Australia love Silverstein. They had a great reaction and played a great show. Aftewards, Rose and I went back to our hotel and I got some much needed, jet lagged sleep.

January 10th - Present

Since then, Rosie and I have spent the last two weeks in Rosie's home town of Byron Bay. It's a great little town right on the ocean that has beautiful landscapes, great shops and places to eat, and plenty of tourists. It's settled down a little now, but the town just had an influx of kids on school holidays clogging the streets, beaches and hotels. The tourists and the weather has kept us at Rosie's house, just relaxing. Up until two days ago the weather has been pretty rainy and cloudy, far from the lazy, sunny days on the beach that I had imagined. But now things are backt o normal. The sun is out and it's bloody hot.

This past Saturday (which would've been Friday for you Yanks) Rose and I packed up a lunch and went to Whites Beach, which is a little secret beach a little ways from Byron. It was like something out of the movies. It was a beautiful day, we had the whole beach to ourselves, and we had a great swim. Here's some photos of our day there....

The walk to the beach

Whites Beach

The view from my towel

When we got home, I felt a little uncomfortable so I took off my shirt, only to see that I had been sunburnt to hell. It could've been a lot worse for spending all day in the sun, but it still hurt like hell.

You might not be able to tell how bad it got from this photo, but here is Rose and I with our sunburn and me holding a aloe vera leaf from the plant outside of the house - that little guy was my savior. I opened him up and slathered all the fresh aloe goo all over my sunburn and it really did the trick.

So that's it for now. I'll post again probably later tonight with the story of the 5 mile rainforest hike that Rose and I did yesterday. Word. See you then.

Letter From Australia

2008-01-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last post and a lot has happened. Let's see...Our Europe ended well and a great time was had by all, I played my last shows with Comeback Kid and they were a blast, Festivus and Christmas were both full of holiday joy and awesome hangouts with family and friends, made a last minute trip with my Pops down to Chicago and Springfield Illinois to visit family, chilled with my parents and watch tv for new years and it was the best - a lot went down.

And then it was time for me to leave. I spent my last days in Minnesota, U.S.A. spending as much time with my family and friends as possible. Even with the impending doom of having to say goodbye to my loved ones for a long time, I was still able to have some fun, some good laughs, and make some good memories. I threw a going away party at my parents place 2 nights before I was set to leave and it turned out to be a huge success. There were friends, food, and root beer a plenty.

I won't go into detail about saying goodbye to my friends and family because it's impossible to articulate what I went through those last two days, but suffice to say - My family and friends are the most important things in my life and I will miss them dearly.

Now, however, it's time to begin again. I'm stoked to have a clean slate and to have Rosie by my side as we start a new life down under.

I've been Australia three days so far and I'm so excited to live here. The air is clean, the sun is bright, the ocean is beautiful, the days are long, the food is delicious. I'm having a great go of it so far.

I'll write more again soon. Including a hilarious story of the it's-a-small-world variety and my awful plane rides over here. For now, I just want to sit back, relax and enjoy not wearing a winter coat and long underwear.

Pictures

2007-11-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from previous days. First in Paris, then Durango, and then a couple from Madrid

Load out in Paris. Notice the line of cars behind the bus and trailer.

Museum du quai Branly where Rosie worked.

Durango

Zurich, Pinarella, Karlsruhe, Vienna

2007-11-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while between updates and I apologize. The internet situation over here is pretty awful at best. If there is a club that has internet, the router usually implodes on itself when 35 dudes with laptops storm the place like a bunch of mexicans at the Alamo. So I haven't been able to call, write, or basically do anything that requires the internet. But the club here in Berlin is hooking us up nicely. Ok, here we go....

Zurich, Switzerland -

Arrived after a 14 hour drive and felt like i had been at sea for 5 years. If there is any drive over 6 hours, the bus starts to feel like a ship that's been out to sea for 5 years. Anyway, got to the show, played, it was fun except it was a smoke fest. Didn't really check out the city because we got there too late and it was too cold. Packed up and took off for Italy.

Pinarella, Italy -

Another day of arriving too late and not being able to check out the city. Actually, there wasn't too much to see in this town. It was just a small beach town that you could tell would be pumping in the summer but in the middle of November is pretty dead. We did make a quick wak to the beach though. It was worth it to see yet another beach and another ocean and to watch Gaz get peed on by a dog. The show was insane. The stage was so wet that it felt like we were playing on ice. I got to do laundry this today so that was a bonus.

Karlsruhe, Germany -

Karlsruhe is the home of our tour manager Nanouk and it also kind of feels like the closest thing to home while in Europe. We've played Karlsruhe and more specifically the same club, named Substage, every time we've come to Europe. Nanouk's girlfriend Doris cooked us up a delicious dinner as she usually does and the show was great as it usually is. Once again, we arrived too late to go out and do anything, but I was content to hang out and eat some good food and catch up with people. During our set, I jumped into the crowd during our last song and was swallowed by a sea of humans and ended up lying on the floor, not knowing what was going on or where my bass was - good times. My instrument and my body came away scratch free, so that was nice.

Vienna, Austria -

We arrived late once AGAIN, which was a bummer becuase Vienna has to be in the top three most beautiful cities in Europe. Thankfully, I was able to check it out last time I was there so I wasn't too bummed. This day marked a special occasion. A couple of the guys in This is Hell also have another band called Soldiers. We all decided it would be a great time if Soldiers could play a show or two on this tour on an opening slot, considering that 3 out of the 5 members were currently on the tour. Nanouk agreed and the Soldiers guys chose Casey and I to fill in for their absent bass player and guitar player. We felt priveleged to be honoray soldiers and were stoked to play in a band other than CBK. The fun thing about playing with soldiers was the Casey and I decided to switch so that I was playing guitar and Casey was playing bass. We learned the songs in a couple of days and played our first show in Vienna. Even with the mistakes that we made, it went pretty well and everyone had a great time. Oour next show is tomorrow in Hamburg and we're stoked. Anyway, besides that we all hung out in the luxurious dressing rooms all night to escape the cigarette smoke that was killing our throats and lungs. The kids in the audience were a little tame this night but we made our own fun, including giving gifts to those who didn't smoke a cigarette our whole show, and goofing around with the This is Hell guys who were watching us on the side of the stage. Other than that, it was a pretty chill but fun day.

Berlin, Germany - So now we're hanging out in Berlin. We've got some friends at the show that we're catching up with and I just got done eating a delicious dinner. Warriors are going to start soon and i'm pumped to see them rock out. See you soon!

The very cold, very dark beach in Italy

Parkway Drive rocking in Karlsruhe

Barcelona, Spain

2007-11-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

Holy living crap, I apologize for the horrid grammar and spelling in that last post. I was writing it in the few seconds I had left before my battery died. Please disregard the awfulness of it.

Anyway

Barcelona, Spain -

We arrived in Barcelona on a beatiful sunny afternoon, loaded in and then took off to sight see. This was one of the cities where I wanted to spend as much time seeing and experiencing as much as possible, and that is exactly what I did. The day started off with a walk with the Parkway guys to the beach which was nearby. When we arrived the Parkway dudes were flipping out over the waves, which were pretty fair. They all tried to figure out a way to get a hold of surfboards to have a surf but to no avail. A bunch of the dudes had a swim and some of us just checked out the scenery. I noticed that the beach had several seafood restaruants that I earmarked for later. When the boys had dried off we headed off to the metro to catch a train in the city. The dudes in This is Hell joined up with us making for a massive collection of brothers. While on the train, I asked a woman in Spanish if she could give us directions to a famous street called La Rambla. She responded in perfect english, complemented me on my spanish and then gave us directions. We got off at a stop that led us to La Rambla, which is an old street with lots of shops and cafes. At this point, the parkway guys seperated from us and went on their own. This left Casey and I and This is Hell. When i'm on tour, especially in Europe, I relish going off by myself and blending in with the locals and seeing what the city has to offer. It's nice to be able to go at my own pace and not have to wait for someone to finish getting a falafel or something. If not alone, I usually prefer to go with my main man Casey(one of guitar players) who is an awesome travel companion. He provides much entertainment, is very easy going, down to try new things, and is overall a totally righteous bro. Speaking of which, he started posting updates on the Comeback Kid website and they are a must see! He really has a way with words - comeback-kid.com

Anywho, so after the parkway dudes took off, I decided to follow suit and go off on my own. I just can't hang with large groups. The sun was starting to set and I wanted to make sure I got to see the Sagrada Familia, a famous cathedral by famed Spanish modernist artist Antonio Gaudi. I hopped back on the metro, transferred trains and arrived quickly at the Sagrada Familia just as the sun was starting to set. The cathedral is famous for it's very orginal and unique style. It almost kind of looks like a sand castle. It's absolutely gorgeous. The cathedral started construction in 1882 and is still not complete! It has very dramatic towers and the inside is quite enormous and artfully crafted. It's a must see if you are ever in Barcelona. It's unlike anything else in Europe. I took my time at the cathedral, snapped a lot of pictures and stared at the amazing peice of art. I finally was forced to leave when the cathedral was closing for the night. I still had plenty of time before our set, so I hopped on the metro once again to make my way to see some more Gaudi work. I decided to take the train to Park Guell, a famous park that was designed by Antonio Gaudi and also has a house within it that Gaudi lived in for a time. I arrived at the park after a 20 minute walk from the metro and I was immediately satisfied that I had made the trip. It was dark and the park was mostly abdoned. I walked up to the entrance gate and entered a new world. I felt like Dorthy in Oz or Alice arriving in Wonderland. The park featured amazing building at its entrance which once passed, opened up to a large sqaure, then a staircase decorated with mosiac dragons and fountains. The staircase led to a huge area with large columns, then another staircase leading to the rooftop of the columns that provided an unbelievable view of Barcelona city. You would have to see this place in person to understand the beauty and magic of it. I felt like I had entered a fairy tale and was expecting a giant or unicorns to come charging out of the forest. I would jump on the unicorns and ride them to the river of hot chocolate and then deliver golden coins and lolly pop dreams to the village children for the summer solstice. The best part about being at this park was that not only was it off the tourist season, but it was night and I had it all to myself. It was magical. I made sure to sit and enjoy the view and the quiet as long as I could before I had to go back to a sweaty show. But alas, rock and roll called me back and I had to leave my wonderland and head back to the club.

When I arrived back at the club, I met up with the Parkway guys and Casey again and I convinced them to come with me to one of the seaside restaurants to get a seafood paella. Getting a proper paella in Spain was at the top of my list of things to do while I was in Spain. Casey, Gaz and Jeff from Parkway, Jay from Cancer Bats and myself all rolled up to a nice, classy restaurant that I had seen serving pealla earlier that day. Gaz and Jeff had never even heard of paella before but were willing to give it a shot. 45 minutes later we were all looking at a huge plate were a gorgeous seafood paella once stood. We all rubbed our stomachs with content and toasted to a good meal.

The day ended perfectly with an awesome show with kids going crazy, singing along and having a great time with us, which left us all thinking "why had we never played in Spain before?"

After our set we had to immediately pack up and head out for the long 14 hour drive to Zurich, Switzerland. For only having been there one day, I left Barcelona feeling like I had experienced a great deal of the city and culture. Definitely a highlight of this tour.

Sagrada Famila

Park Guell

Rotterdam - Paris - Durango - Madrid

2007-11-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

It's been way too long since my last update and too much has happened to post everything, but i'll sum it up for you.

Rotterdam, Netherlands -

Nothing much happened on this day. The highlight of the day was when Casey and I went to a bagel and coffee place and got delcious bagels with avocado on them and some amazing coffee. The show was fun. Tons of stage dives and sing alongs. Got done with the show, loaded up and blasted out of there.

Paris, France -

I always have a great time in Paris. It;s probably one of my favorite cities in Europe. It's just so beautiful and has so much history and awesome things to see. We arrived at the club around noon and because the club was on such a narrow street, there was nowhere for our buses to park. Therefore, we had to stop the buses in the middle of a busy street and unload right there in front of the club. We ended up holding up traffic for a good 10 minutes, creating a long line of cars that were honking and yelling french obscenities at us, which we responded to with laughter. Good times. After loading gear into the club, Casey and I headed off to check out some sights in France - one of which being the Muse du qui Branly, where my girlfriend Rosie has some artwork featured. The ticket machine at the metro was broken, so Casey and I just hopped over the railing and boarded a train to the Eiffel Tower. We arrived at a street that was a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower, grabbed a couple of baguettes and made our way to the Branly Museum, which is across the street from the Eiffel Tower.

The Museum was built to feature artwork by indigenous people throughout the world. It is a huge building, located right on the river showcasing unique and beautiful architecture and landscaping. When the museum was being constructed, Rosie and a few other australians were chosen to paint the ceilings of the museum with recreation of a painting by an australian aboriginal artist. Unfortunately, the museum was closed, so I wasn't able to see her work up close, but there were large glass windows that I could look through and easily see her work from the street. It was so awesome to not only see the Museum but to see something that Rosie helped create that will stand in Paris for years to come. it made me so proud. I was sure to tell everyone about it and show off my girls talents, haha. After the museum, Casey and I walked around the Eiffel Tower, which is always breathtaking. Then we went back to the neighborhood where our club was and got coffee. After haning with the dudes for a while, I decided to go for a little walk to kill time before we played. I chose a random street, started walking and 15 minutes, to my surprise I had arrived at Notre Dame Cathedral. It was my 3rd time seeing it, but it was an awesome sight to be hold again. I spent some time inside appreciating the architecture and sat down for a while to unwind. After, I just kept walking. By this time, It had gotten pretty dark and I realized that I had never seen Paris by night, and it is a truly beautiful time to see it. Hours later, I arrived back at the club, watched the other bands and then played one of the funnest sets of the tour. The crowd wasn't all that big, and there was a tv in the dressing room broadcasting the show. So we were just doing silly things on stage to entertain ourselves and the others that were watching backstage. This ended up being one of the most hilarious nights of the tour. Kinda had to be there. The show finished, we had some more laughs, the buses arrived, we blocked traffic again, loaded out and hit the road. Saying goodbye to Paris once again.

Durango, Spain(or Basque country) -

What a glorious day this was. We arrived in Durango and even though it was an overcast day, I was stoked. I hung outside after loading when Gaz, Pipey, Winston, Luke(parkway drive, and Charlie(the warriors) came walking by and asked me if I wanted to come with them to the beach. I agreed, thinking it would only be a short little journey. I was in store for much more though. Our destination was Mundaka beach, a world famous surf spot. The boys in Parkway are avid surfers and this beach was a must for them. We were given directions by a local to the beach and it ended up involving two bus trips and a little bit of walking. Luckily, we had Charlie with us who speaks Spanish pretty well so he was able to show us to the right buses and basically save us from getting lost. The bus rides were an ejoyable part of the day for me. I got to hang out with Ben(also known as Gaz, Rosie's younger brother) and talk Lost while enjoying the beautiful Spanish countryside. After an hour bus ride we finally arrived at what had to be one of the most lovely places I had ever been - a little Spanish town, tucked into a hill overlooking the ocean. We hung out at some cliffs overlooking the ocean and the surf, which was low but had massive potential and the dudes were loving it. Gaz, Luke, and Pipey decided to have a little dip into the ocean which resulted in them screaming like girls because of how cold the water was. After they dressed we walked through the town, making our way to the headland which had some old ruins. We hung out for a while, enjoying the views, taking pictures and then decided to head out. We had perfect timing on the way back, catching every bus without having to wait longer than a minute and walking into the club just as they were serving dinner. Good end to a great day. The show was alright. Not too crazy but fun. Some dudes threw rocks at one of the buses and broke a window, luckily it wasn't the bus I was on. Dudes has some drinks and then we hit the road, good times.

Madrid, Spain -

Casey and I went for a walk after waking. Had some awesome coffee and a croisont. The coffee in europe is so good, it's unreal. THis day wasn't the best for me. It started out awesome because before the show started, Gaz, Casey, and I went for a walk to find food and ended up finding a dope spanish restaraunt where I ordered grilled sea bass, and the other two ordered steak. Unlike everyone else who ate fast food and kebabs, we were sitting down at a nice restaraunt and loving life. It was an awesome time. We felt like kings. Later, I felt like death. Right before we were about to play, I started to feel a little off. When it was time to go onstage, I felt like I was going to die. I stood in one place the whole set and barely moved a muscle. I felt like I was going to puke or pass out or puke and then pass out in puke at any given moment. The one time I attempted back up vocals, I became really dizzy and started to fall into Kyle's drums, but was able to stable myself. When the last note of the last song wa struck, I ran off the stage and into the dressing room, then ran into the bathroom ready to be sick. Oddly enough, nothing came up. I went outside for some fresh air and started to feel better. When I got back on the bus, I took a ginger pill to calm my stomach, drank some water and went to bed. The next day I woke up feeling pretty good. I still have no idea what it was. At first I thought it might've been the fish I ate, but I don't think it was. I actually think it was probably from all the cigarette smoke I was exposed to at that show. Every single person at the show as smoking and the club looked like it was on fire. Whoever says second hand smoke has no effect on people doesn't know what they are talking about. As soon as I was out of the smoke, I started to feel alright. Cigarette smoke in Europe is seriously out of control. Every person here smokes, which means that playing shows here is awful. Thankfully countries are starting to ban it now, like England. But a lot of Europe is still so bad when it comes to cigarettes. I can't believe it's 2007 and there are still places that allow smoking in places. There have been a few times where i've had coffee on this tour from smoky coffee shops and I can seriously taste it in the coffee. Anyway, thats my smoke rant. Sorry.

OK, this is getting too long, so i'm going to break it up a little. Next post i'll post pictures and then write about Barcelona, which deserves a whole post of it's own. Anyway, that's all for now. Next up...Barcelona Spain, Zurich Switzerland, and Pinarella Italy. See you soon!

Manchester - Glasgow - Sheffield - Yeovil

2007-11-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

Nothing crazy to report really. The last few days have been pretty standard touring routine. Get up, load in, soundcheck, hang out, play a show, go to sleep. But anyway..

Manchester - It was rainy as hell this day, typical english weather. I went for a walk with some bros around the city, bought a new pair of jeans since I accidentally left a pair in Germany. Went to Pizza Express with a bunch of bros for dinner. Pizza express is this gourmet pizza restaraunt chain that is all over the U.K. They actually serve amazing pizza by U.K. standards. We always try to hit up pizza express as much as possible when we're over there because we usually don't get served the best food at the venues in the U.K. See, with tours in Europe it's in the bands' contract that the promoter and venue provide dinner for all the bands on the tour. The food is usually either hit or miss. In the U.K. it's usually always a miss. So pizza express is essential to our survival. The show was mindblowing. Parkway Drive make everyone else look like little girls. Our set was pretty amazing as well. I slipped on a the stage and landed face first, which provided me and everyone else with a good laugh or two. Chilled with bros after the show then went to sleep.

Glasgow- Started off the day walking around the city with Travis (This Is Hell) and Casey. Bought a gingerbread latte at a coffee shop that was pretty gross. It was abosulutely freezing in Scotland. All of the bands had one tiny dressing room to share, so we all squeezed into it and had some good laughs and hang sessions. Show was alright. I didn't have much energy because of going crazy during our show the night before. Went to sleep a couple hours after the show, dudes stayed up and partied.

Glasgow

Sheffield - Took a shower at the venue when we arrived to the club - I hadn't had one in three days, blech. Got a coffee from a place that sold Byron Bay cookies, which was cool. I bought one later and it was delicious. Soundchecked and then Casey, Puc and I went to Pizza Express. Destroyed some pizza and then went back to the show. Sheffield is usually always an awesome place to play and this night was no different. All the bands had a great reaction. I did a guest vocal apperance for This Is Hell and, my typical luck, the mic broke on me so I just jumped into the crowd like an idiot and sang along with kids. Managed to give myself a nasty little cut on my leg from the barricade too. Good times. We played a new song "Industry Standards" and it went really well. This is one of the rare songs that we actually sing instead of scream and I do some of the singing myself. I was nervous but I think it went pretty well. After the show, got some fish and chips with Liam(Cancer Bats) and Casey. Came back to the bus and had a rad bro down session with Casey and Liam. Went to bed and watched The Lion, The witch and The wardrobe.

Yeovil - I had never even heard of this city before we played it, but it's a nice little town in the middle of nowhere which has a surprisingly decent music scene. Started off the day walking around with Jed (parkway drive merch guy and Rosie's older brother), Casey, Winston, and Luke (all parkway drive dudes). Got some food and Marks and Spencer, an awesome grocery store. Walked around some more with Jed and Casey, got some coffee and the bought The Wind That Shakes The Barley on DVD, a movie about the IRA and the Irish Civil War, which I have yet to watched but I'm stoked. Check it -
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wind_that_shakes_the_barley/ . A pub across the street form the club was providing food for us for free. We could choose anything on the menu. I chose Surf and Turf. Got my steak medium rare with shrimp. Not everyday you get a free surf and turf. It was delicious. The show was absolute chaos. The stage was less than a foot tall and there was no barricade. My guest vocal apperance for This Is Hell went better this show. Every set for every band was great. Our set was mental. There were two security guards, Nanouk(tour manager) and Puc(our bro) all up front trying as hard as they could to keep kids from falling all over us and our gear. It was hysterical. I'll post photos when I get them. Probably the craziest show on the tour besides Moscow. After the show, hung out with dudes and then took a sleeping pill since we were taking the ferry and there have beens some crazy storms in Europe lately, resulting in rough seas. Once again, I stayed asleep during the ride. Good times.

This Is Hell - Yeovil

Cancer Bats dudes at dinner in Yeovil.

Cool mural of Morrissey at the club in Yeovil

Now we're in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Casey and I had amazing coffee and bagels this morning. Probably one of the best coffees i've had in a while. Now i'm just chillin on the bus writing this thing. Show starts soon then we're off to one of my favorite European cities - Paris! See you then, kids.

Check these dudes out -

Parkway Drive - myspace.com/parkwaydrive
Cancer Bats - myspace.com/cancerbats
This Is Hell - myspace.com/thisishell
The Warriors - myspace.com/thewarriors

London

2007-11-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

London was a fun day, which was nice considering it was my birthday. The day started off like usual - loading in, soundchecking, hanging out, etc. We played the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town, probably one of the nicer venues we've played in London. We took care of all of our soundchecking business and then Casey and I left to do one of my favorite things on tour - laundry. A woman who worked at venue said that she could bring us to the closest laundromat if we needed and Casey and I definitely needed it, so we jumped at the chance. While our clothes were being washed, I decided to check out Camden, which is very colorful neighborhood full of interesting people from all walks of life. Camden is also known for its numerous markets that sell everything from indian food to obviously pirated Morrissey shirts and fake designer clothes. Think a bigger Maxwell Street Market (to all the Chicagoans who may be reading this).

A couple hours later with our laundry freshly cleaned, we decided to make the trek to the Soho neighborhood and go to our favorite London eateries - Hummus Bros. Hummus Bros is a wonderful restaraunt that serves large bowls of fresh hummus with toppings of your choice along with pipping hot straight-out-of-the-oven pita bread. Doesn't sound too amazing. But it's amazing compared to usual european tour food - bread, cheese, sandwiches, and bread and cheese sandwiches. Soho was pretty far from Camden, so we had to take the Tube (subway) which made it a smooth effortless journey. We arrived at Hummus Bros stoked out of our. I ordered my hummus with a gaucamole topping and a ginger mint lemonade. Casey got his hummus with an italian sausage casserole and a coke. Since it was my birthday, we decided to split a large brownie with ice cream, which was mindblowing. So it ended up being a most righteous birthday dinner.

The show was a banger. Every band had a great reaction, there were tons of friends hanging out, lots of birthday wishes for yours truly. Spekaing of which, Nanouk even organized to get a birthday cake for me. During parkway drive, I was ushered into one of the backstage rooms where everyone was waiting for me with a cake and all wished me a happy birthday. Good times. Our set went great, complete with huge sing alongs to close the night. There was an aferparty for the show set up at a bar across the street so all of us went over there and had a raging good time. Now, I don't dance - but something got into me and I was dancing up a storm with all the bros on the tour and some randoms. Lots birthday wishes were given and a few cokes and orange juices were bought for this guy. I was even double fisting it for a while. We all wore our throats down from laughing, yelling, and just given'r all night. Best thing about the night was that our buses were parked right across the street so when I had had enough, I just crawled into my bunk and fell into a peaceful sleep. Best birthday I've had in a while.

(By the way, the guys call me K-Piss cause i guess my expletive of choice is "piss!" Don't ask me why.)

Anarchy in the UK - Brighton, England

2007-11-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

The show is brussels ended up being pretty dope. Every band killed it once again making for a fun night. By the time we got up to play our set it was super hot and muggy. The stage was really slippery and I nearly ate it a few time, so I restrained myself from moving around too much to avoid any faceplants. I was pretty wrecked after the show so I called it a night and retired to my bunk to finish watching transformers before falling asleep. At about 5am, we were awoken at the border to the U.K. where we had to fill out a form and go through customs. We all got through with no problems. Our next move was for our bus to board the ferry to England, so I made sure to borrow a sleeping pill so that I would be passed out while on the ferry. See, I get really seasick and I had an unforunate vomiting episode on a ferry the first time I came to Europe. Since we have the option of either getting off the bus and hanging out on the ferry or staying in our bunks to sleep, I usually stay in my bunk and take something to knock me out so that I don't repeat that incident. So i'm stoked to report that I survived another ferry ride with no ralphing - complete success.

Today I woke up and found that the our bus was parked in front of the venue which happened to be right on the ocean. So I got dressed and took a little stroll down to the beach, which was all rocks and no sand, and had a relaxing morning.

When I got back to the bus, I helped everyone load in and just chilled for a while. The club here in Brighton is situated in a unique place. It sits right on a boardwalk that leads to a large pier with an amusment park on it. After soundcheck and a quick snack I got together with Casey, Charlie from the warriors, and Gia, Luke and Jeff from parkway drive and went for a walk down to the pier. It was a little chilly, but we had a scenic walk to the pier at sunset. Gia had his sights set on a big ride that was basically a huge arm that swung in circles high above the pier. He and Charlie rode that and then Gia and I went on a ride called 'Horror Hotel' which was a haunted house that you go through on a cart. The ride malfunctioned before we entered it, so we sat there for 15 minutes while they tried to figure out what the hell was going on. This was great because it allowed me and Gia to have a some quality alone time. We sat there, all alone, about to eneter the Horror Hotel and wondered how different our lives might be after having experienced the horror hotel. What lay ahead of us? Would it be the ghosts of disgruntled maids, zombie bell hops ready to devour our brains, disembodied desk clerks??!! Finally, the ride was operational again, the swtich was flipped, and the doors opened to reveal.....the worst ride ever. A big plastic spider covered in florescent paint, a plastic skeleton wearing a tattered shirt and another such frights. It was fine though, we weren't expecting much to begin with. It ended up giving us a good laugh though, so whatever. After our exhilirating rides, we made the walk back to the club, ate some dinner and now we're just chillin. The Warriors and bringing the rock and i'm gonna go watch them. Peace.

Luxembourg - Cologne - Brussels

2007-11-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Well we're finished with our fly-out shows and finally hooked up with the Never Say Die tour for the rest of our time here in Europe. Our show in Prague was a fun time. Small club, small stage, and kids falling all over us again. Good times. After the show we climbed into a van and drove 6 hours overnight to hook up with the Never Say Die tour at the airport in Frankfurt. On our way, we made a detour to Nanouk's house where our luggage and instruments were waiting for us. It was so good to put on a fresh pair of clothes and to use my own toothbrush. We finished up at Nanouk's house with a quick internet sesh, some breakfast, coffee, and then we hit the road Frankfurt. It didn't hit me how many awesome friends are on this tour until our first meeting at the airport. The first person I saw was Jed, Rosie's older brother, and it immediately got me excited for the good times with good friends that were to come. So the Never Say Die tour consists of Comeback Kid, Parkway Drive, Cancer Bats, The Warriors, and This Is Hell. All awesome bands and awesome dudes. We said all of our hellos and climbed aboard our two tour buses, which are quite deluxe, and headed for the first show of the tour in Luxembourg.

The Luxembourg show was pretty cool. Not the best tour kickoff show i've ever played, but there were still plenty of people that came out and had a good time. Nothing too crazy happened. The club was in the middle of nowhere so there was no sightseeing to be had. We all mostly just hung out and caught up and relaxed, considering most everyone was pretty jet lagged.

The next day in Cologne was really fun. All of the bands had great sets and the kids in Cologne were much more stoked than last night in Luxembourg. Our set ended with at least 30 people all on the stage singing along and jumping around while we played our last song. Since we don't have showers on the buses and the club didn't have showers, we had a driver that was taking people to a hotel close by to shower. Casey and I were driven to the New Yorker Hotel. Upon arriving, Casey and I had a strong desire to leave the tour and stay at the hotel forever. It was probably one of the nicest hotels either of us had ever been to. I even forgot I was on tour for a little bit and felt like I was a glamorous jet setter. After a nice shower we were driven back to the bus where I lied down in my bunk and watched the cinematic triumph known as Transformers. Touring in a bus out here is so nice. The bus is a double decker - the bottom level a massive lounge with TVs, a stereo, refridgerator, etc. and the top bunk has a nice back lunge with enough bunks to fit us and Cancer Bats. It's great to be able to just chill on the bus, watch a movie, write music, read a book, and just relax and get away from the show atmosphere. It really helps keep my sanity.

Tonight we're in Brussels. We just got finished with some lovely food and are getting ready to watch Parkway Drive tear this place down. That's all that's going on right now. Nothing crazy, just good friends and good times. The way it should be.

-Kevin

Pictures

2007-11-01T23:44:00.001-07:00

So here are a select few pictures from our travels of the past few days....

Lisbon, Portugal. View from above

We had a pretty decent turnout in Lisbon. The picture is of Devil in Me, a local Lisbon band. They were most excellent.

The beach by our hotel in Lisbon.

This dude had the surf in Lisbon all to himself, lucky.

Andrew getting interviewed for Russian TV.

Russian crepes.

Our Russian friends Roman(left) and Sasha(right) right before entering Red Square

Lennin's mausoleum

St. basil's Cathedral

It's worth going to Russia to see the metro stations alone. They are unreal. In the states, subway stations are havens for filth and street trash. In Moscow, they look more like museums and art galleries. In this pic, there are some works of art depicting the October Revolution and other historic events.

Another metro station.

That about does it for now.

Stockholm - Lisbon - Moscow - Prague

2007-11-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, where do I begin? Well we haven't had any internet until now in Prague, so a lot has happened since I posted last. Ok, here' we go.

Stockholm, Sweden - The show in Stockholm was great. About 400-500 people came out and made it a great time with sing alongs and other fun stuff. Afterward we crashed in a hostel where I slept until probably 3am, woke up, and couldn't fall back asleep again until probably 7am. We woke in the morning and got a ride form our Swedish friends to the airport for our flight to Stuggart, Germany for a day off.

Lisbon, Portugal - I was excited to hang out in Lisbon not only because I had never been there before, but also because it was warm and sunny which would have been a nice change from the dark and cold of Sweden and Finland. Alas, a day in the sun was not meant to be. Not only was our flight to Lisbon delayed, but we had to wait to wait at the airport for a couple of hours because British Airways had lost our luggage - including all of our instruments! Long story short, we yelled at a british airways employee for a couple of hours and then we were rushed to the venue where the show had already started. We had to borrow clothes, guitars, drums, amps, everything in order to play the show. The show was incredible so that made up for things a little. Afterward we went to our hotel and crashed, very worn out from the stress of the day.

Stuttggart, Germany, Day off - We started off the day at the Lisbon airport with the bad news that the airline still hadn't found our luggage yet. So we argued with birtish airways again and demanded compensation, for which they gave us 50 euro a piece (about 72 dollars U.S.). So with that we were able to buy some new toiletries so we could quell the stench emitting from our bodies. We then boarded our flight to Stuttgart, landed, caught a cab to our hotel, and chilled. We finished out the night be eating some italian food across the street from our hotel and then buying clothes from a sport shop down the street. Casey and I fell asleep this night while watching Knocked Up.

Moscow, Russia - Today was the day of days, the big one - we were going to Russia. None of us had any idea what to expect before we entered Russia. Would they even allow us in? Would there be anyone at the show? Would we die at the hands of surly cab drivers that drove 100 mph through the streets of Moscow? Well all those questions and more were answered. Yes, we did get in with no troubles. The show was easily one of the funnest shows Comeback Kid has ever played. And yes, the cab drivers are surly and do, in fact, drive 100 mph through the city. At the end of our first night, I was convinced that Russia was the most terrifying place on planet earth, but that view would be changed very quickly. Our flight to Russia was, like everything else - delayed. After passing through customs we met with Nikoli and Roman, the promoters of the show. We caught a cab to the venue where the show had already started. We were escorted through a labryinth of back hallways that eventually led to our lovely dressing room. The show was packed at about 550 people in a small club. This show was amazing. Kids falling all over us, singing alongs, high fives, stage dives, hugs, blood, sweat, tears - everything a hardcore show should be. Incredible. Afterwards we crawled into the most dilapitated "taxi" ever and were driven to our hotel at the hands of a man that made Stalin himself look like a cute teddy bear. We crashed hard that night, some of us drunk on exhaustion and the rest drunk on Russian vodka.

Moscow, Russia, day off - We started our day the same way all great days start - with crepes! Before embarking on our sightseeing in Moscow, we got come crepes from a little shack on the corner. From there we made a long, but fun trek to Red Square with our tour guides Roman, and Roman's friend Sasha. It didn't fully hit me that I was in Moscow until I gazed upon the Cremlin, Lennins mausoleum, and St. Basil's Cathedral. I was blown away. So much history, such amazing buildings. It was fanstastic. After the red square and some shopping, we ate some Russian food and man was it very ok. Something about the food in that place messed with my stomach. Even though we mostly ate bread, potatoes, and borscht - nothing exotic - it just felt kind of weird. Anyway, after eating we went back to the club that we had played the previous night for a Halloween party night. It was....interesting. Just ask me for the story in person. I don't know if I can write about it here, haha. We had a fun night at the club - sharing drinks and laughs, telling stories, etc. It was a great night. We toasted to a successful show and fun day in Moscow and to the fact that "we are still alive." After drinks and food, we called it a night and said goodbye to some of our new friends, went back to our hotel and crashed.

Prague, Czech Republic - I woke up today fresh as a daisy after a 3 hour sleep, got ready, and caught a cab to the airport. We arrived at the airport and said goodbye to our other Russian promoter and friend, Timor, and thanked him for a great time. I was definitely a little uncomfortable in Russia at first, but I ended up having a great time. I made some new friends and memories that I won' be forgetting anytime soon. So we boarded our plane and flew to Budapest to catch our connection to Prague. We had a few hours before our flight to Prague, so we chilled out and slept and relaxed. With 25 minutes to go before our flight depature, we decided the head to our gate only to be greated by an airline employee who informed us that were too late and our flight was already leaving. Long story short, we freaked out on the guy and told him we were going to make this flight. What airline leaves 25 minutes before the scheduled departure? Unreal. So after going back and forth with the guy we finally forced him to radio the plane, which stopped on the tarmac for us and we were rushed by bus onto the plane. Pretty hilarious. Man, i'm so over flying it's unreal. I think i've done enough flying for two lifetimes in this past week. Never again.

So now we're in Prague and we are playing in twenty minutes. I'm tired of typing as i'm sure you're tired of reading. See you later. Pics to come soon.

-Kevin

Helsinki - Stockholm

2007-10-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hi kids. Well nothing too cray to report. Since I posted last time, we had a great time in Helsinki. The day of the show we were driven to a hotel that was in the city center and closer to the venue. The hotel was equally, if not, nicer than the previous one, which was awesome. We had some time to kill before the show so we met up with some of Puc's(our tour manager) friends and ate some indian food and checked out a rad local record store called Combat Rock. The store is owned by the singer of a great Finnish band by the name of Endstand. Check them out - myspace.com/endstand

The show in Helsinki was incredible, especially for never having played there before. There were about 800 people there all going crazy, singing along, stage diving and just having a great time all around. It's so refreshing to play a show with sing alongs and stage dives again, as opposed to the huge tour we just finished with Rise Against where everyone was 20 feet away from us, seperated by a huge barricade and didn't know who we were. Good times.

So after the show, we packed up and headed back to our hotel, went to sleep for about 2 1/2 hours and went to the airport to catch our flight to Stockholm. Flight was ordinary, we landed and met up with our drivers who took us to our hostel and we were able to get a couple hours of much needed sleep before coming to the venue.

Also, we made a pretty awesome discovery today. We were discussing Casey's swedish descent with our swedish friends and we learned that Casey's last name, Hjelmberg, in swedish means "helmet mountain." So sick. When we asked our friend why his family would've had a name like 'helmet mountain' he replied "well...maybe they lived by a moutain shaped like a helmet." Casey and I decided that this is definitely not the case and that's it's far more likely that the 'helmet' part probably means a battle helmet that was used during and epic battle at a 'mountain.' So basically, Casey is of swedish warrior stock. Sick.

So now we're just chilling in Stockholm, which is lovely but the weather is shit, waiting for the show to start. See you later.

-K

Pics

2007-10-26T05:56:00.001-07:00

Here some pics from the plane to our hotel. Nothing too interesting, but you get the idea...

doh!

2007-10-26T01:13:00.001-07:00

So the internet here is really slow so i wasn't able to post pictures in that last blog. So i'll post them next time. Word.

Minneapolis - Amsterdam - Helsinki

2007-10-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

So currently i'm sitting in our hotel room at the Cumulus Hotel in Helsinki, which looks like an ikea store. Let me run down the past day to you.

So the trip started off at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport where, after an emotional good bye to Rosie, I met up with fellow band members Casey and Jeremy (whose beard has reached Rip Van Winkle status) and boarded our plan for the 8 hour flight. The flight wasn't the best I had ever been on, I probably didn't sleep for more than 15 minutes. I did, however, get to watch Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, which was totally sweet. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid and it brought back some great memorioes for sure. Horrible acting, mullets, the worst engish accents, Christian Bale, swords, what's not to love?

Anyway, after my rousing viewing of Robin Hood, I decided to try to get some sleep but went in and out because of turbulance and because of a burning desire to build a bow and arrow and smoke some fools. So i just chilled, watched a couple more movies, and hung out until the flight was over.

We landed in Amsterdam for a layover of about 3 hours. Casey and I were too tired to try to walk around the airport, so we just sat in some chairs by our gate and caught up for a while.

We then boarded our flight to Helsinki where I promptly feel asleep after sitting down. I was so uncomfortable, but too tired to stay awake any longer. I was asleep for most of the flight, which made the time fly (excuse the pun) by. At one point when we were landing I was asleep but starting to wake a little when they announced we would be landing soon. Because I was half asleep I thought I heard the flight crew say something along the lines of "vee are starting owa desent into Helsinki and everyone look at ze american sleeping! Yahaha!" which totally bummed me out but then I laughed about when I found out I was dreaming it (or was I?).

So afer landing we caught a shuttle to our hotel, checked in, dropped off our crap, and then Casey and I decided to go on a mission for some food. We caught a glimpse of a mall half a mile away and decided to make the wak to find sustenance. After running across a 4 lane highway, and walking around through a parking garage we finally got to the mall and found a grocery store. I bought a banana for 10 euro cents but couldn't find anything else that looked appetizing. So Casey and I ran back across the 4 lane highway and went to the restuarant in our hotel which we orginally ruled out because of the price. We got to the hotel and I ordered Salmon and Casey got a steak and they were delcious, definitely worth the price.

After eats, Casers and I went to sleep and I awoke 12 hours later and checked out the free breakfast. The breakfasts at this hotel beat the living shit out of free breakfasts at American hotels. I feasted on eggs, bacon, toast, granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, croissonts, apple juice and yogurt. So after our meal last night and breakfast this morning, i've had some solid meals. Good times.

So that was the first day of our Europe trip. Today we play Helsinki which is suppose to be great. I'll return with more updates about that. Sorry about the novel. I'll try to keep it simple next time. See you then!

-Kevin

first time

2007-10-17T19:48:00.001-07:00

So this is my first blog post ever. I decided to start one of these things so I can show my friends and family what kind of antics I get up to when i'm on tour and when I make the move down under soon. Word. See you soon.

-Kevin