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
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Playing Catch Up
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.
.
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.
.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Living Life
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.
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.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Letter From Australia
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Pictures
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
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
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
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
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
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
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