teatro municipal, lisbon portugal

hotel borges - my room is so small! jeez. i can't even sit on the toilet. no room for my legs!!! haha...
we traveled all day...listening to 'house of the holy'- bonham is amazing-great album-(i recently played this record for dominick of stereolab and he had never ever heard it!!!! loved it of course)...it just keeps getting better...i don't know why....
3-4 hours in the van - arrive for soundcheck time at this beautiful opera theatre-opulent-alex and crew are all here ready. i set up and restring my guitars for tonites show...i find out tonites show will be recorded and filmed for a possible dvd later...6 cameras...take it all in....show's superb- our best yet!!!! only a couple of minor mistakes/accidents::::: highlights: adventures, loveless, innocense lost - the end loop was gorgeous and sad and our soundman let it run as music to walkout to....it was actually really nice to hear it as a long piece - hoping for good results on the recording/filming. very happy tonite. buzzing! signed cds and then hooked up with johnny and kalaf who joined us for dinner - then off to lisbon nitelife, some bars for mojitos to wind down...then to a nasty drum n bass club (loud as shit!) a long walk around - ate soup and bread mmmmmm....6am it is.
good nite.
morning: hungout at area cafe waiting for derek to arrive back from his mountain biking adventure...leave late to figuerra da foz...LLLLOONNNGGG drive...i sleep in backseat to ipod soundtrak...tired today (whad ya expect) and lack of food- arrive at auditorium - nice place (charlie haden and pat metheny played here last year)....acoustics are really bad though....horrible!!!major slap echo off back wall that really plagues are set- good show- my equilibrium is off tonite...brown boy is fast!! song 4 billy is nice....afterwards sign cd's...all three portugal shows are incredibly. the people here are so warm and friendly...just a blessing....
afterwards we go for food....place is aaahhh ok.
everyones food is kinda bad...hotel IBIS tonite.
whatever. shower breakfast and leave for drive along the countryside coimbra - stop for lunch amazing!!! chicken potatoes fish cakes flan....the food here is so good...damn! a walk around this tiny village - loud motorbikes, lemontrees, tiled roofs,straydogs, a studio (where they were recording fadu music). i must acquire a fadu guitar someday - what a sound! in a different tuning agdadc 12 strings
bakery - drive more-countryside, castles, farmland,forests with tall giant straight trees-3-4 hour drive back to lisboa...ready to get out of the van but listening to incredible ipod mix - back to our 'favorite' hotel borges haha....this time a bigger room and a GIANT bathroom- but this place makes you itch. cant wait to leave. crash to tinderstix.
airport: over wgt baggage again!!! 360 euros...ouch.
flightsconnects in copenhagen then on to stockholm
6 hours...arrive at 4:30 pm - my red case containing
my pedal board is lost as is jeremys clothes...fucking stressed as they don't have my bag in the computer system....catarina (promoter) wants a list of my missing gear so i supply her so they can try to find some of it..... they find line 6 dl4, eb vol, ebs octabass, a/b switcher, boss tuner...cables...yes...there will be a show!!!

teatro rivoli, oporto portugal

show: at a moderne theatre here in oporto.
gorgeous. show is great tonite...we're on a roll.
seated audience...highlights: adventures, loveless,
release, brownboy - so funky....
04012004 day off oporto
laundry day. first one in 15 days...it's time!
good to have clean fresh clothes again! - raining - to lunch with jorge janela + crew to seafood place
amazing: barnacles/shell fish then cod soup+rice
ahhh...mmmmmmm...fruit salad cake for desert...and all this with a superb oporto white wine...!!!!
down to the seaside for a bit of a foto op and hand at seaside cafe for some hot green tea...back to hotel...some billiards next door. jorge has skills! he taught me alot about spin + touch....chilled evening
to donatos place for some food...then sleep...leave tomorrow for lisbon...

le botonique - brussels, belgium

peter from jazztronaut picked us up at the train...a really beautiful train ride in....back in brussels...what a picturesque city...walkaround a bit...the venue tonite is in the round with magnificent sound...wow!
my kind of place...haha...show was really good as well, but paris better somehow i think, or just different...sound was exceptional here....aftershow sold alot of nuculture cds + autografs...etc...great people here....just wonderful. yep. i really love brussels...jp kalonji (unbelievable artist/cartoonist/painter) was here and we reunited after initially meeting in montreux switzerland a few years ago...
he showed me his recent sketch book of his travels in africa!!!!!! nice hang tonite...in search of belgium brews...leffes and chimays it is! topped off with belgium fries and chocolates...ouch! stayed up until 4:30am until we had to leave for airport to fly to lisbon...slept on the plane...connection in oporto...

le tryptiche, PARIS, fR

twas a marvelous train ride from AAchen to Paris where we are met and driven to our OKhotelbutVerySmallBut=OhSoCozyandit'saBlockAway from theVENUE....cool!!! check in...and we are out in Paris - montmatre!!! ahhhh. so good to be back here...beautiful day....walking around...filming a bit...some crepes to go....soundcheck is hard....not working for urse or us at All......alex kidd is here...and calls his soundman to come down to replace the other guy...and we RE:soundcheck....alls good now!
cristoph is amazing.....in the zone!!!
packed house...greatsound...our best show yet...groovin so hard...urse is in rare form tonite...she's feelin it for sure...audience is fantastique!!!! 4Hero crew (marc mac) spinning afterwardss...gives me the new 4Hero remix cd...which i find out i'm on (9x9 king britt remix) but
without my credits!!!!! shit!!!! can't believe it...oh well...but that's me on guitar and kevin arthur on bass on that trackk....check it!!!!!!!!!
nice hang to marc's vinyl magic...and grimbergen beers.....SLLLLLLEEEEEEP.....i'm happy tonite!

iguana lounge, warszawa, poland

vienna train station: wait, wait, wait, and WAIT!!.....around the cold as hell train station for an hour...killin time at the magazine stand reading all the music mags....dani siciliano is on the cover of straightnochaser....cool!
finaally board the WARS - an overnight train into Poland....it's like going back in time...old train...old sleeper car...very coldwar vibe....really cool though...i chill with my iPod and texmessages....
7am: arrive to warsaw...greeted by 7 people who help us with gear and baggages......4 cars....to sheraton hotel......rest for a few hours...then jeremy and i check out the city....cafes...soups/perogies/////
very grey here....and cold.....
show is great but in a weird venue, where we are on level two and the audience is downstairs (looking up) and on the stairwells.......great show....sold cd's
afterwards/signingsetc...biers---polishVodka with a carrot chaser...really good!!! afterwards: singer with the djs - awesome....sonyPoland...late Hang tonite...
sleep. niceRoom and shower..........tomorrow leave for AAchen....

jacobshof, Aachen, Germany

after a crazy day traveling to warsaw airport...ahhh...mixed up messages as to what terminal we were in...finally, then wait, wait, wait...then off to cologne:::a flight in....picked up by car and driven about 2 hours? to Aachen (a small little college town-beautiful)...but there will be no time to check it out ...we travel all day...after checking into hotel we go immediately to club aat 7:30....show's at 9pm...so we have NO TIME FOR ANYTHING! and we're tired as hell....damn....(and sick, cough).....actually we're exhausted...no food. no shower. no change of clothes. i'm feeling badddddd.
after soundcheck crwd comes in...and then we start...fucking sound is horrible...but we continue...the show is nice and intimate...we connect...audience loved it.....
afterwards: food! soup!!chicken+potatoes+biers!!!!
really helps me feel so much better....now to SLEEP
ggggggg-nite...sppppppppp!

Flex Club, Vienna, Austria

fly in to vienna airport and transported to 2 different hotels because a convention for urologists from around the world are here...i'm really sick now...weather is cold and rainy...all i want to do is
lay down and sleep...which i do upon arrival to hotEL acceptable....drinking water, taking aleve,
coughdrops, cargling...ahh...more rest.....
6pm: girl comes from club to take us to flex, but no
taxi...she wants us to walk 15 minutes in the rain...of course, i'm carrying 2 guitars as well and am sick as hell!!! fuck this!!...so....she understands and we tube
....upon arrival...i ddrink lots of HOT green tea and honey....eat some delitray....fruit....redBull...greenTea...
Flex is an amazing club::: a true unique venue....
a long soundcheck both for sound issues and more
time to rehearse...we've dropped loveless from the set for now and add adventures in wonderland...
2nd time here...i like this place:::
showtime: we are finally back on track...show's bangin....and amazing from my perspective...!!!!
audience dancing singing and screamin - !!!!
phil yaeger (from philly) joined us on trombone for
q+a-great to see and hear him here in Vienna-
still sick though - dealing- saw wolfgang mitter...
good to see him again - show fantastic!
i said to urse backsstage, "we're back baby!!!!"
off to merch booth to move some cds+signstuff...
back to hotel to crash hard + sweat some mo......

quasimodo, berlin germany

artotel:berlin
so good to be back in berlin. one of my fav cities.
staying at the andy warhol themed artotel....very cool.
show: i'm disappointed. bad show for us. not coming
together...a massive struggle, but the show still comes off...it feels incredibly flat playing to a seated audience...highlights: release, damned if i do, soundscapes ...lots of people asking me after show how i do the soundscape/looping thing...i show them my gear....the rest is up to them....hung out with k7 crew+sonke from electric chair (fucking cool cat!)...met fat jon finally! an ohio boy as myself...this was cool...i'm very sick...the k7 folks (stefan, deitre, katja, claudia, are incredibly gracious as always! )back to hotel to sweat...sucks to be sick on tour.....no hang tonite.

karlsruhe germany

a train ride in...the vibe in this city feels good...nice people here...really nice venue...intimate...great sound...(yea!)...i feel like tonite is our first really good show or at least we are on our way!...i'm feeling terrible though...sick.sick.sick. back to hotel to rest.

zurich switzerland

at novotel still. just killing time.i'm kind of buggin.
looking forward to moving on to berlin for next show.
i'm ready to leave - tired and feeling a bit ill...i think
i'm getting sick...karlsruhe germany is the next stop,
then berlin....we gotta crush...a nice walk around zurich today...shopping...it's quite beautiful here...

zurich. switzerland

heathrow. flew to zurich in am.
show is questionable...sound on stage absolutely
sucks...monitors are blown - some missed cues..but
all is good otherwise...crowd loves the show...
we really gave it our ALL...in spite of the adversity.
i'm a real stickler...it was probably ok outfront....but
we need to work on 1. loveless 2. this 3. brownboy
show intro is working...oh well. a few beers, teardown, and back to the novotel.

london 031804

grey and raining. sleep all day pretty much. evening
out to a party with andy hamill + crew at a french theme party in the basement of a restaurant in leceister square...fun...met so many cool folks and
uk musicians - nice walk around - clubs...
cabbed back to hotel for more sleep.

jazzcafe,london 031704

breakfast at a wonderful cafe here in camden just over the lock. spent the day looking for an AC adapter that i left behind in Philly for the roland sampler...so tubing to oxford circus for a walk around all the music shops...and lo and behold i finally found one!! problem solved! cafe+tube. really focusing for tonites show#2...at soundcheck we have very little time - and ursula is pissed!!! ouch!!! show is much better tonite thankfully...i play much better...thomas haas joins us on saxophone for Q+A - damn!!!! really nice...later on, i break a piano bench midway thru the show - oooppps!! it just collapses and is quite hilarious actually...name droppin time:: the 4Hero crew is here andy hamill, m.a.d.,
dego and seals brother james (who urse just worked with for his new album) ...show is good! a nice hang upstairs after show with andy hamill, m.a.d. etc.....a nice wind down...then it's off to the HOTel afterward a crazy lobby party at the H-inn w/ a rock band from aberdeen (driving blind)...crazy...until 4am...a good hard days night.

jazzcafe,london 031604

soundcheck 4pm with the society (thomas haas)
+ crew...tonites show is really our FIRST REAL
rehearsal!!! urse really wasn't available too often
for our planned rehearsals in philadelphia so we'll have our first go...show has some good intuitive moments - but not great by any means - still coming together, cues, etc...friends here to take us out for some guinness on st. paddys day afterwards for wind down.

london 031504

nice flight in to gatwick...2 hour drive into camden.
stay at holiday inn camdenlock...very adequate...
sleep for awhile...lunch at wagamama's...wonderful.
some guiness in the eve. relax. still spaced from flying...

mixtape@700club

it was really an enjoyable evening for me to be given
the keys to the decks, so to speak, and play some musics from my collection from home...a fun nite fueled by Yards ESA....thanks to ivan ross.

playlist below:

the beatles - tomorrow never knows
adrian belew - she's not dead
chris squire - lucky
can - sing sang song
radiohead-the gloaming
meatbeatmanifesto-intermission
elvin jones - ascendant
roy ayers - a tear to a smile
brian augers oblivion express - happiness is just around the bend
led zeppelin - the crunge
pole - slowmotion feat. fatjon
sea & cake - traditional wax coin
tortoise - the lithium stiffs
dani siciliano - same
david bowie - starman