Howdy folks! Today is Record Store Day, so make sure you get out there and support your local store by buying some new music.
We are super happy to be doing our part by playing a set at 3pm in the afternoon at Mr Dead and Mrs Free in Berlin. Probably we’ll be there early to buy a few records before we play.
Here’s the link to the store, and if you are in town, come on down.
We made it not only to Prague, but to the radio station in the city centre, without GPS or a map – who would have guessed the CZR is not in Western Europe TomTom?!! Looking forward to a great show tonight with Rany tela.
Wow, I’ve been back in Milan for two days and I’m still on a high from our tour in France. Both completely buzzing, and also about ready to collapse from exhaustion after the long days at work since I got back, so I think I’m going to spend Easter on the sofa eating cake and trying to do as little as possible. Well maybe I will work on a new song that I wrote in my head during the drive back from Chambery on Monday morning.
I think all three of us left a little part of our hearts in France this March. We were received with such enthusiasm and hospitality everywhere we went, the shows were brilliant, and after 3,700 kilometers of driving we left already excited to come back in June for another round. Special thanks to Beast Records, Seb & Alex, Slim Mitch, Franck, Headsucker & Emma, Dimi & Sof, Gui and all the venues and the bands we played with, Head On, Bed Bunker, Tulla Larsen, The Strong Come-ons, The Mythomans, Aurelien Blues Band & the Denyals. Merci à vous !!
The troops are pretty tired on day twelve of our tour. We relented and went to McDonalds for lunch, and now we’re waiting to unload the car and set up for the last show at Brin de Zinc in Chambery.
Tired Face #1
Tired Face #2
And Tired Face #3
I’m sure we’ve got just enough juice left in the tank to deliver one more show tonight, perhaps with the help of a mouthful of whisky. Back to Milan tomorrow and this week we’ll announce the dates of our 10-show German/Europe tour which begins on Thursday 11 April in Switzerland.
It’s very difficult to find time on tour to do anything. The entire day is spent packing the car, finding food, driving, finding the venue, unpacking the car, setting up, sound-checking, eating again (maybe), hanging around, and then actually playing. OK, I missed the number one thing that musicians on tour are always searching for above anything else – the wifi connection. We have to constantly connect to reply to emails, book shows, facebook the next event etc.
Alessio told me as we were driving out of Le Mans two days ago that there is a very big cathedral there, but of course we didn’t go to see it. Any lucky free hours we find ourselves with on tour we generally spend trying to get some sleep if possible, or washing things, but occasionally, just on the off chance that we find ourselves with not far to travel and something on the route, we might do something touristy. Last time we toured in France we took a quick spin around Lourdes. This morning we have a few hours to spare with only a couple of hours to get to Lille this afternoon, and Pete & Alessio have both never been up the eiffel tower.
Well guys it doesn’t look like it’s going to be today. So here is a picture of the tour eiffel that I got on the internet. Maybe next time, alright?
We’re almost halfway done with our tour. So far we’ve been battling against snow, rain, sore throats and illness, but the show must go on, as they say. It has been amazing catching up with so many wonderful people along the way. We had a fantastic night at Mondo Bizarro on Saturday with Bed Bunker and Head On. Here are a couple of pics of us with the boss:
And not forgetting the awesome show at Ernee on Friday night, put together by the one and only Headsucker, and his beautiful wife Emma, who made sure that we left their town at least 3 kilos heavier than we arrived. Here’s a video of a song we just recorded at SAE with Ivan Rossi, a cover of the JC classic, Give my love to Rose. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for a new Beast Records release coming out soon in tribute to the man in black. This video is courtesy of Phil LaCleck, (merci Phil).
Pete had an unintentional night off last night to rest his voice, sorry Caen, but we’ll be back next time I promise. He has slept and dosed up on everything under the sun to try and recover for the rest of the tour. Thanks so much to Alex for all the help and honey. Tonight we head to Le Mans, tomorrow Paris. Hope to see you on the road.
Santé!
Pete Ross & The Sapphire 