Thursday, March 25, 2010

Stand Up, Fight Back (Europe tour with xTrue Naturex): Switzerland / Germany / Austria / Hungary

So as some of you may have noticed it's been quite a few days since I've updated this thing. There's a reason for that, and I will explain: I somehow contracted some kind of Virus and it's left me incredibly ill the past 5 or 6 days. I'm still not even sure of what I had/have, but whatever it was messed me up pretty badly. There were at least a few days in there when I was unable to walk, and I spent our day off in Stuttgart laid out in someones room for at least 40 hours or so. I had hardly eaten anything, and by the time we left Germany I think I hadn't had a meal in almost 3 days. I had considered going to the hospital, which is a big step considering that I absolutely hate doctors, but I had taken every herbal remedy I could think of and nothing helped even in the slightest. I'm feeling exponentially better now, but I am still a little wary of becoming sick again. I get the feeling I got it from something someone fed us along the way, but I can't be sure on that.

Here's a brief recap (and what I remember) of the cities we've been in:

Played a pretty rad show in Zurich, CH and my only complaints about the show other than being sick was that the kicker table cost money. Except you would pay a euro, and only get enough soccer balls to play half of a game... Doesn't make sense! I played the show standing up which could have ended badly considering I could barely stand. Keegan said he was sitting near me ready to have to break my fall if I tipped over towards the mirrors or something; and apparently it was my sweatiest and most red-faced show I've ever played so if some photos surface on the internet (which they are out there somewhere) feel free to have a laugh. The next morning after staying with yet even more awesome people we tried some authentic vegan Swiss cheese... and oh man, was it good! Even though I was sick it was still amazing.*

Stuttgart, DE was a show in the basement of an old Police station that is now inhabited by a group of Vegan punx and activists. It was a pretty funny place to play a show in I must say, but it was nice to see a holding cell turned into something positive like a music venue. I had made plans to hang out with the sweetest kids, but the morning after the show I was barely able to lift my head to even tell them I wasn't able to go out. such a bummer.

We didn't have a show in Innsbruck, AT but we spent the night at a friends and had a nice relaxing time up in the Alps. Getting to see so much of the Alps has been probably my favorite part of this trip so far, and driving through Austria has been so rad. We had to visit a Land Rover dealer for our first repair of this tour, but since they didn't have the part we needed we just had to weld a temporary one for now until we can find another shop. Luckily MDG is a pretty good mechanic and we don't need to pay all these expensive fees for everything. A couple of times my masculinity has been challenged on this trip (which by the way is totally fine by me) for not knowing much about cars, or for exampled how to start a woodburning stove etc. but newsflash: I hate cars... I do. They're good for touring and that's it. and, I'm from Southern California, when would I have been able to operate, or ever need to operate a woodburning stove? ridiculous. I will never be a "man" in this society and I'm quite proud of that! Gender roles are silly.

Played a small club in Graz, AT and for what I thought was going to be a loud and rowdy show turned out to be really good. The atmosphere suggested that people would be talking over us during our sets, but everyone was actually incredibly respectful, supportive and receptive. Had some interesting conversations and I drank wayyy too much of this local, organic Austrian iced tea that was packed with sugar. So my teeth felt like they were going to fall out of my head, and I couldn't fall asleep until 5 am that night!

The next day brought us to Budapest, HU where we played in a packed practice space. We fit like 45 people in this tiny place and it was pretty awkward and hilarious (photos coming soon). and afterward had some traditional Hungarian vegan Goulash (spell?). The currency here is funny as well... it's strange to be in a part of the EU that doesn't use Euros, but the HUF exchange is like 5 euros to like 2000 HUF (this is a guess from what I remember of last night, i'm a party animal**).

Just woke up and now we're all debating on whether we want to rest all day or go out and see the city... BUT everyones telling us Budapest looks exactly like Vienna because it was built by the same person around the same time. I really don't like cities, so I feel like I want to rest and read but I'll just go with the flow.

For Love and Liberation,
Mike XVX


*I do realize I say 'awesome' or 'amazing' every other word, but this trip has been awesome and amazing... so you'll just have to deal with it!

**I've learned how to say I'm a party animal in 2 different languages so far. and I've also learned several new dances.

2 comments:

ohfuckgod said...

i am totally excited for the new dances.

xnanux said...

mike i hope now you are better, it was very unfortunate for you to be sick.