This blog is the second chapter in my daily journals chronicling my first tour as a rock artist. In the previous entry I recalled exhausting rehearsals, my journey across the Atlantic, and our first show, in London. Even though I had never set foot on a tour bus before, I then spent nearly forty-eight hours traveling with my intrepid crew across Europe, heading towards Poland. My adventures continue in Part Two…
Tuesday, 4/22
1:30 am
Warsaw, Poland
Living the rock star life in Warsaw! That’s what I’ve thought all morning as I sat here using the hotel hair dryer on the socks and underwear I had washed in the sink the night before. Lucky for me, I learned a few touring tips from my pal Duff McKagan, bassist for Guns N’ Roses, including bringing vodka in a spray bottle to evaporate the odors out of gig clothes. So far, it’s worked! And the vodka itself is odorless. I texted Duff a picture of my laundry with a hearty “Thanks!” and he replied with enthusiasm. By the time we left for soundcheck, I had dry socks.
As we loaded in to the venue, Progresja, I was immediately struck by the building’s imposing Cold War era exterior, like a dusty brick cube encased in black sheet metal and gnarled barbed wire. When I got inside, I saw pictures on the walls of many of my favorite bands and artists, and I got the feeling that room would get wild.
Indeed, the Warsaw crowd tonight rocked! I knew right from the opening riff of “Incinerator” that tonight would be special. Brendan and Pete prowled the stage with newfound intensity. And we stepped out on to these conveniently placed monitors at the front of the stage for dramatic effect.
Tonight was very emotional for me. I caught myself fighting back tears during the euphoric closing minutes of “The End of Tomorrow.” The audience threw their arms in the air and sang along with us, on this song that was written not for a score, but for my debut solo record, The Singularity. This was a first!
After the show, when speaking with some fans, I noticed my voice getting really scratchy. It started to give out on me. I must be pushing it too hard. After the crew packed up, wearily, we all filed back onto the bus for the ten-hour overnight drive to Prague.
Tuesday April, 22
4:00 pm
Prague, Czech Republic
Hardly slept last night. In the morning, feeling awful, I crawled downstairs to the lower lounge. Morgan asked me how I slept. When I tried to answer him, only a filtered rasp emerged. I have literally lost my voice in the truest sense: I was unable to vocalize anything at all. Morgan and I retreated to the upstairs bus lounge where he proceeded to offer me all manner of treatments from his doctor’s bag, including a custom-made tincture. I was quite touched by how quickly Morgan sprung into action to help me. (I really hope I’m not getting sick. Hopefully this sore throat is just from too much singing and talking.)
We pulled into Prague, and the crew began unloading our gear into our venue, Roxy. With time to kill, I wandered into a gorgeous town square to discover a bustling marketplace filled with traditional music and flowers, flanked by cathedrals on all sides. A huge crowd gathered around to watch a little clockwork skeleton ring a bell. Very metal! After a couple hours, Brendan joined me wandering the city streets. It was nice to get some one-on-one time with my brother in a beautiful, foreign land.
I’m now back at the venue and resting backstage. I’m still light-headed and my throat burns. I don’t know how well I can sing tonight, and I’m starting to worry I won’t even be able to speak.
Wednesday, April 23
1:15 am
Prague, Czech Republic
The Prague show was fantastic! There was a guy in the crowd dressed up in full pirate cosplay, complete with a stuffed monkey and a parrot. When we busted out the epic sing-a-long chorus of “Black Sails,” I sang right at him. Before and after “Prelude to War,” the crowd erupted into chants of “So Say We All!” which took me back to my Battlestar Galactica days. You rocked, Prague. Thank you!
Even though I’ve been trying to downplay that I don’t feel great to my band, Gene seemed to immediately pick up on my struggles with exhaustion. He gave me some of the melatonin that he uses to sleep on the road. I am continually surprised at how Gene, who creates such musical devastation with his drumming, always proves to be a thoughtful, caring friend. I’m waiting for the melatonin to kick in here, and I hope I get some real sleep tonight as the bus treks to Berlin.
Wednesday, April 23
11:30 am
Berlin, Germany
Perhaps thanks to Gene’s melatonin, last night was the first in a week I slept more than eight hours! I was the first one awake, so I made myself a protein shake breakfast and enjoyed the passing countryside from the bus’s downstairs lounge for a couple of hours. Sad to say, my throat is still screwed up. We’re now parked outside our venue, Metropol, here in Berlin, and I’m looking out the window at a funny statue of a naked dude playing trumpet.
Wednesday, April 23
6:45 pm
Berlin, Germany
I spent the afternoon with a contingent of the band making the nearly two-mile trek from the venue to the Brandenburg Gate. Our walk through the park was absolutely breathtaking.
The Brandenburg Gate truly has to be seen to be believed. We snapped a hilarious shot in which we look like a band. Oh wait… we are a band! LOL. My feet ache, but it was worth it.
Thursday, April 24
12:30 am
Berlin, Germany
Another fantastic show! Our lighting designer, Jack, is starting to add new visual flourishes to each performance. He made use of this huge disco ball above the crowd for “Type III” and the result was truly magical. Felt like we were performing in a sea of stars. This room was really tall, and felt like an old Roman theatre.
My favorite moment tonight was when the crowd chanted “Brendan! Brendan! Brendan!” as he prowled the stage.
At the end of the show, a fan threw a Godzilla action figure on stage that sat there with us during our performance of “Godzilla.” You can spot Brendan holding it in our band photo at the end of the night!
Inspired by audience feedback, I can’t help but consider making changes to the set during the two weeks I will be back in Los Angeles before the North American leg of the tour. I’m trying not to think about this now, but these ideas are increasingly gnawing at me. I might post a question on social media about adding a song or two to my set and see what the response is.
Brendan and I grabbed döner kebabs after the show and they were absolutely delicious: the perfect way to end my trip in Berlin. Now… back on the bus.
Thursday, April 24
11:30 am
Northern Switzerland
I awoke to views of hilly Swiss countryside. Brendan and I are currently staring out the windows of the bus’s upstairs lounge, gobsmacked by the beauty around us: rolling green hills peppered with farmhouses and small communities, flanked by the distant, snow-capped Alps. As for my throat, I fear I am getting worse: I struggle to speak at all, and my mind feels groggy. I don’t like how my health is trending.
Thursday, April 24
6:45 pm
Zurich, Switzerland
We made it to Zurich by mid-day. I trekked around to get a sense of the city, but my energy quickly waned. I did another round of laundry in my hotel room sink, hanging everything up to dry overnight and spraying it all down with vodka, Duff’s miracle touring tonic. As he assured me, all the odors from my gig clothes evaporated away quickly with the vodka spray. I washed my clothes in the sink, using shampoo, and I’m hoping my laundry is all dry by tomorrow. I never thought I’d be so stressed about freaking laundry on my first tour, but here we are. #RockStarLife.
Friday April, 25
10:30 am
Zurich, Switzerland
Sadly, my clothes did not dry overnight. So, after breakfast, I spent another couple hours with the blow dryer, replaying all my favorite Jenny Nicholson YouTube videos. (I’ve listened to her so much on this tour I’ve burned through nearly her entire YouTube career in a few days.)
Friday April, 25
3:00 pm
Zurich, Switzerland
When I met the band and crew in the hotel lobby this morning I did a doubletake when I noticed Timmy, our monitor mixer, was wearing a Battlestar Galactica hat. Everyone cracked up when I asked him about it. Apparently, the backstage crew in London found this hat after the show and gave it to us instead of throwing it away. Timmy has been wearing it ever since, waiting for me to notice!
On the bus ride over to the venue, Komplex 457, I hesitantly confided in Brendan my increasing desire to revise the set list, including adding new songs for North America. Brendan was surprisingly open to this idea, clearly having picked up on the same audiences cues I had.
During load in, Igor walked Paul, Brendan, Omer, Morgan and I over to a great coffee place he knew across the street. While sipping a refreshing latte, I got to know Igor a bit more. Igor can go as deep as anyone in discussions of rock and roll, video games, programming, mixing, science fiction, anime and other such topics beloved of nerds like myself. He has become a huge asset to my show, my secret weapon! I’ve come to trust him implicitly as he is fully responsible for the sound of my music that my fans experience, and I have learned a lot about front-of-house concert mixing over these last few days just by observing him.
Saturday April, 26
1:35 am
Zurich, Switzerland
The Zurich crowd brought a raucous energy to our performance. I still don’t have my voice back, but I managed to push through with a bit more adrenaline.
I am gratified and inspired to watch Brendan and the rest of the band elevate their showmanship with each performance. Even Omer, inarguably the quietest person in the band, is coming out of his shell with each show. I think that dude is a rock god in training.
At the end of each performance, we grab a photo from the stage with the crowd to commemorate the occasion, and these are usually taken by our drum tech, Charles Degolla. I have been really impressed by Charles. Not only is Gene’s particular drum kit set up perfectly each night, but then Charles crouches down behind Gene for two hours at each performance ready to spring into action the instant anything should go wrong. He’s a thorough tech, an amazing drummer himself, and as it turns out, a quick and effective photographer. And I can’t get enough of his stories of touring with one of my favorite bands, Alien Weaponry.
I am now back on the bus, sitting in the upstairs lounge as my adrenaline wears off enough so I can sleep. We head to the Netherlands soon. With any luck, my health will bounce back after some rest.
Continued in Part 3.
-Bear
