May
Posted on 23rd May 2010
Today I write from scenic Berlin. We arrived back here yesterday after a long, traffic-y drive from Munich, another town in Germany I have totally been to now. I am starting to feel the effects of rocking super hard and leading the rock-n-roll lifestyle nonstop for the past ten days or so. I am having trouble focusing on objects, forming coherent sentences, and other stuff what is like that. I still look incredible though, especially the hair.
Since leaving scenic Switzerland a few days ago, we have handed out a few more rock-n-roll beatdowns as the Walter Schreifels Band Euro-invasion continues. From St. Gallen, Switzerland, we continued on to Vienna, Austria the popular town most famous for the flavor of General Foods International Coffe that bears its name. It was a long drive through Switzerland and Bavaria getting there, during which we were stopped and searched by the Bavarian police twice. It was a bit of a hassle but mostly just added to the excitement as far as I was concerned. I am travelling with a veritable pharmacy of Oriental medicines in powder form that apparently look a lot like heroin, so the police made me come out to the back of the bus while they rifled through my luggage and sniffed my goods. I was delighted by how much they seemed to hate me. They had cool uniforms too. I wanted to get pictures but the Bavarian police were not “having it.” I guess I will just have to hold onto the memories or maybe try to get arrested next time I am out this way.
After not getting arrested or raped or anything by the Bavarian police, we continued on to Vienna, stopping along the way at a Bavarian rest stop that for some reason had an entire shelf of knickknackery dedicated to genital-based humor, which is really some of the best kind when it gets right down to it. I was particularly entertained by what appears to be testicle lotion in the photo above. I’m not sure what it said on the bottle, by I stared at it for a good 20 minutes, just laughing and laughing until I was finally kicked out of the store. Given the opportunity, I’d probably still be there right now still totally thinking it was really funny and thanking the people of Germany for keeping up the good work.
The club we played at in Vienna was called the Szene. I was really excited that the seriously good Norwegian Black Metal band Mayhem was going to be playing there a few days later as I dig that sort of thing. I thought about leaving a note for them in the dressing room that said something to the effect of “Hey Mayhem, I totally get the whole Satan thing. Keep up the good work” but ultimately decided against it for fear of being stabbed at a later date. Instead, I treated myself to a one-man all-you-can-eat wienerschnitzel party backstage. Most of our catering on this tour has been vegetarian since that’s how most of the guys roll, so when we finally had a big pile of breaded meat backstage I tore into it like it was some kind of f@#king contest or something. No one could believe it. The people of Vienna still talk about it to this day.
Our Vienna show was rocking as you can probably imagine. After we finished playing all the hits, we headed back to the hotel and a handful of us took to the streets in search of the party lifestyle. I was hoping we’d wind up in some old place where the people of Vienna were all dressed in adorable forest green outfits and dancing on wooden table tops but instead we wound up in a crappy little bar where some guy with a greasy ponytail was making sure we got our recommended daily allowance of techno music. We didn’t last long though, and ended up stumbling back to our hotel to sleep like small children hooked on Robitussin.
From Vienna, we contined on to Munich, another long drive. After soundcheck, Walter and I went for a seriously long run during which I almost had like five seizures since I had already gone for a run that morning Vienna before we skipped town. Somehow I survived though and managed to see all sorts of cool stuff around Munich, including the awesome church above that I probably should know the name of but- as of this writing- don’t. Stop yelling at me. The Munich show itself was maybe the best one yet in terms of the rock heat we were bringing. We have been playing a version of “Mustang Ford” by T. Rex that seems to get about five minutes longer each night. It is a super blast to play and everyone wants to make out with us as soon as we’re done.
We got back to Berlin yesterday and started partying super hard as is our wont. We got sushi for dinner and then made our way to a few bars and discos, including one where there was a makeshift beach along a canal complete with a bonfire that Arthur (pictured above, hanging out of the van on the autobahn yesterday) and I sat in front until we were pretty sure our hair was going to catch fire. I’m not sure what happened after that but everyone tells me I had a really nice time and was really fun to be around.
Tonight we rock Berlin. It is going to be incredible.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. Yesterday, I saw this car at a gas station in Germany. You never think you are going to see a car with a giant Bryan Adams sticker on the back of it and then one day you do and then life is never the same again.
Auf wiedersehen,
Dave Hill
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