The Bottom Line is...

I woke up early when we arrived in Lille, if I'm not too pissed the night before I try to get into parts of the city to experience them (though hopefully we'll be back soon).  Following the infinite struggle to find the venue back door (common occurrence), Tom and I went for a walk to get our bearings and check out the growing queue.

During lunch we had a really good chat with Pierre, we spoke about fans, different tours and then Pierre came out with a line that left me at a loss for words; 'You guys are the best opening band I've ever seen'. Now that's something I never thought I'd hear... especially from a member of a band we've all admired for years.

The venue was packed when the show began and it rocked. Callum's crowd surf during Pull Me Out took him pretty much to the sound desk, to the point it was quicker for him to run back onto stage. I had some technical issues with my wireless gear but recovered, only to return to a microphone stand which had drooped down so I pretty much sang the song on my knees.

Cologne was such a dope show. The crowd took a bit of warming up but by the end we had a little circle put going which was great. During 'Pull Me Out' Callum went sailing on 'HMS Bottom Line' (an inflatable bed we've stuck a flag on) but unfortunately the thing punctured and Callum fell a good 8 foot flat onto the ground.... it was hilarious & he's okay!

It was a quick load out and long drive to Hamburg when we were done. With a day off ahead we drunk the night away. I woke up with bleary eyes on Friday and we were in the city. It's a crazy place! Littered with bars, sex shops & hookers, the city reflected some of the characteristics of Amsterdam. I was out with Scotty & Kevin for most of the afternoon, it's always nice to be in a small group where you can really find out a lot more about who you're with. We shared a lot of stories over lunch (we ate at a cool indy burger bar called Quentin's Burger Bar, completely themed on Tarantino films) and it's amazing to hear where everything all started and what was happening before Ghost Town etc.

Since the first show I haven't written a word which sucks! The tour has continued to be incredible and every show has been a highlight. Bilbao kicked arse, Barcelona killed it too, the catering and hospitality in France was incredible. Our return to Italy was a lot of fun and we already had people singing back some lyrics (WOW). We found out McDonalds is the price of a meal in Switzerland and Prague took too drunk to a new level (sorry this summary is so brief, I don't have a lot of time today but thanks to everyone).

We spent the evening of our day off skipping bars around Prague (and what an incredible city). After admiring the architecture and gothic spires of the churches we entered an evening of debauchery, venturing into the sex machine museum and discovering some great bars (away from British tourists... which took a while). I had some of my old work colleagues fly out for the weekend to hang which was great! We met up with Jeff from SP and the rest is history. The next day we played our largest show in Europe... to 4500 people, hungover as shit but the show was surreal.

Throughout the tour so far the reaction has been breathtaking. As a band giving up everything, going out on tour for free and working our asses off it's amazing to have such a positive response. In Vienna the show was great and we started to notice fan pages on social platforms popping up everywhere since: TBL Austria, TBL Italy Official, TBL Finland (presented by The Finnish Line) & more, it's crazy!

We then had a day off after the show in Munich which was haunting but a good experience as we headed to Dachau Concentration Camp. Unfortunately we arrived a bit late and some of the buildings were closing down but what we did see really painted a picture. An eary silence fills the air as soon as you enter the gates... it seems so cliché to say but bearing in mind it looked onto by roads and surrounded by a town (who would want to live there?!) it really does sustain a presence. Following this we went to Hofbrauhaus for some traditional giant German beer and German folk music. Drinks continued with the GT & TBL team when we returned to the bus as it was Matt's birthday. Naturally we played the centurion drinking game then carried him naked & gaffa taped from the waist down around the venue. Happy Birthday bro.

Yesterday we returned to Switzerland, specifically Lausanne, for the smallest how of tour... only a 1000 cap (A fucking THOUSAND is the smallest... pinch me I'm dreaming). The show was a sweatbox which I loved and the room was absolutely packed. We had to rush out the venue after the show as we had an 11 hour drive to reach Cologne, though we still ensured we set time aside to play new fans some acoustic tunes and have a chat. That's something we have seriously committed to on this tour, getting out personally to as many people as possible, which we love and hopefully everyone else does too.

After a late night I awoke in Barcelona at around 2.30 this afternoon. Thankfully feeling relatively fresh I dragged myself up and went for a wander. This. Place. Is. Huge. The Jordi Club has a cap of about 4500, a massive warehouse shell which is transformed into an immense music hall. I was taken back by the size but massively excited about the idea of playing it.

I grabbed some lunch and then myself, Tom & Callum decided to get out to the queue and play some music. Again, we had a great crowd, I don't understand why every band doesn't do this before a show if they're supporting... It gets you great exposure to a crowd of strangers, they get to learn some of your music AND you can make some money before you've even set up your merch or plugged in a guitar, he exposure is awesome.

We played a few songs and then asked for directions to shops.. none were nearby but we needed booze. These two awesome people, David & Tina, offered to do a shop run for us and came back after 30 minutes with Vodka, Jaeger, Lemonade & Cranberry juice which was so dope of them. To make things better they then straight up refused to let us pay for it. However much I tried to give them money they just wouldn't take it. What a fantastic introduction to Barcelona and THANK YOU David & Tina if you ever see this.

Sound check rolled around and I was taken back by the amount of noise we were making. Empty the venue had quite a big reverb so you had this wall of sound bouncing around and it sounded huge. We were stoked for this show, it was going to be a step up right? Unfortunately not; due to a strict curfew rule we weren't aware of we had to bring the show forward half an hour. The only reason this sucked is because the venue was pretty sparse when we played... I'd say we started with about 250 people which had grown to about 800 by the time we finished. Again, the crowd was great (although not quite as warmed up as Bilbao, sorry guys haha) and we killed it, the energy was huge again.

There is something totally different about playing a show on tour. You're living on top of each other, every dick joke can be heard from the other end of the bus and the smell of a fart makes the whole space a kind of toxic chamber. As soon as you get on stage you know thats your days work, that's the relief of all the fuck you's which may have come with the day and you all know, in a new place, you need to make the best impression possible.

Energy was high following the show, from the moment we had a shot on stage to 15 minutes later when Tom had managed to somehow get fucking ruined, impressive time for that state bro. Of course, we still comitted to a post gig acoustic show which was hilarious. We sold a good few CD's and managed to pull a crowd of about 70, which was heard from inside (always a good sign). I had to leave after a few tunes to sort out the merchandise. There's this thing called a merchandise concession where the venue sell your merch, taking a fee of 25% & an additional 21% VAT... literally taking away 30% of any money we make. WHAT THE FUCK? The venue make money from bands, ticket sales, bar sales... and then grab more off you. I can't believe that's a thing... especially for an unsigned band, completely DIY who are jut making money to carry on touring. Anyway, that's a bunch of bullshit BUT it's not at every gig so were good.

What a way to start tour. Except for the sound check after doors it was perfect. There were about 1100 kids at the gig which was nuts and they were massively receptive. Several people and my own perception had planted the idea they might not be bothered by us, the opening band, but Bilbao proved us wrong massively. We all had an insane amount of energy for that performance through the frustration of missing Madrid and I think this really shone through. I kept sharing moments of eye contact with Tom, Callum & Matt, with 'is this really happening?' resonating in each of our expressions. Even better, the language barrier wasn't an issue. I'd say Bilbao was possibly the best show of my life... it's definitely up there.

It was also my first time seeing Ghost Town and Simple Plan in full. Both of them were awesome. It's nice to finally see Ghost Town after sharing the bus for a few days and Simple Plan were insane... I still think The Bottom Line has a lot to learn.

After the gig we, as always, set out to sell as much merch as possible. We spent a solid hour selling CD's, taking photos & signing for our new fans. If every night goes as well, this tour could certainly be the stepping stone to an amazing year... maybe even the ideal career? We'll see...

That's when it all went down hill. We loaded up, got on the bus and started drinking. The chat was great, it always seems to be on this bus which is amazing. I finally got the chance to have a proper chat with Scotty, the merch guy for Ghost Town, and he's done some really cool shit, primarily working with Architects but this is his career so of course he has a lot of clients. He actually mentioned the respect he has for us going out and playing acoustic sets, selling merch & believes based on the amount of work we put in we could really make something of this.

It was about 19:00 on the day of the Madrid show and we still hadn't made it to the venue. We had a call through, both TBL & Ghost Town had been replaced with local supports. It was devastating. I think there was something about the lack of control we had over the situation which really didn't help us take it. For a good couple of hours the atmosphere, as you can imagine, was pretty low. Once we had come to terms with the situation we made an action plan.

We didn't actually arrive at the venue until around quarter to 11 as we weren't able to park in the venue because the show was on. We parked a few miles away and got a lift into town from one of the most stereotypical Spanish men I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. When we arrived I was dreading seeing the venue. Vistalegre is usually a Basketball stadium so we knew it was going to be a huge show. We walked behind the stage to Simple Plan playing 'I'm Just A Kid' and the show looked huge. The only saving grace was the fact that the sound reverberated around the room a lot (being a stadium) and we imagined the sound on stage would have been awful.

As the show came to a close we thought we'd stand outside the entrance and play some acoustic tunes. It was awesome. We were playing and selling CD's for some of the money we'd lost from missing the show, at one point we had a crowd of about 100 people blocking the entrance and got moved along. Possibly the most Punk Rock start to tour. It was a shit start to tour, missing the first show & crashing our bus, but we definitely made the most of a bad situation and ended in good spirits.... and with McDonalds.

Back in the bus we had good chats with Manny and got the chance to meet Kevin too. They all seem like really cool guys, very chilled and up for a couple of crazy nights. We finally got to bed at about 4am and had the day off in Bilbao on the other side.

It felt like an eternity but tour is finally here. Just the week of unemployment before we set off dragged. It's strange to be in a position where you don't know what you're going back to, but with this tour, around the whole of Europe, with key pioneers of your bands genre, it's something that I had to take up. It's still sinking in that we're doing this.

Once the van was packed we made our way to the M25 to meet the bus. On our way up we had a call from the bus company... 'we've got a problem'. Fuck. 'The bus you've hired has broken down'. Shit. 'So we're going to have to give you a brand new one'. Yep, we are currently rolling around in a brand new tour bus. 2 living spaces, 12 bunks, a double bedroom, surround sound AND the TV emerges from the upstairs windscreen. It is so dope.

Rush to choose bunks, sort ourselves out and we've been riding since. The first show today is in Madrid so the journey should have taken around 20 hours (if only). At 2am this morning there was a massive bang, I slid an inch in my bed and braced for an impact, I thought we were going to crash. To my bitter sweet relief we stabilised and it turns out our 2nd driver was dazzled by a lorry and scraped along the wall smashing a wing mirror. As a consequence we've spent 3 hours this morning at a Mercedes garage getting a botch job wing mirror so we could carry on.