#mwctour

It’s been over a month and a half since I got back from my European tour.  Once I returned I had to jump right back into my life here in Philadelphia.  I’ve finally found some time where I can actually sit down and revisit and document my trip.   It took a while to get everything out and edit it, but here it is finally ready to share!

And I did edit out a lot of information.  Describing every band and venue and every interesting interaction I had starts to take up a lot of writing time and makes this a pretty lengthy read.  I decided to simplify.  I think even now it is still kind of long.  I listed all of the band names so people can check them out.  Everybody who helped me with a show, a ride, a place to stay or a meal was amazing, and I wasn’t able to name every single one.  

I had a lot of my friends ask me questions about booking this tour, especially my musician friends who want to book a European tour of their own.  I did book 95% of this tour myself.  This was my second time over there and I had learned a lot from the first adventure and made some contacts.  Even with that being said it took a tremendous amount of work.  Hours spent at the computer, reaching out to different musicians and promoters, negotiating dates, and on top of that arranging travel and finding places to stay. Many bands and musicians pay booking and promotion companies/agents to book their overseas tours for them, and if you have a contact with a good reputation I’d say that’s worth it. But you can book a European tour DIY, and I will follow up with a more comprehensive post on how I actually put it all together.

Thursday September 27th - Philadelphia, PA - Stewart Airport, NY I started the day off at work in Philly, trying to get some last minute tasks completed and make sure all loose ends were tied before I left.   I took and an Uber to the Mega Bus stop, took the Mega Bus from Philly to NYC.  Walked to Port Authority Station to catch a shuttle bus that took me to Stewart Airport (2 hours north of NYC).  My plane left at 8 pm, I was there a good 2 1/2 hours early.  I opted to not take my guitar.  Musicians who plan to tour abroad are supposed to apply for work visas if they are to enter the UK and Europe.  The UK has a reputation for being extra strict and I didn’t want to risk not being allowed in the country so I played it safe and tried to look as “non musician” as possible.  I had one small book bag which stored a few changes of clothes and some of my smaller musical gear; harmonicas, capo, tuner and percussion pieces.  My checked luggage, which was one of those typical  suitcases with rollers and a handle which was full to the brim with merch; t-shirts, CD’s, patches, buttons and stickers.  My flight left on schedule at 8 pm. from New York to Dublin.

Friday September 28th - Doncastor, UK  @ Woolpack Live w/ Hi-Fi Stacy, Heartsink, High Visions  Originally I had planned to play some shows in Ireland which is why I bought round trip tickets in and out of Dublin. Sadly the promoters that promised me shows early in the year failed to come through and I had to skip Ireland all together.  So once I landed in Dublin I caught an early morning flight to Manchester.  My flight to Manchester was delayed a hour and a half, which made my day a little more complicated.  My original plan was to head to downtown Manchester and buy a guitar, I had already researched the area and there were plenty of instrument shops within walking distance from the central train station.  Though with the delay I had no time to spare and had to head straight to Piccadilly Station in Manchester and catch my train to Doncastor.  Arriving in Doncastor I tapped into the wifi at their central station and searched for instrument shops.  The only place I could find was a guitar repair shop, so I mapped out the directions and started walking.  It was only a 10-15 minute walk from the station, the shop looked close but I saw a button on the front door that said “GUITAR” so I pressed it.  Several seconds later I was greeted by a jolly old Englishman wearing a dusty old apron.  He only fixed guitars and gave lessons but called up the one shop in town that sold guitars and put me on the phone with guy and he gave me walking directions to his shop.  I walked over to the shop which was called “Fret Don’t Fret”.  They had only been open for a month, and they were filling a much needed gap in the town.  I told them I was going to buy a guitar, gave them my budget and they made me some coffee and started showing me different guitars.  I settled on the first one he showed me, a black Tanglewood guitar with a marble red pick guard.  The owner was an old time busker, now teacher and shop owner, and had traveled most of Europe playing street music and finding residencies at varies places over the years.  After sharing some stories he gave me his number and said if I was ever in a jam on my travels or couldn’t find a place to stay to give him a call.  I found the venue, another short walk, and then met up with the guys from High Visions, the band who helped me jump on the gig.  I opened this show up, I played good considering I had a day and a half of travel under me belt with little sleep and some heavy jet lag.   After the show I made some friends who were trying to convince me to head to another pub after the show.  Ultimately the problem was I needed a place to stay, and they couldn’t provide that.  I also was carrying around all of my belongings, which now consisted of a suitcase, guitar and a backpack.  I pulled out the phone number from the guy at the guitar shop from earlier, and one of my new friends let me use their phone to call him up.  To my relief he offered to come and scoop me up from the venue.  My new friends waited with me outside the venue and helped me load my gear into his car.  Once we go back to his house we stayed up for a while drinking coffee and sharing travelling stories and he gave me some good tips for my upcoming journey.

Saturday September 29th - London, UK - The Hand In Hand w/ Plague UK, Proud City Fathers, Slow Faction, Stone Heroes  The following morning my friend dropped me off at the Doncastor bus terminal as he headed out to give his daily music lessons.  I had a few hours until my bus departed so I tried my hand at busking at the Doncastor market.  Made a few tips, more cash than I had made at the gig the prior night!   I caught my bus, which included a transfer to a train that dropped me off at St Pancras station in London.  I mapped out directions to the show, hopped on the London underground and landed in South London.  From there I decided to walk to the show, which took about an hour or so but I was able to check out the city and stroll through some different street markets on the way.  I arrived at The Hand in Hand in Brixton about an hour before show time.  This lineup, besides myself was all South London punk rock, and I was not sure how an American acoustic punk guy would go over.  The show exceeded expectations, most people showed up early and I had a good crowd for my set.  After buying my first beer I didn’t pay for another the whole night, usually one would end up in my hand before I could finish the one I was drinking.  As the evening progressed so did the pints, which were followed up by shots of tequila.  The promoter of the show, John, also the guitar player and singer of Slow Faction offered to put me up for the night, and thankfully he only lived a block from the bar so it was a short stumble back after last call with no issues.

Sunday September 30th - London, UK - The Birds Nest w/ Junko Fuse, Lewis Mckale, Bucha Effect  The next morning I had to fight a pretty heavy hangover.  I was impressed by John’s ability to wake up first thing in the morning to run errands and act like he hand’t ran the bar dry the night before.  I was fed, got a shower and coffee and I was able to leave his apartment in the early afternoon almost fully recovered.  Make next show was again in London, but was in Deptford.  Still took me 45 minutes to an hour to get there.  I wandered around the neighborhood for a little while, but eventually settled on a cafe close to the gig to wait out the rest of the evening until the show.  The Birds Nest was a small  pub with a nice little stage behind the bar.  I headlined this show, and it was probably the best set I had played the whole tour.  The Birds Nest also had a hostel upstairs and they were able to arrange a bed for me.  The hostile rooms were different than I had ever seen, the beds were referred to as “pods” and were basically little human sized cabinets stacked against the wall with sliding doors for privacy.  If I was a taller guy I imagine they would not have been very comfortable at all.  

Monday October 1st - Sheffield, UK - West Street Live w/ Ruth Owens, Tinalien, Brandon Neal  I woke up at the Hostile by 9-10 am.  I had a bus to catch at Victoria Station on the other side of the city by 1:30 pm. There was plenty of time to make this all happen.  The only thing was I was supposed to wait at the bar for the bar owner and the promoter from the night before to meet me and give me my cut from the show.  Usually if there is a cut they pay you the night of, so I thought it was kind of odd, but I waited at the bar like they had asked.  Long story short they never showed, I waited until I couldn’t wait any longer.  I missed my bus, my ticket was non-refundable so I had to buy another ticket that was twice as much as the first one I bought.  That being said the second ticket was only £25, the first one was under £10, but still a major bummer for a low budget trip.  Sheffield was not close, and no surprise that my bus was delayed.  I would certainly be late for load in, but messaged the venue and everything was understood.  Once the bus finally arrived in Sheffield I took a tram to the city center, which dropped me off right down the street from the venue.  I suppose if there was a show I could have missed it would have been this one.  Not being negative, just the cost of the bus tickets and the rush to get there was brutal.  The show was free and people came in off the street to grab a beer here and there but none stuck around for longer than that.  The sound was great though, and I played pretty well.  It was just a college party scene and nobody really buying merch or donating to the bands.  There was one more band after me which I stuck around for, but after that the bar was dead and finding a place to stay was looking slim.  I decided I would try and make it back to the bus station and catch the next bus to London, I could sleep on the bus and once I got back to London I could find a connecting bus for my next show in Brighton.  

Tuesday October 2nd - Brighton, UK - Cowley Club w/ Boy In The Cupboard, Filthy Pedro   I found my way to the bus station around 12am.  I waited an hour before a bus pulled up headed for London Heathrow airport.  I asked the guy for a ticket but he told me to wait for the next bus.  He said that bus would head straight to London Victoria Station and would be better for me.  I waited for the next bus, another hour or so, which when it arrived the driver informed me I would not be able to buy a ticket because the bus was full, and that that particular bus was always full and tickets had to be purchased prior online if you wanted a seat.    So I was fucked, it was around 2:30 am at this point, and since we were in Sheffield, further north it was pretty cold.  I was able to tap into the bus station wifi and I looked up the next bus to London. There was another Mega Bus leaving in about 2 hours, but at a different bus depot on the other side of town.  I looked up directions on how to walk there and headed out on my way.  There was a cabby waiting at the bus depot who started talking to me.  He explained how far and difficult it was to get to the other bus station.  He made a good sale and I hired him to give me a ride, although his cab ride was about the same price as my bus would be.  Still worth it though, looking at how long and complicated the walk was I think I may have not made it in time.  Once at the bus station I fought off sleep until the bus came.  I slept the majority of that ride, arrived a Victoria Station in London and caught a bus to Brighton.  I tried to sleep on that bus as well but not much luck.  Brighton was a nice city on the southern cost of the UK.  Small and compact, easy to get around.  Hostels were cheap in Brighton and I set up shop at The Knights Inn.  I busked for a while in Brighton, made some tips and met some interesting folks.  After I made my way to The Cowley Club, an all volunteer run space.  The band Pog cancelled day of because they were sick, which was disappointing for obvious reasons, but also because Paul from Pog was the guy who knew how to setup and run the PA.  It wasn’t a basic setup, but all the bands worked together and we figured it out and got the show rolling.  The show was good, not many people out but that was expected for a show that had only been confirmed about a week before.  I helped close the place down, put all the chairs and tables back.  The volunteers were awesome and very thankful for my help and gave me some parting gifts as I left.  

Wednesday October 3rd - Bristol, UK - Cafe Kino w/ Invincible Pigs & June Apples  I woke up at bright and early from the Knights Inn in Brighton, UK and headed to the National Express bus station, which was a small parking lot by the shore.  I grabbed a coffee and stood in the sun, watching the English Channel while I waited for the bus.  To my disappointment my bus to Bristol was not direct, and we had a small layover at Victoria station in London before I got on my connecting bus to Bristol.  So pretty much the same scenery as the day before.  Bristol seemed like a nice city, the sun was out and a good day to walk around.  I thought about busking but all of the good spots were occupied by local buskers hooked up with amplifiers, so I didn’t feel like competing.  I got to Cafe Kino early and met the staff and the folks from Invincible Pigs.  There was a long pre-show sound check, which I guess was necessary, I’m just used to the short sound checks that we like to do in the states.  It was a good crowd for a Wednesday, and most people stayed for the whole show.  The Cafe Kino staff was awesome, realizing I was on tour from the States they let me keep a higher percentage of the door than what the agreement stated.  My departing bus from Bristol was leaving at 2 am, so I had several hours to kill.  Olly from Invincible Pigs let me come over to his apartment and we drank beers and hung out until it was time to for me to leave. .  

Thursday October 4th - Hanover, Germany - Nordstadtbraut   I was scheduled to get off at Queen Victoria Station in London, but I noticed that the next bus stop was Gatwick Airport, which was my final destination, so I jumped off the bus early and snagged my bags from under the bus before the bus driver could say anything (They are not allowed to let you off at a different stop other than the one you booked, even if it’s earlier in the schedule) .  So the stress of finding my way from London back to the airport was gone.  My flight departed at 8:30 am via Eurowings, destination Hamburg.  Customs was a piece of cake, which is par for the course in mainland Europe.  I caught a bus from Hamburg airport to Hanover and I got to town around 3-4pm.  I walked from the bus station towards Nordstadtbraut which was about a 30 min walk.  At this point I was pretty hungry and as I was reading the menu for a kabob restaurant when somebody walked out from inside the place and asked,”are you Matthew Charles?” I was taken a little by surprise but quickly realized it was Sven, the owner of Monster Records who helped me line up the show.  We ate together and he walked me down the street to Nordstadtbraut where I met Renate, the amazing barkeep, artists and owner of the pub.  I drank beer until it was time to set up the PA, which I did myself, it was a DIY affair and I was the only one on the bill. Then we waited until people showed up.  Once we got a little crowd I played for about an hour.

Friday October 5th - Hamburg, Germany There is no legal closing time for bars in Germany, so eventually Renate offered to take a break at the bar and walk me down the street to her flat so I could sleep.  I woke up that morning and made myself at home, making some instant coffee and taking a shower.  Renate woke up and bought us some delicious bagels for breakfast.  After that it was time for me to walk back down to the central station and catch my Flix bus (Flix Bus is a dirt cheap bus service, the mega bus of mainland Europe) back to Hamburg.  I didn’t have a show this day, but I had a plan to attempt to jump on a show that was happening at Menschenzoo, a venue that I had played in Hamburg years ago.  Problem was my bus was late getting to Hamburg.  The Flix bus drop off was outside the city center, so I had to take local trains in.  I got a little turned around and it was late before I got to  Reeperbahn, the neighborhood where Menschenzoo was located. Reeperbahn is a famous neighborhood in Hamburg, crowded 24/7, tourist central and is packed full of bars, cafe’s, strip joints, hookers, beggars, buskers and everything in between.  So not so easy to navigate, and by the time I made it to Menschenzoo it was already 7-8pm, and I wasn’t going to try and make my pitch for hopping on a show at that point.  Bands had already started loading in and setting up, and that would be bad form on my part.  I still figured I’d pop in and grab a few beers, maybe try and make some friends before I made my next move.  Cancel that as they booted me from the bar, only bands were allowed in until the show started.  My next plan was to find a cafe or a bar where I could hang out and charge my phone. In America, it’s hard to find a cafe that doesn’t have multiple outlets for you to charge your device while you hangout for an hour or so.  Not the case in Germany, I would walk into a cafe, with all my luggage which was slightly obnoxious for everybody, and search the place for a open outlet, and find none.  So I walked the streets for a good while, trying to pick out the perfect bar instead.  Every bar and pub would be a tourist trap for sure, but I could probably find one that was a bit smaller and had a local feel.  I found one with space at the bar, and it had a small room in the back where I could put my stuff and keep an eye on it from where I sat.  The bartender was helpful,  she had a spot behind the bar where I could charge my phone.  People at the bar were friendly, beer was cheap and my spirits rose a little thinking I might be able to find something interesting to get into.  In the meantime I had mapped out where the cheapest hostel was in that part of the city, it wasn’t very cheap but at least I had a backup plan.  A young guy from Manchester rolled up to the bar and started a conversation with me.  He seemed pretty cool at first but was poorly hitting on one of the bartenders, which was embarrassing me.  He was also making me take a couple shots with him, not really twisting my arm but I started looking for a way out. I struck up a conversation with some other American speakers, one from England and one from Australia.  We all hit it off, the guy from Manchester somehow squeezed his way into our group, but it was alright.  We ended up taking our party outside where the dude from England and I were trading off songs on my guitar.  We got a little crowd, people were taking pictures and videos.  Eventually interest teetered off and but we continued drinking outside.  The Aussie and the Englishman had to take off, I thought to try and tag along with them and try and get a place to crash but I didn’t feel right about that so I parted ways as well.  The evening was a success so far and I decided I would just bite the bullet and grab a bed at the hostel, maybe there would be a cheaper deal if I just walked in, maybe try a little haggling.  It was a good half hour walk, but I did a much better job of finding my way this time.  I was about a block away from the hostile when two German ladies started talking to me.  I said “sorry no Deutsche, only English”.  Then they started talking to me in very good English and explained to me that my suitcase was slightly open and I was dragging some clothes behind me.  Luckily the suitcase was only partly open and it was just one shirt, one really dirty shirt at this point but just one.  I tucked the shirt away and zipped up my bag, but a lengthy conversation ensued with these two.  One question lead to another and next thing you know I was telling my life story, there on a residential Hamburg street corner, sometime between 11 pm. and 12 am. if I were to guess.  I really felt like the conversation was not going to end, but I at least knew it needed to.  I was hoping to find some lodging at this hostel, and didn’t want to wait too long and have everything get booked up.  On the other hand I had a feeling that one of them was thinking about offering me a place to crash for the night.  It can be a weird thing, inviting a stranger inside your house, but certain people are open to that sort of thing, and I lived much of my life this way and I have pretty good intuition when it comes to feeling out willing hosts.  In the end I knew it would be something they would need to decide in private, and I certainly was not going to outright ask, maybe I could attempt to steer the conversation in that direction?  In retrospect I would have just carried the conversation on as long as I could to see if I could get some hospitality.  But I ended the conversation because I needed to explore this hostel down the street, which was closed by the time I got there.  By the time I realized it was closed the girls were long gone, I had nowhere to stay and had to pee really bad.  Earlier the girls had pointed me in the direction of some bars they recommended, so I walked that way.  I few blocks down there was a square with bars and restaurants, a park across the road and the street was full of people.  I was not about to try and enter any of these bars with all of my gear on me, but there were lines of folks using the park as a bathroom so I was able to relieve myself.  I logged onto some free wifi and decided I would find directions across the city towards the bus station, and see what happens on the way there.  My friend from Germany, who was now in the United state had messaged me, asked how I was doing and if I had found a place to stay in Hamburg.  I said I was doing great but had nowhere to stay, he seemed more distraught than I was about my status and said he would message some people and see what he could find.  In the meantime I started on my journey.  I made it back to the center of the Reeperbahn, met a busker that was playing cool music and we decided to jam together.  That didn’t last very long because he got in a major shouting match with a bum about the use of that particular corner of the street.  Just as quickly as I made a new friend we departed.  After that I got the gumption to find myself a street corned and try some busking.  Right when I was starting to setup my friend Tim got back to me and said he found a friend that could help me out with a place to crash for the night.  He told me to meet Julian at Jupi Bar, another 2 km walk from where I was.  

Saturday October 6th - Kiel, Germany - hansa48 w/ NOWAR, Rotten Mind, Russe, Eaten By Snakes  I made it to Jupi Bar, small punk rock bar that was fairly packed out.  I started asking around for Julian, eventually I found him.  He was extremely drunk, and English not being his first language I was having trouble understanding him.  He was the guy though, and he got the bar help take my bags into the back room so I would not have to worry about things getting stolen.  He introduced me to people at the bar, which were all very friendly, but I had the feeling that he wasn’t going to put me up for the night, and that I was just getting a place to hangout for a few hours.  I nursed some beers, some people bought me shots and the bar closed up around 4 am.  As I expected he didn’t have a place for me to crash and didn’t help me find one.  I said my goodbyes and started walking back towards the main drag.  I got directions back to the bus station, but took the wrong train.  I tried to head back on the same line but that train had stopped until further notice.  I walked in circles for a while trying to find my way.  Eventually I was able to catch a bus, but it wasn’t until 9 am. and I was doing everything I could to not fall asleep while standing up. I was so exited to get on the bus for warmth and so I could sleep.  The ride to Kiel was only a couple hours, the sleep was not so good and I got off the bus disoriented and otherwise spent.  The sun was out, which was a huge help.  I had pretty much all day to spend killing time in Kiel.  I spent some money at a local outdoor market, treating myself to a beer and German street food.  Other than that my day was spent walking around the city, trying to find places to charge my phone.  I was nice and early to hansa48.  They were still setting up and getting ready for the show when I arrived.  They had a green room though with pretty comfy chairs where I was able to take off my shoes and doze off for a few minutes.  Soon the other bands started coming in so I decided to wake up. There was a delicious pre-show dinner for the bands alongside an (almost) unlimited stock of beer and Yerba mate’.  I played second on the small stage.  The show was incredible, great turnout, great sound and really good bands.  Somehow I was still functioning after minimal sleep and all the beer I could drink, but opted to skip the after party and returned to my hosts apartment to get some much needed rest.

Sunday October 7th - Copenhagen, Denmark - CPH Listening room w/ various artists  We woke up around 10 am and made our way back to hansa48 for breakfast.  All of the bands that stayed in Kiel were at the breakfast, we enjoyed variety of breads, spreads, cheeses, coffee and tea.  I had made friends with Dan, the driver for Rotten Mind from Sweden.  He offered me a ride with the band to Copenhagen on their way to back to Sweden, which I gladly accepted.  It was nice to be in a van with people I knew, listening to cool music, much of which I had never heard before.  Our route took us across the Baltic Sea via ferry, fist stopping at the border shop so they all could stock up on cheap beer (similar to duty free shops on the Canadian/US border).  They dropped me off at a train stop on the outskirts of Copenhagen.  I caught a train into the city.  Once I got my bearings I made my way to the CPH Listening Room which thankfully was only a short hike from the central train station.  This was an open stage, slightly different from the typical open mic nights that I’m used to in the states in the fact that it was more of an organized production.  They had two international featured acts and the rest of the night was given to sign ups.  The host, English in origin was lively and witty.  It was called the listening room for a reason, for every act it was standard to not speak or make any noise during the performances.  Basically every artist is given full attention.  Unfortunately this was my worst set of the whole tour, worst set I’ve played in a long time, thankfully it was only 10 minutes!  I hung out for a while, watched one of the featured artists but then said thanks for the opportunity and departed.  I got a room at a hostel not too far from where I played. 

Monday October 8th - Halmstad, Sweden I actually sort of slept in at the Downtown Hostel in Copenhagen, but was up before 11 am.  I hung around the hostel for a few hours using their wifi and planning out the next parts of my trip.  I walked down to the Copenhagen bus terminal, which was just a long city block and joined the group of confused people waiting for their buses, wondering which end of the street their bus would stop and what time it would actually come.  I sat outside and played guitar while I waited for my bus and somebody tipped my 50 Danish Kroners, which was my largest single tip of the tour, and I wasn’t even trying to busk this time!  My Flix bus came an hour or so late, luckily I was in no real hurry because there was no show that night.  I did have a place to crash though.  My friend Travis; who I knew from playing in bands back in Upstate New York lives in Halmstad.  He greeted me at the bus station when I finally arrived in the early evening.  I helped Travis drink the rest of his wine, drank his last beer and he made us pizza.  A much needed chill night.

Tuesday October 9th - Gothenburg, Sweden - Pustervik w/ various artists  In the morning I said goodbye to my friends, Travis’s wife gave me a ride to the train station and I caught a train heading to Gothenburg.  I had the afternoon to explore, the weather was brisk but still not too cold.  I gave a pretty good shot at busking near a main square, got a little bit of attention, but probably the least lucrative session of the trip.  I headed to Pustervik about an hour before the open stage started.  I ordered a beer and asked the bartender when the open stage started, and where it was in the building.  Another guy at the bar chimed in and gave me the details and invited me to go sit with him at his table.  His name was Boye, friendly guy with an epic mustache/beard combo who played uke.  He seemed to know everybody and I started meeting a good amount of people as the crowd started to migrate in.  I had lined this gig up through this guy named Jonas Selander that I met through a online European Folk Punk message board.  I was trying to fill in some dates on my way to Stockholm, and Jonas happened to be helping host an open stage on Tuesday.  Again a little different than a lot of open mics I’ve been to in the US, there was a pre-online signup, which Jonas got me on.  They still saved some spots for walk-ins but they were limited and there was a rush at 7 pm.  The rush was pretty significant as everybody headed upstairs once they opened the door.  I met Jonas, who was helping setup and run sound and I grabbed a seat at his table right up front.  The place packed out pretty quick, there were people sitting on the floor due to lack of seats and it was a chore to leave your seat and order a drink.  I don’t know why I get nervous at open stages, but I do, and I was really nervous for this one.  I don’t know what the difference is between this and a normal show, but there is a big difference for me.  The host of the night gave me the grandest introduction too, which didn’t help my nerves any.  I think it’s the fact that you only get a couple songs, I like having a whole set, you can gauge how the audience is feeling and adjust your set appropriately, and if you blow something early on you have several songs to bury your mistakes.  In the end I just let myself get exited and played songs I knew I could ace.  Once the open stage was over Jonas and I grabbed some food and took the local trolley's back to his apartment.  I got the lay of the land which I would need to know to catch my early morning bus to Stockholm. 

Wednesday October 10th - Stockholm - Cyklopen w/ About Hen   I woke up early enough and was able follow my directions back to the bus station.  Another Flix bus, departing for Stockholm.  The ride was pretty uneventful, I got to take in a lot of scenery which reminded me much of Central New York State.  I did some cheap sightseeing once I arrived in Stockholm, basically walking around and getting lost a couple times before I made my way to Cyklopen.  The venue was not in the city center, and it was located off last stop of the rail that I took from the central station.  From there I walked on a small local highway, took a right onto a walking trail and found a brightly colored building made out of plastic. I later found that they constructed the building themselves out of this particular plastic material so no one could burn it down, because that’s what happened to their old building.  More info on the space and their history here https://cyklopen.se/.  Cyklopen is a volunteer run space, but very well organized.  They had made a Swedish dinner including vegan Swedish meatballs, potatoes and some cream sauce that is apparently common there. I opened up the show and was followed by a rock band called About Hen.  After the show was over I made friends with locals and chatted them up until the staff finished closing up shop.  The sound guy Tobias was nice enough to offer me a place to stay at his apartment closer to the city center.

Thursday October 11th - Uppsala, Sweden -  Kulturhuset Femman w/  Weathered Statues, Kuudes Silmä   When we arrived back at Tobias’s place in the wee hours he brought out the beer and good liquor and we stayed up for while. I got to try Gammel Dansk, a famous Danish liquor, I think he would have let me finish it if I had wanted, but I knew I needed to get some sleep and this was one of the few opportunities where there was no pressure to wake up early in the morning.  I walked around Stockholm some more but eventually made my way to the central station and got a regional train to Uppsala.  Uppsala was a quick hour and a half train ride.  The town is somewhat reminiscent of a small US college town but still very European.  I landed this show with the help of my new found friends from Rotten Mind, the guys who gave me a lift to Copenhagen. Only several days before I didn’t have shows scheduled before and after my show at Cyklopen.  Thanks to Dan from Uppsala and Jonas in Gothenburg I had filled those dates up.  I was welcomed by Dan and his friends and relaxed and drank beer until things got under way.  Weathered Statues was from Denver, the only musicians I came across from the states on the whole trip.  Kuudes Silmä was on tour with Weathered Statues from Iceland, both bands were great.  I have to mention the food too, they had a cook who made some spicy Ethiopian dish for everybody which was amazing.  There were accommodations upstairs, enough to give all the touring bands a place to sleep and plenty of food in the fridge to give everybody a late night snack and a breakfast.

Friday October 12th - Manchester, UK - Gullivers NQ w/ Vanilla Pod, Neiman,  Haha Sick, The Deadites   All bands were up bright and early in Uppsala.  I made myself a quick sandwich, said my goodbyes and headed out.  I had to walk to the train station, get a train to Arlanda Airport, just south of Uppsala and fly to Manchester.  This whole Swedish part of the tour was patched together last minute on the fly, so I didn’t have an exit strategy to get back to the UK until the day before.  Originally I was supposed to play a date or two in Holland, but that fell through and hence I rearranged my schedule.  I had a show in Manchester Saturday night, so I thought to stay another day in Sweden but the only cheap flight back to Manchester was that Friday morning.  So I made it to the train station on time and bought my ticket to the airport.  I had managed to ride free on public transport through most of the Scandinavian countries, so I decided I wouldn’t test fate and bought my ticket to the airport.  Once you get to the airport you have to pay another fee just to enter the airport from the train station. I protested some but they didn’t budge, so I folded and payed the fee. When people say the Scandinavian countries are expensive they aren’t kidding!  The flight was no problem, and I sat next to a couple of sweet older Swedish ladies who asked me tons of questions about my trip and shared their lunch with me.  The landing in Manchester airport was the most precarious of the trip, and when we asked the crew what happened on our way out of the plane they replied with, “We almost crashed”.  I had nothing planned before I got to Manchester, so I tried searching for a show.  Like I said I was originally supposed to be in Holland, which would have been a much easier trip back to the UK.  But here I was, before I got on the plane I found a couple of shows online in Manchester that looked like I might be able to fit on, if for some reason there was any availability.  I messaged the promoters for those shows and after we landed I got a couple responses, one was for a potential show in the North Quarter of Manchester.  The promoter Tree from A.U. bookings told me to stop by the show early, and if there was time at the beginning I could play a couple songs.  The guys from A.U. Booking were nice and organized, so everything was running on time and I got to squeeze a few songs in at the beginning of the show.  Many people started coming in after my set, but I got to play for the early birds and actually sold a decent amount of merch considering, and got a good amount of tips.  The show was awesome, I felt very fortunate, it was Vanilla Pod’s last Manchester show, VP was a band that was reminiscent of early 90′s West Coast Punk.  They drew a really good crowd and were a good bunch of guys to hang out with.  The folks from A.U. let me hang out in the green room and drink the band beer and threw me £20 at the end of the night to help pay for my hostel. 

Saturday October 13th - Manchester, UK - Fuel Cafe w/ Dog Coffee, Sophie Blackwell, The Northern Rambler,  Cloughster  I was able to get some sleep in the hostel, but didn’t sleep in because all my room mates were coughing and sounded sick, so I kept my distance.  The good news was I made it down to the free breakfast in time, which was very reminiscent of a cheap continental breakfast in the United States, so not so good but I was glad it was there.  I then lounged around the hostel after checkout and made the most of the free wifi until I decided it was time to leave.  The venue, Fuel Cafe, was about 4 miles from where I was.  I had all day to kill, so I decided to walk.  It was a fairly straight walk across the city, I saw a good variety of neighborhoods and I made pretty good time. Fuel Cafe was pretty busy when I arrived, and since me and my luggage took up the space of about 3 people I decided to wait until it calmed down a little bit until I entered.  This was the last show of the tour, but one of the first ones booked.  Somehow I got a good bunch of songwriters to join the bill and it was a really fun show.  One of the audience members struck up a conversation with me after my set.  I told him that my plan was to take a bus straight to the airport and sleep there until my flight.  He offered me a place to crash, which was somewhat surprising because I wasn’t even trying to find anything that night.  I was very thankful and took his offer.  We took a cab back to his place.  He set his alarm and bought me a cab a 5 am. so I could make my flight.  Really wish I could remember that guys name or had his contact so I could thank him again for going out of his way and lending a hand.  

Sunday October 14th - Manchester - Dublin - NY  The last amazing feat of my tour was getting an over sized suitcase, backpack and an acoustic guitar onto a Ryanair flight without paying any extra fees. Ryanair, for those of you who don’t know is the budget airlines of Europe, and has stringent rules on what you can take aboard, but I talked my way out of it.  That was my flight to Dublin, I had a layover and decided I might as well check out the city.  I had planned to find a pub on a Sunday morning where I could order a bowl of Irish Stew and slam down a few pints, but I was surprised to learn that Ireland has laws banning the sale of alcohol until noon on Sunday.  No stew was ready so I settled for an Irish breakfast, which was almost identical to a American breakfast.  I walked up and down downtown Dublin for a half an hour before I caught my bus back to the airport.  Good thing I decided to get back extra early because there were multiple holdups with check in, and then unexpected US customs after the regular airport security soaked up a lot of time.  By the time I got out of the last checkpoint I had 15 minutes to find my terminal gate and make my flight home.