Day One:

14:00hrs

We meet at the airport.. Some final packing and waiting for check-in.

Check-in successful, problem with security over equipment which is deemed to be too bulky to load in the cabin. Two hours of hassles later we leave Malta without the cheering crowd that usually send off Maltese Eurovision contestants and sat on a plane with a bunch of people who hate us for delaying the plane.

Arrived at Brussels airport at 19.20hrs. Most of our equipment missing and found soon after… Now on our way to the garage for the rental van, (a huge Mercedes sprinter which we are all reluctant to drive) where we’re meeting our host for the night, Cindy. She’s already assisted us with finding locations, good spots and with  club recommendations. 

Some forty minutes later we arrived at Cindy’s thanks to Timmy!*
Fresh coffee awaited us at Cindy’s J & met her lovely dogs.

*Timmy is our beloved male voice GPS we got with the rental van.

Day Two:

6.00hrs

Woke up, Chris still can’t seem to poop no matter how hard he tries. Had another coffee, loaded the van & hit the road…

11.56hrs
 
Stopping at convenience store and restaurant to grab some grub after a gruelling 4 hour motorway drive to  Luxembourg. 

Still many more miles to go.

Lisa bought a porn mag for the ride. Cheap European girls. All natural, no plastic.

Chris still can’t poop. He’s knotted like a pretzel.
Lots of  grazing cows in Belgium. Yup. Lots.

After a little of convincing, Steve sat behind the wheel for the first time outside of his beloved homeland……managed to drive us all the way through France up to Switzerland’s borders. Border check…..asked us if we’re a band, & where we’re from & where back on the road! 

Arrive in Milan at 23:00hrs……. just one mile from our destination we’ve realised how starving we were!  Finding a diner at that time proved to be more hassle than we could take at the time! Settled for one meal in a place going for a posh look, but ended up being a wedding hall/with neon lit ceiling/sports bar with big screens & one of the saddest waiters in history but with a personal parking attendant watching our van loaded with all the gear.

Staying in a 4-star campsite cabin. Everything is 4-star but the distinct smell of  manure in the air. Delightful!





Day Three:

Back in the tour van. Time for yet another seven-hour-long drive to Rome.

The boys work hard on their Italian accent, still can’t take enough of it!
Get to Mattia’s place in Rome. (who incidentally is the only Italian speaking with a proper accent) Mattia’s young, pleasant and extremely welcoming. He also happens to own a vast collection of good films and music. Were introduced to his sweet girlfriend.

Got packing to set off on our earlier-than-scheduled drive to Sinister Noise Club in Rome where we were playing that night.

By then we have established that Roman drivers are by far the craziest in the world. Forget our homeland Malta. Impatience is the Roman driver‘s highway code motto!

Get to the club after much provoked swearing and blaspheming to drivers on the road.

At this point, we’re setting up for the first time with rented backline… Chris realises his kick pedal is missing… He wants to tear his eyeballs out in a panic! It takes him double time to get the drum kit assembled, with help! We wish we had photos of this particular event. Actually a video played in fast-forward would be even better!    

The great drone sounds from Rituale Atomico (Mattia’s band), were up first. Then Lili Refrain, who is absolutely magical. We found her to be a true artist. Had a very good talk with her before and after her gig.  She is a true artist who creates, plays and self produces her work. Much respect to Lili and her beautiful build-up of spherical psychedelic and metal-influenced sounds.

Attendance is poorer than expected, however a very interested and attentive crowd. In Europe, the audience listens, it doesn’t chat during the show, and we receive a very warm response after the performance. That’s the way it should be.  How great it feels to have the audience listen to you other than have an audience that is not there for the music, but a mere good time or to get sloshed, or just because that was the place to be.

2.45hrs

Load the van again. Rituale Atomico’s front woman Melania gets us fixed for the next week. Now we can sleep well.

4.00hrs

Mattia cooks pasta for the guys .

4.30hrs

Hit the pillows. Chris and Steve get to share a sofa bed and snore-recordings of eachother the next morning. Chris discovers he hasn’t brought pyjamas on the trip, making the whole night experience a tad sexier (we suppose).

Are woken up by a piercing drill coming from the next door apartment.  Horrible, horrible driller man! Had there not been the drilling, we’d have continued a peaceful and relaxing sleep. Damn driller.



Day Four:

“Recalculating…”

That’s what Jenny* is telling us for the umpteenth time. She is constantly having trouble with getting roads and directions right and consequently fails to take us to the right place on time. And safely. We’re only using her because ‘Timmy’ has died.

Today was a strange travel day for the band.

The guys, remain at Mattia’s place for the most part of the morning and afternoon, (there we also met Andrea, a friend of Mattia) while Lisa went venturing out, to see the sights of the majestic and bustling city of Rome. Well, the shopping district of Via Nazzionale, where she shops and window shops and take a few pictures of interesting-looking buildings.

Back after getting a taxi whose driver seemed rather uninhibited in the cussing department. A heartily - expressed ‘Ma va fanculo dai…‘ is spat by the taxi driver, who is now trying to get into the fast lane, while a Smart car owner greedily tries his luck at getting past him and swearing just as loudly as his opponent. It’s as though swearing among Italians is somewhat of a competitive game.


We get back to pack our instruments and set off to the club. Only one problem… Our van isn’t there anymore.

Following a tiring guess work of whether we should talk to ‘Polizia’, ‘Vigili’ or ‘Carabinieri’ with the help of Mattia and his friend Andrea… we finally end up at the depot where our van has been taken… 1hr30min of freezing in the cold later the vigili arrive and we pay the fine and towing fees owed to the inefficient city of Rome… While some of us wait with equipment in hand to load up the van and take an indescribably hard and unnerving drive to Palestrina’s Mentelocale. Up winding , twisting roads of sharp corners, extremely narrow streets and shockingly high drops. We get there for sound check a good three hours late, anyone available offered their hand at getting our equipment set up and within an hour we are all sorted. Our backs are tired and hidden muscles we didn’t know existed have began to form. Steve is now considering a career in body-building.

We tuck in to some gloriously good cold ones, and now cold but tasty Italian pizza slices.

It’s a warm club inside an ancient cave. Fucking awesome! Great sound…

The audience was just  as engaged as last night‘s, only bigger in number this time. Lots of cheers from the audience.

4.00hrs

We’re all set, heading back to Mattias’ place for the night, when Adrian has to get out to puke his gutty wuts out after having had a little too much Nina Simone and one too many beers. We stop the van while we watch in ammusement.

4.15hrs

Driving back to Mattia’s apartment in Rome we realise we lost our last highway ticket, it is nowhere to be found, looking all over the place in the van we finally give up and have to pay the extra charge! It was to be expected this day would not end without an argument and stopped in the middle of the highway we have a spat after which we’re able to drive back safely home… All the tiring events of this troublesome day finally break lose and everyone becomes navigator… As a result of which the current driver & manager, Elaine has a nervous breakdown and stops the vehicle on the side of the road…

5.45hrs

Adrian, Elaine & this time Mattia as well (making sure we don’t park the van in the only tow zone spot in rome again), while the rest take up all remaining luggage and equipment to the apartment and light up over an almost whispered conversation.

06:30hrs

Adrian, Elaine and Mattia return from parking, in the tightest ever possible spot, with some freshly baked croissants.

**Jenny is our female voice GPS we brought with us in case something happens to Timmy.



Day Five:

Woke up at 10, to leave Mattia’s place at 12, after a total of 3 and a half hours of sleep, we get back on the road to  Milan.

13.00hrs

We leave our dear friend Mattia and the astoundingly crazy streets of Rome.

17:30hrs

We stop for a few minutes at another Bar Grill highway joint, before continuing our long drive. Chris seems to have a strange and unwelcoming encounter with a Korean guy at the counter who when asked whether he spoke English, replied with a nod. Chris then proceeds to ask if they sold rolling paper and filters, and the Korean shakes his head.

20.45hrs

Arrived in Milan, managed to be the last customers of a supermarket & headed to the upgraded Milan camping cabin bungalow with heating, separate bedrooms, shower, toilet , kitchenette and living area. Very pretty, clean and cosy.

Light up a bit, have some salted snacks and beers, then sleep a well-deserved long sleep in our comfy beds. Tomorrow already looks brighter.



Day Six:

Woke up late, finally being able to take showers while the boys play their video games and start preparing for the barbecue. Chris and Elaine prepare grilled meat and veg for lunch.


13.00hrs

Lisa sets out for a day of window-shopping in the streets of Milan. The city centre is  a ten-stop bus ride away,
and a 14 metro stop to Via Buenos Aires. A multicultural mix of nationalities, mostly Indian, Korean and Libyan. Counting women carrying Luis Vuitton handbags here is the equivalent of counting the number of brunettes in Malta.


22.30hrs

Lisa got back to the campsite to find the guys had been playing cards, smoking and drinking all day and are now completely wasted, bummed out on the cabin sofas, bottles of beer and unwashed dishes of barbequed food on the living area table. So is Chris’ PSP, which he and Steve are at constantly. They ask me if I’d like to eat and I do fancy some Chinese later, which Chris and Elaine have lovingly prepared.

Just what I need. A nice bowl of fine home-made cooking.

01.15hrs

Chris, Steve, Adrian and Elaine are now playing cards again. There’s one beer left in the fridge.
Let’s leave it there for good measure and smoke instead.

Lisa’s off to bed. See ya in the morning.

Lisa.