Slow and steady gets to the venue early.

Every tour that goes on for two weeks or more has what I call a "lazy day," a day in which the two venues aren't more than a two hours drive away from each other, and you have time to relax and recoup. Utrecht was our one lazy day on this tour. It was a little more than an hour away from Rotterdam, and we didn't have to sound check until later in the evening since it was a festival. We were indeed lounging.

We got into some Tony Hawk, Swerve and I, en route and I proceeded to get both trounced and a little motion sick towards the end during the trip. We arrived at our hotel which was a tad out of the way from the venue but was somewhat of a family styled convention center in the boonies. We had two rooms, one which was like a suite which the twins and I took and turned into the chill lounge. Its so interesting to see people riding bikes in the Netherlands. I mean its the whip of choice round these parts, and people are well-styled and sometimes dressed to the nines and riding their bikes to the spot. I saw a woman the other night riding in a fox jacket, rockin' the ill scarf, smoking a joint and cruising like it was nothing. My point is simple, once you get out of the US for a while you see just how insular and closed off your perspective can get. I guess that's why we love watching BBC when we are away, to soak up on what we've been missing in the states and get our proverbial windshields cleaned with some UK-EU wiper fluid. It gets all the spin out! Thanks FOX News.

For some reason we were all exhausted. I guess our collective adrenaline had been burned off like a jet does at takeoff, and we all came crashing down in our Dutch beds for a couple hours of shut eye. Before we dropped off though we took care of the standard stuff that makes the tour go-round--the cash! Leezy and I got to doing the band numbers and making sure that we are on track, and getting what we are supposed to get, so that everyone else can get what they are supposed to be getting. We were all good once we broke out the abacus and took to getting a few winks in. Its amazing how much energy is stored up throughout the day, and the subsequent drive that goes toward releasing a controlled blast or carnal energy while on stage for 30-45 minutes. After being on tour I feel like I could definitely work in demolition, and can truly relate to astronauts at liftoff, and during the slow descent at reentry.

We roll out heading to the venue, for what we thought was a sound check at a decent hour, only to find out that we were only getting a line check during the changeover. Sad face. So we strap in because it would be futile to head back to the hotel since we are already here and have proceeded to order Thai food. So we hang out. As an aside, ordering from an Asian restaurant menu that is in Dutch when you have no way to translate the words makes for easy ordering...Pad Thai. Now I know what Bill Cosby meant when he said he just listens for his name when people around him are speaking a foreign language. When ordering from a menu in foreign country look for phrases and dishes that you have seen before in English.

So as we hang around and meet a few of the other bands we stumble upon something that I've never heard of before, and in retrospect am glad that I hadn't especially back during my militant pro-black days. The story of "Sinterklaus and Black Pete" had me perplexed, and astounded at the same time. I don't know how many of you know the story/myth, what have you, but its essentially the same as the American Santa Claus, yet "Black Pete" is Sinterklaus's only helper, and he is the one who puts the toys in the homes of children, and helps him get around. Now all of this wouldn't be so odd to me if "Black Pete" wasn't so....well, so damn black! I mean its sort of a caricature of the Moors from Spain, since supposedly that's where they are both from, but he is clearly a mushroom induced interpretation. Much in the same vein as the cheshire cat was in Alice in Wonderland. Startling to say the least, and amazed that I had heard nothing of it until now.

We were excited because fellow Americans and friends of ours, Telepathe, were playing that night right after we finished. We hung out together and watched a couple other interesting bands. A Canadian crew whose set I borrowed, Pas Chic Chic, who were very good and had a mellow vibe. Beach House, who we've played with on the festival circuit before, and a couple others made it a good night all around with the diversity of music the fans got. After gorgoing ourselves on the food which eventually came we began the transition to gig mode. After changing clothes and acquainting ourselves with our buddy Jack Daniels we were ready to hit the stage. We did a quick line check, and incorporated the changes we made from the last show into this one to ensure a good sound on stage. Once we have that down we have nothing more to do 'cept give the audience what they came there to see. We take the stage shortly thereafter and begin to expel the energy that we've stored up on this our only lazy day of the tour.

There is something that happens on stage when the sound is right, the crowd begins to give energy to you, you feel good both physically and mentally, and are in sync with your band mates. Its like a perfect confluence of events that allows for you to give your all to your audience without holding anything back, and giving them a performance that they both deserve, and will remember. That exact thing happened this night. We were all in lock step and gave a natural performance that exuded confidence. The audience immediately got into the who cyclical figure eight thing I've described before, and it made for an easy exchange of energy throughout the set.

By the end of it we were drained, which is a good thing. We ended the set on a high note and had the audience clapping along with us to Rockin' Star! We felt good with how we left them; more aware of who we were at the very least and we began the next phase of performance, selling merch. After clearing the stage of our things so that the Telepathe ladies could take it, we did the usual and got to meeting our fans as we sold and signed merchandise to them. We invariably get the same question throughout Europe, "Where is your vinyl?" Its one that we will definitely rectify next time through. After making some new friends we watch Telepathe do their thing, and rip the stage up! They have such a great sound, and we look forward to working with them in the future.

As we packed up our gear, we make the rounds and thank everyone for their help and make sure that we don't leave anything behind. We begin the recouping process and begin to rehydrate, refill our bellies, and get some sugar into our systems. Essentially becoming camels for the 6 hour drive to Paris and the ensuing drive to Ravenna in Italy immediately after that. Gotta think a few steps ahead at all times. We get back to the hotel, chill and catch up on the situation in Mumbai, and see what's going on in the world so that we aren't that unplugged, and drop off to sleep.

No early rise this morning, and we missed breakfast, but Aku saved us by grabbing a few quick made sandwiches on the way out before they closed the joint down. As Leezy and I loaded up the ride with Yung Jak, what do we see....two white people in black face dressed as Black Pete packing up and rolling out of the hotel at the same time. I tried my damnedest to get a pic of em but they scurried out ASAP. And with that said, our journey to Paris was on.



--AK-Swerve, blAkus, Leezy & Bizza