Sweet Sweet Scandinavia....

Days Four & Five: drunken haze in Berlin, show in Hamburg...

So - from Warsaw, back to Berlin - where Dave & I eat pizza, drink bottles of red wine, meet up with Iris who is in town with her boyfriend Andrew...and drink more. I get so drunk I sneak off to my bunk - this crew don't know me well enough for my ramblings....I'll treat them to some more of that later down the line...

The show in Hamburg is in an old Nazi war bunker - 5 stories high above the ground. Apparently they tried to knock it down, but couldn't, so now it's filled with a music school and this club. Evil & Dangerous. No really - that's the english translation of Ubel & Gefaeherlich. Awesome staff, cute loaders, and I get to see the show tonight! It's a hot one. They sure know how to pull it off. Peaches starts the show climbed up one of the lighting rigs next to the stage. Later on she hurts her knee badly jumping off the steps on stage. It's purple for days. I get to see Brendan in action with a hot-panted cutie. At least the lead up; the rest he can keep! Some arsehole tags our trailer and Peaches has to be carried from the venue on the stretcher usually reserved for the injured inflatable penis....

Day Six: Vega, Copenhagen

After a 6:30am ferry crossing...it's beautiful, the ferry crosses the Baltic Sea as the sun rises. We sleepily take in the view, then it's back to bunk-land. I am excited to wake up next to Vega, a great venue in Copenhagen. We load in and hang out. I write my report for the Melbourne International Film Festival AND The Green Man Festival. I guess I'm on a report-roll! It's sunny and lovely so I take a walk in the park, and a short ride on Peaches pink Paul Frank lowrider. I want to steal it so much!! I am getting to know the crew and I like 'em lots. Merch-time is easy and breezy, as I was here last year with The Blues Explosion. There are poles to hang my merch on & shelves to stack the spares! All the girls are tall and good-looking. And don't the Peaches crew love it! Dylan get's in on disco style and i sleep early.

Day Seven: John Dee, Oslo

Sold out. Again. Another familiar venue - thank you Mister Spencer! Ana, the venue manager looks after us well. My cough is bad so Brendan brings me a supply of J&B. It makes me feel supersonic and I dance my way through the show, with Edward who is selling the support bands merch. It's a ripper of a show. Everyone in the place is on fire. I sell a truckload of t-shirts and we all go for a drink next door.


Day Eight: Debaser Medis, Stockholm

It's a glorious sunny day as we roll into Stockholm. Gunner gets frustrated as he is diverted all over the place, but I love it because we are in the old town and it's beautiful. The venue is the same one we played last year with The BX (again!), but no Hives along for the ride this time. I set up quick and walk around for a few hours. Water water everywhere, cutting swathes through the city. The Old Town, the cobbled streets, the snow globes! Postcard time & I even find a charity shop to stock up on some books for the bus library (Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, & The Bell by Iris Murdoch). And I buy a pillow case with a Gretsch printed on it. So lovely. The show is fanastiche. Peaches starts the encore in the glass gallery at the back of the venue, a la The Graduate. Dylan and I wander around after the show, looking for some bar action. There's none so we settle for falafels & bus booze. We all hit the vodka hard. Which makes what happens next either easier or harder. Our trailer breaks. Dylan & Brendan re-pack it. We drive a short way. It breaks again. We spend the night at a service station 1/2 hour from Stockholm.


Day Nine: Stockholm - Copenhagen and on....

We wake up in the Service Station. Gunner fixes the trailer. We drive miles and miles to Copenhagen. Our day off there is spent watching the miles slip by. Brendan, Mark & I eat mexican food. A tequila sunrise makes me smile. Missing the Hot Chip show at The Vega doesn't. But I buy a t-shirt anyway.