May 21, 2009
When you sleep in a coffin in a moving vehicle for 10 weeks at a time, it’s hard to readjust to a stationary bed so every trip back home always begings with insomnia. So I’ve been up all night bored reading through some stuff on our upcoming trip to Europe. We have been to the UK many times but this is going to be our first time in a lot of new countries. There are a couple of emotions involved. I wouldn’t call it fear, but there is definitely an uncomfortable feeling about the language barrier. This will be our first time in non English speaking countries. Navigating around a city you’ve never been to without speaking the language  will be hard enough but performing is about 50% confidence and when you take your confidence to communicate ideas with an audience out of the mix, it could get hairy. There is also of course the weirdness of playing to people who may or may not have any idea who you are. Crowds can be real dificult and hard to read sometimes, but after 10 years on the road, you know how to play in Anaheim or LA or Richmond or San Antonio. You understand the vibe of each place and you give the people what they want. And of course there is excitement, and that is really the biggest thing inside me right now. It’s not your average excitement either. For me, it is the kind of excitement that I felt 10 years ago before our first tour ever. The kind of wide eyed excitement that used to make me think “I don’t care if there are 5 people at the show, i don’t eat for 4 days and I sleep in the alley behind the club”. New cities, new sites, new fans, new venues and new challenges. It’s making me feel 16 again and I like it. The excitement and nervous energy always make for the best shows. When you check the light show and the tour bus and the autograph signings at the door, you get great fucking punk rock shows. The kind of shows that going to got me into punk rock and the kind of shows that playing made me know that music was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. This is going to be epic. be prepared Europe.

When you sleep in a coffin in a moving vehicle for 10 weeks at a time, it’s hard to readjust to a stationary bed so every trip back home always begings with insomnia. So I’ve been up all night bored reading through some stuff on our upcoming trip to Europe. We have been to the UK many times but this is going to be our first time in a lot of new countries. There are a couple of emotions involved.

I wouldn’t call it fear, but there is definitely an uncomfortable feeling about the language barrier. This will be our first time in non English speaking countries. Navigating around a city you’ve never been to without speaking the language  will be hard enough but performing is about 50% confidence and when you take your confidence to communicate ideas with an audience out of the mix, it could get hairy. There is also of course the weirdness of playing to people who may or may not have any idea who you are. Crowds can be real dificult and hard to read sometimes, but after 10 years on the road, you know how to play in Anaheim or LA or Richmond or San Antonio. You understand the vibe of each place and you give the people what they want.

And of course there is excitement, and that is really the biggest thing inside me right now. It’s not your average excitement either. For me, it is the kind of excitement that I felt 10 years ago before our first tour ever. The kind of wide eyed excitement that used to make me think “I don’t care if there are 5 people at the show, i don’t eat for 4 days and I sleep in the alley behind the club”. New cities, new sites, new fans, new venues and new challenges. It’s making me feel 16 again and I like it.

The excitement and nervous energy always make for the best shows. When you check the light show and the tour bus and the autograph signings at the door, you get great fucking punk rock shows. The kind of shows that going to got me into punk rock and the kind of shows that playing made me know that music was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. This is going to be epic. be prepared Europe.

•
  1. aileen365 reblogged this from antpants and added:
    With my experiences touring...Plain White T’s,...language...
  2. antpants posted this