4/15: Bolzano, Italy

The view from the balcony of the Austrian countryside house where we stayed.



After a lengthy drive, we arrived in Bolzano, northern Italy. The venue was a youth center in the middle of a park. Here's Sanjay after load-in.



After the load-in, Luke and I decided to go exploring through the park, called Petrarcha Park. Our curiosity was rewarded.





The view from Petrarcha Park. If you look closely, you can see a snow-capped mountain in the background.



















More shots from the park.





It seemed like every 20 feet we'd find another place that looked like it was straight out of a postcard. Incredible.



That's a waterfall and a medieval tower up on a hillside. Ridiculous.

The show was a blast, very well attended. We played with another American band called Capillary Action, it was great to see some Americans so far from home.

All in all, Bolzano was one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been.

4/14: Vienna, Austria

A few shots of Tovarna Rog, the squat we played. Apparently this squat used to be an old bicycle factory. In addition to the HUGE show space, they had a locals-only skatepark, some apartments and a dance club. Again, the whole squat was powered by diesel generators.



Cafe Trotsky, the squatted world-music dance club at Tovarna Rog. The sign said they were open from 8 PM to 8 AM every night and I absolutely believe them.



Rich the Wizard Hippy casts a spell over Tovarna Rog.



So long, Ljubljana!



To get to Austria, we'd have to drive through the Alps again.



Tom Peckett behind the wheel in Slovenia.











Alps!



We had to pull over for a few minutes to give our brakes a rest as we were coming down through the Alps. Luke enjoys the roadside scenery.





Again, I swear I'm having more fun that it looks like.



Finally in Vienna!







Here's Blakfish playing in Vienna. The show was fun, if not very well attended.

After the show, we stayed at the promoter's parents' house, about half an hour outside Vienna.

4/13: Ljubljana, Slovenia

We woke up to a nice sunny day in Czech Budweis.



Here's a flyer for our tour. It was odd to see cartoon caricatures of ourselves in places we'd never been in our lives.



Luke met the girl of his dreams right before we left Budweis. Unfortunately for him, we had to leave for Ljubljana.



To get to Slovenia, we had to drive through the Alps. Tons of gorgeous scenery.





Not a bad area to drive through.



The venue in Ljubljana. It was in a big squatted compound that was run entirely by diesel generators. Here's Blakfish during soundcheck.



The promoter cooked us a nice Slovenian stew (I forget what it was called but assured us that Slovenians love it).



Somewhere along the line Rich found a wizard's hat. Doesn't it look like that hat was made especially for him?

Slovenia was a great country and everyone we hung out with in Ljubljana made us feel welcome. Eastern Europe treated us very, very well.

4/12: Czech Budweis, Czech Republic

We left Dresden and headed east again, this time to the Czech Republic. Czech Budweis was a small city but we had a great time.

There was a band called Archaic Decadence that was added to the bill last minute. Turns out they were from the UK and had broken down in Budweis, unable to have their van repaired until after Easter. They were a blast and it was nice to be around some new native English speakers.



Rich from Blakfish had some "technical issues" on stage (long story).

The show in Budweis was one of the most fun of the whole tour. Tons of people, tons of good times.



After the show we walked through the town center to get to our hostel. Budweis was amazing at night.



Wiz, me and Tom.



Luke in front of the Budweis town hall. Gorgeous!



















Czech Budweis at night. Amazing!