On tour II – Bratislava, backache and bastards.

Written by neil on 8 April, 2008 in Touring with no comments.

Bratislava, backache and bastards.

No drummer, no drama, that’s our motto in The Layers. Today has been dominated by Roo’s herniated disc. After a consultation with Vienna’s foremost spinal specialist, we decided that drumming would be unwise for him and faced with the prospect of Rupert being unable to vent his energies on the bus, were forced to take the difficult step of packing him off to another country like some elderly, incontinent relative that we didn’t want to look after (SOUP?).

Yes, we jest (we do that a lot in the Layers) but in truth, our hearts are breaking at the thought of Roo having to fly home part way through our tour. It’s been such an amazing experience and we know that Roo’s missing out so much. And it has to be said that Roo really is the heart of the band, we are the less without him.

So let’s examine the fringe benefits. After a frantic session of web searches and phone calls we determined that Roo’s best shot of getting home quickly and semi-affordably was to fly from Bratislava with Eurocheapieflights in a mothballed WWII bomber. A brief confrontation with the bossy lady on the satnav unit revealed that time was of the essence. There was only one thing to do – put the Blues Brothers sound track on and set off at high speed through Vienna. Somehow we always knew that we would end up paying homage to the great band movies so today we’ve paid tribute to both the Blues Brothers and Spinal (no pun intended) Tap as we move towards 1.5 gigs per drummer. Statistically speaking, this also means that the tour is now 7 countries in 7 days – no small feat. We got to see a whole other country, too – albeit briefly.

Also in the plus column is that we have a stand-in drummer all ready to go. Duke has agreed to have a go and even as I write is probably air-drumming on a Viennese couch. Big shout for CouchSurfing here: if we were flying solo; just doing gigs in random European venues – we’d be screwed. What we’ve been involved in is much more than a series of gigs; Roo joined Paul and his friends the other night on stage and I got to sing with Duke. It feels like we’ve joined a family. The gigs in Utrecht and Vienna have been tremendous collective efforts – everybody has thrown themselves into it heart and soul.

Everyone that we’ve met so far has been so friendly and so helpful that it becomes easy to forget that there are still an awful lot of arseholes out there. Tonight we went out for a quick beer with Paul, the guy who’s put on the gigs in Vienna and Marcus, one of the big wheels in the Vienna CS scene. Paul’s a great guy; inventive and passionate about his music, full of energy and enthusiasm. This evening a pair of idiots in a bar started to try and pick a fight with him – as far as we could tell just because he looks a little different from them; anyone who was part of the live music scene in their late teens and early twenties will probably know exactly what I’m writing about. It’s a good job that nothing kicked off: neither of these guys were terribly big – what Caleb hadn’t eaten Paul would have kicked the crap out of. It was a pity to be reminded that not everyone is like the crowd we’ve met through CS.

Ever onwards. Tomorrow we drive on to Pardubice –  a few hours to try and rehearse with a new drummer, one more gig and then the long, long drive home. If the tour so far is anything to go by, Pardubice is going to be just as unforgettable as Utrecht and Vienna. Here’s the best thing: we realise that this isn’t a once in a lifetime experience – it will be different next time, I dare say that we’ll be taking the WAGS (although as none of us has both, strictly they’ll be wives or girlfriends  -work the punchline out for yourself) and kids along too. But we’ve become a part of something bigger.

Our thoughts go out to Roo. If you’re reading this, mate, know that wherever we go you’re with us: still the heart and soul of what we do. This next gig is dedicated to you.

More from the tour later. Sleep beckons.

Layers out.

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