Temporal Touring
Another blog so soon?! Yeah!! We had to tell you about our adventures from last weekend.
We’ve just got back from northern Italy - Lombardia, near Milan - home to our favourite Italian band Jester Society. They invited us to play two shows with them, and we jumped at the opportunity!
Here’s a little run-down of what we got up to:
Playing
TC @ Joe Koala. Follow us on insta!
Friday night was at ‘Joe Koala’ in Osio Sopra, a great bar with a pizza oven and a cool performance space. We got onstage at 22.30; unfortunately we had some problems (maybe from the flight) and the Loopstation’s power supply wasn’t working. We can’t play a note of a song without the Loopstation!
By this point we had a liiiiittle bit too much to drink cos we’re not used to playing so late, and the power supply issues served to sober us up nicely before the show… The sound engineer was super helpful and got us through it. He plays in a great band in Italy called Le Capre a Sonagli - check them out! We found power and got on with the show!
Decor at Joe Koala
The second night was in Bergamo at the Vecchia Scuola pub (‘Old School pub’). The “pub” atmosphere is often not so authentic when you go abroad, but this place had the true look, and smell, of a real British pub. More so than a lot of the remaining pubs in UK, in fact! There was a distinct rock/ metal vibe, a la Crows Nest (now closed for Crossrail) in London’s west end.
The sound system at Vecchia Scuola was a dream for us, with big bass speakers and a great stage. We set up and crossed our fingers for the Loopstation which worked perfectly. This resulted in a great show, which we’re v disappointed has disappeared from Insta after we streamed it live. Hope you got to see it!
Our set is feeling more confident, and we are really enjoying playing old songs like Shine and new songs like our cover of Bowie’s ‘Fashion’.
TC @ Vecchia Scuola pub
Next, Jester Society took to the stage, playing a powerful show to their hometown fans. The atmosphere was great and it was amazing to meet people we had engaged with previously on social media and get to know the locals! The night descended into chaos as the audience dried out the bar (which we also contributed to) - babyfoot (table football) tournaments and flying dildos made the night rather spicey. We wont forget it quickly!
Exhausted and happy, we packed up, wrapping clothes around the guitar and making sure the Loopstation’s case was firmly closed. Airlines don’t like musical equipment - it’s stressful travelling with your baby! More on that now…
With Jester Society
Travelling
Few people relish travelling, especially by plane… even worse when you know how destructive flying is for the planet… The two flights we took mean that we personally contributed as much in carbon emissions to the planet as we would have done by eating an average carnivore (non-vegan) diet for a year. Oops!
The Loopstation is weighed
On top of this, we were travelling with our gear - cymbals, a guitar, and the Loopstation case (almost 14 kilos, this box of tricks!), which neither Ryanair or British Airways really wanted to help with (until you get onto the plane, where the Flight Attendants are always wonderful).
Travelling with Ryanair, MJ had purchased the option for a second seat for a musical instrument, however there was no record of this when we checked in and it was strongly advised that the guitar go in the hold. No thanks!
Travelling back with British Airways was, somehow, worse. By the time we had had multiple conversations about bags and paid extra for ‘oversized baggage’, it was the ‘last call’ for the flight so we rushed to the gate and managed to board the plane. It’s hard to run with all that equipment, and what’s more, the lady at the gate told MJ he had to leave the guitar on the tarmac and ask the stewards if he was allowed to take it on-board…
PFFTTT to that!
MJ took his guitar on-board and was allowed to strap it in to a seat in first class. Lucky guitar - we wonder if it was treated to the first class service during the flight.
We hope to travel by train in January when we return to Lombardia, as we have some more shows in the region before a show in Paris. Travelling by train is gonna take a bit longer, but doesn’t seem that much more expensive; plus you don’t lose sight of your precious instruments!
Juicy Stuff
So many adventures! After the show on Friday we were stopped (a first for everyone) in the car by the police driving back to the singer, Pepe’s house.
Hugo with the tour poster
Hugo and MJ were left waiting in the car, without their passports (!) and no information about what was happening to poor Pepe!
Luckily all the tests for alcohol and drugs came back negative - the feeling of elation, relief, fear and ‘WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!’ was palpable haha.
Pepe’s parents were very gracious in offering to host us for the two nights and they were super friendly, and his father is an amazing cook! (Could do another blog post about the food in Italy! Let us know in the comments if you wanna read more).
MJ tries to casually leave the fire station…
In fact everyone we met is awesome - the guys from Jester Society and all their friends…
Oh and the most exciting part of all! On Sunday before our flight, Marco (Jester Society guitarist) took us to the fire station where he works! MJ felt like a kid again <3. Thanks Marco!!!
ITALY, SEE YOU SOON! And the rest of Europe too 💥