schwervon europe tour

Finally, got a little time to do some recaping for the first week of the tour. The flight to Berlin was fairly painless. I watched Rock of Ages and Men In Black 3 on the plane. We got to our friend Sibi’s place in Berlin, early so we had a snack and crashed for a few hours. Then we had special treat. A lot of our NYC family just so happend to be visiting or staying in Berlin. Sibsi helped organize a little hang out in a really cool park that served pizza with vegetables that were grown in the park. There was also a small library and some a small stage. After lunch, we tried to play basketball but the court was locked so just had a couple of beers down by the river. A lot of talent in this picture.
The Berlin show ended early, which was cool with us, so we got to sleep off a little more of our jet lag and have a nice breakfast around the corner.
Then it was off to our old stomping grounds in Dresden. We played with a really cool band called Poor Little Rich Girl. We also had a special treat when our old friends Colin and Sabine did some songs from their old band Vermont, who were the first band we ever played in Dresden with. The band apartment where we stayed in Dresden was like sleeping in a David Lynch film.
After Dresden was our first show ever in Poland in the City of Krakow. Krakow is a beautiful city with many nice people. Unfortunately, only about 4 of them decided to come to our show. But Cyprian, the promoter was a really cool guy and we had some delicious vegetarian food. We’d heard that Poland can be tricky for getting gear stolen and this backstage door didn’t do much to dispel that fear. But it was cool we managed a graceful exit with pride and gear in tact.
It rained for nearly the entire drive from Krakow to Vienna. At one point the highway just ended. Our GPS wasn’t working in Poland and not many people were speaking English so we got a little lost for a while. But, luckily Klaus our friend and driver got us to the gig with time for a quick schnitzel before the show. This is Klaus and yes, ladies, he’s single!!!
Vienna really made up for the light crowd in Krakow. Both openers, Ash My Love and The Happy Kids, were very cool duos as well. Our batteries were thoroughly charged. Thanks Vienna! Also nice to see our friends Steffko and Philip.

The next night was in Munich where we played the first of three shows with one of Klaus’s bands Jenny Lund. Klaus is a very good bass player. The show was at bar to help celebrate the birthday for our friend Laury, who we met the last time we were in Munich. We had just missed Octoberfest, which I am told by the locals is a good thing. But the next morning we went to a real traditional german restaurant had Weisswurst and wheat beer for breakfast.
Next we had our first day off in Regensburg, the home of Klaus (and the birth place of The Pope). Klaus made some zucchini soup and fish. It was kick ass. The next day we spent some time with his freind’s dog Pauli. This is Pauli after a nice long run by the river. I also saw this weird old tank that reminded me of an alien there.
Last night was Nurnberg. We opened for the legendary Wedding Present. They really kicked ass. It was inspiring for both of us. We danced like we were kids again. The vodka shots from our friend Stefan helped. Here’s some of the better snaps I got of The Wedding Present’s live show.

We’re still sort of getting our road legs but it’s been great so far. Tonight, we are in Mannheim and then 2 more shows with Jenny Lund.

XO,Nan & Matt