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Baltic Tour Volumen 1's Tour Diary (2003)
(Tour:Baltic) - toured with Josh Vanek, Andy Smetanka, Mike "Private Dick, Dirty Finn" Valentine - Toured Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania |
09/12/2003 Kuldiga, revolutionary home away from home
Day 12
About an hour later, we arrived, shrouded in fog, to the venue. It turns out that the show in Kuldiga is at a big house (old barn) that is part commune, part artist studio and part youth home? The joint is called Zabadaks. We were quickly smuggled upstairs and shown some sleeping space. I barely knew where I was. I think we all felt like revolutionaries being ferried on some underground railroad.
In the morning, we learned that Laura was the matron of the punk rock revolutionary outpost. Edge also helped run the show by running lights, sound and whatever else needed doing. A few other folks also helped out around the rock show (Maris, or Mario was one) but I don't remember everyones names. They were all wicked nice and they showed us buckets of hospitality. Laura made us coffee and tea and then we hoofed it into town.
Josh told us that Kuldiga is one of the most Lithuanian cities that we'll see. That is, the Russian population is small and the city looks as it has for many, many years. I believe it. Old houses, curvy streets, lush green parks, stacks of firewood and clotheslines were everywhere.
We had a bitchin' breakfast/lunch and split up to check out the town. Bryan and Bacon got haircuts and everyone else ran errands and got food and such. Then it was time for relaxing back at Zabadaks. The room with the stage also had ping pong and a novuss table. (Novuss is a rad combination of pool and shuffleboard.) We played dominos and snacked and such. It wad nice to be able to take it easy and the rest and relaxation was more than welcome.
The other band on the bill was Embrijs. They were great. We knew we would dig em when they sound checked with Pixies' songs. We donned our damp whites (someone was nice enough to wash our dirtiest clothes) and got psyched to launch our sonic attack.
Attack we did. Maybe for 2 hours? People really seemed to dig it and we fed off of the energy. The crowd was pretty diverse. At least 2 punk rock families were in attendance. One mother, father (Zydrius?) and son had taken the bus from Lithuania to see the show. They slept in the upperroom with us, the other band a handful of other good folk.
After we released the rock, people shouted things like, "At least 3 more songs!" Volumen were tapped, so Bacon and Egg came to the rescue. Bob was without microphone but this didn't the jams from kickin'. Everyone present got their 1 Lats worth just from B&E.
Speaking of 1 Lat, guess how many beers that got you in Zabadaks? Yup... three. Yup... we got a little tranked, but we deserved it. Boss got straight up sideways, but that was a long time comin'. After the B&E show, I talked with as many people as I could. I also saw a zine that had an interview with Dombis (Janis' friend we met at the cottage). Turns out that he's a bit of a punk rock legend. He listened to a CD of his band. There was an awesome song that went, "America! Fuck off!" Speaking of anti-American sentiment, Mario spoke a little bit about this to me after the show. Like many other people we talk to, he wanted to know how many people support Bush's foreign policy. I told him my view that what Bush is doing is like pissing your pants to keep warm. Mario said something like, "You Americans think you want war, but you don't know what war is." After seeing the images in the occupation museum, I had to agree. When we kill people, the media-corporation-government won't even show us what war looks like on TV, let alone what it looks like when you are in the middle of it. Mario asked me something like, "If you don't agree with what Bush is doing, then what are you doing abot it?" I had to admit that I'm not doing anything. I guiltily admitted that I, like many other Americans, am not protesting because things are good for me. I have food, water, heat and luxury. I hope that I have another perspective now.
Oh yeah! Tonight was the second part of our acrobatics show (the first being in Porvoo). Bryan did a 1 1/2 back-ass flip when trying to ascend the stairs/ladder up to the sleeping area. On his way down he reached out for support and his hand found a box full of Bocce balls. I looked over the edge to see him looking a little stunned at the bottom of the ladder. I thought he was sleeping in a pile of oranges.
Hoo ah! Then it was off to bed where Laura showed us a cool movie called, "Six drummers, one appartment". Sleep came easily, especially because we knew we were getting up at 9AM for the drive to Vilnius. |
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