FP in Europe

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. I use the excuse that having a baby is taking up all of my time.

Well, FP just got back from doing a week of shows in Europe. We played Sweden, Germany, Holland, England (2 shows), and Belgium. It was a really good time. The shows were all great and it was just good to be out on tour again (even if it was only a week). We played all of the shows with True Colors, who are not only a very good band, but also great guys. It would have been a perfect trip if not for one thing - we shipped about 1/3 of our merch over to Germany before we left the US (the rest we carried over with us). Turns out that the merch got held up at customs in Frankfurt, and, to make a long story short, we just got it shipped back to us yesterday. So even though we had a good time, we spent time each day trying to free the "trapped" merch. Which was a bit stressful. Oh, and someone please remind us to stop touring in the Winter. We're idiots.

Some highlights:

Bill saying his lasting memory of the tour was the sound of pills shaking around because we were all taking Advil and various other medications.

Porter saying after the tour that it was the first tour that we came back from where we didn't hate each other.

Getting stuck at customs waiting for the ferry to head over to England with the band Cannabis Corpse. Then in Leeds Porter announcing that I would be joining Cannabis Corpse after the FP tour ended and the sound guy coming up to me after the show and asking how I got the gig because he was good friends with them.

Actually getting everything on our tour rider at 3 of the shows.

Playing poker with the guys from True Colors after the Harlem (Holland) show.

Coming back with money in my pocket.


Here's the thing about tour (especially a short one) - it's no where near as glamorous as people think. "Oh, you spent a week in Europe, you must have had a blast and saw so many cool things." I'm not complaining at all, but in the week I was gone I think I had a total of 4 hours of "free" time. When you have shows booked everyday there just isn't the time for sightseeing. In most cases you spend the entire day driving to the show, get to the venue load in, set up, sound check, eat, and maybe you have an hour or two before the show starts. Or maybe the following day you have an hour or two of free time in the morning before you head out to the next show. I had about 2 hours to walk around Linkoping in Sweden and then 2 hours to walk around London (in the rain). It really becomes like a job.

With all that said there is talk of maybe trying to hit Australia and Japan next Winter. Who knows, I'd be up for a trip to the land of the rising sun and down under. I'll keep you posted.