Recently, each year has posed some interesting new adventures and new experiences. When I first started this blog I made a claim that 2010 was such an amazing year and that 2011 has a lot to live up to. 2011 ended up being incredibly awesome. I stopped expecting what the next year will hold for me and was open to anything.
Twenty-twelve started fairly uneventful. But it was nice. I was back with my family in Oklahoma. Other than the amazing Dead Sea Choir concert later in January, there isn't much to talk about until March.
Originally I planned for a large East Europe trip to start in January. I wanted to experience an Eastern European winter... walking around outside in the cold with a dismal, overcasted sky, the exquisite yet drab coloured architecture surrounding me, while sipping some hot mulled wine. But a sudden decision to move to New York City in May forced me to push the tail end of my trip to my arrival in NYC. So, instead of the end of January to the middle of March, it ended up being from the end of March to middle of May. The plans were set. One week in Italy, one week in Austria, two weeks in Hungary, one week in Bulgaria, two weeks in Turkey. I just had to play the waiting game. Fortunately I was kept busy with a variety of work to pass the time.
Pre-Europe trip... trip
The trip started earlier than expected. I was aware of Labirinto's tour earlier in the year. In fact, I was trying to help them book some shows. I was only successful with booking one show, in Norman, Oklahoma. Elated with my efforts to help, Muriel (the drummer) invited me to tour with them if I could make it to Chicago. Three minutes later a one-way flight to Chicago was booked.
As usual, when I book my flights I always book them out of Dallas. Flights are much cheaper there than out of Oklahoma City, and I like to take the train to Fort Worth. I was hoping to meet with my first Couchsurfer on my small pitstop to Dallas, but I couldn't get a hold of him. So I spent the night in a hostel in Irving. I met the owner out front, a Bulgarian man named Иван (Ivan). "Здравей!!!" He whipped around to see who just greeted him in his language. Before I got the chance to be embarrassed with a slew of Bulgarian words just to inform him I just know how to greet, I quickly introduced myself. Excited to know that he was Bulgarian, I informed him of my trip plans to Bulgaria. He was more confused than delighted. Even after explanation he still couldn't understand why I would go to Bulgaria. Oh well.
In the hostel I met an absolutely delightful Argentine woman, Jesica, and a guy named David. I got to taste Yerba Mate for the first time. (And I'm craving it now.) The night was rather uneventful, as there is not much to do in Irving.
The next day I was on my way to Chicago. I decided to arrive in Chicago a few days early to visit a friend in the suburbs, Laura. It was rather cold, so our time was primarily spent indoors. Not much to tell about this part of the trip. It was your general hang-out-with-a-friend time which was probably the only extended relaxing period I would have before my life started to go in overdrive.
I headed back into Chicago and spent a day to enjoy the city before starting my musical excursion with Labirinto.
I woke up the next morning excited. This is when my adventure officially starts. After a delicious breakfast at a Greek restaurant next to my hostel, I scheduled to meet with the guys. We went to pick Gabe (one of their old friends) up at the airport, then load up the van for their first show in Chicago.
The next week was spent crammed in a van with five other men and one woman hitting up venues in Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City; and Norman, Oklahoma.
We were hoping to grab a show in Omaha or Lincoln, Nebraska, but that didn't work out. So we decided we would spend the free day wandering around the Kansas City music scene to do a little bit of promotional work. On the way to the city we stopped at a rest stop to take a little break when I noticed a van of the same size park into the lot about eight spots away. "That's a tour van." As the doors swung open and a group of people decked in all black charged out most likely on a mission to empty their bladders, I thought, "I KNEW IT!" We were about to leave, but I wasn't about to go without knowing who they were. Their tour manager replied my query, "A Storm Of Light." "Are you guys headed to Kansas City as well?" I further asked. "Yup!" They were playing that night while Labirinto the night after, nice! I didn't think much of it until we arrived and started hitting up the record stores and CD shops. One of the guys heard Corrosion of Conformity was playing that night. And on a spur of the moment our quiet, free night suddenly became a night of Metal! And then it hit me... A Storm of Light is metal... could they be? Yes. Yes they were. They were the first band to open for Corrosion. And they were actually my favourite of the four bands that played that night.
It is worth noting that Labirinto's show next evening was incredible. The lineup was a really crazy mix of genres that all had nothing in common. But I like these kinds of shows. "Variety is the spice of life." Labirinto killed it that evening, though. They were at their peak.
The last day of my tour with Labirinto was a sombre one for me. I didn't want it to end, but I knew that I still had a massive trip ahead of me. We arrived back at my family's house with warm greetings from my mother and a lot of food. It was Sunday, so Labirinto got to partake in our traditional Sunday family dinner. That night, Labirinto were all Leathers.
After dinner we rushed to the Opolis for my last show with Labirinto. I was extremely nervous, this was the show that I organized. Sadly, there wasn't a big turnout. But it was a fun night none-the-less. Tele Mori and The Samurai Conquistadors rocked it pretty hard.
The next day we had to say our goodbyes... but not before lunch! My father decided to take the entire band out to an awesome burger joint in Oklahoma City, S&B's Burger Joint. We had some tasty burgers, delicious fries, crazy bloody mary's (a must-have if you go to S&B's), some great conversation, then exchanged hugs and said our goodbyes.
Labirinto continued their tour to SXSW, New York, and Canada while a tour of my own was about to commence...
... Europe...
No comments:
Post a Comment