One of the few graffiti pieces not done by rick ta life
Coalesce recently embarked on their first European trek ever, so we asked them to document the journey in the form of a few tour blogs. This is the first blog in a three-part series about their touring, with each blog written by a different member of the band. This entry was written by guitarist Nathan Ellis. To read the first entry in the series by vocalist Sean Ingram, click here
Day 6: Hellfest (Clisson/France)
After fighting with sleep all night in our European tour van, I awoke to the most metal McDonalds I’ve ever seen.
Hellfest had taken over Clisson, France.
"you dig it the most baby"
One Royale-with-Cheese later we were at the fest chatting with the Brutal Truth dudes and making our way into a gigantic dirt field that was one part state fair, one part Mad Max Thunderdome, and one part open-air urinal. We met up with some friends and enjoyed some soccer (sorry, football) and good company before we played. Dan and Spencer hit up the skate park behind the stage for a serious sesh that turned into a major drag. Dan fell on a bee that stung his lip and ruined his day. He was Dan one minute and then Dangelina the next. His lip swelled up like an orange wedge within 5 minutes and dude was in serious pain. He had to spend another few hours in the first aid tent listening to Satan Jokers. Meanwhile, on our side of the battlefield, it was 2 minutes till show time and our tent was a ghost town. I have to admit I was a bit nervous we’d be playing to an empty dirt cloud, but I was wrong. The crowd just knew the schedule. As soon as Mastodon stopped playing off in the distance our tent was full of very appreciative kids who didn’t seem to mind the 10 foot barricade half as much as it bothered us. We played to a completely occupied dirt cloud.
Set end, exit stage left. EUROPE goes into "The Final Countdown" somewhere close enough that everyone I can see around me has a light in their eyes the second they recognize it.
ingram and the mountain.
Day 7: Dynamo (Zurich/Switzerland)
This drive was probably the most memorable of the trip for me. The Alps’ reputation is intact. Shit, we saw goats, waterfalls, trains, rolling green hills, Drew Carry, and little boats on a big body of water. It was beautiful. We rolled into the Dynamo complex early enough to get spoiled with an amazing walk around town and a pasta dinner. The hospitality we received this tour was second to none. We had the opportunity to play this show with some friends of Jes’ called Stuntman. Very cool people and it was a pleasure to get to connect with them. The only thing I really remember about our set is the cigarette smokers that tried to kill me while we played. That’s right: we missed the smoking ban in that country by five days. You would think after years of hanging out with Junior that my lungs couldn’t get any blacker, but these kids weren’t fuckin’ around. After the show I took a walk with Sean and Junior to find some late night food and we ran into a dude who had worked that night at the Dynamo. He told us our music sucked, but showed us where to get a hamburger with coleslaw on it. He was a nice guy. We then returned to our hotel (we each had our own dorm room that night) and got our usual 3 hour sleep—all of us except for Junior and Spencer that is, who ended up having to flash their papers in the middle of the night to the obstinate passport police. Junior had kept answering their banging on the door with an increasing yell “I’m up thanks, I’m up!” until finally he opened the door to tell them. “Thanks for the wake-up call.” He closed the door, only to find a foot there to stop it. Wtf? The passport police, like the black lung brigade earlier that night, weren’t fuckin’ around.
ingram aka porcelin porpoise eating real italian pizza. mmm, just like the fair at home
Day 8: Circolo Magnolia (Milano/Italy)
Again, great hospitality. But I've got to tell you that this was the worst show of the tour in my opinion. No fault of the promoters or the sound men or the people who came to the show, but a pain-in-the-ass city ordinance that restricted the decibels we could put out (the blood-crazed mosquitoes didn’t help matters; our second outdoors show ever, and we got devoured like we were still in Kansas). It didn’t help that the stage was like a rooftop with a barricade around it. Sean did get to finally have pizza in Italy though, and we had the pleasure of hanging out with Kylesa and Torche again, so it was still a win. Oh, one of the sound guys, who's name I can’t recall but had done the sound for Ufomammut a few days earlier at Hellfest, was super cool and made me a legit Italian coffee that was almost as good as a good set.
dan askew aka two bills danny phoning home.
Day 9: Arena (Vienna/Austria)
We rolled into a rainy Vienna and found our venue: a squat-like compound called the Arena. It was a rad set up with multiple stages in multiple buildings and a Hostel-type squat for the bands to shower and sleep in. I think some rats tried to steal Junior’s stick bag, but the sausage party at the metal bar across the street must have scared them off. I don’t remember the set, but I do remember Kylesa and Torche sounding especially good this night. I also remember the graffiti on the wall that said "EAT MY SHORT". I had a shower and a boxing match with a shower curtain at the same time, and then we slept on plywood triple-decker bunk beds. The good life.
nellis, aka squiggy scarhead with laura from kylesa
Day 10: Futurum (Prague/Czech Republic)
When I look back at this trip I will almost always think of Prague. Maybe it was a little bit touristy, and a little bit Americanized, but it was also one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. Jes, Dan and I took off from the club at some point in the afternoon to go see what we could find and caught the standard European fair: churches, statues, church-related statues, and coffee. The club treated us like royalty, and we had yet another great hang-out session with Torche and Kylesa. There was also that band that played in flip-flops; I can’t remember their name, but they were American too. The Torche guys had an awesome time throwing Jes around like a beach ball during the flip-flop-band’s chugga-chugga-dnier-dnier-fest. We shared vegan deserts and European beers with the Kylesa and Torche people, loaded out, and went to our Cold War-era communist dorm rooms. Oh yeah, and this was the day that we heard Michael Jackson died.
someone just browsed the district. guilty.
Our trusted new family memeber, Daniel Muller
Nellis, aka long face mcgraw and a ghost.
Jes' broken toe, aka "Grimace". Cause it's purple
