Day 2
Volkhaus, Zurich
Hello. I am English. I speak no Deutsch. You'll be pleased to hear it's pissing down in Zurch and it's cold after all the balmy Italian weather. The journey from Milan was pretty rough and I was haunted by half-dreams of the bus plunging from high mountain passes. It doesn't help that the bunks so closely resemble coffins (apart from the windows I mentioned earlier).
Our plans for all-nite sk8ing were foiled by a dodgy controller. Matt tried to seem concerned, and consoled us by putting on the Three Amigos, which is actually not as funny as you remember. I suggest you don't rent it.
Matt has some interviews to do so MVB n Dan n I go for a wander in rainy Zurich. Lots of clocks. We are becoming institutionalised and despite the beautiful sights Zurich has to offer, all we are concerned with is getting onto the internet and buying Crunchy Nut Cornflakes for breakfast (which we achieve, you'll be pleased to hear. We also got some English toast bread and some American toast bread. They have formed an uneasy alliance in the cupboard. There was also a lot of chocolate to choose from. It's a real home from home down there in the kitchen (galley?)).
When we return we find Matt in conversation with various Swiss record company types. They have presented him with a special Warner Bros Swiss Army knife. It includes tools for opening champagne, getting stones out of gold discs, and slicing huge chunks out of touring budgets.
The Rhodes is working today, but there is a bit of a crackle on the bass channel. And my wah wah pedal is a bit dodgy. I can tell you're interested in this kind of stuff. Soundchecks are mostly about isolating which piece of equipment has gone wrong today, fixing it and playing thirty seconds of a song. Dan thinks this is impairing his performance. We tell him not to be so silly, he's doing fine, but we secretly agree.
David Gray's agent was telling us yesterday how we would find that audiences would all adhere to national sterotypes; the crowds for the Italian gigs were always thin for us because Italians are always late. Needless to say, the room was packed tonight, and very lovely they were too, especially when Matt told them how nice it was to be in Italy.
Matt is leaving the bus this evening to go back to London and be photographed for GQ magazine. Apparently he's going to be on a yacht in the Mediterranean in a thong with a python around his neck. While he's away we can skate like bastards because Tony has invested in a new controller. Unfortunately it's not so much fun when it's not annoying Matt.
We have a day off tomorrow, but it is 1000km to Barcelona so we shall mostly be on the bus. By 4am we are deep in France and I am delighted to say that I parle Francais, which allows me to prend une douche at a service station. Then it's time to sleep the kind of sleep that will obliterate most of the following day.
Dan says: this is probably not such a bad thing as much of it promises to be taken over by a monumental Skatefest anyway. I predict Tony will burst through the hundred-thousand-point barrier tomorrow... cheat.
