wrapped up and stung

Reading back through the entries here I realize there are about a million other details I didn't put in, little things I wanted to include but either I forgot or was too tired/crazy/buzzed to remember at the time. The urge initially was to go through and edit all the entries where I wanted to update the information but who has time for that? Now that I am back in the life full swing I just can't see that ever happening so instead I want to do a brief addendum. There are a few distinct thought I have that gave me no small measure of excitement and hope while I was playing, things that were incredible and sometimes very minor that spoke of cultural differences and attitudes. One thought that struck me was that there was very little of the institutionalized indifference at the shows we played that seems to be so common among many venues I have played in the states. This idea that if you express your excitement and feelings of enjoyment while watching a band or viewing art that you must not be 'cool'. I was overwhelmed at the sincere and direct way that the audiences would tell us (for positive or negative) what they liked about the shows, and how much they appreciated the bands for playing. This was expressed in so many ways; the group meals, the accomidations, the extra effort at providing vegetarian foods, the autographs, everything. It was inspiring to think that there are places in the world, even smaller cities, where the emphasis was on the idea of being a part of a moment where anything could happen. I don't want to sound to goofy about this but I have played all over he USA in lots of large cities and small towns and I very rarely experienced this idea. There was so little of the stand-offish interaction from the audience and by measure, there was no pretentious 'rockstar' attitudes from the bands either. Just some people with a common interest who wanted to enjoy the hell out of some good jams. I know that there were many other people involved in the production of getting the shows on, and all the arrangements to make it flow, that I did not name. I am sorry I couldn't take better notes for that. That is the way a fluid experience plays out though and I am sure that we all know who we are in that capacity. I have included a couple of pictures of the Milano show in order to describe what we looked like, and what the audience saw. If you have any info you think I should include, or if you want some of the more gory details, please write to me:

davedwaid.at.gmail.com other links of interest might include:

http://www.myspace.com/whitehills

http://www.myspace.com/rocketrecordings

http://www.myspace.com/drugspacerecords

http://www.myspace.com/egosensation

Thanks for reading if anyone made it this far than congratulations!!
Go out and see the world for the love of this planet and her good people.
Ciao!

Verbania - "Perche Non?" at Il Kantiere - last show

As I write this I sit in my SF flat completely jut-lagged and dizzy from the timezone crossings so please pardon me if I cannot get the names correctly or remember the details. The last night playing was in Verbania Italy. There are 2 impressions I was left with on the night of the show there, 2 thoughts that left me humbled and happy. First there had been a feeling of great celebration and second it was completely organized and professional in a truly positive way, everyone who wanted to be there felt they had a place. In the town of Verbania is the club night called "perche non?" at the community center 'Il Kantiere' located in between the amazing mountains and the beautiful lake. These people made us feel like we had been friends with them all of our lives. The band that opened was called King Suffy Generator and though I cannot remember any names at this late date, these are guys who rocked like crazymen. I had such a good time listening I did in fact bust a move dancing my ass off. There were people of all ages at this show as well, from 6 to 60 who came out to support the music and the community. We had another big sit down dinner with pasta and wine and all the trimmings after the soundcheck, and we even got to play on the Bocce court for a minute. It was a perfect slice of the life in Verbania, and I will never forget the sincere hospitality of these kind and generous people. I was so greatful that all the small towns we went to were incredibly generous to us and had a totally sincere idea to get together and listen to rock music and have a kick-ass time. I remember Mateo was the guy who got the show together with Dave, and I recall this guy named (not sure really) Albertino I think they called him 'Albe' - even though I did not understand Italian he seemed like a funny guy and I was laughing with him. I also remember that there was Valentina who spoke perfect english and helped us by letting us know how everything was, getting us drink tickets and even givning us some history and background on the Il Kantiere. From what I understood it used to be in a different location, sort of a cave looking place and the floors were sticky. Very Rock was what one guy told me. I can see why he said that too, but I have played in a million smelly sticky crappy rock venues in my life and it is refreshing to have working lights, an exellent sound guy and equipment, and clean bathrooms. Let me say it again, clean bathrooms. Anyway, this show was so fun to play with everyone having fun, and the great food - the excellent bands - and when it was time to end the night, everyone did so; just faded into the night with the sound of glass toasting and drunken laughter and good night kissin. Our hosts of course had everything worked out, they put us up in a cool old monastery that is also a hostel. It is run by the local Dioscese or what ever order of the Church that practices there and it is one of the most immaculate places I have ever stayed. I even got a top bunk and a shower; hog heaven I was in and fell asleep with complete satisfaction scribbled all over my face. Verbania was the perfect place to have the last show on our tour, it was like we had already come home.

Milano - Cox 18

In Milano there is a counter culture community that has been around for more then 20 years - a very passionate and dedicated group of people who cherish art, media, music and the creative process. Some people who volunteer or create and labor and give their time or art, while in the center of some of the most hardcore capitalism surrounding the shallow world of high fashion and marketing. It is certainly a world of contrasts and the cox 18 community embodies the spirit of true devotion to art and music, everyone from the older generation to the youngest kids all help out with ever as aspect of keeping the place alive and flowing. This was most apparent after the soundcheck when a huge table was set for both bands and the entire community of people who lived/worked with the cox 18 group; carafes of wine and water, plates of bread and cheese, and the crew of 4 who made a huge amount of pasta and potates and beef for everyone. It was made with love and care and they even went out of their way to accomidate the vegetarians in the group. There was a large hall with a stage and bar and outside a beautiful courtyard that was ringed by smallish apartments and villas where patios opened to the courtyard going up 3 floors. Another building housed a community book store and media center where movies and public access televison programs were created. The incredible thing was that this was all what is called a 'squat' in europe, where a building has been used for a multipurpose domicile and community center for years, and no one ownes any of it soley. This is a concept that is virtually unknown in the states, a true resource that is neither commodified or exploited for any singualr personal gain. A place where any gains or resources derived from the shows or the sales of drink or food are given back to the bands and the community that supports them. Palo was our main contact in Milano for this show and he set us up at another squat that was one of the cleanest and most spacious hostels I have ever seen, we ended the night in this hostel with seperate beds, towels, and even our own bathroom. It was a godsend after spending a few nights sleeping in the club where we played and going without showers for the better part of the week. Palo expalined that Milano was in the middle of a battle, where the local government wants to close all the squats and turn them into enterprises for land developers before the european expo in 2015 begins. He told us there have been many attacks on the hostels, clubs, and galleries in the past few months by the government and the local authorities to intimidate the communities that keep these places open and running. Palo had volunteered his time and even payed for our stay at the hostel as his way of helping the cox 18 community and to further the agenda of providing livemusic and art resource for the Milano culture and anyone who was interested. The show was incrdible, but how could it not be? All in attendance were there because they wanted to enjoy the music, to benefit from the energy and the passion that was put forth by the band Zippo, who were from southern Italy, and White Hills. It was very well attended and they even captured it on various mini-cams and made a mix they were able to burn onto a DVD and give us that night. I can't even begin to describethe amount of effort and talent it took to run all the tech happening that night; the lights, the sound, the cams, the food,.... it was truly inspiring and amazing. This is a famous place and there were many conversations about politics, love, and art that night. Zippo played an amazing show and we were able to follow up with our own so all who showed up to support this cool creation of media were delighted with the outcome. There were even some people who wanted us to sign autographs and pose for pictures, which I found a little embarrassing at first but then after I realized the genuine nature of the love and support being offered suddenly it was really beautiful. This was something that certainly cheered my spirits.

Sinister Noise Club - Rome

Nearby the Circus Maximo Ruin the Pyramid and the Colluseum in central Rome is the Sinister Noise Club; one of the coolest clubs I have ever had the great fortune to play at. It had an upstairs for drinks and cozy hangouts; and a downstairs,where the band played. The upstairs was like a very comfortable living room at your tasteful friends house, lots of 60's era psychedelic paintings and patterns, a projected movie on the wall of pink floyd - umma gumma era; and lots of comfy couches, chairs and candles everywhere. There was also a color TV from the 60's on it's side showing the Kubrick movie 'The Shining' in an endless loop. Very atmospheric for our first club experience in Rome. The man behind all this amazing community of crazy musicians and trippy moods? He is none other than the incredible Massi! This guy is like a one man army of underground production, from the time he arrived at 5pm to the time he locked up and left at 3am he did everything - serving, cleaning, chatting, watching, protecting, and most important to us, being like a father to us to make sure we had food and water and wine. Delicious Italian wine. So good,....The show and the club run as if it takes no effort at all, but make no mistake there is much work going on in the background to make this place have such a positive fun vibe. The 2 bands that played before us were both great fun but very different from each other, and we watched and cheered for them as they played their best. There was a good crowd that showed up pretty late but that is how they do it in Rome. Shows start around 10pm and later sometimes going on until 2 or 3am. Our sonic sound was well received and people danced and cheered us to play another song even when we were finished. It was a great introduction to the beauty of Rome and the friendliness of it's people. We received the honor of staying with Massi and he even made us up cots to sleep in in his living room. We got about 2 or 3 hours of sleep and then woke up and packed up the Opel and headed off to Milano at 7am. I hope to go back to Rome someday, for a romantic getaway or a honeymoon with my love it really is quite romantic and I saw many people enjoying the cafes and plaza and each other. Forever a wonderful memory for a truly amazing experience.

Mozzate Italy - MotoRockas Music Club

Drove about 3 hours up and over the alps this time to get to Mozzate, a cool little town in the beautiful Italian countryside. The moon was glowing and powerful as we entered Mozzate and we knew this was going to be a very good omen for our space-rocking demise in this town. The drive was incredible, so scenic and powerful, steep winding switchbacks and sheer vertical cliff sides some covered with snows or glaciers. Streams of water cascaded down steep meadows above us and the world became 75 angkes or more everywhere you looked.There were tunnels embedded into the sides of cliffs and the streams of water came rushing and over the highway in places, the river sometimes pacing our decending vehicle sometimes disapearing deep within the mountains. You can really feel the age of these mountains, almost as if they groan from the earth in a very deep and monumental way. A very humbling experience whether on the swiss or italian side of this mountain range. There is really no similarity between the Swiss/French and the Italians except for their extreme generosity. The club in Mozzate is called MotoRockas and some of the cool rocker guys Fabio - Alex - Franchesco we met when we got there made us feel welcome and excited for the night. We could not know enough Italian to understand them but they did a very good job of communicating with us about the instruments for backline and also to help us communicate with the soundguy.This is another club where they do not have a public sign outside and as it was explained to me - this is why they can stay open for 10 years now. Apparently keeping a low profile in Europe means your rock club may have a long prosperous life. The other bit of similarity was that there was no representation of disgusting american corporate culture in either SIerre or Mozzate, no Starbucks, Mcdonalds, KFC, or any of the other chains so familiar to those who travel in the USA or England. I hope they are able to resist this invasion forever. Before the show Ego and I got a taste of some culture shock as we spent nearly an hour trying to find what we describe in the states as a 'corner store'. These are typically places that have alcohol, cigarettes, phone cards, magazines, candy, botttled water, aspirin and other sundries. We drove to many places in the central part of Mozzate and each store we entered had a very specific selection of goods. Some were meat and fruit, some were wine and cheese and chocolate or pastries. Some were clothes and housewares, even the supermarket we entered had many unfamiliar items.The gas stations here only sell things related to your auto - oil, wiper blades' steering fluid etc. It was a bit confusing but also very exciting to be learning about these things. For dinner somone had brought us some delicious pizza for all the band and staff personell after the soundcheck, and I remember someone there told me that Naples has the best pizza in Italy. As in Sierre, I was totally amazed and energized by the amount of people who came to see White Hills on a weeknight. It was grand, and we put ourselves into the music as if we were a satellite racing to meet the earth through the atmosphere. The soundguy was very professional and it was a very good mix. Ego and Dave had many compliments, sadly for me I felt very bad before the show though I played well. These people are true fans of rock music in my mind, they might have had to work the next day or had other obligations, but they came to participate and enjoy the wild abandon of passionate kick ass rock and roll from the usa. We got to stay at the club again this night, and it was very fortunate for us as we had to wake up at 7am to drive to Rome from there. It had been many days since we had known the feeling of a shower so we stocked up on some things like wet naps and foot spray at the local farmacia.They are everywhere and only sell products you could classify as personal care remedies. There are some other things that I must mention because the observation seemed interesting, where you are from you may not realize it but you identify useful items by it's packaging. Some of the things we got on the way through europe included: Dijon mustard in what looked like a toothpaste tube, fruit juice and milk in a box, meat in cloth tied with wire or string, decongestants and other cold remedies delivered in the form of chewing gums and our personal favorite tissues strongly sented with spirits or antihistamines.