After Norway, it was off to Spain. By way of Amsterdam, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, then a two hour drive to our ultimate destination, Viveiro. Somewhere along the way all the checked luggage was lost. Lost so completely, and by such a disreputable airline, that one might not expect to see it again. But as it turned out, the substitute gear at the Resurrection Festival was more than adequate, and we did eventually reclaim our baggage. We were the final band of the night, performing after hardcore favorites Napalm Death. Watching Napalm Death was a revelation. Not a genre of music that I usually enjoy, but I believe that in the hands of virtuosi, one can see what others see in a particular style. Even more so the further the music lies from your natural tastes.
The picture here is the view from our hotel. Nice reward for a hectic day of air travel. We were only there for a few hours however, as we had to wake up early to make that two hour drive back to Santiago de Compostela and fly to Madrid, then Berlin for our “day off.” I put that in quotes because we arrived in time for dinner and a few beers at the historic Franken Bar before collapsing from exhaustion in our room at the (also historic) Rock ’n’ Roll Herberger hostel in Kreuzberg. Then (can you guess?) up bright and early for our flight to St. Petersburg.
My first trip to St. Petersburg was destined to be a short one. We landed, got in a van, drove to the club, soundchecked, and were on stage shortly thereafter. Almost immediately after the show we were back in the van and heading to the train station to catch our train to Moscow. Although I had been looking forward to this particular leg of our journey, I must admit that want of sleep got to me, and I was only awake for about one of the nine hours we were aboard. I was awarded with one of the finest, deepest nights of sleep I can remember. There are those who have difficulty sleeping while in transit, but I am not one of them. I have learned from touring in a bus that the gentle rocking and white noise aid me in sleeping soundly, and I have found that several of my bandmates feel the same. I wonder if it has anything to do with returning to infancy. People say environments that mimic the womb are almost universally comforting, so it would make sense that beds mimicking a rocking cradle would have a similar effect. Such is the case with me, anyhow.
So that gets us to Moscow. Although we’ve used more than one mode of transportation, there has definitely been more air travel than any other. In the first five days I’ve been gone, I’ve seen nine airports. Los Angeles, Toronto, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Trondheim, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, Berlin and St. Petersburg. Planes, trains and more planes. And this is just the beginning.
Dustin Lanker 