Well Freiburg was the last destination for us in Germany before we had a day off and before we started our French leg of the tour. We got to town early enough to have some dinner and then head to the beer garden. The beer garden was pretty much attached to the Ganter Brewery and the pints of weissbeer were fresh, cold and delicious.

Our gracious host Carmello showed us around town a bit and then we went back to the bar to setup and soundcheck. The venue is called Swamp and it’s a great place. Carmello has been doing shows a long time and treated us wonderful! The people of Freiburg kept things rolling for us and ended our German tour on a big high. I’ve been doing a bit of research on each city that we head to and so I knew that Freiburg was a very environmentally conscious city, had a Green mayor, and was a very bike friendly city. I had no idea how obvious that was going to be when we got into the city. There are literally bikes everywhere! They kind of rule the city. We were warned to stay out of their way as pedestrians share the sidewalk/bike lanes with them. It wasn’t a problem at all. It’s amazing how much a strong bike network can make a city work. After the show Sylvie went home to get some rest as she was feeling a sore throat coming on and so the boys decided to walk to some strange bar on a river where all the youngsters went to drink and dance. In the end the place was a bit of a bust. A drunken teenager party really but the setting was great and so we sipped a couple jaspers and then walked back to our hostel.

Our hostel was a beautiful building built right on the side of a huge hill/mountain. Not enough sleep again. Blah. Every night. In the morning we went walking around town and I climbed up the mountain and took some photos. The city is amazing and has water running down all the streets. It was so picturesque. We bummed around town for a few hours and then hopped in the van and drove into the Black Forest. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to really explore but we drove far enough into the woods to get a glimpse of how beautiful the area is. I hope next tour we can play more in the area and get to explore a bit more. Nice to have a day off but it still didn’t feel like enough time to see things we wanted to see. We had a decent sized drive to Clermont-FD and so we hit the road and caught a beauty sunset on the drive.

***

So nice to be back in Clermont-FD. This is the home to our French label and of course all of our friends! We met up for a quick beer and then loaded into the flat they’d prepared for us. Was really happy to be back in Clermont as it feels like home for Sylvie and I. The last tour we spent many days in the city so we got to know it a bit, and we got to eat our favorite sandwiches! We slept in and bummed around town. Had a beer on the patio in the square surrounding the beautiful cathedral. The weather was perfect! We then met up with our great friend Christophe to share some Champagne in the park. 2 bottles later we’re feeling bubbly and good then we went to play Europavox Festival, which is funny because we’re not European. We tried to keep a low profile. The show went well and right after we loaded our gear in the van and raced to the next venue to play another show! It made for a long day but a good one. The night show we were playing with St. Augustine, who is our friend Francois, and he is also on the label. The space was called Hotel D’Vile and it was a cool room. Got sooo hot and smokey by the end of the night but we had fun! Super tasty beers and they cooked us an amazing dinner. Francois’s set was awesome and I bought his new record that I’m loving right now. It was a great night spent among friends in Clermont and it’s a tough place to leave. We had time for a quick coffee and sandwich in the morning with Bertrand and Alex from Kutu Folk and then we hit the open road to Paris.

It’s been really exciting having Tim on this tour with us as it’s his first time in Europe and so everything I got excited to see the first time I was here I get excited for him to see too. Paris is a pretty overwhelming city and has so much to take in that I was pretty excited to hit the town. We played at Espace B with Julie Doiron. Julie is probably my favorite female Canadian musician and has been forever so it was super nice to see her, hang out, and watch her set. Every time I see her it’s different and equally powerful. We got to hang and have drinks with our friends at Super! booking, Claire and Greg, and thank them for setting up our French shows! Then my friend Raphael showed up, and Marine, and Fanny, and Emilie, and Damien (from the last tour!!!!!) and Molly, and it turned into a real special night of playing music to friends and hanging out drinking wine. After the show we went back to our hotel and stayed up ridiculously late and drank wine. Oh god… (sidenote: one of my favorite moments of this whole tour was waking up in the morning in Paris and looking out the window to see Tim with a baguette in one hand, waving it in the air yelling “qu’est ce c’est?” to the guy in the car that was stealing our parking spot. hahaha… Tim won and the dude left and Tim continued eating his baguette.)

A little slow moving in the morning but we met up with Damien and hiked up to the Sacre Couer. It offers a beauty view of the city and it’s kind of a nice way to get an idea of the size of it. The building was pretty cool, although I find it more impressive from down below. At night time when it is lit up it’s pretty amazing. We grabbed some sammys for lunch and then decided to drive through the heart of the city so Tim could see the Cathedral Notre Dame, Pantheon, Louvre, etc. The traffic was rough but I think it was worth the trip. It was tough to leave this amazing city so quickly but duty calls and we were off to Dunkerque

***We had only a 3 hour drive to Dunkerque which was mellow. The venue, 4 Ecluses, is inside an old cannon factory and it’s a really nice space. Long and narrow usually, with a stage at one end and the bar at the back, they decided to change things up for our show to make it more intimate. They put the PA system on the floor and filled the space with lamps and couches and nice rugs and the room filled with people and it felt like playing an awesome living room. Prior to the show we were taken, with the other 3 acts on the bill, for an amazing dinner at L’Annexe and met the nicest host Allain who made us an amazing meal that rivaled anything we’ve had yet on tour! It was a pleasure to see him at the show later that evening and we got to have a nice long chat with him at the end of the night, after we’d sipped quite a few jaspers. This show was one of my favorites of the whole tour so far. Great sound (thanks Pascal!), an amazing space, and wonderful bands to share the bill with! Thanks to Gauthier and Thomas and everyone at the venue for making us feel so comfortable and for the rad night! Hope we can come back to Dunkerque soon. Late night turned into a 5 hour sleep and then in the van for a 6 hour drive to Rennes.

I’m writing this from the bed. We are staying in this old home right beside the venue tonite. It feels like a cottage. The window is wide open, overlooking a courtyard, and the birds are singing. It’s so warm here and there is a gentle breeze blowing in through the window and I’m contemplating a nap. So far Rennes has been amazing and we haven’t even played yet. We’re playing this beautiful theatre and we were cooked an amazing lunch. I can’t wait for dinner!!! Sound check was maybe the best stage sound we’ve had yet and we’re happy to be here. I will report back later to tell you how it went. Sorry for the delay the last few days. We’ve been in wine country! Thanks for staying with us. xo jb

A windy day in Köln at the cathedral. This building is amazing. So much more epic than I thought it would be. Was expecting the height but not the size of it. Check out it’s history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral

Here’s a photo I took that I’m going to make large just so you can get overwhelmed too:

Just an incredible building and we hiked to the top and you could see so far. Quite the climb. Made us all feel like maybe we should get a little more exercise on this tour. On the way back down the bells started going off. I’ll try and post that audio later on. It’s amazing.

We took the train back to the venue, which takes two train stops to get to from the cathedral and we didn’t get new train tickets, assuming, or maybe not, that we’d be on the train just for a minute. Well, Christoph and I got caught with expired tickets. Tim and Sylv’s were able to make a run for it but we got tagged and it cost us 80 euro. So dumb. 2 days in a row of living in sin and getting charged for it. Time to get out the good book and start following it’s lessons. Or just be a little smarter when we’re living the danger life. Well whatever…

We were cooked an amazing vegan dinner at the venue Aetherblissement. It’s inside an old garage. Totally amazing space witha big loft with roof access upstairs. Here’s the outside and the food:

The food was amazing!

We played with a new band from Dusseldorf called Bedrooms. It was their first show and they were excited. It was really nice to share the stage with them and their excitement for sure. Super nice dudes and a great set. Hope we get to cross paths again in the future.

The show went great. I know it’s redundant for me to say that every show has been amazing but when you get to play to over 60 quiet people on a sunday night in a city that you’ve never been to it’s pretty amazing. Great hosts. Amazing food. Nice bands. Sun shining through the skylights in the roof on me. It’s great!

Here’s our bedroom, and our stage:

It’s time we hit the road for Freiburg. Our last show of the German leg of our tour. It’s considered the tourist gateway to the Black Forest and is close to the Alps. I’m pretty excited. Not that I haven’t been excited this whole tour. But again… very excited. Thanks Köln! Wish us luck on the drive. We’ve got to hit the road! Thanks for following… xo jb

We finally got to a venue with some time to kill so we loaded in to Hasenschaukel at 5pm and had a couple hours to wander around Hamburg. We were playing in the Reeperbahn which is the red light district. A really crazy strip full of table dances, bars, and prostitution.  It may not sound like an ideal place for an Evening Hymns show but the venue we were playing is a real nice spot and perfect for what we do. We sat at a cafe for an hour and caught the dregs of a beautiful sun dropping down behind the buildings. It was nice to be still for awhile. To sit and not be rushed.

We walked back to the venue and setup and soundcheck. Very simple setup. 3 mics, small stage. Works really well for us. Again we were treated to an amazing audience. Every night, every night! The room just fills up and we have these people with us. It’s such a treat. Hamburg was truly special for us. They’re batting 2/2 for good shows for Evening Hymns. Not to mention the incredible dinner we were cooked before the show. A stuffed pancake with spinach and cheese and a tomato sauce with cheese and a side salad. So good, and battling for 1st spot amongst tour food so far. Thanks to the guys at Hasenschaukel for having us. You are the most gracious hosts!

After the show we loaded up and decided to wander into the red light district to see the seedy side of Hamburg and it’s Reeperbahn. There’s a street in the Reeperbahn that women are forbidden to walk down. It has a big metal wall that men pass through and it’s a street that has windows down both sides with women sitting in them on chairs and trying to wave you over. They knock on the glass and open their windows and shout trying to get your attention to sleep with them, or whatever you fancy. An awkward walk for us to make but interesting nonetheless. Something to be experienced. After that we walked the strip a bit more and here’s where things went a little downhill, depending on how you look at it. Tim and I, two innocent Canadian boys, decided to wander in to a club to see a table dance. When in Rome right? Well we get 2 beers and pay 12 euro for them and have a chuckle about what we’re doing. Then two female dancers come and sit down beside us and start talking and we tell them we’re not looking for a dance that we’re just there for a quick beer. Well they tell us we have to buy them something and we say no and they say well “at least buy us an orange juice” and so we decide that’s okay, feeling like we’re about to pay 10 euro for an orange juice (a nice wholesome and nutritious drink). Well the orange juices come out and we’re sitting there awkwardly with these girls and then this big old bartender lady comes over and hands me a bill for 60 euro!!!!! ha ha, I laughed in her face saying “you’ve got to be kidding right?” and she wasn’t laughing. They weren’t too happy with us refusing to pay 60 euros for 2 orange juice. We were joking that it was OJ we bought and not a BJ but things got a little dicey in there and we had to pay up. Our tour spreadsheet now has a 60 euro orange juice receipt on it and Tim and I had to walk home with our tails between our legs, laughing pretty hard but feeling bummed about getting duped by a couple strippers. We were just getting to know them….
Thanks to Hamburg for an awesome show and to all the nice people we met. No thanks to Barracuda Table Dance!

Tim before Barracuda.

Tim and me after Barracuda. We can’t even hide our disappointment.

Me and Ty from Hausenschaukel.

Woke up this morning feeling a little parched and dying for an orange juice. We’re on the road to Koln/Cologne. Looking forward to seeing the cathedral! New Fleet Foxes on the speakers in the van. Rainy roll through another beauty landscape. Thanks for reading… xo jb

Every single day it seems that the morning/early afternoon is gorgeous weather and then late in the day it clouds over and rains. Yesterday in Berlin was super nice but eventually it starts to rain. It’s calling for afternoon naps I suppose.

We had to load our gear out of Magnet Club and grab a quick bite before rolling so I suggested Sanabel. It’s this amazing little falafel shop in Kreuzberg that I went to last time I was in Berlin. Again, it was killer. Everyone was happy.

The road to Leipzig was uneventful. We actually listened to the new Evening Hymns record, which I haven’t done in awhile. Excited to get home and back in the studio to finish this thing.

We played this Leipzig venue called Noch Besser Leben. It’s above this cool bar in a super nice neighbourhood. Leipzig is really wild. Big huge streets with monster block apartments, street after street. There is so many places to live here yet the streets seemed a little empty. Not a total ghost town but definitely felt like there were too many houses for the amount of people I saw. I guess rent is cheap here now, and we even saw this place where you could live for really cheap just so the building wouldn’t become completely derelict. It’s crazy coming from a city where rent is expensive and it’s hard to find apartments that are reasonably priced, and trying to avoid living in basements, etc. and then Leipzig is just block after block of amazing spaces that they can’t rent. Maybe we make a mass exodus to Leipzig?

The show couldn’t have been any better. The room jammed with people. It got sweaty. Everyone silent. Sipping beers. Hanging out. Inside this beautiful old building on a Friday night. I feel so lucky to get to do this.

Racoon-eyed Leipzigians.

After the show we hung at the bar for quite some time and then wandered to an art opening that we’d heard about. Bands were playing and it seemed like all the coolest people in Germany we’re hanging out there. On the way to the gallery one of our travel partners was bombed by an egg from an apartment building. Ha ha:

Thanks Leipzig! I cant wait to come back. You ruled! Now we’re off to Hamburg to play Hasenschaukel. Looking forward to playing in Hamburg again. Last time we played this old church for Reeperbahn Festival and it was a treat. Here we go….

The road to Duisburg was a strange one. 2 vehicle fires on the autobahn made us late getting to the venue but we got there just in time for a soundcheck. We played a venue called Steinbruch which was really nice. Shared the stage with some fellow Canadians, Brasstronaut. Was a really nice show, and we got to eat some delicious pasta before the show. The venue had a real nice beer garden area and Tim found these delicious beers called HB. They we’re Bavarian and made for a rather nice sipper. After the show we drove across town to stay in this crazy awesome apartment building. The girls that lives there put up bands all the time and they had setup a bunch of beds for us. It was a huge apartment. I would guess the ceilings we’re at least 25ft. high. In the morning we went back to venue to eat breakfast and load our gear and then we hit the road to Berlin. Our GPS redeemed herself on this journey, leading us down these crazy country roads to avoid a huge accident.

In Berlin we played two shows. The first gig was at a venue called Levee Club and it was part of a festival called Klang Klang Klang. We we’re sharing the bill with Vessels and Mimas. Both bands we’re super nice dudes and rad and it was nice to hang out. This tour has been a lot of shows that was just us on the bill so it’s a treat when we actually play with other bands and get to hang out. The show went well.  Lots of people and a nice room. We continue to get spoiled every night. The venue was directly underneath the tram line but I was super surprised how quiet the venue is when the train passes over.  After this show we raced across town to Magnet Club to play another set. This one was totally different. Different audience. We chose to play the beer-induced heavy metal evening hymns set. I had a lot of fun at Magnet. The night turned into night of a million beers and now we slept in and we have to race to get out of the city. hahaha…