Munchen

Despite the bed, I woke this morning feeling somewhere close to healthy for the first time since we left. Amazing what eight hours of sleep can do.

The journey today was a short one, only two hours or so. I was looking forward to getting to Munich in good time. It is one of my favourite cities in Europe and one of my very dear friends Michaela and her boyfriend Marcus were coming to the show. I had the feeling tonight was gonna be a party.

We left Stuttgart and headed towards Munich around noon. The journey out of Stuttgart is something to see. The city is based in the middle of a valley, so the place looks like it has sunk into the ground. The views as you climb out of the city are beautiful.

We get to the venue in Munich a couple of hours early, so we head in to the city centre to get some air. I really do love this place. I think every time I've been here I've treated myself to one of the huge beers at the world renowned Hofbrauhaus. A couple of years ago we had a very messy gig with Speedhorn here, due to the ales at that beer hall. Today we skipped it, which was a bit of a downer, but it was really nice just to get the chance to have a walk around and take in the sights of Marienplats for a while.

We headed back to the venue after a while an we set up our gear. Well honestly said, the rest of the guys did. I managed to miss load in since I went off in search of some reception for my wi-fi, and when I returned the guys were gone and I had no idea which room we were playing in. I hadn't really thought about the fact that this venue has three different stages spread about different buildings and we weren't playing the same one we'd played with Speedhorn a couple of years ago.

I walked around for about fifteen minutes looking for the guys and eventually ended up in some really small gig place. I walked in and bumped into a band I didn't recognise. They immediately started telling me about the set up of their band and some other details that I might need to know as their sound guy. They were obviously just as confused as I was.

I eventually found the rest of the guys and apologised for my missing load in. They were ok with it. Jon was in a particularly good mood. I think he's been on the booze again. To be fair, I was in the mood to join him.

Michaela and Marcus turned up shortly afterwards. It was so good to see them! It's probably been a couple of years since I seen her, and she is truly one of my favourite people on the planet. We had some really fun times partying with Michaela in Germany over the years. Unfortunately they were both working early the day after so it wouldn't be a party for them tonight. We had a couple of hours to chat and catch up over a couple of beers though and that was great.

The gig tonight was absolutely awesome. I really feel like I've reached the auto-pilot stage of the tour now. It normally takes around four shows before the gig starts to take care of itself and I can just go up on stage and truly enjoy it. The crowd was great and circle pits were kicking off all the time, everybody sang along to This is the End and we once again sold a shit load of merch. Perfect.

Jon was in great spirits again. A friend of their's who works at the venue had given him a jacket that has been lying in lost and found there for a couple of months. It was a really expensive, brown snowboarding type of jacket. Not exactly Jon's normal style but he was truly chuffed with it. He had it on the entire night, zipped up with the hood up, so his beard was pointing forwards. His good humour certainly is contagious as everyone around him, including myself, are laughing and partying to Municipal Waste.

The beers start flowing pretty rapidly after that. I hang out a while longer with my friends before the have to leave. They really enjoyed the show and I really enjoyed seeing them. I feel a pang of sadness as I say goodbye to them.

A minute later I'm back at the bar and we're all hanging out throwing them down. We're staying at the venue in the apartments they have in the other building and their friend from the venue is having an aftershow party for his birthday, so nobody is sober.

I also met another couple of people from the past tonight. A couple of people back from the Speedhorn days who had no idea I was playing in Victims now. It was fun bumping into them. And then there was this other young girl who I'd met when we played Fluff Fest last year in the Czech Republic.

I say met. We were playing the show and there were loads of people hanging out on stage, including her. She made her intentions towards me pretty obvious by shouting ”You are sexy!” constantly between songs. I didn't know where to look most of the time. She was right behind my amp during the gig so I couldn't really escape her, flattering as it was.

Well, she was there last night. Her name turns out to be Maria, I think anyway. She actually turns out to be a sweet girl, if not a bit mad. She said she's been looking for me all night and the Jesus guy in the band had pointed her in my direction. I piss myself at this as I understand directly she means my old drinking companion Jon. I explain to her that I am indeed happily married and not interested in anything but making friends with people. She offers to buy me a beer anyway which I accept of course. I'm pretty drunk and we chat for a while, me nervously laughing most of the time. She tells me she loves me at one point which is obviously ridiculous. She must be pretty drunk herself I guess. She ends up leaving pretty suddenly.

Anyway, the rest of the night gets a bit hazy from there. I remember that all three bands were out in full force on the dancefloor for what seems like quite a long time. People I call my friends know it's a sure sign I'm pretty drunk if I'm giving it the old Mick Jagger on the dancefloor.

Myself, Jon, Johan and Ryan end the night in the kitchen of the apartment we're staying at, sat around the table drinking and recounting stories. What a difference a few days make when you're on tour. Only three nights ago I was stood outside Dempe's place in Malmö, in the freezing cold, depressed about my amp, wondering why the fuck I still tour. Nights like tonight is the answer.

I head off and collapse on to the bed sometime time in the early hours, leaving the rest of the guys to it. They are pretty fucked as well and I guess they won't be far behind me.