Barcelona: Celebrating one month in Europe!

So these pictures are a bit backwards, starting with the end of the show, the aftermath...aftermaff, if you will, at the top and the begining of the show at the end. So, the show was amazing i though. Russian Circles played so well. I have never been let down by any of their shows that iv seen. This was also the first time I saw them with their new bassist, who is also the bassist of These Arms Are Snakes, and also ex-bassist of Botch. He was good, he added a new sound to their old songs. One criticism i have is that he never uses a clean sound on his bass, even though the rough dirty sound he has is pretty powerful and intense, i think if he switched it up a bit he could add a little more to the sound of the songs. Adding a different mood. You know? I do.
After Russian Circles was These Arms Are Snakes. Now iv seen Russian Circles probably about 10 times id say, if not more. Seeing them here in Barcelona was so amazing. As for These Arms Are Snakes though, i have never seen these guys play, and i was impressed. I havent seen this much energy braught to the stage since the first time i saw the Blood Brothers play....about 6 years ago. They're preformance was awesome, musically and entertaining.

The show was my way of celebrating my one month mark here in Europe, i guess. Really i was going to the show no matter how long i had been here, it just so happened they were playing in Barcelona the same time i was here. But officially i have been travelling away from home for one month now. I have already exceeded all expectations, expiriance, learning, adventure, meeting, seeing, everything. And I still have a little over a month left before i head back to London.


THe Aftermaph


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes and crowed.


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


These Arms Are Snakes


Russian Circles


Russian Circles


Russian Circles

Russian Circles, as you can see, there werent to many photo opportunities for Russian Circles. They had smoke machines going pretty much constantly. Im pretty sure they were malfunctioning because i heard them joking and laughing about all the smoke in between songs and it was blowing all onto Dave and his drum set and they were trying to push the machines away from him but...it was already too late. It set the mood though, thats for sure!
Seeing Russian Circles here, for me, was quite the expiriance. Knowing that when they guys first started out, I booked them in Traverse City a couple times. Just after they started playing shows, I booked them on a whim on a sunday night, we werent expecting too many kids to show up because it was a Sunday. But I think everyone was suprised at the turn out, and everyone had a great time. So they wanted to return to Traverse City and I already had a show booked featuring a bunch of bands from Friction Records, I think it was Ari Ari, Man At Arms, Victor!, and T.Suit maybe?? I cant remember, and Im pretty sure there was another Friction band, but it turned into a Friction Records Showcase and Russian Circles wanted to be added to that show. So quickly that show turned into one of the largest shows in attendance i booked, next to the 31 Knots and The Planet The show. It had a huge attendance and every band was awesome.
So to think, these shows happened when Russian Circles were just starting out, im not exactly sure how long ago this was, 4 years ago maybe. But now here I am seeing them in Barcelona, Spain.

I plan on going to some more shows while here in Europe, actually thats the way I plan on passing my time the fastest (I hope) while im travelling alone. Its hard to explain how the time goes by, as you can already guess. Iv said multiple times, It feels like Iv been here for sooo long now, it feels like iv been away from friends and family and home for years it feels and i think so much about when i come home and what its going to be like. So with that said it feels alot like time is just crawling by so slowly, like how am i going to fill all this time here? I dont know. But then I think back and its like "Wow, it feels like i was JUST in Paris last week!" But last week i was actually on Lipari Island in Sicily, swimming and climbing volcanos, and since then iv been back to Rome and been in Nice, france for a couple days. So im both suprised at how fast time is going and also how slow it is going.
So in the next coming month i have mapped out the cities and stays by the shows i want to go to. The next show i was going to go to was going to be To Kill in Italy, on the 14th, but it looks like their van burnt down, so that show has been put in jeapordy. After that The New Year is playing in Berlin on the 21st, then on the 22nd, the night after is Verse and Ceremony in Rosswien, German, which is about an hour train ride from Berlin. Then there is Squarepusher in Amsterdam on the 28th and on the 8th of December the Locust is playing with Fanotmas in London and im giong to try to convince Simon to go to that show, im not sure if he digs them or not. But I can try...

Even though its been rainy here in Barcelona pretty much everyday we've been here, its been a great time. I really enjoy Barcelona. Its a fun city and I can actually communicate with peope here a bit. My spanish is coming back from the whole two years i took spanish back in highschool. Also pretty much everyone speaks english and they are all really nice. Its really easy getting around, walking and taking the metro. And there is a BUNCH of stuff here to see, history and new. This is definatly a place I will come back to.