Antillectual

Our first real tour, meaning multiple shows abroad, was four shows in Italy in February 2004. We played a one-off show in Bremen with an Italian band called Nervi who enjoyed our set and invited us to Italy for 4 shows! Don’t ask me how, but we managed to get three bodies, backline, merch, and personal stuff in a yellow Renault Kangoo. Since Yvo didn’t drive and was skinny, he got to sit in the back with the gear on his lap. It’s a miracle, but I don’t remember getting pulled over or anything bad happening.

The shows were a mixed bag, first one in Torino was in the basement of a squat where melting snow was coming down the walls and we were playing on a sand floor. Our bed was made of old metal barriers attached to the ceiling. One of the other bands playing was Ovo, a legendary experimental noise act, still active to this day as well!

The second show was in a big squatted hall in Genova. It was ice cold with the exception of a wood stove, which became my home base for the night. The third show at Atlantide in Bologna would turn out unforgettable; we were booked to play a festival with louder bands than us, and we got to headline. The venue was located in one of the city’s original city gates. There were seven bands, all louder and substantially more professional than we were, yet we were scheduled to play last since we were foreign. We imagined people wouldn’t enjoy us after all those loud acts, but when we played the place erupted and people even crowd surfed!

Yes, that’s a foot.

Thankfully, in the years following we got to play some more amazing shows at Atlantide. Unexpectedly this show turned out to be the highlight of this small Italian tour.

The fourth show was at the squat where our friends from Nervi lived; a gigantic villa in a Milano suburb. We played the basement, had a blast and slept in the freezing cold attic.

By all accounts this had been an adventure; driving to Italy in a single day, cramped in a small car, with a route printed on paper, because there was no mobile internet yet.

So, this was touring? Awesome! Later that year we’d do a 3-week US tour…