'Vultures Become Eagles Tour' Days 1&2

Sofia, Bulgaria 04/09/12

w/ Last Hope @ Club Studio

photo by Valeri Vesselinski

Rarely would I be such a ego freak to review a show I played in Sofia. However unlike the last 5 years I've spent in this city this particular show was the start of something new. On September 4^th we were about to start our first real European tour. And it was hell of a start. The day started early and we pretty much spent it all in a bunch of cars, cabs and finally the van that was supposed to be our home for the next almost two weeks. Won't brag about how awesome it was to play for all our friends who suprisingly seemed to have missed us those few months which we abstained from playing in order to make the beginning of the tour somehow special not only for us. And it was a blast. We finally were able to check out live Eaglehaslanded, our Serbian mates that are the other half of the 'Vultures Become Eagles Tour'. And they are insane. This was their second show and I remember my second shows... Nothing like that. I hope those guys stick around long enough so we're able to get more of their music in the future. Such a band was really missing on the Balkans and I'm pretty certain it won't be too much if I say they are actually the first screamo band in our region. No matter how absurd this may sound to the people from Western Europe, but I guess it's high time they learn more about the depths of our continent. However won't go further into details. It was a rad show, our people seemed to enjoy our new CD. Actually one of the coolest things was that peope were actually disappointed we couldn't make the vinyl we promissed. This is surely a blast of optimism that our scene is really growing in the right direction. So the night ended at around 3 o'clock after a mindless switch of cabs, cars and our van. The next morning was supposed to start in only 2 hours and a half.

Brasov, Romania 05/09/12

w/ I Started Into The Forest/Coins As Portraits

Brassov was the best

It is only three hours after we called it a day. It's still pretty dark outside and having in mind I haven't been awake before 10 o'clock for the last few months it was a huge torture. However thirty minutes later with my backpack and a terribly hurting neck from last night I go to the meeting. An hour and something later we're packed in the van that's pretty much supposed to be our new home for the next two weeks and off to Romania we go. And boy it was hell of travel that took us nearly 12 hours, half of which in Bulgaria, the other in Romania and a significant part of going in circles in Brasov to find the venue. Few hours before we got there our main mate Marius Costache (who was not only patient enough to record us for a second time, but even came for the show in Sofia) got a message saying the club owners didn't pay their rent so the show should be moved. 

And this was totally the best possible way things could have gone. We played a pretty much abandoned old medical supplies factory that became a home for a hardcore punk show for the first time. The atmosphere even before the show was sooo awesome. Dim lights, cool local people gathering, new and old friends travelling to see us and say hi. AND the RAD food Iulia cooked for us. From the first minute at the venue it was a blast and it became even bigger. The show started with I Stared Into The Forest and their wicked and complex hardcore, surely a band you want to dig deeper in their music. The next act were Coins As Portraits, who share a guitarist with the previous band. And those guys were so intense, their music is so complex and they play it like kings. All the time I was listening to them I was thinking, boy if those guys were jazz musicians they would be making all the money in the world and they deserve it so much. As to our sets I will be short. The night before I couldn't feel Eaglehaslanded so perfectly because I was stuck at the merch table, but that night I watched their set thoroughly and I can just repeat what I wrote, I hope these guys stick long enough so we enjoy more of their intense and powerful music. As to our show I'm still too excited and I'm definitely writing the best one we ever had. We had technical issues with one of the guitars but everything was solved on the go and it surely didn't spoil the fun, on the contrary it made it way more real. I hope the tour keeps being so awesome. I hope we meet as friendly people as the guys from Brasov everywhere we go. Big ups for Adrian, Bogdan and all involved for setting this up for us and everyone that showed up. A thought is stuck in my mind all evening long – we have so many friends everywhere, all it takes is to travel and meet them.

But in the end this is the place this band belongs :D