Frank Turner's Latvian Tour Diary! Day 1...
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Frank Turner
Frank Turner just got back from Latvia. They love him over there, they really do.
Luckily for Rocklouder readers, whilst we interviewed Frank on top of Runyon Canyon in Hollywood the other week (coming soon!), the trip came up and we managed to convince him to keep his tour diary for the Eastern European adventure right here on the site. Win.
So, we bring you 'Frank Turner Does Latvia' Day 1...
(Hit the links for the rest of the photos!)
THURSDAY
Are you sitting comfortably? Seriously? Well, lucky fucking you. We weren’t comfortable. It was, as the sign says, three o’clock in the pissing morning. And we’d already been up for an hour. Ryanair, that paragon of the free market, was forcing us onto a flight to Latvia at 6am, and given that we were starting in South London (honestly Ben), we had to book our taxi to Stansted well before dawn had cracked.
For those not paying attention at the back, I should give some context. Ben and I used to play in a popular beat combo called Million Dead when we were sprightly youths. That band made it out to Latvia in 2005 on a random hook up (somehow our even older band Kneejerk had made fans out there), and something beautiful was born. I’ve been back a bunch of times since, as documented in past diaries. The last excursion was back in the summer of 2006 and it had been collectively decided that it was high time I went back, specifically for the first birthday party of Veto Magazine, an outfit run by my old friend Andzs. Ben agreed to accompany me as my English speaking companion / patsy, and so off we went.
So, our journey began with a cab ride to Stansted at arsehole o’clock in the morning. We were, however, confident of getting there in good time for leg room seats (we’re both tall) and a hearty breakfast. How disappointed we were, then, to discover that (a) Latvians get to airports even earlier, and (b) airport breakfasts are shite. All the same we made the flight, and were met by Andzs in Riga feeling a little wired but excited about two hours later.
The car was a little cramped (for some), but after a hearty breakfast in town we arrived at the Veto Magazine offices. We were here to do a little video session for that there internet.com to help promote the show the next night. It was here that we met Ainars for the first time. He lulled us into a false sense of security this time round by being sober and vaguely comprehensible, but don’t be fooled; he’s a major protagonist in this tale of woe, so keep your eye on him.
After the session, Andzs took us over to the bus station to catch a bus to Liepaja. Liepaja is a town on the Western coast of Latvia, it used to be a military town in the Soviet era and is now mainly a student city. I’d been there a couple of times before. The musical main man of the town is one Louis Fontaine, about whom you can learn more from my first Latvia diary. The journey is about three hours. Ben and I spent the first 2 hours discussing life, the universe and everything loudly in English, assuming that no one could understand us. However, after two hours, the Mormon guy sat next to us (whose Latvian name tag I’d earlier spotted, and said to Ben: “Look! A God-Botherer!”) struck up a conversation with us in a spotless Utah accent. Piss. Double-piss, it turned out, as all he wanted to do was to tell us all about Jesus (and Joseph Smith). He was admirably resolute in ignoring our atheism, although he was a little put out by Ben’s assertion that he’d persuaded his mother God didn’t exist when he was nine years old. In the end we parted amicably, with a promise to ask God a question from our hearts. Our question was “Where the fuck is the venue again?” and he answered, so Mormons 1, Atheists 0.
As mentioned, I’d been to Liepaja, and to the venue, Fontaine Palace, before. As we walked over the bridge in the centre of town, we saw that there were loads of little kids in and around the venue. And I mean loads, and I mean little – like 10 years and up. I was a little surprised to see this development in my Latvian demographic, to say the least. The venue was total chaos, and enquiries after the contact I had, Dainis, indicated that he was in the eye of the storm. We decided to check it to the hotel. This was an excellent plan as not only were our rooms pretty sweet, but also we met Katya, our saviour. She found Dainis, explained that the kids Karaoke night was nearly over, found us food and beer, and generally saved the day. After a massive pizza, a soundcheck and a free bottle of vodka from the staff (and the discovery that their singles night is called ‘Big Fuck Day’), we were ready for the night to begin.
The gig itself was cool, there was a decent crowd in, which included an old friend, Lauris, and his girlfriend. After the set we mingled ourselves in the crowd, and alcohol in our blood, to delightful effect. Ben, being hitched to a ladyfriend at the moment, decided to only talk to guys, starting with Kaspars, a guy who approached us with a goldfish bowl-sized rum and coke. His poor English was made up for by his enthusiasm, and Ben and Pals got very messy indeed. I, meanwhile, was chatting to a nice young lady, who was accompanied by some largely mute guy who later turned out to be the boyfriend, who was supremely unbothered about the situation. Check this diagram. Once the fullness of the situation had become clear, drunk logic dictated that we escape to the hotel without them noticing, which led to some acting as we filed out of the venue and into the night, to sleep soundly at the end of a supremely long day.
You can read day 2, right here!
Frank Turner
Frank Turner Official Site
Frank Turner Myspace
Buy Frank Turner CDs | Buy Frank Turner mp3s | Buy Frank Turner Tickets | Buy Frank Turner Merch
Frank Turner just got back from Latvia. They love him over there, they really do.
Luckily for Rocklouder readers, whilst we interviewed Frank on top of Runyon Canyon in Hollywood the other week (coming soon!), the trip came up and we managed to convince him to keep his tour diary for the Eastern European adventure right here on the site. Win.
So, we bring you 'Frank Turner Does Latvia' Day 1...
(Hit the links for the rest of the photos!)
THURSDAY
Are you sitting comfortably? Seriously? Well, lucky fucking you. We weren’t comfortable. It was, as the sign says, three o’clock in the pissing morning. And we’d already been up for an hour. Ryanair, that paragon of the free market, was forcing us onto a flight to Latvia at 6am, and given that we were starting in South London (honestly Ben), we had to book our taxi to Stansted well before dawn had cracked.For those not paying attention at the back, I should give some context. Ben and I used to play in a popular beat combo called Million Dead when we were sprightly youths. That band made it out to Latvia in 2005 on a random hook up (somehow our even older band Kneejerk had made fans out there), and something beautiful was born. I’ve been back a bunch of times since, as documented in past diaries. The last excursion was back in the summer of 2006 and it had been collectively decided that it was high time I went back, specifically for the first birthday party of Veto Magazine, an outfit run by my old friend Andzs. Ben agreed to accompany me as my English speaking companion / patsy, and so off we went.
So, our journey began with a cab ride to Stansted at arsehole o’clock in the morning. We were, however, confident of getting there in good time for leg room seats (we’re both tall) and a hearty breakfast. How disappointed we were, then, to discover that (a) Latvians get to airports even earlier, and (b) airport breakfasts are shite. All the same we made the flight, and were met by Andzs in Riga feeling a little wired but excited about two hours later.
The car was a little cramped (for some), but after a hearty breakfast in town we arrived at the Veto Magazine offices. We were here to do a little video session for that there internet.com to help promote the show the next night. It was here that we met Ainars for the first time. He lulled us into a false sense of security this time round by being sober and vaguely comprehensible, but don’t be fooled; he’s a major protagonist in this tale of woe, so keep your eye on him.After the session, Andzs took us over to the bus station to catch a bus to Liepaja. Liepaja is a town on the Western coast of Latvia, it used to be a military town in the Soviet era and is now mainly a student city. I’d been there a couple of times before. The musical main man of the town is one Louis Fontaine, about whom you can learn more from my first Latvia diary. The journey is about three hours. Ben and I spent the first 2 hours discussing life, the universe and everything loudly in English, assuming that no one could understand us. However, after two hours, the Mormon guy sat next to us (whose Latvian name tag I’d earlier spotted, and said to Ben: “Look! A God-Botherer!”) struck up a conversation with us in a spotless Utah accent. Piss. Double-piss, it turned out, as all he wanted to do was to tell us all about Jesus (and Joseph Smith). He was admirably resolute in ignoring our atheism, although he was a little put out by Ben’s assertion that he’d persuaded his mother God didn’t exist when he was nine years old. In the end we parted amicably, with a promise to ask God a question from our hearts. Our question was “Where the fuck is the venue again?” and he answered, so Mormons 1, Atheists 0.
As mentioned, I’d been to Liepaja, and to the venue, Fontaine Palace, before. As we walked over the bridge in the centre of town, we saw that there were loads of little kids in and around the venue. And I mean loads, and I mean little – like 10 years and up. I was a little surprised to see this development in my Latvian demographic, to say the least. The venue was total chaos, and enquiries after the contact I had, Dainis, indicated that he was in the eye of the storm. We decided to check it to the hotel. This was an excellent plan as not only were our rooms pretty sweet, but also we met Katya, our saviour. She found Dainis, explained that the kids Karaoke night was nearly over, found us food and beer, and generally saved the day. After a massive pizza, a soundcheck and a free bottle of vodka from the staff (and the discovery that their singles night is called ‘Big Fuck Day’), we were ready for the night to begin.
The gig itself was cool, there was a decent crowd in, which included an old friend, Lauris, and his girlfriend. After the set we mingled ourselves in the crowd, and alcohol in our blood, to delightful effect. Ben, being hitched to a ladyfriend at the moment, decided to only talk to guys, starting with Kaspars, a guy who approached us with a goldfish bowl-sized rum and coke. His poor English was made up for by his enthusiasm, and Ben and Pals got very messy indeed. I, meanwhile, was chatting to a nice young lady, who was accompanied by some largely mute guy who later turned out to be the boyfriend, who was supremely unbothered about the situation. Check this diagram. Once the fullness of the situation had become clear, drunk logic dictated that we escape to the hotel without them noticing, which led to some acting as we filed out of the venue and into the night, to sleep soundly at the end of a supremely long day.You can read day 2, right here!
Frank Turner
Frank Turner Official Site
Frank Turner Myspace
Buy Frank Turner CDs | Buy Frank Turner mp3s | Buy Frank Turner Tickets | Buy Frank Turner Merch
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