Tour updates

Tour update #12: Spent a great Ghent night with new friends – singing in the car with Sam, dinner at Griet’s wonderful corner shop apartment, then a house concert at Dirk’s featuring Rianto Delrue and Bruno Deneckere. Today, sadly, no luck squirrel hunting at the Brussels flea market but I did find some nice scarves for my IndieGoGo CD sponsors. Tonight, my house show in Ixelles. Life is good, na?

Tour update #11: NO SQUIRRELS.

Tour update #10: I have NO luggage space, but apparently the famous flea market here in Brussels is absolutely loaded with taxidermied squirrels. Anyone who knows me knows how dangerous this is.

Tour update #9: *makes a note* Wait at the *front* of the station as the back of the station is the sex worker’s street and carrying a guitar and amp in public is no guarantee you won’t be asked if you’re offering sex.

Don’t blow the Per Diem on French cheese

Rule 1 of touring: Do good. Wherever you go. On this run of shows, I am relying on the kindness of strangers as an independent musician and playing mainly house concerts, car sharing and couchsurfing. Be good conversation, pitch in, cook a few meals, learn a little about the host and their town.

Rule 2 of touring: Play good. Every time. It is what I have to offer. In good faith, someone has taken me up on my pitch and I try to honour that trust with a good and entertaining show.

Rule 3 of touring: Do not blow the Per Diem on cheese. My Per Diem is 10€/day. Thank god I’m not a smoker. This miniscule amount pretty much precludes museums, second hand clothes shopping, definitely record stores. Everything except morning coffee and lunch. However, I’m going to France and it’s going to be REALLY HARD not to blow the lot on good cheese and wine every day. REALLY HARD.

I’m also going to Belgium for the first time, which I’m excited about. Any country which functions for nearly two years without a government is OK by me. Here is an excellent blog post using vegetables to explain Belgium’s recent Constitutional Crisis. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to pass through both Bielefeld in Germany and the mysterious land of Luxembourg and see if they really exist. 

I’m Australian so it is really so novel to travel for 10 hours and end up in A DIFFERENT COUNTRY. Amazing that simply moving over land can actually take you to places with entirely different languages and varying standards of beer making. I’m looking at you, France.

Check out my tourdates below. I’m going to be in Strasbourg for a week on writing sabbatical in between shows and I will try and stage a last-minute gig or house concert there as well. If you know anyone in the towns I’m in, please invite them to the show or ask if they also want a house concert. Email me on waspsummer [aet] gmail.com for information.

WASP SUMMER – CLOSE AS A SLOW DANCE tour May/June 2012

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24.05.2012 Duisburg (DE), House Concert

26.05.2012 Thionville (FR), Le NIMBY

27.05-01.06 Strasbourg, House Concert?
02.06.2012 Brussels (BE), House Concert
06.06.2012 Paris (FR), Pop In w/ This is Avalanche (Fr)
09.06.2012 Blaison-Gohier (FR), House Concert

 

Wish me luck!

 

Sam