Shane, Lachlan and Simon at Sedlec Ossuary - doing their best “metal band” impersonation.
Day 5
Shane and I went to the van and I noticed coolant had leaked on to the ground. We checked it, it was low and a warning light had come on the dashboard. We drove around looking for breakfast for us and some coolant for the van. We topped it up and all the warning lights went off.
We then went back and met up with Simon and Tom and then went to Aldi for breakfast before starting our drive to Prague.
We arrived in Prague and met up with Lachlan.
Load in for the show at Cafe V Lese was down a tiny set of wooden stairs into a cavernous basement where we proceeded to have arguably the longest soundcheck I’ve ever endured and then went back to our apartment that the promoter had booked for us.
I didn’t get a bed, however I pulled some pillows off a lounge and slept on the floor.
We walked down to the venue from our accommodation through some lovely cobblestone streets past several interesting convenience stores.
Shane has been sick so his voice is pretty hoarse but he sang well and the show sounded great.
Eileen sold merchandise and did a great job.
The show finished, it was really fun but definitely one of the hottest shows I’ve ever done. There was no ventilation and I don’t think capacity limits were in effect at the venue.
We met up with Tomas Pikart after the show and he gave Lachlan a hand painted Midnight Oil hat he had bootlegged. He’s such a lovely guy, it was nice to see him again.
We didn’t have to load out tonight, which was nice so we and got kebabs and pilsners and went to bed. Sleeping was a struggle because all the doors kept slamming.
I, like Shane, have started to feel sick now too.
Day 6
We woke up and I had an allegedly “traditional Czech breakfast” of boiled sausages with mustard and sauerkraut. It was really nice.
We then went to the venue where Lachlan was already loading out.
We got everything in the van and Shane counted and labelled each piece with some fluorescent tape and a marked number, so we don’t forget anything.
We got in the van and started driving to Sedlec Ossuary. It was an incredible experience. It is a cathedral made of human bones. There is an estimated forty thousand human remains in the cathedral. There are chandeliers made of skulls and bones and giant piles of what looked like femur bones in the four corners of the rooms resembling some form of dark pyramids. It was quite macabre, but a strangely beautiful place.
All the warning lights have come back on in the van. Radiator problems ensue. Also worth noting, the power in the van for the TV and playstation has stopped working too. We’ve only done one show…
We then drove to Slovakia, which was a beautiful drive through rolling country Czech Republic and then Slovakia before eventually making it to Piestany, where we are going to Grape Festival.
We struggled to find a vignette for our van to allow us to drive on Slovakian roads.
It’s my first time back in Slovakia since I was put in a van at gunpoint, so I was a little uneasy at first.
Every time we stopped people were staring at us like we were aliens.
It’s strange, I often feel like an alien on these tours. I move in an aluminium tube propelled by turbines to the other side of the world, and then drive a steel van (or my ‘spaceship’) and visit places and cultures different from my own.
We stopped at a beautiful petrol station that looked like the scenery was out of Lord Of The Rings and the lady working there said we could get a vignette 2 kilometres down the road but the place was closed. Eventually we found one at a petrol station and went to our hotel. It’s an amazing hotel, I believe graciously provided by the festival.
After we checked in we walked to an Italian restaurant and had pizza and pasta for about €3. Once we had finished out meal we headed back to the hotel and I am feeling pretty sick, with a really sore throat. Lachlan is also feeling quite ill, which was very alarming for Tom and Simon, however he seems ok. Time for sleep. I hope I feel better in the morning.