04.29.13 – 4:59PM GMT/11:59AM EDT – Monday – En route to Newark

My flight was taking long enough to taxi before takeoff that I broke out some music and I just assume they actually made the announcement that electronics were okay because no one’s come over and punched me in the face yet. Actually, they don’t seem like that type at all. It’s a very friendly aircraft so far. People were laughing. I have a row to myself. A little bumpy, but I guess this is as good as it’s going to get.

I got to bed a little after 5:30 in the morning, which kind of became the standard for this whole trip – fine at this point because it means no adjustment back to Eastern time – and was up at 9:30 when housekeeping knocked on the door. My alarm had been set for 10AM anyway, so I just got up, got clean, packed up the remainder of my stuff and hit it. So yeah, four hours of sleep. Maybe in a while I’ll lie down across these seats and take a nap. I’ve certainly done that before. Or maybe I’ll just continue to sit here and stare at the flight map for the next seven-plus hours until we get to Newark.

A cab to the airport felt like the epitome of luxury. Big Blue has some busted zippers and the thought of lugging it through the Tube again was just draining, so I treated myself in celebration of another killer trip finished. I’ve no doubt that at the end of this year, most of my highlights will have taken place over the course of these last two weeks. That’s usually how it goes. Someone in December will ask what the best part of my year was and I’ll feel like a jerk for talking about it because either I’ve already said so much about it that I’m just a redundant jerk rubbing in the awesomeness of the experience or they wouldn’t get it anyway. Maybe both.

A few quick thanks. Walter Hoeijmakers as always, delivered a one-of-a-kind experience that I continue to regard with awe. His enduring hospitality and friendliness are indicative of the spirit of Roadburn, and I admire his dedication, passion for the music and drive to always out do the prior year. Walter is an icon and his crew is a firm example of how it can and should be done. Roadburn this year was stellar, and I’ve yet to leave Tilburg unwowed. Great people doing great work. Thank you so much for having me back.

These last two years, it’s been a joy to watch the emergence of Desertfest as an entity both fostering and supporting a fertile underground scene while beginning to offer once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to see things like a Lowrider reunion. To Reece Tee of Desertscene, special thanks. From Thursday night onward, whether it was a nod, a handshake, a press pass, or even just a simple, “you alright man?” Reece made me feel welcome the whole time, and in 2013, Desertfest became a tighter operation, a bigger operation and a landmark for others to follow.

So many others. I’ll expand on this list I’m sure over the next couple days, but for starters, I have to single out Chris West of Trippy Wicked, who was kind enough to open his house to me for a couple days between fests and to show me around St Albans. I always feel lucky any time I get to see the dude or his band, as both are stellar. To Pete Holland as well, much appreciated, man. And to Andy from Miami, Diane Kamikaze, Nick DiSalvo, Jack Donovan, Matt Couto, the dudes in Pilgrim, Pete Green, Jack Dickinson, Rich from The Day After the Sabbath, Chris and Maggie, Joe from Wiht, Steve from Aberdeen, Désirée Hanssen, Romain from Bright Curse, Sylvain, Claire from The Heavy Chronicles, Lee from The Sleeping Shaman, Kent and Tim from Wo Fat, Jon Davis and Conan, Tommi Holappa, Peder Bergstrand, Vania Yosifova, Miksa from Finland, all the great writers and photographers I met at both fests – Susanne Maathuis, Christian Ravel, Antony Roberts, John Quinn, on and on – Giorgio Mustica for holding things down at work in my absence, everyone who came up and said hey, that they appreciated the site and the reviews, or that they found good music, or dug the forum, or whatever it was, it was awesome and inspiring to hear, and I thank you. Special hello to HH Word, Dutch Gus, BillsBrother and everyone else who identified with a forum handle. Always fun to answer the question, “Are you H.P.?”

The weekend before I left home to go to Roadburn, my wife and I went north for a housing inspection. We’d been back and forth on buying a place for more than two months, and after putting an offer in (loaded with contingencies as it was), we were finally able to get in with a pro and have a look at it. Within two minutes, it was clear that this house, which we both really liked and had put months of time into thinking about, was uninhabitable. Both I and The Patient Mrs. were really, really bummed out about it, and I think it says something about our respective characters that while I went off gallivanting for two weeks like I’m Johnny Rockandrollnosleep, she actually dealt with it in a real way and continued to search for a place for the two of us to live. I love my wife and am constantly astonished at her strength, her brilliance, her super-fineness, and yes, her patience in being able to put up with having a cave troll for a husband. I’ve looked forward to seeing a lot these last couple weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing her most. She organized my flights and my hotels, dealing with my utterly arbitrary preferences along the way – who takes a train from Amsterdam to London? – and even admitting that she “probably” didn’t care if I spent the money to cab it to the airport today, so thanks to her endlessly.

I am so, so, so lucky. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I work hard and all, but fuck that. Everyone works hard. And I by no means work the hardest, so the only answer I’ve got is that I’m lucky, to get to do these things, to get to write about it, and most of all to have you reading. None of this would be possible if not for your continued support of this site. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please come back. And please know that as exhausted as I may have gotten along the way this year, there was not one moment where I didn’t fully appreciate how rare these opportunities are and how much it means to me to have you checking in to keep up with what’s happening. I am, as ever, humbled.

Still a ways to go before I get home, but I think I’m going to break out those Arrested Development DVDs and make a six-hour marathon of it, just to see how far I get into the series. Thank you again, everyone. Now back to real life.

— End Transmission “Euroventure 2013.” –

Tags: Euroventure 2013

This entry was posted on Monday, April 29th, 2013 at 9:51 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.