In this final installment of Kings Destroy‘s European tour diary, vocalist Steve Murphy steps in to wrap up the last several shows on the band’s run with Rosetta, taking us through five countries in six nights in the process. Since this is the final update and the tour is over, I’d like to send extra thanks to Murphy, to guitarists Carl Porcaro and Chris “C-Wolf” Skowronski, bassist Aaron Bumpus and drummer Rob Sefcik for their contributions along the way. It’s been a blast to read about their wine-addled gallivanting, and I hope to get the opportunity to do it again soon.

Also please note that the live photos for this entry were taken from links provided by the band. The shot of Murphy below is by Laura Bender, and the pics of Porcaro and Bumpus are by Diana Matthess. Please enjoy:

Vienna, Austria

I’ll pick up the tour diary from here. Drive from Prague to Vienna, Austria, overly long but we get in around 7PM which means we don’t have time to see arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world… bummer. We load in at Club Arena… I see on the flyer Ufomammut, Red Fang, Electric Wizard are all playing here coming up. The venue is an old slaughterhouse comprising of four or five buildings in various states of disrepair — perfect for us. There is an opening band called Torn from Earth from Budapest. They rip through a heavy set that I dug. We are next. We are pretty tight by now. Locked in to each other. We are playing new songs probably half the set each night. We finish a 45-minute set to calls for an encore but there is no time. Rosetta step onstage. They have mastered the changeover on this tour and often start within 10-15 minutes of us. They are a great band. They’ve toured the world and have played 750-plus shows. I marvel at that knowing KD just finished playing show number 40 in our brief tenure. Just got news that David Bottrill will be mixing the album so pretty psyched about that. Requisite night out and crash to sleep. Tomorrow Budapest, one of my favorite cities in the world.

Budapest, Hungary

Whoa. What a stunning city. Think Paris with an edge. We got to the club early and had four hours to kill so KD and Armine from Rosetta found a large thermal spa which Budapest is famous for, paid 12 bucks to get in and had our fill of 15 different thermal baths of varying temperatures, the highlight being a large outdoor pool with a built in whirlpool that was about the size of a circle pit and moving 25mph filled with people going round and round. Carl went in it and as he was trying to exit crushed about four Hungarians because he miscalculated the speed required to exit the whirlpool — hilarious. Back to the venue for load in, food, sound check. Opening band again is Torn from Earth who are supercool dudes. They draw a good crowd. KD hits the stage with eight people in the audience. We kick it off with “The Mountie” and people start filtering in. Onto a new song, “Decrepit,” which is slow. Crowd is now three-quarters full and people are into it but tentatively. We have been told the Budapest metal scene is quite discerning, and if they don’t like you, they will let you know. Kick off “The Toe” with Carl in the audience and me climbing the stacks where we remained… Hmmm, Budapest starting to wake up. Straight into another new one “Casse-Tête” and now people are hooked. Ride out the set with “Old Yeller” and people are screaming for one more, so they get a sloppily-played “Dice.” Best show of the tour after Poland thus far. Late night for the band afterwards. Pretty much like every night at this point. The van ride to Croatia is a quiet one with guys licking their wounds from the night before.

Zagreb, Croatia

Croatia is not in the EU so we got caught up at the border for an hour, which wasn’t fun. Got into Zagreb and rolled into a DIY punk venue. Walked in and knew we were in trouble immediately. Warm beer in the fridge, bathroom that rivaled CBGB’s circa 1985 minus the glory. Loaded in and immediately left the venue to spend as much time as possible away from it. We found the nice part of town and sat at an outdoor cafe for dinner. Nothing like some cold local wine and beer to loosen up after a long drive. Go on at 10PM and play well for an hour. Set is now 70 percent new stuff. Made a bunch of new fans. A young lady came to the front and tried to stop the set midway through demanding that I come over to her in Croatian. I dismissed her with a wave away and then didn’t see her until after the set. I’ve had a habit of wearing white and orange polka dot socks pulled up this tour. She approached me in a very inebriated fashion to tell me that she had only wanted to pull my socks down. She then asked me for my dirty socks. That was a first. I offered to trade them for her underwear (tongue in cheek), to which I was told she wasn’t wearing any. After receiving that information I dutifully removed my socks and handed them over. It’s the small things in life. The night ends up with the band hanging out in a park with some of the locals late. These people were just thrilled to see a band from NYC and meet us and we were thrilled right back. Tomorrow a long drive to Comacchio, Italy.

Comacchio, Italy

Three shows left. Long drive today. We’re used to it but it weighs on us at this point. The show in Zagreb was great. We are very wary of playing in Italy. Many members of KD have played Italy before to poor crowds. Rosetta has also not played Italy at all. We have a beautiful drive through Slovenia – wow, what a country. We arrive at venue at 7PM and it’s looking good: Nice club, big stage and DRI is playing here in a few weeks. How bad could it be? We haven’t had a bad show yet in terms of crowd. Rosetta has a loyal draw and KD seems to have a complementary sound and so it’s been a great tour. We find out there are five bands playing and that we go on at midnight. Great — the Adriatic Sea is a 15-minute walk, so we load in, set up and head to the beach for a 9:30PM swim and a bite to eat. Sun is still setting when we get there and it’s a nice seaside community. We are out of place with our black t-shirts and shorts and scraggly look. No worries, as we are immediately enjoying the Adriatic and the water temp is about 85 degrees. Awesome. We hit a seaside cafe for a bottle of chilled Italian wine. Awesome. We walk back to the venue and it’s empty. Uh oh. Some crappy hardcore band is playing and there is no one there. It’s 11PM. Ok first bad show. We’ve played enough shows to know this. There is a DJ playing bad hardcore music between sets. I ask him to play Black Sabbath during our changeover. He says no. I think to myself that’s perfect. I go to the bar and get five shots of Jeager, bring them onstage and we toast the crowd of 20 and drain them. We go on at 12:45AM and play five songs. There was an exceptionally long mic chord, so during the second song I walked off stage and straight behind the bar and sang to the bartenders – didn’t Italian opera singers sing in restaurants for food and drink? I guess that’s lost on this generation. I try to sing and serve at the same time but that doesn’t work out too well. The small crowd has smiles on their faces though and that’s a win for a show like that. Rosetta hits the stage at 1:25AM. They are a machine and rip through a set. Bad show — it happens — we take it in stride. We sleep at a seaside hostel wake up and hit the beach again as though we are on vacation. Two days to go. The Adriatic Sea cleansing away the poor memories of the previous night. Onward to Milan.

Milan, Italy

Second to last show. We find out the show is being promoted by same company that did previous show. Bummer. We are on autopilot though. We have an album to record and are focused on that. Inside the van the language being spoken is English but all in a sort of dialect that has alternative meanings. I realize that if anyone were to enter the van and ride with us right now they would not understand any of the conversations. Touring has a way of altering your mental state to a point that only your bandmates can understand you and each other. It’s an interesting dynamic. Drive, load in, sound check, go find someplace to eat. Club is in the middle of nowhere in Milan. The sound at the club is great though and that means something to us. We find a small local restaurant and have great fresh Italian food and wine. As we walk back to the club we see a rather large fire of burning tires in an abandoned lot. The entire area reeks and is smoky. It’s like a scene out of a war… It reminds us of the Bronx. We hit the stage and play almost all new stuff. It’s ours now and we are not tentative with it. The last six shows during the bass break in “The Mountie,” Aaron has been playing something different, usually Iron Maiden or Metallica. The last two nights he has been playing a Rosetta bassline. Rosetta pays homage to us tonight by playing the first 30 seconds of “Casse-Tête, one of our new songs. It does not go unappreciated by KD. Quiet night for a change. The tour is rapidly winding down and there is talk in the van of the hated “reentry” into our non-touring lives. We know what to expect but it’s still tough to deal with — the feelings of isolation and not wanting human contact upon returning seem counterintuitive but we all feel the same way.

Karlsruhe, Germany

Eight-hour drive to Karlsruhe is pain, but we drive through Switzerland. It’s stunning. We have been in 14 countries in 19 days and played 17 shows. Everybody has gotten along well. We roll into Karlsruhe with mixed feelings. It’s Sunday night so we have low expectations. It’s also raining. Wrong. Place has a great crowd and we summon a huge reserve of energy and basically just let it all hang out. Set ends with everyone playing in the crowd except Rob, the drummer. Perfect ending to KD tour. Rosetta gets up and rips the place up. Band has to load out and drive overnight to Brussels to catch an 8AM flight. It’ll take a few days for the tour to sink in, but from my perspective we achieved what we set out to achieve, saw some great spots, met the nicest people and got to play hard every night. Onto the next one!

When vocalist Steve Murphy of Kings Destroy — who’s hands down one of the most solid dudes I’ve ever come across in my doomly travels — first pitched me on the idea of a European tour diary, I was like, “Yeah, alright, I’d be up for that.” And I was, but I kind of figured that the band would be too busy drinking good beer and kicking good ass to actually follow through on it.

More the fool I, and rarely have I been so thrilled to play the fool. Below, bassist Aaron Bumpus checks in from the road as Kings Destroy opens the Red Stage at Sweden’s Getaway Rock Fest and continues their European run with Rosetta. If you’ve missed the first installments of the tour diary, click here.

Dig it:

Berlin-Prague
Official tour song: Scorpions, “Winds of Change”
Official tour mascot: Paul Stanley

After another great show at Magnet with our tourmates, Rosetta, Kings Destroy says farewell to Berlin and heads north to Sweden. My mind begins to generate a rather long list of bands that were born in this country over the years, and I start to think, “What metalhead wouldn’t be psyched about going to Sweden?”. Especially when said visit involves an insane event like Getaway Rock Fest.

Driving up from Berlin to the ferry, we hadn’t slept much in the van. So once we boarded the ferry, I put my head down and was out within minutes. I did wake up a couple of times to take a peak outside at what appeared to be small glacial structures. An ominous mist rose off the top as we crept by. Fucking metal, indeed.

Onward…

After a second blown rear tire in three days (this time on Rosetta‘s van), we continued on to Linköping, where we made camp for the night. We would get an early start in the morning. Of course, delays are inevitable sometimes. Without getting too detailed, I guess it’s fair to say we may have put a little too much faith in our GPS. Once we figured out a way to get to a much more reliable road, we hauled ass to Gävle with Captain Murphy at the helm, and arrived at the exact time we were scheduled to set up for soundcheck. The view from the “Red” stage at Getaway Rock Fest was a sight to behold, adjacent to the river, blue skies and a clear sunny day. Since we opened the show on our stage (with Rosetta to follow), we weren’t expecting much of an audience. This was the earliest set we’ve ever played (2PM), but sure enough, people started making their way over to rock with us. Good times on that stage — always nice to have a bit of room to run around. Well received, and we had the rest of the day to hang out, drink beer and watch some of the other bands.

The highlight for me was at about 4:30PM, when I was lucky enough to catch Suicidal Tendencies set in its entirety. I watched from the frontlines singing along every word like an obsessed angst-filled Dogtown teenager. One can never get tired of watching Cyco Miko bug out on stage — dude never seems to run out of energy. I can honestly say, with four stages, 12 hours of bands, blond headbanging as far as the eye can see, and of course, t-shirts of all kinds, from obscure local favorites to the usual hall of famers (Iron Maiden wins the t-shirt popularity contest without question), I’ve never seen anything quite like this. The magnitude of such an event is pretty unbelievable, until you witness it for yourself.

Spent some time hanging out with the guys from Weedeater, who are some of the nicest dudes, and always entertaining both on stage and off. You know what? I take back what I said earlier. The REAL highlight of my day was watching the Weedeater cats commandeer a forklift from the stage crew, going full throttle towards the backstage area, then Dixie riding the lift all the way up to the top and back down, all without spilling his beer.

Saturday’s headliner: none other than the legendary Yngwie Malmsteen, who has not slowed down one bit since Rising Force. Sweden’s prodigal son returns, in triumph, to unleash the fucking fury in his homeland. Now that’s a sight I never thought I would get to see.

After a quick ferry ride followed by a 16-hour drive, we’re back in Germany for a show in Hamburg. Our overall weariness from the drive may have added to the extra-slow set we delivered, making it appropriately doomtastic. We made friends with some of the locals who accompanied us to a metal bar in the neighborhood where we spent the majority of the rest of the night drinking beer and filling up the jukebox. Lots of laughs as we stumbled back to the venue/apartment where we were staying.

Before I tell the story of our arrival in Prague, I should mention we just had our third flat tire in a week (the second flat for Rosetta‘s van). In order to make the gig, we had both bands pile into one van with all our gear, and fucking tore ass across the German border. Pretty intense. We knew we were going to be late, but “the show must go on,” as they say. We didn’t mind playing a relatively short set so the Rosetta fans at Klub 007 would get their money’s worth.

It was also C-wolf‘s birthday yesterday. I can’t think of a better place to celebrate the man and the legend that is the C-wolf. The next morning, we took a walk into town. We really haven’t had much time to go out and explore, but I’m glad Prague was one of the three we’ve been able to check out. Old cities are something of a fascination of mine, and I’ve been fortunate to see several on this tour. Little by little, we’re creeping closer towards the end. It’s really starting to sink in that this thing is almost over. But, with six days left in the tour, there are bound to be a few more adventures.

In this second installment of the Kings Destroy European tour diary, guitarist Chris Skowronski (whose birthday also happens to be today; happy birthday and what a way to celebrate) updates on the band’s progress on their run of shows with Rosetta, focusing in on several gigs in Poland. The first part of the tour diary is here, in case you missed it last week. Please enjoy:

Tour Diary Polska

Chris Skowronski from Kings Destroy here. I’m going to take over tour diary duty and do my best to give a recap of our time in Poland. After rocking Leipzig, Germany, we headed east into Poland, excited, but unsure of what we’d find waiting for us. None of us had ever been there, but we knew it had a reputation for being truly metal. Soon after crossing the border, we pulled into a gas station rest stop and got our first taste of this awesome country. You see, when you think of gas station food, a nice hot plate of pierogies usually doesn’t come to mind, but that’ s just what we got. This rest stop was also our introduction to the ubiquitous rest stop kabanos — a polish hot dog inserted vertically into a crispy, closed-bottom bun. Anyway, they’re available at EVERY stop, so if you ever visit, be ready for them.

We had a long drive ahead to reach our first destination, Toru?.  After hours of driving through unceasing farmland occasionally punctuated by tiny, grim towns, pulling into Toru? was a trip. One of Poland’s oldest cities (and the birthplace of Nicholas Copernicus), Toru? is OLD. Medieval old. I’m not going even try to describe the beauty of its architecture, its winding cobblestone streets, or its MANY cathedrals, but do yourself a favor and look it up on the interwebs. It really is stunning.

The show was in a club space that was separated from a small bar by a narrow courtyard. As it was the night of the final match of Euro 2012, and people in Europe care more about soccer than anything, the show was set to start right after the match, which was being shown on a big-screen tv in the bar. The crowd was a mix of local young people there to drink (which the Polish do quite well) and watch the match, and Rosetta fans (who of course wanted to see the match, then see the rock).

As the final seconds of Spain’s beat-down of Italy ticked away, KD hit the stage — to all of four people. It did not seem promising, but we did what we do best and kicked into “The Mountie.” By the end of the tune, the strains of rock wafting from the club room had pulled in a few more people from the bar and courtyard, and soon the room was filled with the most enthusiastic crowd we’ve ever seen (home city of NYC, included). Then the magic really happened: groups of kids unironically and vigorously headbanging. It was a beautiful sight. And when Steve [Murphy, vocals] called the crowd in a little closer (they were keeping a slightly wary distance) they moved RIGHT TO THE FRONT. Like, they got my sweat all over them front. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it was crazy hot and humid in Toru?.

The crowd reaction just got better as the set went on, and the fact that we and Rosetta were the only two bands on the bill meant that we could pace a nice long set with plenty of brand new songs that had not yet seen live action. These kids loved them all. When the set finally ended in a fury of headbanging (from both us and the crowd), our first show in Poland gave us another first — an encore. No shit. It was amazing.

We gave them what they wanted and rocked through a new tune called “Motivated Slug,” then left stage for Rosetta to rock them some more. Plus, we needed to step out in the courtyard and air out a bit, as the room was stifling. Of course, a few pints of fine Polish beer helped that situation out, too. After Rosetta leveled the completely packed room, all the fine people in attendance joined us outside, and we got our first chance to mingle with the people of this fine country (who are also my people, if you haven’t guessed by my last name). Let me tell you that you won’t find a kinder, warmer, more hospitable group of people than the Poles. Just amazing. The night ended late (or early, as the sun was coming up), with a walk down to the Vistula River and a couple of bottles of red wine. A fitting end to a pretty fucking unreal night.

Next up in Poland was the port city of Gdynia. In terms of aesthetics, it was a 180 from the medieval charm of Toru?. Industrial, slightly gritty, it seemed like a place where they like their metal extra heavy. And the venue for that night’s show was a big one, a club called Ucho. Rosetta had played this club a couple years ago opening for Sepultura, if that gives you any indication of how big and pro this joint was. Lucky for us, Rosetta pulls them in, because by the time then opening band (a trad shoe-gaze band from Poland called Folder) hit the stage, the place was half-full, with just as large a group milling around outside smoking and drinking. Oh yes, the Poles smoke more than anyone you’ll meet. Like chimneys. As the only member of our band who smokes, this is bad situation for me. Large stretches of boredom, very cheap cigarettes, and people smoking all the time around me make for me smoking way too much.

After Folder finished a great set, KD took the stage. The large stage offered us a chance to really move around, which we don’t often get to do. It was a little scary being up there at such a large venue as a band that was probably known by very few (if any) audience members. But once again, the Polish fans delivered. Without prompting, fans were up front, furiously head banging in the Polish style, and KD responded in kind. And once again, new songs dotted the set, and old favorites like “Dusty Mummy” were, well, dusted off. A pit even formed for the more pit-worthy songs, which luckily did not worry the contingent of young female headbangers pressing against the front of the stage one bit.  The Poles are tough people, even the younger ones. After “Old Yeller” and our good nights and thank yous, a single voice began yelling “Kings Destroy!” and then chanting  “One! More! Fuck-ing! Song!” in heavily accented English. This chant was picked up by others, and who are we to deny the rock to those who demand it so forcefully?

Encore over, we began packing to clear the way for hurricane Rosetta. As I was placing my sweaty-ass Les Paul in her case, I noticed a little Polish boy who was no older than 10 standing in front of the stage, grilling me. I said hello and got stony Eastern-European silence in return. I reached my hand down in the universal sign for “slap me five,” and he gave me a solid one. I handed him the guitar pick I had played the show with, and his eyes lit up in excitement. Then Rob [Sefcik, drums] gave him a pair of his giant drumsticks, and the kid was really stoked. We later saw him walking around and air-drumming with them, flanked by father, a giant, stern-looking Pole in his 40s. After Rosetta rocked, the father approached me and Steve as we drank at the bar and asked if we would pose for a picture with the boy. Of course, we happily obliged. A few kids outside even asked us to sign fliers for them. Once again, I can’t say enough about how awesome and enthusiastic these kids were.

Next day’s show was Warsaw, capital city and victim of untold violence, pain and destruction throughout history. I was most excited for this gig, of course, and the two insane shows before it seemed to bode well. We arrived in Warsaw to sweltering heat and humidity (Gydnia had been so cool that we had all changed into pants and jackets). The club was in a grim, seedy part of town, with large apartment blocks of buildings still bearing crumbling facades and bullets holes from WWII. Those building that were post-war were communist-era utilitarian style, and it really seemed that we had been transported back to the 1980s. It was a bit creepy, but also very cool.

Club Hydrozagadka was an awesome spot in the typical punk rock style, with an awesome sound system, and awesome staff, and an awesome young promoter. The show even ended up being streamed live over the internet. The opening band was a three-piece, all instrumental shoe-gaze affair from Australia called Meniscus. Very cool people, and a very cool band. We hit the stage to a good crowd, though the headbanging was not as furious in the capital as our other gigs. No matter, as the crowd stayed, rocked, and let us hear it after every song.

After Rosetta‘s killer set, the three bands hung at the club’s bar until way too late, as our accommodations for the night were in a hostel about 20 feet from the club. We bid Meniscus farewell as they left for the rest of their dates, and hit the sack as the sun came up.

Day four started with a luxury we haven’t had much of on this tour — time. The drive to Poznan was short, so we actually had a few hours to do some shopping. As we crossed a set of light rail tracks in Warsaw’s center, we crossed out of the Soviet-era grimness, a GIANT, ultra-modern luxury mall rose up in front of us. I guess every city really does have a “wrong side of the tracks,” and we had clearly been in Warsaw’s, but isn’t that where all the good clubs (and not to mention the true character of the city) are?

The drive to our last Polish gig in the city of Poznan threw the first curveball of the day. At a rest stop, we noticed one of the rear tires on our van seemed low, so we moved it to the air pump, only to discover it had a huge gash in the inner sidewall. No problem, we have a spare, right? Yes, but the jack is the same shit one that I have in my Honda, and we realize we don’t have a lug wrench. We notice a kind of hard-ass Pole smoking a cig, watching us. He also happens to be standing outside the same make of van, so we ask him for help, which he provides. Basically, he ends up shooing our lame-asses out of the way and doing it all himself, including showing us the complicated system for releasing the spare from its spot underneath the van. We buy him a beer, but he waves it away. We insist, and he tosses it on his passenger seat. We head back on the road.

Poznan turns out to be an older city, like Toru?, but with a tougher edge, like Warsaw. The club is located up two winding flights, so load-in sucks. We also learn that Faith No More is playing in town the same night, which has the promoter worried. We arrive just before show time, but no kids are around. By the time we get set up and Rosetta sound checks, kids begin to filter in. The other show definitely hurts the draw, but it’s still a good crowd. However, they approach our set with wary distance. They applaud, but nobody’s up front. So Steve takes matters into his own hands. During the intro to “The Toe,” he walks down into the middle of the room and places a single road case down. He performs from there. This actually impresses the crowd a bit, and Carl [Porcaro, guitar]’s subsequent foray onto the floor to try to take Steve out adds to the weirdness. But it works, and people slowly inch forward. By the end of the set, the applause is hearty, and KD calls it a win.

We hang late and toast Poland. The next morning, we aim the van for Berlin, and unhappily bid goodbye to the land of true metal spirit, the land of earnest headbanging, and the land that gave me my surname. Farewell, Poland. Kings Destroy will never forget you.

In a tour so heavy that economists predict it will lead to the ultimate collapse of the Eurozone, New York doomers Kings Destroy are currently on tour for three weeks in Europe with Rosetta. Below, the band checks in from the road while playing out new material on their way to and through a slot on Sweden’s Getaway Rock fest. For all the dates, hit up their Thee Facebooks page or simply click the poster below to enlarge. This time out it’s drummer Rob Sefcik and guitarist Carl Porcaro filling us in on the grizzly details. Please enjoy:

Kings Destroy prequel to heavy metal summer camp, Europe 2012
by Rob Sefcik

Oh, the places you’ll go!

Not just when you are on tour, but sometimes even right before you leave. Like to the fucking dentist for a minor issue (or so I believed). Procrastination is not such a good thing but yeah, I waited till the day we were leaving to see Mr. Dentist just to feel good about going on tour with Kings Destroy for three weeks in Europe. It’s 10AM, flight’s at 5PM, fuck it. And you guessed it… you snooze, you lose. My man tells me I have to go see an oral surgeon before I leave, only before I get admonished by his whole crew for waiting so long, and I also have to listen to the dental assistant ask me about how her classically trained teenage daughter can get into some rock ‘n’ roll band camp type thing while she scrapes away at my mouth. This is not going well.

So Mr. Dentist says all I have to do is go get part of my gum cut out with some space-age high tech laser thing. Whatever. My worst fears at this point are a) being late for the flight, b) missing the flight, or the worst of all, c) antibiotics and not being able to sample every Belgian and German beer that comes my way.

I have to wait nearly two hours too see Mr. Oral Surgeon only to have him tell me in a particularly surly tone that surgery is not the necessary course of action, all I have to do is put some strange red liquid on the affected area and bon voyage… and oh yeah, here’s a little prescription for antibiotics.

Lesson number one to all you stoner rock/metal/doom-type dudes/gals – take care of your pearly whites so as not to limit your beer intake for a few days when you are tooling around in exotic locales.

Enough with the lesson BS, there is still time to make this flight, dammit, even with the bitchy CVS clerk who can’t seem to empathize with my plight and expedite the whole prescription/antibiotics exchange. I also have to pick up Chris Skowronski, one of our guitar players, who is also having a bit of a freakout in Manhattan trying to obtain a DVD with our fancy new projection backdrop. I don’t tell him that I’m secretly glad that he’s also having some trouble getting his shit together.

Now it’s off to JFK where surprisingly all of Kings Destroy have made it on time. We shoot the shit for a bit and I say goodbye to my wonderful wife who has driven most of us to the airport… and we still have about 2 hours to go before boarding. What a responsible band – um, not so fast.

I can’t go into great detail about what happened next because I don’t want too much of the negativity to resurface at this point but I guess you can say we were blindsided by a veritable avalanche of incompetence, buffoonery and neglect from employees of a certain airline, the whole thing became a Kafka-esque nightmare that unfortunately reached epic proportions. Two extra hours were whittled down to about 10 minutes to make it through security where of course any dude that looks like he’s in a band or enjoys some of the finer things in life gets the “random” extra security check.

Needless to say, we made it, and hopefully I won’t have to find a dentist with a pair of pliers in Poland.

Tour Diary, Pt. 1
by Carl Porcaro

This is the first entry of the tour diary of the first ever Kings Destroy tour of Europe and east is our bearing. East from NYC to Belgium, further east from Belgium to Western Germany (Wiesbaden) and currently en route to Leipzig in far eastern Germany, after which we’ll continue our oriental progression over the border into Poland. None of us have played in Poland before and our tourmates in Rosetta have told us to expect some of the craziest shows of the tour there. Psyched indeed! As for tonight we’ll be playing in a very familiar place called Conne Island with a long history of great shows and progressive activity. I was first there on tour with Killing Time in 1992 not long after the unification of Germany and I’ll never forget it. The last time I was there in 2006 was also very memorable but for reasons I’d rather not repeat. I ended up in the hospital after a nasty tumble off a high stage a few nights earlier in Chemnitz caught up with me. The hospital seemed to be mostly empty and they left me in a dark hallway for what seemed like an eternity with nothing but the far off sounds of a woman giving birth to distract me from my throbbing chest. It turned out to be nothing more than a couple of busted up ribs but I’ve made a not so secret vow to avoid becoming the “Gurney Man” this go round.

Tonight will be the third show of the tour and was actually supposed to be fourth as our first gig in the Netherlands was cancelled, which was a big bummer as you might imagine. It was frustrating for both bands to land and not have a show to play but all turned out well as we spent the downtime with Rosetta and our drivers Stef and Mike. I generally don’t do “quaint,” but we had a cool time sightseeing in the picturesque town of Brugges and an even cooler (fucking bone numbingly freezing actually) time swimming in the English Channel.

The first gig was in an arts center in the countryside town of Knokke-Heist. We spent our time before the gig hanging in the grass with a pack of black sheep (not kidding) and it was a still totally light out when we hit the stage after 10PM. The set was a ripper and we brought the darkness down on Knokke-Heist. Rosetta was up next and I was up front with Mike screaming in my face and loving it. Davy, who was our host in Belgium and whose band Maudlin did a sick set before KD, turned 31 at midnight and celebration ensued. Special thanks to Astrid and crew for putting on a stellar show.

The next night was at in Wiesbaden at an excellent spot called Kultur Palast. Great crew of people there (shout out to Manus and the sound man). We debuted a new song called “Lunar Scape,” which is one of the many new songs we are playing on

this tour, which we’ll be recording at the end of the summer with Sanford Parker again. We managed to get through it without a trainwreck, so I’ll take that as a win. It was also the first night that we had our new projection which was created by Chris Flam, brother of Stephen Flam from Winter. He just finished it the morning we left, and since we were of course facing the audience, we still haven’t actually seen the whole thing but Chris is a true pro and I’m sure it’s amazing. Pulling into Conne Island now. To be continued…