In which we leave Russia and return for a home game in Nuernberg and everyone is invited on stage.
Flying out of Russia was as uneventful as flying in… which I guess is a good thing. I still had a few roubles left, so I’d planned on changing them at the airport, but strangely, I couldn’t find a change bureau. We had lots of hugs and promises to return one day… Read more…
For anyone who thinks that the touring life is a glamorous whirlwind of exotic places, then today is a good reality check. Although getting to bed sometime around 3am the night before (had to try the local vodka before turning in), we all meet outside the hotel at 10:15 to load up a van and head out to the airport. Although the flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg is only about 90 minutes, hotel to hotel works out at about 7 – 8 hours. Thats an hour or two hanging around airports and the rest of the time sitting cramped in a van moving through the traffic at a pace that makes London look like a race track. Read more…
I’m basically going to be in Russia on holiday, as there is no need for a van there, and we won’t be doing any merchandising either. So it’s just the musicians, the sound guy and the manager with me hanging around. I’ve not been to Russia before (in fact only one of our party has) and there’s quite a lot of music and sound equipment to get in and out, so we’re kind of curious how difficult it can be with the Russian bureaucracy. Will we be interrogated? Equipment impounded? Massive bribes change hands? Read more…