eric seems to collect young female fans. can you blame them? i mean who can resist his flashy stick tricks? here is eric after the gig giving a starry-eyed girl some tips:
the next day we drove to our show in serbia's capital, belgrade. we got there the day after radovan karadzic was arrested after 13 years in hiding. apparently he changed his appearance radically enough to simply go about a relatively normal life in belgrade. this guy was a real monster, responsible for the deaths of thousands through ethnic cleansing. many people were very happy to see him finally caught for his role in the bosnian/serbian war. it's a crazy world though, and there were also people who did and still do support his actions. just 500 meters from the club we played, a riot broke out with right wing radicals showing their support for karadzic in the face of those who were there to celebrate his arrest. we were lucky enough to eat dinner with the owner of the club who gave us an incredible insider perspective of the war. i was in high school when it happened and although i remember many of the city names and the basic premise of the conflict, my knowledge of the war was foggy at best. being in these towns, meeting people and getting an opportunity to hear what it was like to have lived though the war, what people saw as the causes of and now the fallout and aftermath was an incredible experience. as american ambassadors of rock n' roll, however, we were simply there to entertain people and the folks who came to see us were there to rock out... nothing more. after the gig, eric lived out a long standing dream:
then we were off to the show in zrenjanin, serbia where they had a nice advertisement for the show. our van is on the left:
the glorious beauty of the balkans:
we had a bit more trouble with the border/customs agents in bosnia and serbia but after some delay we were back in beautiful croatia. this country has some of the most beautiful coastlines i've ever seen. our next show was in zadar at the maya pub. we had three days off after this to relax on the beach in the 80 degree, dry summer sun. carolyn caught these photos outside the club of a local cat getting lucky with a local fisherman:
sunset the first night in zadar. this is the view 20 feet from the club we played on the edge of the marina.
at dinner- freddy still working on his thesis and i have no idea why i'm making this face:
shots from the zadar gig. our thanks to steve, an insanely drunk irish musician who took these and thought Boss Tweed was just 'savage.'
on the walk home after the show we came across st. donatus church, built in the 9th century:
freddy and eric proudly show off one of the better packing jobs on the tour:
after the gig saturday night, we had three days off. the first two we spent in zadar. we found a great little house to rent for cheap... fully equipped with a kitchen and a real american style bathroom. i think the reason why europeans bear the 'stinky' stereotype is that most of their showers are poorly designed and discourage you from using them: low water pressure, tiny shower stalls with doors that either don't close and spray water all over the bathroom or a cold and clammy curtain that clings to you while you try to wash off. not fun. here's some shots of us hanging out at the rental house.
eric preparing dinner:
making friends with the neighbor's dog:
in the garden outside the house we rented:
yep:
eric threatens carolyn with a dull knife when she keeps suggesting that we play cards:
...she takes the hint and plays solo:
after spending some relaxing time on the beach we headed north to labin, croatia. i could live in this town. whereas zadar has more of a hip, miami-style night life, labin is a small, quiet medieval town built up on a hill overlooking the seaside. eric did a radio interview the night we arrived and we had the next to relax and explore the town. we opted to head to the beach but after waiting for the bus for an hour, we finally got down to the shore just as a huge storm came rolling in. so we took cover to wait another hour for the returning bus, arriving back in town just as the sun came busting out again. ah well... a shot of the drive along the coast to labin:
heading to the beach... this is the main square of old town labin:
main restaurant on the square. we ate our pre-show dinner on the second floor balcony:
some more croatian wild cats. the first is the mother, the second is the one-eyed baby:
the show in labin was staged in a medieval courtyard lat the highest point in town. from the stage we were looking west into the valley. looking up at the night sky here you can see millions of stars. we had a great audience that night and did four encores. here's some shots from the stage as we set up.looking out over the valley:
not to be swindled by mother nature from a good time in the adriatic sea, carolyn and i got up at 7:30 the next morning to catch a couple hours of swimming and sunshine before hopping in the van. the coast here is rocky still, but with smooth pebbles and ridiculously clear water:
so then we were off to austria to play the bluesiana club in velden. this was a cool venue with lots of photos of the american and in particular, new orleans-based musicians who have played the club in the past. this is the only club i've ever played with it's own private bowling alley in the green room:
just two more shows to go... we played another outdoor gig near nova goricia, slovenia. the stage:
our host that night had built a fire pit behind the club and made us a delicious dinner of lamb, potatoes and onions slow cooked over hot coals for almost 4 hours:
and that just about does it for Boss Tweed's tour of southeastern europe. the shows were great and the people were warm and psyched to hear some american rock n' roll. if you ever have the opportunity to see croatia... do it! i can't wait to go back. now the Tweed is gearing up for a show this friday at southpaw here in brookyn. we open the show at 9pm so if you're in new york, come on down. we're also celebrating carolyn's 30th birthday at this show!
ciao for now!
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