05/04/16 day 32: Lustenau, AT

Up at 930 to a bright blue sky and warm sun. Peter and I convened on the lawn at 10:10 and did our exercises next to the Koi pond. That's number 9 for the tour. Our goal is to do three more before the end of the tour which is a tall order but anything can happen. Wearing shorts and a tshirt today for the first time of the tour. Might be slightly optimistic but I'm going with it.

We dropped Alex, now affectionately referred to as The Captain, at the Mannheim train station (not to be confused with the Steamroller). His journey continues on without us to Belgium and beyond. It was nice to have him around; always game and always helpful (except when he would break out his booze from Slovakia. Olga, you shouldn't have let him leave your country with so much contraband!)

Our drive lasted until about 4:30. We took A6 to A7 (avoiding the shit show that is Stuttgart traffic) and then to A96 south to Lustenau just off the south east corner of the Bodensee. Stopping only for a new Austrian vignette to be able to drive on their highways and some road sandwiches.

Always a beautiful drive into Austria, the alps looming in the distance. Peeled off the highway, over a covered wooden bridge and pulled into the little town of Lustenau. Quickly found Gasthof Meindl, located our rooms and I went down for a 30 minute rest before getting cleaned up and back in the car for the trip across town to the venue; Freudenhaus or "happy house." People all tour have been making jokes that this is a brothel. It's not! It's a big venue with a beefy pa, lights, 4 foot stage. Tonight was the opening of the venue for the season so the mayor Kurt Fischer greeted the 150 guests and then "Le petit rien" a French duo opened the show. One cat was doing bubble art and the other cat was strumming his guitar. It was very interesting. Hypnotic.

Freudenhaus, Lustenau, AT

Sound check with stain glass light display 

Le Petit Rien

Our set felt good. We did a 60 minute set and got called out for an encore. The room was mostly silent save some light chatter at the bar, which while not ideal, didn't disrupt the vibe for us at least. The room is huge so it was bound to happen.

After the set we chatted with our new friend Stefan (whom we met in Schruns earlier in the tour) who books a music festival not far from here. Hoping to be a part of it next year. We also saw some folks from our Lindau show who book a big event in July. I can imagine spending a week on the Bodensee next Summer and it's always nice to have repeat customers! I also spent a minute chatting with the mayor who is also a musician who sometimes records in LA. He checked us out on youtube before the performance and had some kind words about our stuff. I encouraged him to record his next record in Phoenix. That would be so cool to help produce his next album.

Good night all around! Trying to remain present on stage this last week. Enjoy the last drops of this tour which has been really fun, exhausting, but fun and fulfilling.