Rome – Day 5
After our last stop on the tour in London we decided to head to Italy for some time in Rome, Florence and Assissi. In order to pack all that traveling in we had to catch a really early flight. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed but we keep meeting cool people in the airport. While we were waiting we met, Matt Schofield, who was on our flight from London to Rome. After talking with him for a few minutes he mentioned he was a touring musician too, so after he sat down we looked him up on Brantley’s blackberry phone and discovered that some rank him as one of the top 10 blues guitarists in the world. He’s a super cool dude and amazing guitarist – his site is mattschofield.net. Check him out (the vids are sick!). Rome was a great time. We got to see all the major sites…Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Roman Ruins, Parliament and we got to spend our Thanksgiving eating pasta and pizza in front of the Pantheon. That’s definitely a once in a lifetime kind of deal.
Thanks again to our local tour sponsors for helping make this trip happen!
-Matt, Brantley and the Europe tour team
www.peasantsbekings.com
London – Day 4
We got up early today to catch a flight from Dublin to London so we could see a few sites before our show. We met Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies, in the airport and she ended up being on our flight. She told Mandy that she appreciated her being so discreet about recognizing her. I’m sure she appreciated us not making a big deal of her in front of everyone. Once we landed in Heathrow airport we jumped on the tube and headed to Earl’s Court to check into our hotel. I had forgotten how tiny everything is in Europe…tiny halls, tiny rooms, tiny bathrooms, tiny elevators. We are all dudes over 6′ 2″ and used to the spaciousness that Oklahoma provides. Absolutely no complaints from us because we are having a blast – just a funny observation. After checking in we quickly headed down to Big Ben, saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, saw the London Eye, toured Westminister Abbey, grabbed some street food and we were off to set up and sound check. The venue was an awesome set up. We were right down in Notting Hill and the space was set up perfectly for acoustic shows. There was a big velvet curtain behind the stage and a chandelier above our heads. Plus, the sound man was great and the staff was really accommodating. This was definitely the best sounding show out of the three on the tour, so thanks to the Metropolitan for putting on their weekly acoustic series (Platform and Portobello Acoustic Sessions)! After the show our pal, Clark, took us to the icebar, which was out of this world. The whole place was made of ice…even the glasses you drink from! We finished off the evening in China town celebrating another successful tour stop.
-Matt, Brantley and the Europe Tour team
www.peasantsbekings.com
Dublin – Day 2 & 3
We rented a car, which in Ireland they call hiring a car, and drove from Belfast to Dublin. Brantley drove us in this tiny car that barely fit us and our stuff. The roads are small with tight curves and we’re on the opposite side of the road so it’s a little freaky and yet quite thrilling in some weird way I guess. Anyway, we made it to Dublin after a visit to a touristy spot where we looked at ruins that were 5,000 years old…older than Stonehenge! Crazy stuff and truly amazing. We checked into our hotel in Dublin and then over to Sin E. Sin E is right off the river and a really great club. The owner, Kieran, treated us like royalty and the people were very welcoming to us and our music. I had my Dublin friend, Peter McGuire, who’s an awesome guitar player join me on my sets. Peter’s been a friend of friend until this trip and he’s simply a great guy and uber talented musician. It was a blast. Before the show kicked off we were missing a mic so Kieran showed up at the club and drove us to another club which was full of famous Irish boxers, news casters and the like and we got the missing gear we needed to make the show work. What a great night with new friends! Today we had a free day so we traveled to some countryside medieval site and the drive was out of this world beautiful with a huge waterfall, scary winding roads, rolling hills, plenty of sheep and a lot of wind and rain. We had lunch in a small little town where we ate some local food and then headed back to Dublin for an evening in the Temple Bar district and listenign to Irish folk music. Now it’s time for us to hit the hay and gear up for our show in London tomorrow night at the Portobello Acoustic Sessions in Notting Hill.
-Matt, Brantley and the Europe tour team
Belfast – Day 1
So after driving to Dallas, flying to Chicago, landing in Dublin and driving two hours to Belfast we were absolutely worn out. I felt sick after the flight, so I had Clark, our Belfast host and one of the greatest guys in the world…seriously, pull over so I could throw up on the side of the road. I think the crazy turbulence from our flight, an intense sleeping pill and Clark’s fast driving through the winding roads of Ireland didn’t help! Finally after a few hours of rest at Clark’s house, in Bangor, we were all feeling good and ready to see some sites before our show at McHugh’s in Belfast. We went to the oldest hotel in Northern Ireland (established sometime in the 1600s) stopped by the famous Crown bar in Belfast then we whisked away to sound check. Local act Louisiana Joyride kicked off the evening with a great acoustic set and they really rocked it. Then, Brantley went on and played his heart out, I followed after him and the evening wrapped up with Yngve and the Innocent from London. Those guys put on a great show with lots of energy – sort of reminded me of Franz Ferdinand – good stuff. Mandy took some fantastic shots of the evening, so photos and video to come!
We are exhausted now, so nighty night.
- Matt, Brantley and the Europe Tour team
VZDs Kick Off Show
Hey friends,
Tomorrow night we’ll be playing our official Europe tour kick off show at VZDs in Oklahoma City. VZDs is a legendary venue in OKC, known for its history of shows with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Dixie Chicks, Graham Colton, The Flaming Lips and many others, so we’re honored to be having our send off show right at home in one of our favorite venues.
After we rock out VZDs we’ll be getting up early the next morning to drive to Dallas. We fly to Chicago then we’ll be on our way to Dublin. Once we land we’ll be picked up by an Irish pal who’s driving us to Belfast where we have our first performance across the pond. We’ll be taking plenty of photos and videos and we’ll do our best to keep this blog, twitter and flickr updated with the latest while we’re out on the road.
Looking forward to meeting you all on our tour!
- Matt, Brantley and the Europe Tour team
Europe Tour Announcement
We are super excited to announce our Europe acoustic tour for November this year. I spent a semester in Europe during college and have been long awaiting a return. I’ll be seeing a few new places and revisiting a few old favorite cities. Also, I’m pleased to be going over with my good friend and fellow musician Brantley Cowan. Brantley and I’ve played many shows together in the past and I’m looking forward to sharing the stage with him as we play our music across the sea. We’ll keep you posted as we start posting shows and information leading up to the tour. So, please keep checking back often.
-Matt
