One could guess that Barcelona is a city run by art students and drag queens. Our 'travel' day which was supposed to start the morning after our set in Barcelona, quickly turned its head into a day spent at the spa and a night spent in Swedish Death Metal bars.
We awoke slightly bright eyed and barely bushy tailed. Used pizza boxes strung the floor while stripped off t-shirts and used pants were busy soaking up an overnight flooded hotel room. We had a long day of driving ahead of us and so we hightailed to the nearest Paella pot roast to fuel our bellies. About half way into our meal the fact was brought up that we had TWO days to drive 8hrs. A unanimous decision was made then and there that we would take the day off in Barcelona.
There were two very unique things about the 'ZT' hotel we were staying in. 1. It was by far the nicest hotel we'd had on tour and 2. It had a Spa. The only reason we were able to stay in the ZT was because the venue had helped us out. This meant that with the little extra cash we had in our pockets we could splurge and squeeze into the skin tight blue spandex (otherwise known as Spain's version of the Spa swimsuit). A day spent in the spa is to be a quiet and relaxing time, a short vacation away from the everyday toils of tour and a peaceful time to reflect. Hence, we entered the spa quiet as a clam, beers in hand and cannon balls into the pool. It was only 20min later we were greeted in the sauna by the hotel clerk who explained that there had been complaints we were being too loud. When we asked him who was complaining he simply said "Everyone".
We retired to our rooms to gather our shoes and decide on the fate of what was next to come. It came down to Matt, myself, our sound tech Mark and our TM Chris. With the rest of the band retired, we headed out to Mark's favorite Swedish death metal bar for what turned out to be a 'not so quick' cocktail. I don't think any of us know exactly what 'Carnival in Barcelona' is but we did find out as we hopped from club to club, bar to bar, party to party, that it makes people drink, smile, converse and dress up like Penguins, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Super Mario Bros.,The cast of LOST and various glam metal bands. An unexpected all day adventure starting at The Barcelona Spa and ending in a pile of soggy fries and moldy mayonnaise.
Andy
Local Natives
Today is February 16th and today is the day that our first album has been officially released in our home country.
We shall celebrate with home videos.
Shot in three days before leaving for tour with my digital camera. Cut and sliced when I had too much time on the plane. Honey is not a music video and its not official. Honey is what leaks...
Andy
Local Natives
After two pints and three bar games of 'Video Match' Matt and I decided to jump on the tube and head over to meet Ryan at a place called the The Flower Pot. Ryan and James were spinning the ipod wheel there for the first time in front of more than just themselves. Matt and I quickly came to find that the tube route we needed was closed. After returning to the pub to collect my lost scarf and grab some change, we appeared to be on the number 27 bus heading to the Pot. It was a Saturday night in the middle of London, which meant the streets were filled with crazys whom could slur us in the right direction. Three drawn out question and answers later, we were lost. Matt slapped on his cell and was told the club was just past the Pizzer Express on the left. That Pizza place didn’t exist in this part of the city. We did eventually find the wooden ‘Welcome to the Flower Pot’ sign floating just above the surface of the sidewalk and upon entering were quickly greeted by many familiar faces…and it felt wonderful. We did the American thing and requested large ciders followed by shots of gasoline spiked well whiskey that someone over my shoulder had bought us. The current DJ was still playing which meant we hadn’t missed Ryan and his inauguration. My guess is, that it was around midnight when the Local Natives first attempt at “DJ” started to commence. Some people danced, some people didn’t, some of us stood awkwardly on stage, some didnt and some of us got a una-brow made out of blue sparkles painted on their face. For how the remainder of the night commenced, you'll have to ask someone else who was there. Cheers Andy Local Natives
Hotel in Portland, OR at 4am...I don't know what these mean, what these say, why they ended up on the hotel room walls, or why Kelcey and Scott were giving me the stink-shady-eyes. All lovely Andy Local Natives
One could guess that Barcelona is a city run by art students and drag queens. Our 'travel' day which was supposed to start the morning after our set in Barcelona, quickly turned its head into a day spent at the spa and a night spent in Swedish Death Metal bars.
We awoke slightly bright eyed and barely bushy tailed. Used pizza boxes strung the floor while stripped off t-shirts and used pants were busy soaking up an overnight flooded hotel room. We had a long day of driving ahead of us and so we hightailed to the nearest Paella pot roast to fuel our bellies. About half way into our meal the fact was brought up that we had TWO days to drive 8hrs. A unanimous decision was made then and there that we would take the day off in Barcelona.
There were two very unique things about the 'ZT' hotel we were staying in. 1. It was by far the nicest hotel we'd had on tour and 2. It had a Spa. The only reason we were able to stay in the ZT was because the venue had helped us out. This meant that with the little extra cash we had in our pockets we could splurge and squeeze into the skin tight blue spandex (otherwise known as Spain's version of the Spa swimsuit). A day spent in the spa is to be a quiet and relaxing time, a short vacation away from the everyday toils of tour and a peaceful time to reflect. Hence, we entered the spa quiet as a clam, beers in hand and cannon balls into the pool. It was only 20min later we were greeted in the sauna by the hotel clerk who explained that there had been complaints we were being too loud. When we asked him who was complaining he simply said "Everyone".
We retired to our rooms to gather our shoes and decide on the fate of what was next to come. It came down to Matt, myself, our sound tech Mark and our TM Chris. With the rest of the band retired, we headed out to Mark's favorite Swedish death metal bar for what turned out to be a 'not so quick' cocktail. I don't think any of us know exactly what 'Carnival in Barcelona' is but we did find out as we hopped from club to club, bar to bar, party to party, that it makes people drink, smile, converse and dress up like Penguins, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Super Mario Bros.,The cast of LOST and various glam metal bands. An unexpected all day adventure starting at The Barcelona Spa and ending in a pile of soggy fries and moldy mayonnaise.
Andy
Local Natives
