So, this is long overdue… but it’s time for a recap of the NEEDTOBREATHE 2010 European Tour! We’ve wanted to try our hand at shows across the pond for a very long time.  We had been to the UK before when we recorded “Daylight” in England, but never got the chance to get in front of any European audiences.  We had no clue what to expect on this tour.  We’ve been touring the US for over ten years now, so we pretty much know what to expect (apart from your random van fires and runaway trailers.)  We were heading back into small clubs in places we’d never been before and didn’t even know if anyone had the faintest idea who we were.  It was kinda like returning to the old days of jumping in the van and heading off into the unknown, determined to make fans out of whomever we encountered.  In my humble opinion… it was a huge success.  I would love to tell you all every detail of my European experience, but for the sake of time, here is an abbreviated version:

Paris: Saw the Eiffel Tower, had my first ever beef tartar and the best (French) onion soup ever, played our first ever European show

London: played with Lifehouse at the Empire at Shepherd’s Bush, revamped our wardrobes in the various shops of Londontown, had our first sold out European show

Glasgow: met some of the friendliest folks on Earth and enjoyed hearing some lovely Scottish brogues, found a kilt store that stocked my mother’s family tartan, played our second sold out European show

Cologne:  walked around the city with our new friends Chris, Chris, and Christina filming our German experience, stood in awe of the biggest cathedral in Germany, Bo counted off the first song in German: “Eins…zwei…eins, zwei, drei, vier!”

Hamburg: checked out the Rathaus and other cool sites in the town “Centrum”, got a delicious bratwurst from a street vendor, replenished my depleted undies supply with fancy euro-undies, set a personal record for broken sticks in a show

Amsterdam: one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen, strolled through the city and took a canal tour, saw hundreds of Sweden vs. The Netherlands soccer fans crowding the streets, played in a beautiful old club called Paradiso

Stockholm: made our first ever international television appearance on Sweden’s TV4 (totally worth the 3:30 am pick-up from the hotel), marveled at how unbelievably clean a country Sweden is, tried to count off the first song in Swedish but couldn’t get the accent down

Gothenburg: stopped in for an interview at Sweden’s biggest rock station Bandit Radio, marveled at how the population of Sweden is mostly supermodels, enjoyed perhaps the most enthusiastic crowd of the entire tour

Malmo: bought a few pieces of tacky memorabilia just because you have to, ate at a place called “Big Mama’s Pizza and Falafel House”, played our last show of the tour to a crowd that included some Swedish cowboys… seriously… hats and all

We’re back in the USofA now and just finished the first week of shows on the Young and Far From Home tour.  Stay tuned for updates from the road.  We’ll see y’all soon!