AMSTERDAM
July 28th – 29th
Arrive in Amsterdam in the morning of Tuesday the 29th of July, with Jeff Fell [drummer], Sean Tollefson [singer,bass]. Everything is very exciting, and strange, we exchange for Euros [money], and try to find our way to downtown Amsterdam, to Chris Munford [guitar], and Grrt [host]. Chris arrived a week before us, and trained it in from Sweden.

We walk around Amsterdam… Chris won't let us sleep, he says we'll adjust quicker if we get on Euro time… yawn. This place is a beautiful city.

AMSTERDAM
July 30th

Show day, a touch nervous, but we listen to some classic DC hardcore LP's at Grrt's and laugh, and realise it's going to be just fine. A fan from outside of Amsterdam named Martijn arrives to show us around town and see the sights. We pass Anne Frank's House. They have modernised the outside and the line is a very long one. We pass today, and go record shopping, and canal sightseeing.

In the evening we head to the club, OCII. We are playing with a band from Amsterdam called Zoppo. They sound like a Holland version of Versus. We have a good set, although I break a string (something Chris usually does) on the last song of the night, "Miss Douglas County". I get familiar with a local beer called Palm. Delicious, a good night.

LONDON
August 1st

Thursday was spent getting from Amsterdam to London, via a short flight. We arrive late in London, find a hotel, get some English food. I pick Fish and Chips and a pint of Guinness.

On Friday we wake early and walk around London, hit Hyde Park, find ourselves around Parliament, Big Ben, cross the Thames and head towards the Saatchi Gallery and the Tate Gallery, take in the Damien Hirst and the Paul McCarthy show.

When we exit the Saatchi Gallery, Sean spots this set of trampolines with cables to attach oneself to, and gets everyone in the band to sponsor me for flipping on this dare. I take it on and somersault my way to a championship performance.

So much so that Chewbacca comes over and puts me in a head lock!

More Fish and Chips and KFC, and Sean takes to the streets to stare longingly at us inside eating. Strange. Nope, normal.

Head to the Arts Cafe for the show, nice little place, sound check, and notice that we have a sizeable crowd early. Things looking good. A band from San Francisco called Triangle open, then its our turn. We have a really set, the kids are dancing and making the place sweaty, it is the kind of show one wants to have in London. Next up is the Mates Of State, who put on a really great performance. Sean gets introduced to Rob from 14 Iced Bears who tells him that we sounded a lot like them in their day before they (14 Iced Bears) took drugs. As we get ready to leave, find out that the Mates Of State had their tour van broken into, and all the money from two weeks of touring is all stolen. Most of Jason Hammel's clothes are stolen, and both Jason and Kori Gardner's passports are taken as well, they are bummed, but not deterred!

We stay awake pretty much the whole night, as we fly out of London at 5 in the AM for Malmo Sweden. We hang out with fans who came from Manchester, and save the night by finding us a way to the airport by our 6 AM flight, so Scotch straight up for me and a ride on a double decker bus! 

 

MALMO, SWEDEN
August 2nd

Arrive early from our flight out of London. Catch a cab to Lina's brother's [Lina is Chris the guitarist's fiance] apartment in Malmo. Rest, do some laundry, eat some Swedish snacks [toothpaste tube items that are cheese like spreads], fruit and crackers. Meet Aerospace at the UFO Cafe.

Aerospace is going to tour with us around Sweden and Norway, they are a great band form Stockholm that we have had the pleasure of becoming friends with! They are like a cross between the Aislers Set, and Belle and Sebastian, in other words good!

I spot Michael formerly of The Electronic Watusi Boogaloo and he invites me over to his apartment which is around the corner from where we are playing, and listen to his new project MLF [Music Liberation Front]. We had become friends with the Electronic Watusi Boogaloo in Athens, GA at the PopFest there in 2000, and it was good to see and hear his new stuff his new stuff. Head back to the club to sound check. Aerospace kicks it off and they are awesome, it's going to be hard to follow! We set up and go, and it's rolling good, place is sold out, and then, BLAM, I break a string! I have the Chris jinx, but I unfortunately don't have a song for my string breaks. Chris's future In-Laws and his sister who lives across the water in Copenhagen are there, so there is that odd sense of pressure. I feel like I let everone down, jus didn't feel like I got in sync. Michael [MLF] and John the keyboardist in Aerospace tell me it's a good show, but I'm looking forward to the next night! Sean and I are introduced to the drummer from Hefner.

 

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN
August 3rd

Sunday starts late, we all drank a bit much and it's a bit rainy, so the motivation is slow. Aerospace wants to get going early so that we can hit a big Amusement Park in Gothenburg…it's not going to happen, and it's to bad, cause we are one band that loves the amusement parks! When we do get going in our rental van we stop along route to re-fuel, and I try some Swedish Meatballs at one of Sweden's fine restaurants along the freeway to Gothenburg, mmmmm! We get to the Starke Adolf Club and set up for sound check, Curt from our label Magic Marker Records and his girlfriend Molly, is with us and we are all having loads of laughs, mostly on my behalf, I'm fulfilling my roll as dork #1 in the band. 

Aerospace sets up and plays a great set, the crowd is absolutely mad, dancing, and bouncing around like vintage New Wave, it is going to be a fun night. 

We set up and the first song outta the gate the crowd is going bonkers, stage diving, bouncing and dancing from the front t
o the back of the club, it is amazing, and really energising, put together a band and get over to Gothenburg, the kids will make it so worth your trip! We add "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend is to Stupid To Know About" back into rotation after a long shelf life, and it really sends the kids!

The crowd are chanting "TWEE TWEE TWEE", so we let that song out of the hat, It is the best show so far of the tour! 

Now after most show in the U.S. the bouncers clear the room and close the club, especially on a "school" night. Well in Gothenburg, the let a DJ carry you onto the dance floor till the wee hours, the kids kept dancing, it really didn't stop the crowd from continuing, fun times! 
 

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
August 4th

We drive across Sweden, and pass the largest lake I've ever laid my eyes on, Lake Vanern. It looks more like a Ocean body of water. We play video games and just keep staring at the landscape which as similar to the Northwest, but is just different enough that you keep looking. Get to Stockholm scramble up some alternate gear from the Aerospace practice space, and set off to see Hanna at P3 radio to play 3 songs, and do an interview. Hanna has a great show which you can listen to over the web.

We play with limited gear, Chris goes Acoustic, and Jeff plays a minimal set with a snare, a high-hat, and brushes, Sean and I play like we always do, ELECTRIC! We play "Wild Bikini," "8 Great Ways," and a new song, "Rumble." Short interview and now some sleep and hand washing our laundry at John of Aerospace's apartment.

 

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
August 5th

Rest day, see some neighbourhood sites around John's area of Stockholm, just relax for the most part. Sean and I visit an "American Store", a theme retailer that sell exotic things like Mountain Dew, and hard to get Simpson's material, it was displayed like we have our groceries stores set up, it is amazing to see America made objective and then sold back to the Swedish.

 

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
August 6th

Walk around downtown with Sean as he tries to convert money to Swedish Krona. It takes a while. Try to hook up with the rest of the group at a theme park, no luck, we arrive a bit late. Finally in the late afternoon, we gather up gear and head for the Kulturhusterassen, right in the downtown heart of Stockholm. This place is great, we are playing with the Essex Green, and the show takes place on the roof of the building. This is a Museum that holds concerts on it's sizeable roof. Jeff has no drum stool, so he improvises with a plastic chair, and a new body posture, a rigid sixties kind of stance. I like it, but know it's killing him! We have a great set, only distraction is the setting sun coming down over Stockholm, it's as bad in a good way as any crowd distraction could be, I'm not complaining. Set goes smooth, crowd is sort of like a Seattle crowd, a bit cold, but after Gothenburg, the only way is down.

On to Norway!

 

OSLO, NORWAY
August 7th

Aerospace and us [tullycraft] catch a Ryan Air flight out of Stockholm to Oslo. The sights below are fantastic, lots of lakes and flat forest space, memorable. The flight takes an hour, catch a bus into Oslo, again scenic. We arrive to play at a four day festival called Oye Festivalen. We set our gear up in the back and go catch some authentic Norwegian food, Thai!

After lunch spend some time sight-seeing, take some candid's with Aerospace at the King's Palace. Sean nearly gets shot as he runs up to the palace and startles the guard who kindly asks him to step off the palace's path that the unit marches on.

Head down to Beer Garden and take in some free music that the festival has going, relax before the show. Sound check, Aerospace plays another out standing set, then we step up next. Rumour has it James Iha will play in his new band, alas he's in disguise, and the band plays bland rock, poor James Iha. We are visited backstage by Patrick Bartlebee [Bartlebees] and his wife Eivor [singer for the Ethnobabes]], he get a copy of Beat Surf Fun, we get a 7 inch of the Bartlebees, more than fair, advantage tullycraft!

 

EMMABODA, SWEDEN
August 8th

We catch an early flight to Sweden, we have to get to Emmaboda before 6 PM, and it's a long drive to Emmaboda from Stockholm. We are fortunate to have Christram from Aerospace along for the ride, he is our saviour! We get to Emmaboda with about 20 minutes to spare, we hurry and set up. Sleater Kinney is opening for us, this will never occur in America, but here in Sweden, well…

Emmaboda is a raucous 4 day event that is like the Swedish version of Reading Festival in England, it is huge!

We have the largest crowd that we have ever played in front of, ever, at least 1500 to 2000. It is a sea of kids going mad, lead in part by the Gothenburg crowd who have come out front and lead this thing into a raging rock show, mucho thanks to the kids from Gothenburg!

Sean gets pelted by girls panties with the lyrics to "Twee". Jeff gets a hold of a mic and says in all fairness we have got to get some men to throw up some underwear, and during the next song, that has happened.

The stage is set with fog machines, I find it laughable, tullycraft with fog machines, um, have you heard us before, not quite the band to pull off the fog effect. But it makes us laugh, and the crowd seems to get that.

We play into the night, and the crowd is singing along, bouncing around, and waving flags, it is absolutely memorable! It fulfils all my so called rock fantasies, it is wonderful. We wrap the night with the song "Miss Douglas County", and step off the stage and off our European Tour the way I dreamed we would, feeling like a fantasy had come true!

Thanks to Aerospace for all that they provided, mostly friendship and a kick of a tour band to play along side! 

 

A HUGE imaginary thank you to Harold for taking the time to chronical the tullycraft tour adventures whilst living the rock n roll life Scandinavian style. American boys and girls, get your undies ready for the next tullycraft show… they might just play "Twee"… {not that I am suggesting anything…}