Philadelphia, PA – Tuesday, April 29, 2008

HOME SWEET MU*%$#@*KING HOME!

What a pain in the ass this trip was. Aside from several cancelled shows nearly destroying our budget, I never recovered my wallet in France. I’ve concluded that it was obviously stolen on the train from the airport. The French are some slick fockers. And what disturbs me the most is that I’m always aware of my surroundings. I live in South Philly for God’s sake. Am I losing it? Was I just too comfortable with the low crime rate in Europe? I don’t know but whatever the case, having to order a new social security card, ASCAP card, credit cards, Air Miles cards for several airlines, and more this experience certainly grinds my gears.* Having said that, the kind people in Birmingham and Madrid nearly made up for the losses. The folks from www.ukvibe.org took us out for a nice late night dinner after the show in the UK and we managed to get plenty of laughs in about the whole experience before catching out super early flight to Spain.

Once we arrived in Spain Jneiro was greeted by a beautiful woman who called him over as though she wanted to talk to him. He, of course, walked right over to see what was up. And what was up was a full security search of all of his belongings and clothing. WTF. It was too early in the morning for all that. Mind you this “random” search was one of several during the entire tour. We got picked up from the airport and headed straight to the hotel to check in and chill for about an hour or so before soundchecking at the venue which was real dope. It was in the lobby of what looked like a museum but they turned the whole thing into a club like atmosphere. The show was part of their annual electronic music festival so there were a bunch of other acts, also from the States. Overall the show went really well and the crowd, again, didn’t want us to leave the stage. It’s glad to see that Jneiro is picking up so many fans on an independent label. I was more than happy to be finished with the show since it was our last show and it meant we’d be boarding a plane back to America in a few hours. I attempted to stay up so I could sleep on the plane back home but I was exhausted that I fell asleep as soon as I got back into the room. I woke up to a phone call from the front desk telling me that our ride was waiting downstairs. I called the other rooms and it’s apparent that we all overslept and had to scramble to get ready really quick.

The airport in Madrid was a bit confusing and it took a while for us to find where we were supposed to check in. Our British Airways flight to Heathrow ended up turning into an Iberia flight somehow and we scratched our heads trying to figure what was going on. I got in some last minute souvenir shopping for my son and headed to the security check point where a dude in a uniform asked me if I had any liquids, gels, metal objects, drugs, guns, etc. I laughed because I thought he was joking. He quickly assured me that he wasn’t joking and asked me even more questions forcefully. This airport security situation is really getting out of hand. I know I say that every time I return home but I sincerely could do without that aspect of traveling. Some jerk gets to dump all of your belongings out on a table and ask you questions about each item you’re bringing on board. I had one guy ask me about items in my record bag including who the artists were on the vinyl covers. If that doesn’t clarify that certain security checks are more about nosiness than safety, I don’t know what does.

All and all, the trip was okay. Certain moments made the non lucrative situation bearable like catching up with a bunch of my friends from New York & LA in London. Or visiting one of my favorite sandwich spots in Switzerland twice in one day. And drinking myself stupid in Venice with new friends from LA. But over all this tour drove home the point that just because you’re getting to see the world, it doesn’t mean that life in the process is peaches and cream. I now look forward to catching up on some well needed rest and projects that need completing while back in Philadelphia.

SHAPE OF BROAD MINDS PERFORMANCE
AT LA CASA ENCENDIDA IN MADRID, SPAIN