2009 AFE Tour Blog Day 1: Travel Day

Today has been a full 36-hour day consisting of airport security, overpriced airport food, trying to figure out exchange rates, airplane rides, layovers and sleep deprivation. The trip actually started Monday afternoon when we met up for sushi followed by a quick rehearsal, organized all of our equipment, and around midnight cleared all of our gear out of the warehouse.

We’ve had plenty of experience/practice loading in and out of venues and practice spaces in cold weather but last night’s load out was definitely in the top three coldest ever. The actual temperature was somewhere around “bitterly cold”; add a “blistering wind” and a sidewalk covered with ice to that and you’ve got a band that can’t wait to get out of Iowa (luckily for us we are heading to the desert). All in all, we were pretty happy to get everything loaded into the trailer with minimal frostbite and minor bumps and bruises from falling on the ice.

After a few hours of sleep we got to the Des Moines International Airport early Tuesday morning. It is always funny to see the people at the ticket counters freak out as they see seven of us all carrying our bags, guitars, drums, etc… You can actually see them think, “I hope they aren’t flying United”. Initially, most of them seem completely overwhelmed by the ensuing chaos but, as they did in Des Moines, they generally handle it very well.

If you are new to “The Blog”, on our last overseas tour we were bumped up from our normal seats to seats in Business Class for a fourteen-hour flight to Tokyo due to the airline screwing up our tickets. At the time this was probably the greatest thing that had ever happened to us. We were given all the free gourmet food and drinks we could ever consume. We could lay pretty much completely flat while we were wearing our “swanky” free slippers, cleansing our faces with hot towels, stretching out our un-cramped legs, or doing just about anything else we could have dreamed of. In retrospect, this was just an extremely mean practical joke; being spoiled like that for a fourteen-hour plane ride has left us extremely jealous and miserable for all of our other flights. We’ve got a total of fourteen flights this tour so I’m sure we’ll get used to sitting with “the commoners” again but it won’t be easy.

We arrived to Frankfurt, Germany around 5 a.m. and wandered around a completely empty airport before setting up camp where we tried to get a little sleep, played some poker, and waited for our 11 a.m. flight. We found our gate, noticed another “reggae looking” band and started talking to them. Turns out, The “Easy Star All Stars” were on our plane to Bahrain. They are a great reggae band and some very nice guys that we saw play this past March in Austin at SXSW. They are playing a private party in Bahrain so we got to hang out, chat, and eventually share a van to the hotel with these guys. (Check them out when you get a chance)

We were met at the airport by Hussein (our Bahrain guide), cleared customs, and then loaded up the vans for a very “exciting” trip to the hotel. BAHRAIN IS CRAZY!!!  Today is their “National Day” which is the equivalent to 4^th of July so the entire place is one big party. Just imagine a giant tailgate party; subtract the booze, add more flags, more car horns, more people driving while hanging out of their cars and basically you’ve got what we’ve encountered so far in Bahrain (Check out the videos below to get a very small taste). We got to the hotel, checked in, got cleaned up and then walked over to the base to check things out. Our first impression was great. The base is beautiful, the weather is amazing, and everyone was extremely nice. We walked around on base for a while before heading off base to grab some food, relax, and get thoroughly confused with the currency exchange rate (we think we have it figured out now… maybe?).

So all in all, our first travel day has gone fairly smooth. After one misplaced boarding pass, a few “freak out” moments of “Did we remember to pack _________________ (insert just about anything here)”, some leg cramps/sore backs from sitting in a cramped plane for hours and hours at a time, a little “off-roading” in Bahrain, and we have finally made it back to the hotel where we are going to crash HARD. Our first show is tomorrow night and we’ve got another full day of excitement ahead.

In the warehouse putting stickers on the promotional cds for the troops and rehearsal. (and yes we have a salad bar in the warehouse)

One of the worst load-outs ever.

Getting the equipment tagged and ready in Des Moines.

Mike "acting" like a reader.

In-between flights we were on lots of shuttles and buses to get to different terminals.

Trying to sleep.

We are real mature.

aww.... perfect little angels.

Finally, in Bahrain eating pizza and relaxing.

VIDEOS:

Frey laying out the itinerary in Des Moines.

We wish you could all experience this first hand but here is a small clip of the drive from the airport to the hotel. This doesn't even reflect the magnitude of the insane driving in Bahrain. As crazy as the ride was we never felt scared..... this was just how they do it here. 

Side note: this video was taken after BIT and The Easy Star All Stars helped get this van "un-stuck". Seriously, there is no way to explain the drive, sorry.

Here is a small taste of the "National Day" celebrations... again this does not accurately portray the magnitude of their celebrations but hopefully it gives you a good taste. Multiply the video times about 30 and you'll be closer to the real thing. None of us have ever seen anything like it so we apologize for being unable to describe it.