EUROPEAN TOUR -> 27 MAY 2011 -> Paris

honeybird & the birdies - Mixing Berries EUROPEAN TOUR 2011

For us, it was epic. Our very first European tour! 

Here's a quick re-cap of what went down, day-by-day:

DAY 5 : Corcoran's Clichy, Paris (France)

Ah, Paris! So gorgeous, so inviting, so beautiful!!! Our dear friend Clémentine met us at the bus station when we arrived from Brussels...it took a minute to find Federico (the customs people actually pulled him aside, they thought he looked suspicious with his 1982 original Fender Precision bass and big bag of honeybird & the birdies stickers-which they actually thought were acid,oy!) and then we were on our way, through the maze of the Paris metro, and alongside us each step of the way was Clémentine. 


We swung by the venue early on to leave our instruments, and met up with Eddie and Chris, two fantastic gents, a Dutch and an Englishman living and thriving in Paris. We then returned for the soundcheck and Yutaka Nakamura (friend I hadn't seen in 15 yrs) was there! He lent me his strat which was sooooo sweet.

The show was a lot of fun, a very varied bunch of peeps, with a surprise guest, Luigini from Lecce, Italy with his fabulous violin! He performed with us on "Usain Bolt" - song in which we also did a snazzy coreography (almost in sync) in the choruses. After the show we took a stroll up to Sacre Coeur with a stop at Moulin Rouge on the way ... group photo with random Spaniards! 

The following day we spent time with our friend Clémentine around the city...Amazing human being she is...she made our stay in Paris incredibly smooth and pleasing and set everything up such that we could play a great show and enjoy the city the following day...the sweetest girl in all Paris!


And on that sweet note, our first European tour came to an end... gros bisous and big hugs and tanti baci to all who were part of our tour! Love e Arrivederci - on va se revoir bientôt!

 

EUROPEAN TOUR -> 25 & 26 MAY 2011 -> Brussels

honeybird & the birdies - Mixing Berries EUROPEAN TOUR 2011

For us, it was epic. Our very first European tour! 

Here's a quick re-cap of what went down, day-by-day:

DAY 3: Live Music Café, Brussels (Belgium)


DAY 4: Piola Libri, Brussels (Belgium)


We departed London on a super-early bus, destination: Brussels. How we were to cross the English Chunnel from England to France was a mystery to the three of us. So, once we arrived in Dover (and saw the white cliffs and water) we were confronted with this dilemma and went with the flow. Sure enough, our bus drove into a carrier train and underwater and 40 minutes later, we popped out in France!

The ride was smooth, beautiful peaceful green scenery, pretty cows, but it was long and the traffic was crazy gettin into Brussels, causin' us have to rush to our souncheck. As we had the

map open on the metro, we asked for directions...and miraculously, the guy said "hey...your honeybird & the birdies...I know you!". That was a very cool feeling. He told us which metro stop to take and we played at Live Music Café, right in the heart of the city near "La Bourse" and stayed in our friends' spectacular apartment close by, full of art, gutsy projects and a cat named "html".

Here's a review of our live show at Piola Libri 
(our first ever review en français!):
Concert plaisant, souriant et rafraîchissant!

The following day we visited family in Ottignies and that evening played in a very popular Italian bookstore, great vibe and turnout. Afterwards we did a phone interview with Radio Popolare Roma in Italy. That evening after the gig, as we walked to our friend's place,  I tripped and flew - charango in hand - and magically landed on top of my charango, and no-one was hurt. It was quite dramatic though and I remained on the ground for a good 10 minutes(!)

EUROPEAN TOUR -> 24 MAY 2011 -> London

honeybird & the birdies - Mixing Berries EUROPEAN TOUR 2011

For us, it was epic. Our very first European tour! 

Here's a quick re-cap of what went down, day-by-day:

DAY 2 : Half Moon Putney, London (UK)

Arrival at London Picadilly and straight to the Putney Tube stop to leave our instruments at the venue, the Half Moon Putney, historic venue in the south side of town.

 

We then go wander Camden Town to have a look about and enjoy some indian spices. After many photos and google-eyes-ing around, we tube it back for soundcheck. Very cool venue! We meet the other bands and are the first to soundcheck. The drumset is top-of-the-line as is the sound engineer Red. He mics up Paola's kit and the sounds of all our instruments are great! The charango goes to a group so that it's compressed in the PA, but not in the monitor, rad red...

Lots of wonderful friends show up for potato skins, drinks and music and a woman shows up with a photo of my grandmother (originally from the East End London) and her grandmother who were sisters...golly jee, i've got two cousins in London I never knew about! We were honored to have BBC DJ Max Reinhardt at our show as well :-)

We stayed till last call and then strolled and rode to Brixton where we stayed with our friend Mike who was so darling and prepared delicious banana pancakes for us at 2 in the morning. Our first London experience was in the pocket!

EUROPEAN TOUR -> 23 MAY 2011 -> Brighton

honeybird & the birdies - Mixing Berries EUROPEAN TOUR 2011

For us, it was epic. Our very first European tour! 

Here's a quick re-cap of what went down, day-by-day:

DAY 1 : The Latest Music Bar, Brighton (UK)
We left time to get to the airport to ensure that our charango and p-bass would be allowed on board the Easy Jet flight. At the Ciampino airport, however, our flight was not listed! OH NO! We went to the wrong airport...our first European Tour ever and we're at the wrong airport!!! Luckily, Diego was still outside in the car so we ran out and hopped back in the car "our flight is leaving from Fiumicino, not Ciampino!!". Seeing as we were flying Easy Jet, if we lost our flight, then our entire budget would be shot. We scurried and were lucky...made it just in time.

This was an intense start to it all... a sign that the tour was meant to be :-)

On the airplane, we asked the stewardess how to get to Portobello Road, London. She wasn't sure, but about 20 minutes later, someone on the plane came over and said "I can show you where Portobello Road is" :-)

Arrival at Gatwick, Paola's very first time in the UK. Smooth ride into Brighton, a charming sea-side college town, colorful and inviting. Our percussionist friend Manu met us at the Brighton train station and took us to the best coffee in town (at Taylor St. Baristas), along with other deliciousness. . . 

then straight to the venue, the Latest Music Bar, a nice jovial venue, great setting for our first gig of the tour! The evening was called "Hutchins Guitars Presents Monday Sessions (link)" and there were a total of four bands playing (us plus three local bands). We sorted out the order and instrumentation with Tony, then did our soundcheck. 

That evening Manu played assorted ethnic percussion with us, 'twas a really fun show (we especially vibed off of the last mauritian song of the first set by Alexia Chellun, luverly), an energetic audience including our friends who live in Brighton. Cheers!