Matt Farrell

Young Livers

So our second trip to Europe began similar to our first, a bit hectic, but it turned out to be great despite the hang-ups. We arrived in Berlin and waited for our luggage but the longer we waited the more concerned we became as Dave’s guitar and one of our merch bags was no where to be seem. We left the luggage area in a search for the missing bags and ran into Jan, which was a pleasant surprise since last year due to a confusion we waited at the airport for 5 hours for our ride. Some of us went to the van to meet our tour/label mates Bridge and Tunnel with great anticipation. The rest stayed in the airport and after sometime sorting the missing luggage the airport determined that they had left our bags/guitar in Paris. The airline assured us that they would have our bags by 5 this evening or tomorrow and we had no choice but to take their word. We headed to load the back line and gather all we needed for the next month in Europe.

We arrived at the squat and loaded in as Dave rightfully stressed out about the uncertainty that his guitar would arrive at all. As 5pm passed and we repeatedly contacted the airport to no avail, the concern grew stronger. The show was to start at 10pm at 8:30 we received a call from the airport saying they were in route guitar and merch in hand. They arrived with 30 mins to spare on the show and we gathered ourselves the best we could as we realized we hadn’t slept in some 30 hours or so. The show was fantastic, a group of very receptive and excited people. First was a band from the UK called CAVES with some infectious melodies started the evening out on a high note. The Young Livers, Bridge and Tunnel combo played next. As usual for all the shows our two bands have played together it was a fantastic evening full of energy and passion. I think we all feed off each other, as I believe we are all honest about what we are creating and the way we want things to be for both our bands. Bridge and Tunnel destroyed and I know everyone in the room felt it. We are now on day 9 of this tour and the friendships and relationships we have begun or reignited has been nothing short of inspiring and heartwarming. We started in Germany with some shows then onto Austria, Hungary, Slovenia back into Germany and as I write now we are leaving Paris and all the shows have been great.

Jan from Yo Yo records, as always, has gone out of his way to make sure we have wonderful accommodations, teaches us about history, makes us laugh, think and feel welcome. As we travel I feel like the world gets smaller every day. I think I will leave this off with my favorite Jan quote from this trip said this morning before we left the apartment we stayed in, " Yea guys I don’t think these French toilets can handle my Kraut dookie" said after the toilet was broken. More good times to be had as we travel from country to country with our friends who i feel are becoming more like family and so much more fun to be had.

Young Livers
Matt Farrell