Touring Tales With Ish

I'm sitting still in an oddly large hotel in St. Petersburg Russia trying to sort through my scattered mind an create some sort of order out of a jumble of memories and experiences and landscapes and people. It's all mushed together, like some kind of a rubber band ball. Each piece is difficult to discern and trace the path of, and all you can do without disassembling it entirely is hold the the thing in your hands, touch what you can touch and know what it feels like. I'm trying to pick it apart and tell you all the things I left out over the weeks. But I want to be true to what it felt like then--not some shiny, nostalgically recollected interpretation that distance has provided. Sitting here, I am over whatever little internal tantrums and exhausted disconnects I've had. Somehow I've finally managed to put myself fully in this moment right now (only knowing truly this exhaustion, these tired feet, this gladness, this readiness to come back to America). So far inside myself today, how do I explain with any true accuracy that one of my favorite shows happened on one of my least favorite days?

Kiev.

We said goodbye to our driver who'd become one of the bunch for the last month and flew from Warsaw, Poland, to Kiev, Ukraine. I stayed true to this odd pattern I've set of falling asleep before the plane even takes off. I woke up in the clouds. I read a few pages and thought of writing, but soon enough we began our decent into the city. Upon landing, we met our promoter and hopped in a van, driving through the city grayed by the clouds and marked in a language I couldn't begin to understand. Miles and miles of tall white apartment buildings towered strong, one after another. I thought of driving down a Texas highway and suddenly felt so very much in another world.

We walked into an old building that seems to have been wholly converted into a space for artists. Upon first entering, it felt a bit deserted, but after walking through a dark hallway, and up a flight of stairs, double doors opened up to this huge theatre, frozen in time. A large balcony looked out onto the stage. Walls painted white were covered in what one Ukrainian friend identified as soviet era ornamental embellishments. A round window sent beams of light across the room. And I'll admit, it wasn't exactly at this moment that I was sold. It was more when the room looked like this that I came around:

Somehow, in this city I never thought I'd see, there were 420 people in the audience, excited to see us! How in the world does this happen?! After an enthusiastic encore, girls gave us bouquets of flowers. People wanted photos. People wanted us to sign every little thing. One girl in the front row was my favorite. Never have I seen anyone literally jump up and down at the start of every song. So joyous! I talked with her afterward, gave her a hug, and asked if I could take a photo with her. I was dehydrated. I was exhausted. I was hungry. And I knew that after the show, I'd have to hurriedly pack my things, and get on a 12 hour overnight train...I wasn't excited about any of that. But cliche as it sounds, that one girl, jumping up and down right in my line of sight turned my whole day around.

Like I said, we rushed out of there and got on a train. I felt like I was in Harry Potter, on the train to Hogwarts. Four beds in bunks of two to a room--small, warm, and rockier than a boat in churning waters. I felt claustrophobic and anxious at the thought of Russian border patrol knocking on my door to inspect my passport in the middle of the night. I was still quite hungry from only eating one real meal that day, and thus angry to be so completely running on empty and sleeping in a situation that felt so unfamiliar.

I was shamefully frustrated and trying to keep it to myself.

But then I woke up, and I saw snow on the ground through the sunlit train car.

We were in Russia! And the tale of the Moscow and St. Petersburg will require more energy than I've got tonight. But can I just tell you that those two shows were completely great? What a stellar way to end the tour. We saw Travis' parents who flew all the way from Austin, Texas! We made new friends with the band from St. Petersburg. People in the crowd were so friendly and chatty after the shows. Today, I walked around St. Petersburg for nearly four hours. This place was an experience that I couldn't have predicted, and I'm happy to add it the bank of wonders I've somehow been so lucky to accrue. Now the whole tour is over, and I leave for the airport in 5 hours, USA bound.

I think I can safely say this was the best European tour yet. We powered through a restless schedule, sold out a bunch of shows, made new friends and played so well together. But, now I'm ready to go home. I'm ready for some pause and reflection and relaxation and bikes and tacos and sunlight and warmth! Thank you, Europe. America, here I come.