European Tour, By Tom Dumont

We all met at LAX with what seemed like a ton of cases and instruments. Some of our parents and girlfriends came to see us off. The flight was crowded and I discovered that airplane seats were made for humans much smaller than I. Our first few days were difficult. Due to the time change, we were all super tired, but we committed ourselves to staying awake in order to force the readjustment of our bodies.

At first London seemed drab and gray. I saw rows and rows of little soot covered brick duplexes. Of course the sky was overcast. Our hotel wasn't close to anything interesting. But as we went out and did interviews and such we discovered lots of cool stuff. I almost got hit by cars a few times. In England they drive on the left, so I kept looking the wrong way to cross the street. The European record company people treated us to dinner (which ended up happening a lot during the course of the tour) in the Soho district, where we found narrow streets crowded with trendy people who spilled out from the cafes and pubs. The second day in London we performed live on "Hanging Out With MTV" ( MTV Europe is rather different than here at home) and played at a small underground club that night. Most of the hundred or so who showed up were either Americans on vacation or the British press. The show went well.

Next stop: Amsterdam. Everyone had heard a lot about the liberal drug and prostitution laws, but what we found was different than what we'd imagined. Holland is quite a beautiful place. Miles and miles of lush green fields, punctuated with clean cities. First thing when we woke up in the bus that morning, we were whisked off to the state-run radio station. There we played a few songs in a studio before a live audience to whom cocktails and beer were being served After that, it was off to the club, which was near a good part of town, adjacent to fine hotels, Americanized bars, and blocks of restaurants. Marijuana can be purchased legally at bars, and it was strange to see a guy openly smoking a joint in the audience while we played. I had expected to see lots of Dead-head types and losers all over the streets stoned and homeless. No chance, it just seemed like a college town. No hippies or freaks anywhere to be seen.

After the show (which was just like the London show, for the most part) a few of us decided that we just had to observe the Red Light District with our own eyes. The area seemed to encompass about six square blocks of five-story residential apartment buildings of a stylish European design, lined with canals and little bridges. We walked along and looked in the windows where ladies in bad lingerie sat and tried to entice us with fake smiles. Peep shows and smut shops were everywhere. There were other men wandering in packs like us checking out the scene. Occasionally guys would stop to negotiate with the hookers, but no one seemed to be buying. What an unpleasant life it must be for those women. After checking out the place, we grabbed a bite to eat and took a taxi back to the bus for a long overnight drive into Sweden.

A few days later we opened for Neil Young in Stockholm. It was at an outdoor venue beside a river overlooking downtown. The six thousand or so who were in attendence listened attentively and clapped politely after each song. Men urinated openly in public throughout the show. Adrian gave Neil young a high five and we got some footage of him on our video cameras. Since the venue was beside a river, people were pulling up in their boats and anchoring to listen to the show and consume wine and picnic foods. Sweden was the cleanest and most orderly place of the whole tour. Busses and trains are free there, and everyone seemed to be well educated and well-off. Everyone spoke good English. One interesting thing about Sweden in the summer is that it only gets dark for about two hours every night. So when we wandered out of yet another record label dinner at midnight, it was still light out! Its was difficult to get to sleep at two in the morning when the sun was coming up.

We drove to Copenhagen, Denmark the next day. The Roskilde festival was the biggest rock show I'd ever seen. Four days, 90,000 people each day, and all sold out in advance. Six stages and something like 100 bands. Bjork, Rage Against the Machine, Presidents, Sepultura, Slayer, Neil Young, Shelter, Bad Religion, Radiohead, and the list went on and on. It was a 40 minute hike from one side of the site to the other. Camping, banking, a post office, showers, full service restaurants-everything was available to the concert goers out in the middle of the Denmark countryside. The most amazing thing about Roskilde was its incredible organization. No delay getting in, getting food or dressing rooms, top quality sound and staging, everything was taken care of. Our show went really well. Only about 2,000 people were watching our afternoon set, but they reacted very wellm considering our lack of notoriety there. The next day at the airport (to fly out to the Sonoria festival in Milan, Italy) the local newspaper had a big color picture of Gwen on the cover with the headline: "No Doubt-the Darlings of Roskilde"!

The Sonoria festival in Italy was not so good. Total hassle getting in, killer mosquitoes, no one spoke English, and Rage Against the Machine began to play on the big stage during "Don't Speak", stealing most of our already small audience. Adrian and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes, and Tom Morello from Rage came and said hi, which was very cool...Italian fans pronounce our band "No Dubbut".

On the train from Milan to Munich, we passed through the Alps and picturesque valleys. I took video footage of at least 6 or 7 Castles. We played five shows throughout Germany. Its an expensive country. All the shows were kind of similar. Small scummy punkish clubs. Nice people, and more record label dinners. Even though we haven't had much success in the few weeks Tragic Kingdom has been out in Europe, the record label people were very supportive and enthusiastic. On three of the shows Face to Face from Victorville opened for us. They were all around nice guys and they sounded great. We were happy to share our dressing room with them as well as our beer and catering food. We'd like to play with them again, anytime. Adrian started getting bored and to entertain himself he played nude at the Berlin and Frankfurt shows. We visited the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a place where the Wall once existed between East and West. All that exists there now are a hand full of little stands for the tourists (like us) to purchase Russian articles like little decorative boxes and pocket watches. (I bought one of each.) Mexican food in Germany doesn't exist. We found a few shops which claimed to have some, but it was just slop. Yuck!!

Paris was great. We stayed at a hotel called Terminus Du Nord right across from a train station right in the middle of the city. The morning that we arrived we woke up in our tour bus parked across the street from the hotel. We had to wait an hour or so before we could get into our rooms because they weren't ready yet. Gwen decided to go for a jog by herself to pass the time and to discover Paris by foot. But as she took off, she neglected to look at where she was at or to find out what the name of the hotel was. Three hours passed, we had all gotten into our rooms, but she still hadn't returned. Everyone was very worried. She had gotten lost in the maze of streets without a clue as to where she was staying. Fortunately she called home in the U.S. for the name of the hotel and got directions from a local.

Later that day we all went to the tourist spots- the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, and dinner at Le Couple, a restaurant famous because Picasso and lots of other famous artists used to hang out there and had done paintings on the walls and columns. Authentic French dining is quite a big deal. Of course the waiters wouldn't speak English, although they were helpful and spirited. The meal came in three courses and we were there eating and drinking bottles of wine for hours until 1 in the morning.

Next stop: back to London. We loaded a bunch of gear into the basement of a radio station first thing that morning and performed a couple of songs live. Next we took taxis to the Doc Martens store and went on a shopping spree there (thanks to those good people) . Five floors of Doc's! We all went nuts. Definitely one of the perks of commercial success. The weird thing that has happened is that now that I can afford to buy cool stuff, I just get it all for free. After that we bagged up our treasure and took the Subway to Wembly Arena, where we opened for the Chili Peppers in front of 15,000 Brits. We're really not well known there, the CD has just barely come out, so we had to work hard to win them over that night. Playing in an arena again brought back strange memories of the Bush tour, and having Flea, Chad, and Dave Navarro standing on the side of the stage watching us was a bit intimidating, at least it was for me. Rumor had it that that show may be the Chili Peppers last, they may be breaking up, so I'm glad I got some good footage on my video camera.

The night before our last show for the tour, most of the band (excluding me, I stayed at the hotel for some R & R) went to the first night of the "T in the Park" festival in Glasgow , Scotland, to see some friends in the Foo Fighters and the Alanis Morrisette band. (I know this part sounds like namedropping...). The party continued at the Glasgow Hilton until at least six AM, I was told, and it sounded like great fun. Dave Grohl and Pat Smear are such incredibly cool, genuine people, and its a treat to get to hang out with such legendary musicaians. Our afternoon set the next day at the festival went really bad, unfortunately. No sound check, terrible stage sound, and tuning problems just ruined it for all of us. After we played, we got in the bus for an all night drive to London. We woke up at Heathrow airport, and most of us flew home. (Gwen and Steve stayed to hang out in London for a couple more days).

I had gotten really used to all the strange currancies, trying to communicate with Europeans, the long daylight hours, crappy food, the stinky bus... everything. It was very different from Orange County. I loved it. But its always nice to be home...until the next U.S, tour gets underway.