Team Gina Euro Tour!

October 3, 2009 @ Glazart

GINA BLING . . .
This was a great way to kick off tour. I think only this high energy show could have kicked my jet lag in the butt. We flew from Seattle to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Paris. We got into Paris, tired, hungry and in need of a shower. Although we had a few things against us being at the top of our game, the charm and beauty of Paris was stunning! I’m so lucky that Gina Genius speaks French, for I do not. Not a word . . .
We got to the venue (after getting lost) and met the wonderful Alva! Alva has graciously offered to drive us around Europe on this tour and has booked many of our shows. She is German, awesome, and loves Kill Rock Stars. We will get along just fine . . .
I was also lucky enough to meet up with very good family friends who have known me since birth at the venue. Sadly we didn’t go on until 2am, a bit late for them to stick around, but wonderful to see them nonetheless . . .

GINA GENIUS . . .
I am SO GLAD we started this tour off in Paris. How perfect was that? Alexandra threw a hot queer party called “Cunt Punt” (oh giggle, you French and your attempts at English) and it was absolutely amazing. First of all, everybody there spoke French. Tres sexy. Second, we got to share the bill with amazing performers like Black Cracker (who I know from back in the day in NYC!) and Jane Bang (That girl is a firecracker. She had ladies taking their tops off so she could whip cream them! Hooo-ly.) The crowd was beyond wild. I think at least three girls flashed us during Boobies (?!) and even my innocent fannypack wasn’t safe from being unzipped . . .

October 4, 2009 @ Brudenell Social Club

GINA GENIUS . . .
They say “cheers” a lot in Leeds. It can mean thanks, hello, goodbye, that’s great . . . any way you slice it, it’s adorable when they say it. We were so jet-lagged that I slept the entire car ride. We took the ferry across the English Channel; there, Bling and Alva did the sleeping while I wandered the ferry, which was more like a cruise ship than a ferry, mind you. (Insert theme song from the Love Boat here, keep humming as I finish.) We got to play the Bring it On fest in Leeds and THANK YOU to Matthew and Slim for letting us jump on the bill at the last minute. We were sandwiched between an awesome syncopated post-punk band and an equally awesome bearded prog rock band, so you can imagine the eyebrows that raised at our spandex outfits. But hey, everyone was super nice to us anyway, if perhaps confused and bemused by our leotards . . .

GINA BLING . . .
I am smitten by the accent! We took the ferry from Calais, France to the white cliffs of Dover and it was beautiful. I mean, I think it was beautiful, I slept the whole time. The thing about tour is that sleep is more precious than gold most of the time.

In Leeds, we played with Gentleman’s Pistols, which I was so into! Picture this: Led Zepplein and Deep Purple had a baby. That baby grew up, had a beard and long hair and rocked out like crazy! I loved it!

Then, we went back to Matt’s house and talked hip-hop and ate Indian food. All in all, a good night.

October 6, 2009 @ Club Wotever

GINA BLING . . .
‘Allo, Loves! London rules. Alva drove fearlessly through rush hour traffic to get us to the show on time. We got to drive past Buckingham Palace, lots of parks and a constable. Bloody loooovely! The best part for me was to see my sweet friend Jake and his boyfriend, Lonnie. What a treat to go across the world and see another Brenneke Grad . . .

This show had the best energy! The party, Club Wotever, is very cool: Anybody can perform in a sort of organized open mic style. The crowd was so responsive, happy and a sheer joy to perform for. Big thank you’s to Indo for having us. Big thank you’s to everyone at this show for BEING SO ATTRACTIVE!!!!!!!

GINA GENIUS . . .
Wow. What can be said about London, except wow. We met a femme who has started a “Save the Butch” campaign– talk about our long lost soul sister. (Can we please be the Seattle Chapter?) Except um, wait, London doesn’t seem to have ANY lack of cute butches. Contender for best looking audience we’ve had so far. The show was great too. We had wireless microphones (our favorite) and we got to perform in front of an old-timey red curtain. During the first song, Boobies, my microphone went out. Help! It is also worth mentioning that Jake and Lonnie’s apartment is AMAZING, with its blooming lotus plant, mirrors and beige décor. It was here that Team Gina’s sparkly gold leotards mysteriously turned silver in the laundry. Ah, alchemy . . .

October 7, 2009 @ Le Chauve-Souris

GINA BLING . . .
We played a squat show. It was a building that used to be a home for disabled people but now it has graffiti all over the walls. We got there right as they were serving a communal dinner, including the best brussel sprouts ever! After dinner, there was a screening of “69” a film about a squat in Copenhagen and the crazy things they went through to keep their space. It was in Danish and subtitled in French so I didn’t get a lot of the details, but the overall feeling was aggressively radical! After that uplifter, we played in the basement and then had a great interview (perhaps the most interesting questions we have been asked) for a local radio station . . .

We have continued our trend of eating local late night food by getting some damn good frites in Belgium. Thank you, Cedric for showing us this, translating and having us in the squat!

GINA GENIUS . . .
There was definitely a bit of a language barrier at this show, although I certainly love being surrounded by French. Never before have we had people chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” during a set. As though we were in the Olympics or something. The squat had the biggest, best organized free store I have ever seen, which apparently is taken care of by some local grannies. Adorable. Sadly, after a year of occupation, it is likely that this squat is being evicted. That is a true shame.

October 8, 2009 @ Kult 41

GINA GENIUS . . .
Alva set up such a great show. The audience was all smiles and although they were a little hesitant at first, by the time we were done with the Dare Dance, they were ready to yell “JA!!!” when I said, “Habt ihr spass?” Which means “are you having fun?” (At least I think. My german is NOT as good as my French.) It was also nice to get a few minutes to myself today to walk around the city center and contemplate life, gay uncles and my fondness for the bass guitar . . .

GINA BLING . . .
All we can say in German is what we hear from the GPS Alva uses in the car. “Links Abbiegen” “Strasse” “In meine Hosen” (turn left, street, in my pants . . . i guess that last one isn’t from the GPS). Alva encouraged us to make Heidi Klum jokes and do impressions of Germans speaking English, but we were a little nervous about doing that, so we stuck to saying “turn left” “street” and “in my pants.”

Thank you to Kult 41!!!! What a great venue! Thanks Alva and Fatso!

Tour Photos