When life hands you Lemon hotels.

Last night was a bit of a low point in the tour. As I feared, the Belgian show didn't live up to the level of the last several that we played in Germany. It was poorly attended, but to be fair, those who did come out seemed to enjoy themselves. Blue Note on the other hand was a bit sloppy and plagued by technical difficulties - amp issues, broken strings, etc. It happens I guess.

The worst point of the evening however, wasn't the show, it was the hotel. We stayed at a place called the Lemon Hotel, in Tourcoing, France. I recommend avoiding it at all costs. The place was filled with sketchy people hanging about, and was basically about as bottom of the barrel as I think a hotel can get. I missed it, but Jimmy said there were men bringing women in to the rooms down the hall for "hour-long stays"...

...on top of the hotel being a dump, I woke up in the middle of the night with severe stomach pain for no apparent reason, and vomited into the sink in the room. This afternoon, I don't feel much better.

Lemon Hotel -




On a more positive note, I did get to see some old friends in Belgium last night. Mich from Hitch, a band that Sweep the Leg Johnny played with when we came over here, and Nathalie, who I met in 1996 when Swing Kids played a festival in Ieper, Belgium, came out to see us play. It was really great to see them both, and it was nice to hang out and have a few drinks with them and their friends.

Nathalie and Mich.




We are currently in the tunnel between France and England. Tonight we play London...let's hope it goes better than Brugge, and that our hotel is more like the better ones we have stayed in on this trip.


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