Rat & Co Tour Diary: Part One

We've played four shows so far. There has been such an amazing crowd response everywhere we go, especially Rottendam. We played our first support show tonight in Brighton. It was very nerve racking as I had to do it alone because English customs wouldn't let Kaia get a temporary working visa. It went smoothly and quickly so I guess I can't complain, but there is a huge way to go until I can muster the same energy that a four piece band can get compared to just a solo electronic act.

Overnight, we stayed in a weird little town called Folkestone in England. It was just a quick stop over for the trip as it was the closest hotel to the euro tunnel station, but for some reason it has stuck in my head. It had the classic white cliffs along the coast, rolling green hills and horrible green weather. I guess it felt like the England I can remember as a kid.

Then we were off to Paris. The French really surprised me, I was expecting a cold, hard to please crowd but as soon as I hit play, they were moving and grooving, with smiles and laughter spread all around the room. Having Kaia on stage improved the dynamic of show immensely. Hopefully Brighton was the last time I have to play solo. 

Chillin' like a villian...

Early start today as it is a big drive from Paris to Hamburg. Amsterdam, Rottendam, London, Brighton and Paris Done! Doing the whole of Germany this week. Currently sitting in a bus half way between Belgium and Hamburg. Woooo hoooooo! Go tour lyf!

Hamburg is quite a strange place. Being the biggest harbour in Europe and the place where all the biggest people moving machines in the world are built (airbus A380's and cruise ships), the town has quite a quirky flavour to it. On one side there is a beautiful arts culture and on the other there is a sleazy sex scene with more sex shops than I have seen. 

The venue we played in was so great. It was an old German bunker from the Second World War, which housed five really great music shops and two sweet venues, the bigger of which had Coco Rosie playing in it whilst we were playing in the smaller room.


The Chet Faker boys.

Show was running smoothly, Kaia was in a really keen playing mood so I just followed his energy for the whole set. Towards the end of the Chet Faker's set, Benny, the guitarist from the band, hit his head on the edge one of the PA speaker boxes. Martin, our German based tour manager had to take him to hospital to get five stitches, while Nick, Sam and myself played the encore as a three without the Benny the groove wizard. 

The venue also had the most amazing synth collection tucked away in a tiny little studio. They had nearly every synth I have ever wanted….

Synth-happy!

Up next Berlin, so excited to be here again, this place puts a massive amount of comfort and creativity over me.

The show was average in my opinion because of a horrible PA which was nearly as loud as the noise of the crowd. Over the last week, I have spent more time inside of a bus than I have been outside. Sound checks are super as well, because of having to sound check both Chet Faker and Rat & Co.

However, the tour is becoming more and more fun. As we head south towards Barcelona and Madrid, the weather has been getting much better, the gags are becoming more constant and there is just really good high energy in the whole group.

Not a bad sight to see out the hotel window.

The show in Heidelberg was the first time I felt good about the two-piece set compared to the 4 piece normally used in Australia. The energy of the crowd was just right and both Kaia and myself very really getting into the groove of the night. Then followed Chet Faker's set, which was by far the best one yet. Nick had a lot of missed gags because of the language barrier but in return, the crowd gave back shit loads of energy for us to vibe off.

Munich is the last show in Germany tonight. After that we are heading south for some sunshine with shows in Spain and Madrid.

Written by Joshua Delaney.