Joey Burns overseas tour blog, pt. 7 - Greece

More pics HERE

It rains when we arrive in Athens. 3 hours sleep and we feel like Zombies. They feed us bananas and honey. We regain life and incubate for a short spell before being taken to the Derti Club. It's a disco with a stage. We unpack and set up. I am interrogated by 3 journalists. They go easy on me. Release me in time for soundcheck. It sounds like rubber balls bouncing off gymnasium walls. Elastic. Our tour manager Oliver, says there's a greek woman backstage who wants to talk with us about Eric Burdon. Is this a secret code word? I order another raki. Her name is Marianna and works for Burdon whom me met years ago in Joshua Tree CA. We all pile into a van and go to a restaurant nearby but traffic is at a stop so we get out and walk three blocks and are there.

Backwards can be forwards sometimes here in Athens.

And we roll with it.

We go to a sefood restaurant and almost everyone in band and crew orders steak and fries. I opt for the swordfish. The old men that work here are a funny crew. They seem to speak the same backwards code that you might imagine a submarine crew lost at sea to speak with abbreviated sentecnes and gestures. I nod my head and comply. I too have drfited from shore for 3 weeks now. So I feel a bit at home here.

Georgios our local guide tells us about Santorini and that we must go there sometime soon in Summer. I am intrigued. Crete we played twice now and I still go back in my thoughts for inspiracion.

The show in Athens is a tough one. The sound never quite improves but we get the wings up and off the ground for 2 hours. The crowd is far away because there is an empty and unused bar in between us, so we are to some degree on our own island. It's always hard figuring out what the Greek audience likes about our music. Our friend Monika who is a local platinum selling artist (10K copies) tells us that after 30minutes the chatting will stop. She's right and I'm happy for it. The show builds n builds until the whole crowd and island of musicians are soaked with sweat and ready to be released into the stormy nights from which we descended.

Thank you for the raki. Christof good to see you here as well. Thanks Elias. Nice to have you back. Demetra and Georgia give our love to Noula and .....lights please.