Tegan and Sara's European Tour Diary: Part III
By Tegan Quin
Photographs by Lindsey Byrnes
Sometimes, if I'm totally desperate I have been known to pee in an alley or behind a hedge. And not just when I'm drunk. Once I was driving to see a Dodgers game in LA and drank a grande shaken iced tea lemonade on the way. When we arrived in the parking lot I had to pee so badly that I couldn't wait to go inside the stadium. So I peed between two parked cars in full view of arriving Dodgers fans. Not my proudest moment. But when you got to go, you got to go.
At Southside Festival in Nehusen, Germany on Saturday it seemed a lot people had to go and most couldn't be bothered to use an outhouse. Which, if you've been to a festival where its been raining for three days and tens of thousands of people (a lot who are drunk) have used the toilet before you, you might be better off not using the toilet. That being said, watching some guy whip out his dick and piss through a fence in plain view of your bus and thousands of other people is gross and a reminder that it only takes three days in "nature" to lose all social graces. Scary. Some festival sites here in Europe just set up troughs next to the stage so men can pee and watch the concert at the same time. Makes sense I guess. Better to have them walk a few feet rather than just peeing on the people standing in front of them while they watch the concert. Apparently that tends to happen as the night wears on. Yuck.
The night before Southside we played its sister festival, Hurricane. Its in Northern Germany and like Southside was experiencing a lot of rain and cold. On our way to Hurricane festival around 2 a.m., somewhere on the Autobahn, Sara had one of our crew ask the bus driver to pull the bus over. Sara then bravely trudged off the bus and into a German gas station where she proceeded to hurl her guts out. Food Poisoning. Bummer. Then she got back on the bus and we finished our drive. For the rest of Friday she divided her time between her bunk on the bus and hugging an outhouse next to the bus. Even though she spent the day hurling and felt rough she still joined us on stage that night to rock zee German crowd! The show was awesome. I am truly impressed with how much Germans seem to enjoy music, even when they are cold and muddy.
As we left Southside around 2 a.m. on Saturday night I was curled up in my bunk shivering with ear plugs in. After two days straight of loud booming rock music beating down on our bus I was ready to get back to the city and to our regular shows. Sometimes festivals are just too rugged and ...too loud for me. I like showering every day and I really like quiet when I wake up. But every once and a while its nice to brave the cold and the mud and the rain and the crowds and take in the beauty of 100,000 people all together in a field somewhere in a foreign country enjoying music together. The only thing that would have made it more enjoyable would have been if I had a proper jacket. This time of year in Germany they call the cold weather "Sheep's Cold". They shear the sheep the first week of June in conjunction with the start of summer and then this cold front comes. The poor German sheep have to shiver through it without their wool. Kind of sad and kind of funny. Kind of like me this weekend.
-Tegan
At Southside Festival in Nehusen, Germany on Saturday it seemed a lot people had to go and most couldn't be bothered to use an outhouse. Which, if you've been to a festival where its been raining for three days and tens of thousands of people (a lot who are drunk) have used the toilet before you, you might be better off not using the toilet. That being said, watching some guy whip out his dick and piss through a fence in plain view of your bus and thousands of other people is gross and a reminder that it only takes three days in "nature" to lose all social graces. Scary. Some festival sites here in Europe just set up troughs next to the stage so men can pee and watch the concert at the same time. Makes sense I guess. Better to have them walk a few feet rather than just peeing on the people standing in front of them while they watch the concert. Apparently that tends to happen as the night wears on. Yuck.
The night before Southside we played its sister festival, Hurricane. Its in Northern Germany and like Southside was experiencing a lot of rain and cold. On our way to Hurricane festival around 2 a.m., somewhere on the Autobahn, Sara had one of our crew ask the bus driver to pull the bus over. Sara then bravely trudged off the bus and into a German gas station where she proceeded to hurl her guts out. Food Poisoning. Bummer. Then she got back on the bus and we finished our drive. For the rest of Friday she divided her time between her bunk on the bus and hugging an outhouse next to the bus. Even though she spent the day hurling and felt rough she still joined us on stage that night to rock zee German crowd! The show was awesome. I am truly impressed with how much Germans seem to enjoy music, even when they are cold and muddy.
As we left Southside around 2 a.m. on Saturday night I was curled up in my bunk shivering with ear plugs in. After two days straight of loud booming rock music beating down on our bus I was ready to get back to the city and to our regular shows. Sometimes festivals are just too rugged and ...too loud for me. I like showering every day and I really like quiet when I wake up. But every once and a while its nice to brave the cold and the mud and the rain and the crowds and take in the beauty of 100,000 people all together in a field somewhere in a foreign country enjoying music together. The only thing that would have made it more enjoyable would have been if I had a proper jacket. This time of year in Germany they call the cold weather "Sheep's Cold". They shear the sheep the first week of June in conjunction with the start of summer and then this cold front comes. The poor German sheep have to shiver through it without their wool. Kind of sad and kind of funny. Kind of like me this weekend.
-Tegan
Your Comment
Posted at 4:25 on Jun 21, 2010
Looks like Tegan and Lindsey are having a blast on tour together, so cute! I hope they post a picture of them together :)
Posted at 4:35 on Jun 21, 2010
Hope Sara is feeling better! =]
Posted at 4:35 on Jun 21, 2010
Hope Sara is feeling better! =]
Posted at 5:51 on Jun 21, 2010
Hope Sara feels better! =]
Posted at 6:11 on Jun 21, 2010
Epic.
Tegan, I love you.
Posted at 6:29 on Jun 21, 2010
awwwwww, poor T+S (:
i can not wait unitl you two come back in fall over here in San Diego, but bummer i dont have tickets :'( who knows i might get some
anyways i miss you two and your beutyful music :)
have an awesome (errr....) summer in europe!
Posted at 6:39 on Jun 21, 2010
I really enjoy reading your tour diary :D I wish I was there. The photos are so funny and awesome :)
Posted at 6:48 on Jun 21, 2010
This one is kindof graphic all with guys urinating every where eww. Haha poor Sara, she's brave to go on stage being sick like that. I love these I can't wait for the next one. Tegan your blogs are awesome.
Posted at 6:49 on Jun 21, 2010
I wonder what Tegan's prudest moment of all is!
Posted at 6:58 on Jun 21, 2010
I enjoy Tegan's way to describe an amazing tour with good and bad thing...I wish I can read more of things like this (I mean written by Tegan and/or Sara)
Thank you Tegan for another good story to remmeber later...^^
Posted at 7:38 on Jun 21, 2010
Awesome tour and blog. You rule, Tegan!!!
You should come to Spain, if you like the sun... XDD
Posted at 8:13 on Jun 21, 2010
Come to Brazil please!
I love you!
Posted at 8:15 on Jun 21, 2010
Live in germany and never heard of a "Sheep's cold" haha :)
Posted at 8:41 on Jun 21, 2010
When is Sara going to discover Elley? That would be one HOT date.
Posted at 2:25 on Jun 22, 2010
I love these diaries, it’s like taking a little trip every time I read one! T+S love.
Posted at 6:44 on Jun 22, 2010
So cool!
Lindseys photos are AWESOME!!
Posted at 8:24 on Jun 22, 2010
Wow and I wondered why Sara looked ill when I saw you guys at southside festival... really enjoyed the show. Even though camping was kind of gross. Like really gross.
Posted at 11:25 on Jun 22, 2010
Sarita!!! recuperate pronto! :)
Posted at 11:26 on Jun 22, 2010
(L)
Posted at 12:06 on Jun 22, 2010
can't wait to read what she's saying about the concert in Frankfurt, it was absolutely amazing :)
Posted at 12:06 on Jun 22, 2010
can't wait to read what she's saying about the concert in Frankfurt, it was absolutely amazing :)
Posted at 1:35 on Jun 22, 2010
Awww, poor Sara. I hope she recovered quickly...
Posted at 2:47 on Jun 22, 2010
Tegan, Sara i just wanna say THANK YOU SO MUCH. We all had so much fun @ the Concert in Frankfurt. you Rock :)
And Oh thank you for the extra Songs that you played for us even the Show was actually over you guys came back to us I'm so Grateful for that :)
Posted at 4:48 on Jun 22, 2010
Aww Poor sara i hope she's okay
Im going to see you guys on thursday im looking forward to it
Tegan I
Posted at 4:50 on Jun 22, 2010
I love you Tegan and sara awww i hope your better now :) .x
Posted at 6:04 on Jun 22, 2010
it was so cold but i enjoy your show ! thank you. you save my saturday evening on the southside festival
Posted at 8:07 on Jun 22, 2010
I love your writing and your music, thank you for sharing what it like to be on the road. I always wanted to be be in a band but joined the navy instead, which didn't last. Now I teach high school, sometimes I rap to my students, which gets their attention. Please keep writing, loved the show in San Diego, even if the crowd would not shut up long enough for either of you to complete a sentence. Please come again.
Thanks
Posted at 11:05 on Jun 22, 2010
Luckies! hope Sar-bear is getting better!!! I love how Tegan describes everything in GREAT detail. Rock on mi chicas. (0:3
Posted at 11:32 on Jun 22, 2010
things*
latter*
Sorry for my mistakes.
Posted at 4:05 on Jun 23, 2010
hahah hilarious and amazing… so good to hear more tegan and sara related things.. i've missed them on .com :'( haha
Posted at 5:10 on Jun 23, 2010
I guess Future Wife poisoned Sara in Amsterdam...
Posted at 5:36 on Jun 23, 2010
I love your dedication to your fans, espacial sara going on stage when she's ill. awww bless. We all really apreciate it, Keep having fun! I love seeing all the pictures, really gives you a feel for festivals huh. Thank you for posting your tour diaries, its great to read especially from the fans who cant go. Seeing you in london tommorow night and i am sooo excited!! Its great to relax (well, ill probably be jumping up and down...) and see some great music in the middle of exams :)
Posted at 8:31 on Jun 23, 2010
Hello Tegan, nice diary entry..
I really love to hear from you and your life!
I also was there at Hurricane Festival in Germany :)
Your show was awesome though Sara didn't feel good!
Well, Sara, hope you feel better soon!
Best was: You played from friday night to sunday, and into my BIRTHDAY :)
That was my best birthday ever! All my friends were watching the Beatsteaks, but I absolutely wanted to see you two, so I went alone to Red Stage :)
I really enjoyed it..
Well, keep it up! You're best! ♥
Posted at 8:50 on Jun 23, 2010
Hello Tegan, nice diary entry..
I really love to hear from you and your life!
I also was there at Hurricane Festival in Germany :)
Your show was awesome though Sara didn't feel good!
Well, Sara, hope you feel better soon!
Best was: You played from friday night to sunday, and into my BIRTHDAY :)
That was my best birthday ever! All my friends were watching the Beatsteaks, but I absolutely wanted to see you two, so I went alone to Red Stage :)
I really enjoyed it..
Well, keep it up! You're best! ♥
Posted at 1:17 on Jun 23, 2010
I loved your concert at the Hurricane festival! We had so much fun!!! And luckily we were better off than the Southsiders..no mud..just rain :)
Hope to see you again soon!
Posted at 2:52 on Jun 23, 2010
I am so excited for Thursday, Roundhouse!
:DDDDDDD
Loving the fyi details in this blog, cracks me up.
Posted at 8:10 on Jun 23, 2010
Awesome blog! Perfectly written.
Posted at 8:15 on Jun 23, 2010
Seriously looking forward to their Iowa show. Denver was fun for me- hence I'm going to as many shows possible.
Posted at 1:35 on Jun 24, 2010
It is nice to know others suffer from desperate pee situations. Thanks dude.
Posted at 1:06 on Jun 24, 2010
You know, I heard of this invention for golfers--a golf club that looks normal, but is in fact, a place to pee. You just kinda set it up in front of you, try to appear normal, and go. Maybe someone could come up with a contraption like that for festival goers (no pun intended). Would save everyone around them from erroneous splashing.
Posted at 3:19 on Jun 24, 2010
tegan, you can´t imagine how much i agree with you and that festival life!! i was at hurricane in 2008 because i had to work there, but it was only a night so i was luckily able to watch you guys live and spent the rest as a normal festival guest. this year i only joined hurricane because i got the ticket for free and couldn´t wait for a concert of you. :) this time i was able to drive home (1hour by car to hamburg) and just spent 1 night in the tent- now i am ill.
with my 28 years i can say that i´m definitely too old for that dirty, loud, sick shit! ooups..
sara, i am so sorry for you and this food poising story.. ouch!
you both, take care and come to hamburg/germany sooooon- but before:
take time for yourself finally!
Posted at 3:34 on Jun 24, 2010
''kind of like me this weekend''. Awwwwwwww
Posted at 6:23 on Jun 24, 2010
Aaah, there it is, Southside :-) Was my first and probably last festival for some time. To wet... Thanks a lot for playing, poor Sara... Please come to Frankfurt again as soon as possible, I live nearby ;-))
Posted at 7:14 on Jun 25, 2010
Great post! Sounds like quite an adventure, but poor Sara :(
Food poisoning is the absolute worst, especially when traveling.
Hope the rest of the tour goes well!
Posted at 4:29 on Jun 28, 2010
damn sara i hope you're feeling better. i would have made you something if i would have been around that's for SURE
Posted at 9:38 on Jul 05, 2010
Hahaha Awesome blog about peeing in the public, it made me laugh. Your humor kills me. XD.... Anyways, I hope the whole band is doing good and Sara is done with the FOOD POISONING. Poor Sara. Have a great rest of the tour! I will see you guys in Darien Newyork in August! Defenetly looking forward to it!
-Ayla H.