BY: DT THE ARTIST
Fresh from Tour in Europe I thought I would share some of my adventures with you, and a few tips on touring. This Europe Tour was organized by Live Vision, and featured Headliner Moka Only, formerly of Swollen Members. My co-opening acts included Charlie Blvck from Vancouver, Ro G, and Frost both from Montreal, and DCD from Toronto. Our Journey started in London, England, where we took in the sights before heading to Paris. Paris was our first show at La Bellevoise, where we met headliner Evidence, the great thing about this night was that it featured a reunion of Dilated Peoples, bringing together Evidence, Rakaa, and DJ Babu, an amazing experience to witness. The next morning, we were off to Luxemburg, a small country, but one of the financial capitals of the world. While in Luxemburg we had the pleasure to meet Spinz also formerly of Swollen Members, and currently a member of Battle Axe Warriors. After performing in Luxemburg we got a few hours sleep, which is regular for tour life, and then we were off to Liepzig Germany for a Hip Hop Festival.
When we arrived in Liepzig at the venue, all the walls had graffiti paintings as though each building were a canvas, it looked like a hip-hop village. The Festival went until about 4 am in the morning with a crowd that loved hip-hop. After barely any rest we were off to Poland at 9 am. We drove more than ten hours to get to the venue, and upon our arrival, we discovered that they had canceled the show, without telling anyone, which was very frustrating after that long drive. After the disappointment in Poland, we were off to Amsterdam.
When we arrived there was no DJ, and barely any sound equipment. Luckily, I always have my laptop, and some audio cables as well as a microphone. My mantra is “If you’re ready, then you never have to get ready.” Because I was prepared the show was able to go on. After rocking the show in Amsterdam, you guessed it, we were off to Lyon, France.
Now this one was very interesting as the show was on a boat, and this night was also the first time that I got to be the Hype Man for Moka Only. Moka truly enjoys being on stage and made it fun and interesting every time we were on stage together, even putting my name into some of the lyrics. Again, with barely any rest the next morning we were off to Cannes, France for Midem, a Music Festival and Conference held every year. During the conference, up and coming artists have the opportunity to perform and meet some of the key players in the music industry. Cannes is a beautiful place in the south of France, that reminded me of my second home St. Maarten. “Northern Hospitality” featured all Canadian acts and was organized and hosted by D.O. Gibson.
This time we had a little bit of free time, so we drove to Italy and went to the beach in Vamiglia. I had the opportunity to get an exclusive interview with Moka Only, on the beach, which will appear on the “On The Road with DT” youtube channel. After Italy, we made our way to Weisbaden, Germany. We took the stage around 1 am and this crowd really loved hip hop.
Europe was an amazing and unique experience and I learned a lot. So here are a few tips if you plan to tour Europe.
1. Make sure to plan rest stops.
2. Prepare for different currencies of money
3. Learn a couple phrases in each language, not everybody speaks English.
4 Prepare for tolls
5. The autobahn does have a speed limit. It’s 130, only parts of it don’t.
6. Bring a GPS with you.
