New tour, new album, new people…This spring tour also brings some changes: the main one deals with DamN who is doing his last gigs with the band. He will play the first half of the tour and will then leave the band (for jobs, familys, musical orientations and distance reasons). He may join us again as a roadie or as any other thing related to the band in the future. Hugo will become the effective drummer of P.O.BOX from Riga’s show onwards. Also Seb, nicknamed Lutèce (as there would be 2 Sebs otherwise) from Paris’ BadBear Collective (www.bad-bear.net), is joining us on the first half of the tour as a roadie whereas Balag, our “official roadie”, will take care of the merchandising from Riga’s show onwards as well. But the most important thing is that we will play our new songs in a couple of European countries, as well as in France… at least!

The first gig of the tour was also the first gig of the “split the pit tour”, gathering Kobayes, Riktus and us (put on by www.vacarm.net as a support to a compilation CD they released). It was also the very first gig with Hugo who coped with it the best way. About 100 people gathered at Espace B while Kandjar opened the show. A good first gig that enabled us to meet (again)  with some buddies such as Till from our new French label Guerilla Asso (www.guerilla-asso.com), Guillaume and Seb from Kobayes (who recorded our album, www.lokostudio.fr) and Niko and Fritz from Minimum Serious (www.myspace.com/minimumserious) .

The second gig of the tour took place in Colmar, known for being the hometown of Bartholdi, who designed the Statue of Liberty. We were playing at Le Poussin Vert where Gilles, the owner, as well as Dischord collective knew how to welcome a touring band. The venue was totally packed, and the crowd, shy at the beginning, started to skank after a couple of songs. A club gig in the vein of the one we appreciate, with a crowd really close to us.

As usual, we left Colmar late because of some mechanical problems. The trailer which broke on our UK tour 2 months ago, and which had been repaired 2 days ago, broke again (P.O.Box’s style?). So in order to not cancel the tour we decided to drive with two vans, and as a consequence we forgot about any financial benefit we could make on this tour. Anyway, after a round trip to Nancy to catch a second van, we finally arrived in Besançon. Mighty Worm Collective (www.myspace.com/mightyworms) welcomed us at Passagers du Zinc, a tiny, but great basement club. Sound check, dinner, then stage time in front of audience of about 50 people. Every body looked happy. We ended the night at Mighty Worm’s flat where we tasted some absinthe as well as some typical local drinks.

Waking up is always tough, we headed to Strasbourg under the sun. We arrived at the venue at the end of the afternoon, once again the promoter (Défrockés collective, www.defrockes.com) and the club were awesome. The support band, Dogs in the House (www.myspace.com/dithisrock), totally kicked ass. They played some rock’n roll à la Datsuns. The club was crowded the way clubs are usually crowed on a monday night, and the sound check we did earlier was pointless as the FOH man did not save our settings. Anyway, we played almost every song of our new CD and we ended the French part of the tour. Some of us went to bed, others spent a couple of hours talking about music and  the scene, while others went for some more beers downtown.

Highway, Germany, a 5hours traffic jam and…sun.

One of the most bizarre venue in which we ever played. The bands are playing “under the stairs” leading to the first floor, and pictures of the gig (and of P.O.BOX last year’s gig) are hung out in every walls of the tiny pub. The gig was extremely powerful, and there is no PA for the horn section; as a consequence they are wandering around the pub even on the bar. Good one!
News of the day :  Diesel costs 3, 69 Zloty per liter, when 1 euro = 3, 80 Zloty

We arrived in Alytus by the end of the afternoon, and Darius, promoter of this show, welcomed us in the 3.5 bar where we had some beers, cola and snacks. The venue was a great place and about thirty kids were already waiting for us in and out of the club. Load in 20 minutes, dinner 20 minutes, sound check 20 minutes. 70 people pack the club and here we went for 2 X 30minutes set. The crowd was young, very active, and every chorus was sung along to by the all crowd. This gig became kind of special when we were told by our booking agent that the gig in Palanga the day after had just been cancelled because of some Nazis who burned down the place where we were supposed to play. As a consequence, the last thirty minutes became also Damiano’s last thirty minutes as the drummer in P.O.Box. These times were very intense, and by the end of the gig, emotions were at their maximum. We spent the rest of the night at the Bass player from Bora’s (www.hardcore.lt/bora): sauna, booze, lots of laughing… Jay went for the acoustic guitar and we had fun playing some of our songs in our acoustic way. This led us to decide to play of a couple acoustic songs in Vilnius the day after as the promoter of Palanga told us there was no possibility at all to find another club to play. We messaged a couple of friends in Vilnius telling them to spread the word about it. The meeting was planned for 6p.m. in Vilnius main square.
News of the day : A pack of cigarettes is 1 euro.

We woke up around eleven, and Darius took us to a meeting with some students who worked on counter-culture and underground networks. Visi skirtingi, Visi lygùs (everybody is different, everybody is equal!) A very interesting and constructive debate. Then we headed to a radio station for an interview and an acoustic song. Finally we left Alytus and drove to Vilnius. We arrived on that main square and get totally astonished by about 150 people already there for us (we expected 30-40 people). We got kind of stressed as it was our first acoustic set, and as there were many people, but we finally started to play a bunch of songs (guitar, vocals, trumpet, t-bone and drum sticks). The weather was cold (almost freezing), and we also forgot that this day was the Holy Friday… After 20 minutes, a priest asked us to stop playing as we were playing close to the cathedral and the ceremony was about to start. We decided to move on to another spot. The crowd asked for the songs they wanted to hear and everything was awesome, until the police came and ask everyone to leave the place as the Lithuanian law forbids a gathering of more than 10 people without an authorisation! Anyway, that was pretty much enough as we had basically played all of our songs; we talked some more with the people, had some drinks. We left the place with the feeling that what happened was something we would probably be proud of later. We then went for some food, and finally ended at Dr Green’s release party (www.hardcore.lt/drgreen), one of the most active and popular ska-punk band in Lithuania. We had to leave during the night to drive to Riga’s airport as we agreed that Damn’s last gig would be on that day, and he had a plane back home. Also Hugo was taking a plane to Riga.
News of the day : we would like to thank Damiano for these 4 years and 200 gigs he has played with us. A real friend, a good drummer and an active person who made a lot for us and the band. We wish him the best in his label (www.wingedskull.com) and others projects.

Saying goodbye was tough. After Hugo and Balag’s plane arrived, we went sightseeing in Riga for the fourth time in our life. We then went to the club Depo where 200 to 300 people gathered on this Saturday night. Three different atmospheres: a concert hall, a reggae dance floor and a more typical pub. Mango (www.myspace.com/bandmango) opened the gig with some young and fresh ska music, then All Day Long (www.myspace.com/alldaylong) gave us some good pop-punk-ska in the vein of Reel Big Fish (at the times RBF were still good). By  midnight we were jumping around on stage. The sound engineer forgot to record our settings, but we are used to it. Hugo was ready for his first gig abroad, and we were very impatient to play our two brand new songs (I. R.efuse A.ll Q.ualms and Wrong). Our brand new patches and buttons as well as our EPs sold very well. News of the day: Once again, as usual, when we were in Riga, we went, after the show, to the French bar La belle Epoque where we got stupid and sang our national anthem standing up on the table, raising the fist… (no no no, we are not nationalists).

Lucky us, we could sleep ’til noon that day! We were told that some videos of our acoustic gig in Vilnius were already broadcasted on www.youtube.com. See how communication is wicked!? We spent the afternoon hangin’out in Old Riga. News of the day: We had dinner and were offered a place to sleep at Ieva and Elvita’s, fresh designers who just created their own DIY Clothing line, Starkeda Clothing… with our Seb! Check them out, we love them! www.myspace.com/starkedaclothing

This gig was the only one in Estonia. We were playing in the Reggae Bar for the third time. The venue had changed a bit since we last played there and now enabled about 100 people to attend a gig. A German band, Tragic Vision (www.myspace.com/tragicvision), opened the gig, playing a loud and fast pop punk à-la Samiam. By now the club was almost totally packed (about 80 people?) and even if our gig was very powerful, Hugo, being very enthusiastic, got lost in some of our songs’ structures. An “encore”, some sing alongs: hail to the Live!
Tip of the day : You really must visit the Baltic states’ capital cities before they get totally invaded by tourists. Tallinn, Riga and Vinius are beautiful, culturally interesting and “cheap” cities.

We spent most of the day driving, the squat where we were playing was a bit hard to find, but we finally got there. The concert room was located on the third floor of an old building; it looked like a real flat in which every piece of furniture has been removed. The stage was built of simple pieces of wood. A screamo band (5 Minutes After) opened the night and the crowd were really into them. About 100 people were going totally crazy by the time we got on stage, in the tiny room, and Hugo was extremely amazed : this is how the Baltic states work, hehe.
News of the day : Once again, Seb got caught by the police for speeding and once again he succeeded in being released of any fine: “you know, we are students, we have no money, we didn’t see the sign, you’re not allowed to keep my driving licence, please be nice bla bla bla”.

After some last minute plan changes, we were to play in another venue, the New Style Club, as there were too many people wanting to come and they wouldn’t fit in Givas DIY club. New Style Club has a capacity of 300 people, and that night was an international punkrock night: a pop punk band from Sweden, Holiday With Maggie (www.myspace.com/holidaywithmaggie), our Lithuanian friends Va Taip Vat (ska-punk, www.hardcore.lt/vataipvat) and us. About 200 people attended the gig. Yul got injured just before playing: he fell from the stage while going backstage. The last gig in the Baltic states, in some awesome concert hall, was also one of the best on this tour. We met a lot of people we know, who usually attend every gig we have in Lithuania…That really means a lot to us.
Idea of the day : we would definitely love to bring Va Taip Vat on some gigs with us in the western part of Europe.

A bit less than 400km to drive that day and we started our journey back to the Western part of Europe. Gizycko’s collective is really active, linked to the underground network www.band.pl, and every gigs are free as the council supports the alternative youth center. About 50 people joined us that night in a tiny but cool club, usually devoted to hardcore/punk bands. For sure, this gig was less crazy than the ones in the Baltic states, but it was for sure less “poshy” than in France. People danced, skanked and jumped in the air… They were enjoying their time without looking around them thinking of what the others could think of them… Anyway, after the gig, we headed to the “hotel”: it looks more like a spare room at my grandma’s than a real hotel, but it enables us to get some rest.
News of the day : we almost crashed into 2 polish men, one after the other, at 4pm and 5pm. They both were walking totally drunk on the road, raising their arms, their faces extremely red… That was funny in a way, but scary at the same time.