Rat & Co Tour Diary: Part Two

Finishing all of the incredible shows in Germany, we wearily jumped on the bus again. This time we travelled down through Austria, into Switzerland. It was definitely some of the nicest scenery we had seen the whole trip and lifted the spirits of us all. We arrived in Lucerne at Südpol, one of the coolest venues in the world. They had an apartment attached to the venue and surrounded by snowy peaks, which we rented for three days. After the pace of the tour so far, this was the first time we had to relax, so all we did was laze around, drink wine and play cards, play some music and sleep. 

After the Chet Faker show in Lucerne, we ended up having an impromptu party, it was Sam (the drummer in Chet Faker's) birthday and we had noticed there were DJ decks set up in the main bar. We jumped up with Nick and Kilian (the Swiss Promoter) and had an incredible night until the venue had to close in the wee hours of the morning. The next day we departed Lucerne, heading south, through the Swiss Alps, down into Italy. We stopped for lunch in Lake Como (one of the most picturesque places on earth) before we wound our way down from the Alps through countless tunnels and windy mountain passes to Nice in the south of France.

The weather has gone from 12 degrees and raining in the Swiss Alps to 26, beautiful and sunny…

We had another day off as Chet Faker were playing at a festival on the beach in Nice, so we all went swimming during soundcheck and got sun burnt. We meet some really lovely people from Cannes at the festival.

Another early morning on the bus, this time bound for Barcelona. The venue was a very cute bar attached to the side of a grand old theatre, a lot more intimate than the rest of the shows on the tour so far. We managed to squeeze our gear onto the front of the tiny stage and began to play. Immediately a couple of women began to dance as we started our first song, I doubt if they had ever heard our music, but they had such an intuitive sense of movement, every beat, every change for our whole set they where there with us. 

Next up Madrid, a place none of us had even been to before. The warmth of the Spanish crowds was incredible, with so many people getting into our performance, pushed us on stage and we played one of the best sets so far. We met heaps of lovely people after the show all wanting us to come back and offering us to stay in their houses, we felt very humbled and inspired. 

Madrid was meant to be the last show on the tour for us; we travelled to Lisbon in Portugal the next day for the Chet Faker show. The venue LUX was part owned by John Malkovich, it was the most incredibly styled and set up club we had ever seen. Our incredible German tour manager ended up talking to the organisers and arranged us to play there. The room had a Funktion One sound system and the most amazing lights I had ever seen, so we were pumped to be able to play. This show was also one of the biggest on the tour and completely sold out. By the time we got on stage the room was packed, and like Spain, the Portuguese crowd was so warm and welcoming. The sound on stage was perfect and the dynamic between both of us on stage was at an all time high. This was a gig that we will never forget. After the show, they dismantled the stage and transformed the venue into the most prestigious club in Lisbon. One of the resident DJ's from Fabric in London, Daniel Avery took over the room and we all stayed for the incredible music, sound and people.

The Rat & Co tour was now officially over. We had so many unforgettable experiences, met so many new friends, evolved as a group and learnt so much. Big shout out to Chet Faker for bringing us along for the ride, the people that helped facilitate this for us and to the Martin's!

Europe we hope to be back very soon.

Love Rat & Co