florence and interpol

so i flew in from athens to rome this morning and i have to say that european airlines are way cooler than american airlines. as we were getting ready to take off they handed out candy to everyone (and who doesn't love candy at 9 in the morning prior to take off?). they also still feed you (and it ends up being a lot of food) even if it's only a two hour flight! nice.

so i got in to rome and took the train to florence and got to my shady 45 euro hotel. it was ok and a 10-15 minute walk to the venue. my taxi drivers were hilarious and crazy and fun. one of the guys didn't know english and was talking to me only in italian. he asked where i was from and i told him new york and he got all excited and said that's where a lot of the mafia is now. he was whistling and driving around like crazy. he was like roberto benigni - at any second i was expecting him to break out in to a buon giorno principessa!

on to the show! i got to see blonde redhead for the first time and i love their music but i don't know if i like the girl's voice. there are some songs she sounds ok on and then others where she sounds really horrible. when the guy sings it's really fantastic.

ok, you all know i'm a total music freak so now i am going to go on and on about the show. it was one of the most amazing shows i've seen! i always say seeing a band in europe (italy and paris, for example) is one of the best things you can do if you are a mega fan of a particular group. for example, when i saw the cure in paris, florence and milan those four shows are still so embedded and present in my mind. i don't know what it is or how to explain it - maybe the people are just more passionate or open to being moved by the music? or maybe they are all just as crazy and as intoxicated with the experience as i am :)

the florence crowd was crazy - whistling and chanting - demanding that the band come on stage to play. the band totally fed off of it and it was this unreal sublime perfection. daniel was on fire and quite the little dancing machine - egging the crowd on every opportunity he had and strumming away on his guitar like there was no tomorrow. carlos was flying his base all over the stage and sam was just assaulting his drum kit - he's such a dynamic and amazing drummer. and then of course, paul and his voice are just stunning. there were so many times during the show that i got so consumed in it that i had to catch my breath. really, the magnetism and the energy was just insane. so needless to say, i had a fabu night!

on to milan and another interpol show tomorrow night!

MWAH!

tiff