Giving Europe a Feel with Bastille
- Josh Platman, To Kill A King -
- 06.12.13 -

To Kill A King and I have just returned from Europe with Bastille where we dipped our toes (and no other appendages) in and around our native continent, having previously been one-nation wonders. It was a fine first foray spanning two and half weeks and 10 countries. There were many highlights; we were thrown our first bras, secured a triptych of TKAK flags from French, Italian and particularly perky Polish fans and received personalised rubber duck versions of ourselves.

Despite spending amounts of time in a vehicle bettered only by long distance lorry drivers and people fleeing despotic regimes in fear of their lives, we remained free of the dreaded tour cabin fever. This was helped by the fact that we were touring with some good (and now even better) friends in the form of Bastille and their valiant crew. Watching their near-vertical ascent over the last year has been both breath-taking and inspirational, a testament to sheer hard work and the international appeal of a set list featuring more hooks than an angling shop and an abattoir combined.

Playing in larger than average venues had its charms, one of which was the backstage catering. Sampling their often-splendid spreads, separated by service station cuisine, led to a bi-polar tour diet that was both new and challenging for my intestines and me. Copenhagen set the benchmark with a chef so fine you could taste the Michelin stars, whereas most of the roadside fare was close to life threatening.

The show in Munich was our biggest yet, a 5,000 capacity monster of a venue that could have housed two jumbo jets but instead made do with a built-in hotdog stand and a crowd whose extremities we could never hope to see. It will be a strange juxtaposition playing at the Camden Barfly with Chris TT on 15th December but it will be good to see the whites in the eyes of the crowd once more.

Touring as far and wide as we did wouldn't have been possible without the help of fans hosting us along the way. With most of our earnings going straight down the nozzle of the petrol pump it was vital to cut costs on thing like accommodation, which thankfully they made possible. I'm surprised more bands don't reach out to their audience this way, both as an engagement tactic and a money saving exercise. With a simple filtration process to assess each offer it's easy enough to separate the normal fan from the I-made-dolls-from-your-hair types. We'd like to thank everyone who put us up, Dom for finding a rehearsal room in Zürich, Wolf James Photography for her lens flair, Nick Hoar for his artistic, merchandising, and driving endeavours, Greg Nolan for these fine photos and Alice James for organising the damned thing.

After some studio time over Christmas and the New Year we're headlining the continent from mid January with support from Spring Offensive and their taught, hypnotic laments of. We're really excited about the prospect and hope you'll wish us a bon voyage.

Josh Platman, To Kill A King