"We want more, we want more!"

I've taken up smoking . . . involuntarily, and it's free! Actually, starting in January 2007, smoking in bars and restaurants in Belgium will be prohibited. I imagine that's some high-impact legislation for a country where it seems like most people smoke. Anyways, I'm feeling, smelling, even tasting the second hand smoke . . . It's OK though, for soon I'll be back in California.

This week's shows took us to Leuven Monday night, a picturesque university town, a small village of 3,000 people called Ottenberg on Halloween, then two shows on Wednesday -- Turnhout and Niklaas. The show in Ottenberg stands out from the others. Folks came from all over to join us in this village's main venue, a fancy barn-like setting, packed with people celebrating the fact they didn't have to work the next day, and very enthusiastic about the music, erupting in a chant of "We want more, we want more" to get an encore.

We've played to some big crowds and some small crowds, and all have been very attentive to and appreciative of the music, which has been great. The added bonus has been the beautiful locations, architecture, and finer details (did I mention Belgian beer yet?) of the venues.

Mike and I trained into Antwerp one day and explored around, and today Josh and I trained to Brussels for the day, back by 6:00 p.m. for pick up for tonight's show (insert sound of whip cracking here). In Brussels we did a fairly thorough walk from Central Station to Le Grand Place (accidentally ending up in a museum with a public health exhibit about syphillis, complete with graphic models), then over to the Musical Instrument Museum, up past the Royal Palace, a couple large parks and through the EU district. The US Embassy was heavily enforced, but I won't digress into an international relations diatribe here, for fear this blog is bugged. Impressive architecture and big city vibe, very different from the country village vibe we've been experiencing alot.

Right now the band is relaxing in the upstairs loft above tonight's venue, the Crossroads, which is indeed at a crossroads somewhere in the Belgian countryside. I'm starting to lose track of locations. That's all for now. More to come. Unless I hear from you that this blog couldn't get much more boring . . .

The pics are of African Drums from the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels, the Belgian Moon on Halloween night, and a back alley scene in Antwerpen.