What a Renewed Vibe and Spirit Can Create!

Hey,

I hope you’re doing great...! I’m in my room in this wonderful Bavarian home of Spitzingsee on this fresh and sunny Monday morning. Our first stretch of the High Blooming Ritual Tour is already over, as the month of September is now already exposing its colors!

We organized a rehearsal room in what normally is a conference room in order to stay sharp and ready for our very first time playing in Italy! The entire crew will be joining us here this Wednesday for a Thursday departure! On the road again!!!! 

Here’s some inspiration from the road!

🎧 What I’m listening to

Since this tour is offering us crazy distances between shows, we’re listening to loads of playlists while driving... Thank you Marcus for DJing for us all! At some point, Oli asked Marcus to put on what he called a little “ginger”, a reference to sushi meals where, at some point, a little piece of ginger will kinda stabilize everything and make you enjoy the food even more afterward. 

Oli shared this crazy German techno song with stupid lyrics about police from what I can remember being the driver, but what happened afterward was that little piece of ginger became a thing, and everyone jumped in sharing stupid songs I don’t even want to mention here as they all are unbearable! But it was so much fun and so cool to hear everyone laugh a lot as we were driving from Inowrocław to Prague, a 7-hour journey that felt like 19! 

📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering

As I woke up in Spitzingsee this Saturday morning surrounded by clouds and fresh air from the Alps, I decided to extend this little wonderful moment and open my Goth book while staying in bed! A real luxury moment, especially as we’re on the road! 

The author, Lol Tolhurst, shared an interesting citation from Groucho Marx which says “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member!” And he went on explaining how much it was important for The Cure to never follow anything or anyone, any bandwagons that were passing by at the time. I really loved that sentence, as I feel like it’s been the same for us both, Alex and I, ever since we started our musical and artistic journey together! 

As I was reading this, I just started to think about the concert we just did in Aschaffenburg, in front of a room packed with incredible people who were not there that night because it’s “cool” to be there, or because we’re the new flavor of the season like a cinnamon latte in December or because it would serve their Instagram/TikTok channels well to share a picture from the audience, but because it’s something meaningful, important, that has nothing to do with any movement or scene or anything even close to that! 

Even though punk has a pure instinctual nihilistic soul to its raison d’être, which I really like, for me, meaning and purpose are things that I highly value in everything I listen to, watch, read, and of course create.

🎧 Podcast I’ve Enjoyed The Most 

Sean Penn | Club Random with Bill Maher

Sean Penn is one of my favorite actors and producers of all time! He transcends the screen and lives a meaningful and very inspiring life on so many levels! When I noticed he was at Club Random with Bill Maher, whom I also like and respect a lot even if I don't always agree with him on everything, I had to listen. This conversation truly is delightful!!! 

📸 My Picture Of The Week 

To me, driving is something I truly enjoy doing, especially in Europe...! I know I sometimes have a tendency to bring some poetic words to describe simple things in life, such as driving, but to me, it truly is kind of a resourcing moment where thoughts pass into my mind in an unorthodox way, which I really like. It feels like someone has been pressing shuffle on every thought that has ever come into my mind since I was brought into this world. 

Marcus took that picture of me after we had been driving for 7 hours and were close to arriving at our destination for that day. The vibe in the van is like never before, something completely new, and so refreshing on every level! Long drives, but great playlists, podcasts, and conversations on a level that I really like! This tour is one of the best moments of my life, and I wanted to share this unforgettable moment with you, as, of course, you’re a huge part of those conversations we’re having! 

Only two more festivals to go! But our drive from Veruno, Italy, to Maastricht, Netherlands, is over 12 hours of driving! Fun times!!!

💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week 

A real tour chat...

When we’re on tour, we obviously have to start a WhatsApp group with the name and the photo of the tour! It is always so exciting to start that chat group, since this is where everything is being shared, from random stories and photos to soulful stories and photos on a daily, even hourly basis! We’re such a great touring crew and even if that tour is short, we already encountered so many great stories, it’s insane! 

Here’s what I’ve counted so far since I started the group a little more than 2 weeks ago:

• 13 photos of Alex’s ankle — colors and bandages evolving daily, like a weird post-rock weather forecast.

• 9 setlists for 4 shows — apparently we need two setlists for every one performance because… Someone with a strange ankle is going with the flow of the day.

• 4 production sheets — because we need to be reminded daily that yes, dinner does exist, and, at some point, the venue crew needs to go home!

• Daily room numbers — except from one member (three letters, you can guess) who never got the point of sharing after so many touring days!

• Tons of your comments — shared by Alex while we’re driving at 3am, tired and grateful. These are honestly the most precious things of all.

• 1 heroic photo of Oli doing push-ups at a random gas station — we still don’t know why

• Countless road snapshots — skies, trees, and the opossum I almost hit in Poland at night. Don’t worry, it survived. We all did.

• Gas station souvenirs — the kind so ugly they become beautiful. A philosophy lesson for €3.99.

• Sef in the famous yellow emergency jacket — while serving us the lunches he so generously prepares, like a neon guardian angel of the tour.

• Kilometers of drive meet liters of coffee drunk! 

It’s chaos. It’s absurd. It’s deeply human. And in the middle of it all, we keep finding small reminders that music isn’t just what happens on stage... It’s also everything that happens in between.

Let’s be great to one another! 

Your chief operator friend, 
Jeff 

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