Eastern Europe blog

I'm looking out a first floor window of my hotel in Vienna. There's a black pigeon below in an unkempt maze of grasses and miscellaneous foliage. The bird is walking slowly through intricate clusters of green and dirt, finding it's way perfectly, each step without hesitation in search of food. It makes a full circle and walks away from the patches onto a nearby sidewalk. Suddenly in the corner of my eye I notice a buzzing object. A ladybug lands and scales the giant wall on my right. These two creatures are symbols of perfection. I could sit and watch tiny critters like these for hours, busying themselves with important taks of the moment. Time does not exist for them, only moment to moment purpose. I understand what they do. They teach me how to sing and surrender to life. How to be here now and how to live among them as a guests on this planet earth we share. When I look back on the past week of intense, often sleepless travel through the sometimes bumpy roads of eastern Europe, I smile. The flow of these days are as they should be. We had certain stretches of never ending highways where our delirium got the best of us and we became mad with silly gestures and outright bodily disgust...(peeing in empty water bottles and flatulence from hell!...to name a few). But, no matter how exhausted we were at times, the shows made all the fatigue disappear. Thanks to Robert from Prague, our driver who was a trooper and another fun companion. See you at the Tofu Palace! Also thanks to Tomas for making this tour happen. We were originally booked for just the Brutal Assault festival which was worthy in itself, yet financially not viable considering the travel and other expenses at peak season. However, Tomas wouldn't give up and within a week booked three more shows which made the journey a worthwhile and unexpectedly powerful experience. Little did we know that we would find so much support in these sometimes remote parts of eastern Europe and the old continent. I'm thoroughly grateful and inspired to see the Cynic family emerging and shining to participate with us.

Brutal Assault (Czech Republic)
The desolate landscape for this festival was epic. Brutal Assault was held in a long retired 17th century fortress, with gigantic towering war torn brick walls and secret tunnels. I had this strange guitar sound dilemma that there wasn't time to correct, it was frighteningly dry and clean. We went ahead and had a killer show...felt like the loudest response yet to Evolutionary Sleeper. Thank you Tomas and Lenka again for the festival, surprise and pleasure to see Harry all the way from Athens. I would like to note the package handed to me by a security guard of delicious Indian sweets and a wise conscious letter signed from an anonymous monk who did not leave his name...metta my brother, thanks also to soundman Rob and hello to Gorerotted man, Black Dahlia guys, Soulfly, fun to hang again like the old days with Malevolent Creation and of course to fellow alien Brett Caldas-Lima who ran sound for the tour and joined us for Uroboric Forms on this night.

Maximum Rock (Romania/Transylvania)
This festival was held at the Cluj-Napoca airport strip. The show was almost cancelled due to massive rain storms, (the night before was cancelled). One fan mid-Uroboric got up on stage and started head- banging and dancing around. He was ecstatic. I think he kissed my cheek mid-vocal. Most of the people seemed gentle, introverted and emotional. The show was fun. Although our visit was brief, we did get to see a Roman Orthodox cathedral in the town square which was beautiful. Interesting to see so many elderly women clothed in black gowns as if permanently mourning. I was told it's an old tradition for widows.Thanks Nelu and his helpful assistant. Nice to see kind Mateo again in his homeland, whom we saw at a couple other shows. On our way out we drove through some poor little villages. One after another. It was interesting to see how enclosed the facades to these structures were...I'm guessing as a form of protection. I saw many smart homeless street dogs. They're everywhere, like pedestrians checking out traffic flow before crossing streets. A bit sad to see so many strays, but somehow they make there way. Out hotel was near a gigantic cemetary. Morning after the show I went into the graveyard and had an emotional and deep meditation on impermanence.

Belgrade (Serbia)
The most electrifying energy I've felt in a room. This place was on fire!!! Sold out club. The fans were louder than the band at times. I never heard such a loud chorus of voices singing Veil Of Maya! Something about these more intimate spaces concentrates energy and amplifies the whole vibe. We fed off this current like live wires bouncing off the ceiling. Thank you for the gigantic 'WELCOME TO SERBIA CYNIC' banner in the classic Focus font....well done! Awesome gigantic Cynic billboard just outside the venue. Walked thru the town, saw a big stray dog population again. Our hotel was near some great parks and cultural centers. Belgrade fortress was cool. Great interview after the show. Thanks to the internet, much of the room knew Evolutionary Sleeper. This show was like a dream...magical energy on this night. Thank you fans of Serbia. We look forward to coming back. I think we're still buzzing from that show. Played Veil Of Maya 2x! Hugs to Branko and Marina...you two are delightful.

Budapest (Hungary)
I didn't know what was in store for Budapest because of the last minute booking. To my surprise we had a full house and a great show. Kultiplex is a really cool complex with a night club, concert hall, restaurant. We met tons of interesting and kind humans. You guys have fierce enthusiasm! I would like to spend more time in Budapest in the future, seems like a very cool Paris like bohemian city. Thank you Marton for the excellent photos. Good to see you again Fred. Brett came up and joined in on the brutals for How Could I which was a blast. We loved the vibe here and were pleasantly surprised by the show...nice ending to the tour.


Frank Zappa said humans are only good at one thing, killing each other. The Buddha said, there's no hope for the human race as a whole, and only a small percentage will awaken, Gandhi said you must be the change you wish to see in the world. Makes a lot of sense to work harder on ourselves. Do good work, love more, care more, then look in the mirror honestly and repair oneself, then let go. It's crying our eyes out and also accepting what is. Fierce loneliness, independence, and togetherness at the same time. We keep paddling upon the clouds, but don't forget to touch the earth. Words of gratitude, love and respect to Cynic fans of eastern Europe and beyond. We're here for you and more inspired than ever by your response... ;-)

Check out integralinstitute.org (Ken Wilber's vision and organization).

Paul