Editor’s Note: Dean Tartaglia, a Toledo native, just returned home after touring Europe as the saxophone player for Detroit rock band The Sights, who opened ten shows across the pond for Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass).
I don’t know if anyone could really tell the story of a tour. I often get asked what it has all been like, and I think the only answer is this: the way your perception of your own life morphs is the most freeing experience possible. It all happens so quickly and is all so surreal that you don’t even know if it has happened when it ends. And it always ends too soon. Tour is the essence of your mind not being able to keep up with your physical state. Tour is when you stop making sense.
We drove 12 hours to JFK to catch a midnight flight, arriving in London 12 hours later (or 7, depending how you look at it). And then we drove another 8 hours to Belgium. I’m chalking it up at 32 straight hours of travel.
Now, I figure I’m savvy enough to know what I’m getting myself into. Touring around the US taught me a lot about how quickly culture can change from one state to the next, and Europe is no different —except we are talking countries instead of states. Sure, European countries are the same size as states back home, but each one could not be more culturally different.
Language barrier
As I bullshit my way through a conversation at a gas station in France (a little rusty since I took French in the 7th grade, but I am proud), I can’t help but notice these little things I did not forsee. Like gas stations: It took me a few days to put this together, but gas is 1.65 euro a liter, which is over 8 US dollars a gallon. Also, these little gourmet cafés in every single Belgium gas station blew my freaking mind. Beautiful blonde-haired Belgian men drink wine and eat prosciutto, radicchio and brie sandwiches. They were kind to us about our language barrier, but still slightly impatient. I don’t blame them, we are kind of obnoxious. So many thoughts fill my tired mind: I feel lost —Is Belgian a language? I didn’t think I’d actually see these many waffles.
I am surprised over the next week at how amazing Germans are. Sure, someone threw a beer bottle at us in Hamburg, but that city has some real character. Do some research into The Beatles residency there from 1960-1962. Hamburg really turned them into some serious street-tough badassess — pre mop top, of course. On our day off, I ate 3 Bratwursts and see about 500 prostitues on the Reeperbahn. The next night in Dusseldorf our bassist falls in love for a night. That’s kind of the vibe of any tour. It all happens too fast to keep up with.
I guess I just feel that no matter the scale of these shows, they are still shows. This is still reality. The human body can become accustomed to any situation within a week’s time. Playing for 7,000 people creates adrenaline, and it's a drug. You have to be careful not to lose sight of the bigger picture. It is still a job. You still have to wake up the next day and you need to work towards the next gig, but not lose your mind when it’s over. It can become an obsession so quickly, and it can be sad to see people throw their lives away over this.
Talking to Jack
“Being around a celebrity can become addicting as well. The best way to equate it is lust, strangely enough. Every time I have a conversation with Jack Black it feels like that girl I had a crush on in the seventh grade, who is now actually talking to me.” And sure, the guy knows me now, and knows that we watch The Holiday in the van between gigs and make fun of him, and I’m sure if I saw him years from now we’d have a brief conversation, but he’s a people person, you know? He got where he is because he can make you feel like the most important girl in the room, and now that he is the most important girl in the room, this ability is even more compelling. I think he is genuine, but I also think it’s a front. He can never let his guard down, and I mean come on, that’s at least a little bit sad, no matter how famous he is. He has one of the most complicated lives I’ve ever experienced (he would never admit that, I’m sure). All I can say for certain is this: I have had the chance to watch one of the best performers of our time (trust me, he really is) do his job first hand, on and off the stage. His professionalism is impeccable. He is the type of human I strive to be.
I am fortunate to have such a great city to come home to. All I want is to do is bring pride back to the place I have lived most of my life, and hope the talents I honed in Toledo have influenced others around the world. I have been to 40 states in the US now, and nearly a dozen countries in Europe. No city compares to Toledo. It doesn’t have that big city arrogance because it knows size doesn’t matter when it comes to fostering creativity, and it does so better than any city I have experienced. A true, unfiltered and honest culture, with dedication, determination and purpose; no other city has a scene quite as palpable as Toledo. No one is quite as proud and humble at the same time. It is endearing. It has heart.
