Tonight, we played the third show of the “Youthful Dreams Of An Old Empire” promo tour. And it’s been once again beyond words. But let me backtrack a little bit!

We’re Saturday. “AWESOME! We’ll avoid London traffic for once!!!!” We were overjoyed. And I mean not only a little overjoyed. London traffic is a horrible thing. A really horrible thing. We’re playing in St. Albans. 60 minutes away from where we live. Easy drive! There’s only one thing we overlooked. The “Saturday Shoppers”. It didn’t take us 1 hour to get to St. Albans. It took us almost 4 hours. 4 freakin hours of traffic. Canadians driving in London VS London traffic… Traffic won. The same way Sef’s guitar won over Alex’s eye.

St. Albans is a really nice place. Small city, for sure, but a beautiful and quiet little place. The venue itself was a wonderful one. The stage was very small and didn’t leave much space for the guys to move around. Well, they couldn’t move around at all without bumping into each other. But the energy that was there on the stage was electrifying. They enjoyed themselves on stage, just as much as we enjoyed ourselves in the crowd.

And what a crowd it was… Not the biggest one we’ve seen. But incredible friends whom we’ve known and talked to for years already. We all met in different circumstances. We all have different backgrounds. We all have different personalities. But tonight, none of this mattered. Tonight, we were one, in the most beautiful way that can be…

Another moment turned into eternity. A moment that would have never been the same without you all.

There are moments that I am never able to fully describe. And there are moments I can’t describe at all. The gig of Your Favorite Enemies tonight was one of these. I lack words to tell you just how special the show was, but how meaningful the time we spent with our family after the show has been too. We were alive. And it felt good. It was just what it was supposed to be. A moment turned into eternity…

– Stephanie

It’s right now 11:30pm, we’re in the van, and we just finished the gig at Milton Keynes’ Craufurd Arms… And it has been amazing!! 

The day started with a breakfast all together – eggs, sautéed mushrooms, bacon, jelly and cheese rolled pancakes, fruits and yogurt! All that under a great warm sun! Sunny London, we love you! The only one missing around the table was Alex. The poor guy was sharing his room with someone that I can’t name and who’s part of the band and has short hair… And that person spent the whole night snoring in such great style that Alex needed to get out of the the room… So he opted to sleep on the couch in the living room, using bath towels as blankets, as we had no extras. And to make it even better, was awaken by the smoke of the bacon being cooked… And I mean a lot of smoke!

Then we packed the van with the gear, and set off for Milton Keynes! We had been warned by Sue to look out for the roundabouts because there were so many of them in the city. We didn’t doubt she was right, we just didn’t know how right she was… lol! And Matt did incredibly well! We’ve only been honked once!

We got there and unloaded the little bit of gear we had… With Alex to testify of how little gear we had… And then came the soundcheck – or should I say a show in midday… Because this is exactly how it’s been!

The show itself has been mindblowing! Right before the show, the band members all agreed on one thing: “tonight, let’s enjoy ourselves to the fullest! Let’s live these songs with our loved ones, let’s live the moment as it unfolds itself before our eyes… Let’s just have fun!”

And it is exactly how it has been!

We then had the privilege of meeting with Tobi, whom we’ve know for years now! He was there at our very first gig in the UK in 2007, in Nottingham, so it was great to see him again tonight in the crowd for the first show of the tour this time again! We also met Rebecca, Krystal, Stanley and Robert… And as Alex said… THIS was the best part of the show! Being able to meet with you guys…!

Oh… and we can now say that the tour has officially started… Alex hurt himself, and is wearing a wonderful blackeye… 😉

“We’re gathered today again around music… It is music that brought us here, not only in Europe, but that brought us all together…” – Ben

Today was rehearsal day for Your Favorite Enemies, just before their first show takes place in Milton Keynes on the 16th! It’s been a few days that they didn’t play music at all, so they were like kids playing again!! We rented a very nice local, where we started setting up the amps and instruments… But we faced so many technical problems before we could even start that is was actually worrying! The power bars blew up. 2 of them. And then the keyboard completely gave out. It stopped working. There was no sound coming out – AT ALL! We freaked out a little bit, but being at John Henry’s, they quickly found a solution for us… And then Miss Isabel got herself a new keyboard. The electricity shut down 3 times. The console controlling the voice effects and all the in-ears started acting crazy, we think because of the different electricity, it seems to be back in order now! It was a hard day for the electronics in YFE’s world today… And after all of this, when all seemed to be back in order, we took a little break… Just to get over our emotions from the day so far… lol

The rehearsal, despite those problems, went amazingly well! The guys felt good on stage, and it showed through each and every song they played! It was truly incredible to see them enjoy themselves so much! I am telling you, the shows will be INCREDIBLE!  Everything is always intense with Your Favorite Enemies; they know no other way! So a simple “jam” always turns out being a moment in itself, becoming eternal. The emotions you feel when you watch them “rehearse” are as strong and as real as when you watch them live… Because it’s real! There’s no denying it… And nothing speaks better than pictures, right…? So here’s a few couple for you!

There’s always a little bit of stress before a show… But they managed to feel comfortable playing, letting go to the sound, and enjoying the moment… so comfortable that some even took the comfort of taking their shoes off… 😉

But at the end of the day, when we were reflecting on all the problems we encountered, we felt pretty blessed that it happened today… And what really remains on our minds is the moment that we shared together, that music gathered us all together… And that we’ll very soon share with you!!

– Stephanie

First morning in the UK! And a typical London one! lol! It’s grey, it’s cold, it’s raining! The house staying at is incredible, despite a few problems with the heating system… Let’s say its pretty much as cold as outside, minus the rain!

We gathered around the table in the dining room, with a coffee in hand, kindly prepared by Moose. But it didn’t take Jeff more than a sip that he never swallowed to know that the coffee was way too strong – twice the dose of an already strong coffee in a cup that is half the size of a normal one doesn’t make good coffee… lol! We then shared stories of our first night… Commonly called snoring stories! Usual suspects, usual snores! 

And then we headed off to John Henry’s! And I am not sure if it’s the London weather that affected Sef that much… but we all witnessed something completely surreal in the car!

The road went smoothly, which is no small matter considering the fact that it was Matt’s first time driving in the UK… Which means on the other side of the road, on the other side of the car!

John Henry’s is the place where we rented gear during our European Tour 5 years ago, and going back there was quite nostalgic! People were incredibly nice welcoming us, very warm and friendly! The warmth of the people is such a huge contrast compared to the weather here! lol! We got a few amps, acoustic guitars (no one knows what can happen at a YFE show!), and a drum for Moose as well!! 

“No wonder music is so good here, the weather is so depressing here, they need to have their emotions bloom into something else” said Alex… he couldn’t have said better. The weather sure is depressing, but the people we’ve met so far are incredibly alive!

Tomorrow is rehearsal day… And the first gig of the tour is coming pretty fast, too! We’re all really excited about it!!!