Bus Call (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Pay for the Weekend - full transcript

In 2014 KONGOS toured Europe opening
for One Republic

As the support act with a worldwide hit,
it was a low-pressure tour

Shows were well attended
thanks to the headliners draw

and KONGOS wasn't as financially
on the hook for the tour

What the fuck is happening right now?

I have no idea dude.
I'm trying to pack everything onto the bus

but the bus is not big enough dude!

We've also had a lot of drinks that
uhhh maybe making stuff more difficult.

Are you recording through all the breaks?

I'm too drunk to hit the stop/record

Yeah



Fuck, are we missing an umbrella

We have no "umbrelli"

When this door closes, we're on the bus.

One beer!

They managed to take Chris's wallet

Who are you calling?

Listen, whatever you do, don't cry.

Now as the headliner without
a single on the radio

Show attendance is harder to predict and
everything falls on them.

Like much of this European Tour,
unpredictability is a daily challenge

This is the band's fourth tour in Europe
but it will be their first time headlining

Beginning in Warsaw they'll
make their way across the continent

with many familiar cities as well as some
first-time stops like Russia and Ukraine

We're here in Warsaw, Poland. Had a nice
sleep for the first time in six weeks



Warsaw, Poland. Day 1

Yeah, I can reach this high

I'm lucky I'm really strong!

One of the joys of starting a tour after a
flight is getting all the equipment to work

after the TSA has had their way with it

Don't worry about the keyboard for now

Joey notes is not getting to keys

In the words of the TSA,
"let us rip this apart"

I love these fucking first shows of the
tour where nothing is figured out yet

This should be a packed fucking show

It's going to be exciting.

Europe has been slow to crack for them

but there's enough of a nucleus
of a fanbase to make the trip worth it

The goal is to build on the existing fan base
and show the promoters what KONGOS is all about

The common wisdom is, if you crack
Europe, it's a lifetime touring market

no matter your popularity in the
US which can come and go

Dude, that was fucking nuts.
Just unbelievable

Bye

The bus is interesting.

18 bunks

There's enough bunks that we should,
like, each get our own junk bunk

Like most European bus
companies it's a double-decker

Really really tiny dimensions

So you got to walk around
like this to get everywhere

The aisles were tighter so everyone's
just rubbing butts... Constantly

If you can imagine that.
Tight hallway okay.

Turning away from each other...
Butts.. These are butts

Sometimes it was dick to butt, tip to tip

The roads in Poland are notoriously bad
so sleeping on the bus is a challenge

How was your night on the bus?

Uh last night was a little
rough, but I made it.

How long will I make it today? We shall see

You know one of those nights where
oh I'm falling asleep and then..

First night on that shitty European bus

It's fucking terrible design

Mic, how was your night?

Fucking great! I slept like a baby

Did you pick a top bunk?
'Cause its got a fucking window in it?

I don't know why people pick top bunks.
Weirdos.

You're on a top bunk, aren't you?

I'm a top bunk. I like having a window

I don't know if you can see
it, but that's kinda funny

Trimming the very little hair that I have

This is rock-and-roll!

This is rock-and-roll

You know what the trick is to
getting a foggy mirror not foggy?

Just the slightest amount of soap

Put a little, tiny bit of soap on your fingers and water.
Boom. It cleans it off, and it doesn't fog back up again.

Huh. That's interesting

Little tricks

Romeo, oh Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?

I think it's very good thing to travel with
brothers, because you don't miss your family

In America the question is always, how do you
travel with your brothers? I hate my family

and it's such a different way
to approach to the question

Amidst this traveling domesticity an
underlying sense of fragility about the

future of the band's career persists

It's eight hours behind in Los Angeles

The band is taking a $70,000 loss on
this European tour

so the ongoing issues with the album campaign
back in the US weigh heavily in the dressing room

This above all the other issues we've
had throughout the whole time with Epic

This is the biggest thing.
This was such a fuckup

You know it not only killed this song.
It killed the timing for any other songs

Can I talk to him?

Hold on. Here's Danny

The person who should have been
fucking fired doesn't get fired

then *** looks like an idiot

and we're still stuck with this label

We had an amazing fucking show in Warsaw

Crowds going fucking nuts, World Would Run Better
kills, we come off the stage to this fucking shit

This is the temperate version of
what everyone's actually feeling

What we're all saying is
a lot worse in private

It's made this a political
game rather than a music game

Most of that traveling, or you know
the moving, we did when we were young

Compartmentalizing your thoughts
and emotional states is key

The audience doesn't know or really even care
what's going on with you outside of the show

They paid for a performance and are
entitled to your attention and energy

You may be struggling with something
personal or some conflict or health issue

or carrying any number of burdens, but if you can't
leave that in the dressing room for 90 minutes a night

you're not holding up
your end of the agreement

A couple people that are probably not going to leave until
one of you signs their tits and gives hugs and shit

You guys want black markers this time?

I am the father!

my wife is about...

Mo: He just found out he's a dad

I'm going to be the father!

Fuck yeah!

Nostrovia!

Get home safe

I love the KONGOS

Mother fucker shit wooooow

Come With Me Now

A city becomes defined in your mind by
your experiences there

and when the feeling of arriving and leaving is
pretty much simultaneous it all gets a little hazy

Where are we?

Somebody today had to remind me of
what fucking day of the week it was.

You know what day it is?

Cameraman: I think it's Wednesday

No, it's fucking Thursday

Actually no, no. It is Friday

I got three kisses tonight...
From one guy. Yeah

May I have two more?

Nostrovia

Wow, fuck you were a pilot?

You have to be on your
fucking game all the time

And you are absolutely on your fucking
game all the goddamn fucking time

And you take input respectfully and well

Seven more.

Seven more?

We don't have enough of this kind of vodka

Let's go as far as we can

Hey, don't tell me what to do. I'm off duty

Mary: I'm on a conference call

Oh shit!

Hey everybody! This is my wife back home

You see right here

Hey Mary!

Jason, what level of pilot..
What kind of plane could you fly?

I could fly a 20,000
pound commercial.. plane

Jason has had a whole beer tonight

It's completely why I love this woman

I probably should go take this

In tour life you have two families - one
at home and one on the road

Jason, how you feeling?

I'm feeling like shit right now

Goddamn nostrovia

Did you get any sleep?

Oh yeah. I passed the fuck out

Cameraman: Where are we exactly?

I don't know

I mean we're in Prague. Prague.

I don't know where we are

Cameraman: We're at a brewery

Oh we're at a brewery. That's what
that is. Yeah, okay

Cameraman: Are you tired?

Yeah. I haven't been able to beat jet lag yet
and so I'm still on kind of American time

Plus add on top of
that....the whole fucking way

Poland - great gigs, terrible roads

When a city is the 59th city
you've been to that year,

the novelty of traveling has worn off

But it's funny how every
moment becomes romanticized

because today you're not
just grabbing a coffee

you're grabbing a coffee in Prague

after getting drunk on vodka with some
polish bartenders in Poznan the night before

Sometimes you dread the
night coming to an end

Other times bus call can't come soon enough

but at 7 weeks in,
this is still just the beginning

No, you started that Jesse!
You made it personal!

Thank you guys so much!
We've been told it's a hard curfew

And they're kicking us off

Next time on Bus Call

When's the last time you were home?

I can't remember

You can't force people to do shit
when we're halfway across the world

We're just fucking sick of it

You totally killed it!

We're in St. Petersburg

I wore the wrong jacket