On the 10th, we headed north to Geordie Land. Newcastle Upon Tyne. To pick up Mr. Mark Bell. It was there that my ability to keep the car on the left side of the road temporarily failed me. I nailed a curb scuffing the alloy rims and putting a tiny gouge in the sidewall of the front left tire. We were in some brand new, black Mazda mini van. I don't think the model is available in the states. When we picked it up, it had only 17 miles on the odometer. It was in for a wild ride. The night of the 10th we visited a local venue called "The Cluny". We had heard of it. We're hoping it will be a stop on the next tour. It's really a fantastic joint.
On the 11th in the morning, we stopped at a local McDonald's. The Filet-O-Fish Sandwich is somehow twice as good over there. Not sure why. Crispier perhaps. Then the three of us headed north west, past the ancient Roman built "Hadrian's Wall" onward toward Glasgow, the Gormans and the Vale. Glasvegas is one of the few towns on the tour that feels like home to Chadwick and I. Could be the hospitality. Not sure. This was an interesting stop however because it snowed more than a foot. It started coming down right after the show and didn't let up until sometime the next day. Nearly caused us to miss our gig in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh which was slated for the 12th.
We'd finally be able to leave late afternoon, but not before building a snowman and posting a myspace bulletin where I explained how our ride from the venue the night before included a beer between my legs, a kabob on my lap, the roads covered with snow, a mobile phone on my ear and my left hand on the tuner of the radio. A tricky feat when the wheel is on the right and the manual 5-speed shifter is on the left. This enraged many of the Brits, who replied to the posting. Only one person commented that it was "sexy that I didn't give a f%*k." I wasn't trying to be sexy. I was just multitasking like we do in LA. I think they ask you to steer with your knees in the driving tests here actually.
The venue in Edinburgh was called "Whistlebinkies." We had very low expectations. They were unnecessary. The place was great. The staff was awesome and we couldn't have asked for a better group of enthusiastic fans. We'll certainly be returning to 'Binkies in the Fall. Hopefully we'll have enough time to really get a good look at Edinburgh this time. It comes across as a very old, fascinating place to the touring tourist.
The morning of the 13th we took an "a-road" (rural route) from Scotland to Carlisle, England (near where the bus broke down on the 1st tour). The snowfall from the day before made it a gorgeous trek through a number of small towns. Chadwick called it a "winter wonderland." Chadwick is funny like that.
Today we were headed to the West Midlands and the town of Coventry. Coventry has a ring road around the city centre that feels like a roller coaster if you're going over 70. Coventry was the most bombed city in England during World War Two because of all its factories. No bombs that night though. The set went over very well. Good sized audience. Including the amazing Stevie and a number of her mates, who had helped us promote the show as part of an assignment at their Uni. It was a very dark room. I suffer a bit when I can't gauge the reaction of the audience to my "between song banter." Thanks to Natasha for putting us up.
On the 14th we skirted Birmingham and landed West of it in an area of the Midlands called "The Black Country." It was our return to The Broadway in Stourbridge, England. Owned by Mick. A really friendly fellow who has proven to be a huge supporter of original indie bands. Blue Meridian in particular. It'll be difficult to tour the country without making a stop there. The reception was practically heart warming. While there we met a chap named "Izzy Ozbourne." Thanks to John Mono and Moll the Bat for offering their couches and proper English breakfast.
The 15th was freezing in Liverpool. The gig had been moved from the Stamps Bar to a pub called "Touchwood." Still cracks Chadwick and I up that the English don't think their names are funny. Perhaps it's the Beavis and Butthead, American mentality, but if I lived in a town called "Cockermouth" I'd wake up laughing every day. Big thanks to Paul of the Peppermint Pigs for his help with the gig, his amazing fans and friends and of course his cool music. After the gig we headed to Roz's house in Bury. A few minutes north of Manchester. It was a real treat staying with some non smokers for the first time. The scent of a lit fag drifting in under the bedroom door in the morning wakes me up faster than an alarm clock and always on the wrong side of the bed. It's another culture thing, but I'll never understand how people can chain smoke in their houses with the windows closed.
It was a real treat playing a proper venue in Manchester. It's an important music town and the Dry Bar has a fine reputation. We were the 3rd act on the bill, supporting local faves "The Tides." The crowd was large and receptive. It was a pleasure seeing some folks that we met the night before in Liverpool then back to Bury for another night at the Monger residence. The morning of the 17th, bassist Mark Bell took a train bound for Newcastle and Chadwick and I headed Northwest to the beach town of Blackpool for another gig with Limousine at the West Coast Rock Cafe. Big thanks again to Paul and his mates for the hospitality and another fun stop on the tour.
It's funny, whenever someone we met on tour would ask us where we were off to next, there was a 95% probibility that they would quickly comment on how the accents there would be impossible to understand. Often times they would also comment on how dodgy the area was. That seems to be a British-wide truth. It's always good for a laugh. We also discovered that the vast majority of the British people were unsure as to whether or not King Arthur and Camelot ever existed. Ok, back to the tour.
The morning of the 18th we headed 3 hours Southeast for another visit to the Three Trees Pub in Milton Keynes. First we went 40 miles out of the way to the town of Peterborough to pick up Mr. James Chadwick. Jimmy C, as I call him was one of my favorite recent musical, Internet discoveries. I knew it would take getting him a support slot for us to get to meet him and watch him perform. Having a show each night and moving around all the time makes it difficult to catch a show.
To us, the Three Trees is a special venue. Pub owner Julian lives upstairs and is good about offering his large and well appointed living room for us to crash in. Since the first tour, he outfitted his entertainment center with a projector. We watched the UK Tour Documentary as it was broadcast 8 feet wide on the wall. After the DVD it was late night 900 number adds. Chadwick liked those.
On the 19th we hauled it down through Oxford on the way to Wales for 2 gigs in one day. First was Toms Bar in Treforest. It was a 5pm slot. Felt more like an open-mic than anything else on the tour. Was lovely seeing Sara the owner. Meeting Claire and Rhiannaon as well, the waifey dredded bartender. One of the acts on the bill did a memorable song about "Grandma in the Mosh Pit."
Dempsey's in Cardiff was only a few miles away, but took ages to locate. It's a large upstairs/downstairs Irish Pub. The PA was a tad hack. Before going on Chadwick had the idea of not using the PA and just having everyone gather around us in a circle and sing off mic. It would have been quite possible, as the crowd was incredibly attentive and polite. In the end, it didn't take that to make the gig unique. That show will probably go down in the books as being the wittiest performance we've ever put on. It seemed we did a song, then bantered for 2 minutes, then another song and so on.
Thanks to Roggery, Matt and Moonface for spending another fun evening with us.
The 20th in Devon was a really fantastic time. It was our first visit to the South. We were told it was the part of England that spawned pirates. We were eager to hear an authentic "Arrrr." Never did, but we did meet up with some friends from the first tour, had a mile hike down to a river, famous for once drowning a team of Knights on Horseback in Full Armour. We didn't see any ghosts, witness any drowning, but we did skip stones for about an hour.
The Dartington College of the Arts was situated around the former castle of William the Conqueror and the gorgeous backyard theatre was rumoured to have once featured the presence of William Shakespeare himself. The show itself went over very well. It was Chadwicks last day of the tour. Those shows are always so bittersweet.
We didn't leave Devon until about 2:30am. We were headed back to London. Chadwick's plane was leaving around lunchtime. I pleaded with him to stay awake with me on the drive back. 3.5 hours on the road in the middle of the night after a gig and a few pints, can be a conscious draining experience. We played song and trivia games for hours. He didn't pass out until we were just 20 minutes from Crawley. Good man.
The last show was a couple days later in Notting Hill, nearly walking distance from Clapham Junction. Of course I had to perform "Up The Junction" by Squeeze for the packed and attentive room. "I never thought it would happen with me and the girl from Clapham." Yup, another dream come true materialized. I tossed out Oreos, Lucky Charms, Jolly Ranchers and anything else left over from the bag of goodies I hauled overseas for the friendly Brit folk.
2,403 miles on the wrong side of the road, 16 kabobs, 6 fish n' chips, 100 quid of money to "top up" the orange phone, 4 McDonalds Filet-o-Fish sammiches and 90 pints of Stella later and the tour was in the can. Met many cool people. Had a fabulous time. Looking strongly forward to the next visit. Till next time, keep your chins up and your knickers down.
-Donovan
