this is what happened last month with WOLFMOTHER overseas
if you want to see whwere it's at go to lovepolice.com.au and click on the tour bus. there's photos too.
i'll post a bit more regularly from now on.
Date: 23-2-6
Place: London
Vibe: Im tired.
Score: a pair of socks from Qantas!!!
Devoured: Hammersmith south Indian vegetarian.
Action: and the reason why I scored lots of wax was that after my 27 hours of travel from a mild early 30s summers day into a blisteringly cold snow-falling winters day, my pre-checked in room was (apparently) not ready, thanks to the lameness of the London hotel. Oh well. 6am and no room til 2pm. off to Hyde Park, Soho and nottinghill gate for some visual and sonic delights. Hyde park? In the snow nah. Take me to the vinyl shops. Anyways, after being a bit of a vagrant for 7 hours, I decide I should head back and meet up with the awesomeness that is wolfmother and check in to the accom- take 2. And then it dawns on them that Ive been checked in to another room and it was ready at 6 and and yeah. I was tired and wanted a shower.
And sleep
Date: 24-2-6
Place: London
Vibe: so its gonna be like that, eh?
Score: lots of wax, including some great 80s hip hop 12s
Devoured: shit food. And dodgy coffee from a damned tea-drinking nation.
Action: my jet lag is my life. I always rise pretty early back home and when on tour, I still get up at the same 7am, so off to old Camden town for some more retail therapy. We have a warm up gig tonight with new-grunge outfit Nine Black Alps and some band that broke up 3 days earlier for the NME awards. Not a bad little gig, and selling along side an old flame of a good mate. Small world, as they say. But I wouldnt want to paint it. Its quite odd meeting up with the guys over here. They only get a half-hour set, but their sound and presence is far superior and a lot of 9ba fans are converted.
Date: 25-2-6
Place: oxford
Vibe: cool old uni-town
Score: peter tosh orig Jamaican for 1pound.
Devoured: coffee from a grande-olde gaggia
Action: yeah, thanks again London for the $200 phone bill! Oops. So, now Im working extra hard at drumming up sales. Get into the small township of oxford and am pleasantly surprised with it. Find a caf which time has forgotten. No soy, but those old Italians think an espresso is just that. Cool little town, which from my 2-hour take on, has a bit of an artsy scene to it. The gig is tiny, but it along with every other gig (except Liverpool) is sold out. The 250 fans are treated to corker sets from both WM and the presets (maybe loisxiv too, who is upstairs).
Date: 26-2-6
Place: Leeds
Vibe: not another novotel
Score: slints spiderland
Devoured: brekkie from @ppetite
Action: we get into one town, which I am excited about (as I have read there is a record fair on) but alas, and perhaps to my benefit it is too late. Were doing a gig at the cockpit, which all your fave bands have performed at (judging by the framed tix on the walls (strokes, white stripes, mars Volta, 28 days???? (must be a UK band)) and its a great turnout again. The plus is that the ratio of oz-pommies is about 45:65, whereas I was expecting a big contingent of expats. My search for a half decent soy latte is still on (without settling for starbucks (no multi-nats). Even the brit chains are shithouse over here. I wish cara had taken a job as a trainer and lifted the UK standard, or even been on the road as a dispenser. Itd be full time with Caseys (stage) consumption, though he did get electrocuted tonight.
Date: 27-2
Place: Nottingham
Vibe: sherwoodstock?
Score: little Britain DVDs for the van
Devoured: wagamamas. same old same old. Now a multi-nat
Action: this town is pretty cool too. Hip little caf district, yet still no coffees blank expressions when affogattos are requested. Overwhelmed by a little record store packed to the rafters with so much wax. Yet cant be arsed rummaging through the piles , and note a couple of DVDs on the counter which have made a few journeys a bit less tedious. That along with a deck of cards and connect 4 and the new ipod.
Date: 28-2
Place: London
Vibe: day off!
Score: a day off
Devoured: macs NZ lager at a local bar.
Action: well, fortunately for myself it was a day off. The band trotted off to the beeb to record a few numbers at the zane lowe sessions (the new john peel). Found a local pub with free wireless so I can keep up to date with the world of oz. and some good beers to boot.
Date: 1-3
Place: London
Vibe: its freaking freezing in here, mr bigglesworth
Score: a day off
Devoured: awesome Japanese on the cheap.
Action: Another day off and what better way than to venture off to the tate modern, although when I arrive, I cant really be arsed going round even half of it as I have already trudged through Walthamstow and wood street in search of my wax fix. Nothing turned up, which is good in a way. Saw an amazing sculpture of a polished deep dark red bit of fibreglass shaped into an opened egg, which upon entering every sound is amplified tenfold and your dark reflection is distorted. Its quite a heavy experience. Found a great new caf nearby (the table) though their food had been cleared out basically, but I will be back again. Later that evening, johnboyrock and myself caught up with an ex-pat mate whos doing quite well for himself over here now touring with the likes of Jamiroquai, manic street preachers, dido and rancid to name a few, and hes even managed to scratch together enough to buy a house in London. Hmmmm, I might try out monitor engineering. Yeah, right. Went out to an amazing Japanese restaurant near Camden who sufficiently filled us with sake and great food and unknowingly undercharged us. More fool them. It was great to catch up with Tristan and better to organise some couch surfing after the tour at his pad. It was quite a drag to fight through the masses from the grates and go team show
to the tube, but we made it.
Date: 2-3
Place: Liverpool
Vibe: snowy and desolate town
Score: judgement night s/t for 4pound
Devoured: awesome Indian at maharajas
Action: well, the grub made up for the rest of it, although I did get to see the birthplace of the Beatles, the cavern club. Now that was cool to be there.
But the town did have a deserted feel to it. This is the only show on the run not to sell out, but the gig is a bigger venue, and a good one at that. I even had a merch booth!
Date: 3-3
Place: Newcastle
Vibe: tres bizarre
Score: George Clinton family series #1 for a tenner
Devoured: Thai. Nothing to write home about.
Action: does this place operate in a completely different manner than everywhere else? I was quite enjoying the gigs finishing at 10, but doors opened at 10 here with WM hitting the stage at 12! It was a big rock disco with WM playing upstairs. And I got to listen to all these freaking Aussies talking shit because theres other Aussies around. Why didnt they just stay back there? Anyway enough ranting on my kind. Casey once again was shocked. Shocked to find that one of the said Aussies nicked his tuner. This will go down as the oddball gig of the run. I care not to go into it too much as it will all be censored. Lots of snow.
Date: 4-3
Place: Glasgow
Vibe: this city is going off.
Score: an affogatto.
Devoured: great veg burger from ad-lib, though very steep. And lo and behold, an affogatto!
Action: woke up to find a few cm of snow so I instigated the inevitable snow fight. When in Rome, right? It was all fun and games until one travelled through the van into al, our fearless leader. This cheap shot could nearly bring him to the end of his tether. But we all soldiered on, through poker and shithead. Scotland upped the antes and the vibe. There were kids everywhere and the show was a cracker for all involved. I even had an attempted theft. Apart from that, I havent anything bad to say about Scotland, and Im sure it was an Aussie who did it. I just wish we could have gone to Edinburgh as its my favourite city I have been to.
Date: 5-3
Place: Madchester
Vibe: although factory is gone, this place has a lot to offer.
Score: just some garbage
Devoured: a veg Sunday roast and a half of Leffe blonde at Bite
Action: By having a lot to offer, I didnt mention that the crowd had no appreciation to offer. It was like a golf crowd. Very Sunday. However, the arts section of the town has a great scene, with loads of cafes, vinyl stores, retro shops and cool bars.
Date: 6-3
Place: London
Vibe: 500. More miles to go
Score: a new game to play in the van
Devoured: crew dinner and 2 pints of Leffe
Action: just a travel day, with the addition of the presets as their alternator is screwed, which makes for a very cozy ride, but we are now playing 500 as well. Julian and myself are the biggest losers. Bah. But the travel day drifts by very fast. The band head out to a label dinner, so the crew head off for some traditional pub grub; bangers and mash. I opt for an asparagus tart, which was pretty damn good for pub food. I also opt for some Leffes too, which pretty much flatten me.
Date: 7-3
Place: London
Vibe: possied up there, bloke?
Score: double 10 of helmets betty for 5pound
Devoured: the best English coffee courtesy of tinderbox @ kingsX.
Action: the excitement surrounding the gig is great as its been a sell out for quite some time, and a large very cool venue at that. Ive arranged to meet 4 of my mates at the gig; Andy, Tristan, Rob and Charlie and they all rock up and we wind up talking shit all night and drinking and admiring Robs view of the London sights and gadgetry. 4:30 comes buy and I turn in for the killer drive that I am unaware of that lies ahead. The merch is a roaring success and its sad to see the presets jump ship.
Date: 8-3
Place: gay Paris
Vibe: soup de jour
Score: some sexy French one-way conversations. There is no I in oui.
Devoured: the biggest glasses of beer ever including 2 massive Leffes.
Action: the crew set sails across the channel in search of better coffees. Once out of London we hit a thick fog which can only be described as soup and it doesnt lift until we hit Paris. There were definitely no blue skies over the white cliffs of Dover. So we had a mammoth travel day that got us in at about 830pm to the hotel. I have no idea why I had thought itd be only a 2 hour trek. We pile into the nearest restaurant, and order the most enormous glasses of Leffe and Hoegarden ever, and proceed to knock them down.
Date: 9-3
Place: Paris
Vibe: je taime, moi non plu.
Score: the Eiffle tower
Devoured: the footpaths of France in my trek
Action: I arise at that same hour and get straight to it as I am now informed that some company would be much appreciated in the van for the journey from the gig on to Berlin, so no trawling the rue de Paris for me tomorrow. I hike 7km of meandering streets through some of the most amazing architecture to cast my peepers on the Eiffle tower, and wowsers it is incredible. When I arrive it is almost departure time for the gig, so no viewing platforms for me, but just to be there was something else. I also encounter some very rude and unhelpful folks along the way, and they do stick in your mind more than the pleasantries. The gigs great, with support from a 2-piece san fran band, who were quite reminiscent of the Black Keys. Then Darren and myself bravely soldier on through the night. And day. And early evening.
Date: 10-3
Place: Berlin
Vibe: you have never seen so much snow since Scarface.
Score: an Erdinger for my troubles.
Devoured: 1,200 Kilometers of autobahn
Action: what a drive, thanks to Darren. Sucker! So we left straight from the gig last night at about 1am for our drive to Berlin. I get a quick kip in the back for all of 2 hours and its day light soon enough and the snow is starting to show. Our fearless leader, tom-tom (the gsp) gives us an 1.5hour sector of grief, driving us around in circles while driving Darren mad. Step up, the flight of the navigator style, and we get out and on. The country-side is very white, with lots of wind farms and autobahns and titz. We roll into the gig at about 530pm to find a squat in the middle of nowhere and think weve screwed up again, but alas, this is Berlin and this is punk.
Sure enough at 11 when doors open the place fills up and they lap it up. Itll go down as the most bizarre gig Ive done. I sold out of a kitchen, which I called the bitchin kitsch kitchen. All in all is was a great evening, though maybe I was delirious. Poor old Darren then heads of on his drive back to London with the gear, though he is getting paid more than all of us combined, multiplied by 20 and in pounds!
Post tour syndrome; the feeling of emptiness washes over me when the tour comes to a close. Ahhh, retail therapy. Off trawling for more wax and free wireless connection. Off to the motherland and to my friends pad where Ill be setting up camp for a few days, but my god what happened to my shoulder. I must have slept oddly as my back is killing me so I organise a friend to book a massage (no happy ending) and Im off to Covent Garden to a remedial massage place. 25 pound and 1 hour later, and a tres happy ending. How cheap! Recommendations all round. Dinners with mates, lunches with friends, drinks with buddys. Its great to be catching up briefly with long lost pals. And a bit of sight seeing over at abbey road, although I think I cocked up with the location/angle. Oh well.
Flying home and what luck to have a whole row to myself for both sectors, so up with the armrests and down with the blanket. Brisbane here I come, only to fly out the next day to ROCK-IT in Perth.
if you want to see whwere it's at go to lovepolice.com.au and click on the tour bus. there's photos too.
i'll post a bit more regularly from now on.
Date: 23-2-6
Place: London
Vibe: Im tired.
Score: a pair of socks from Qantas!!!
Devoured: Hammersmith south Indian vegetarian.
Action: and the reason why I scored lots of wax was that after my 27 hours of travel from a mild early 30s summers day into a blisteringly cold snow-falling winters day, my pre-checked in room was (apparently) not ready, thanks to the lameness of the London hotel. Oh well. 6am and no room til 2pm. off to Hyde Park, Soho and nottinghill gate for some visual and sonic delights. Hyde park? In the snow nah. Take me to the vinyl shops. Anyways, after being a bit of a vagrant for 7 hours, I decide I should head back and meet up with the awesomeness that is wolfmother and check in to the accom- take 2. And then it dawns on them that Ive been checked in to another room and it was ready at 6 and and yeah. I was tired and wanted a shower.
And sleep
Date: 24-2-6
Place: London
Vibe: so its gonna be like that, eh?
Score: lots of wax, including some great 80s hip hop 12s
Devoured: shit food. And dodgy coffee from a damned tea-drinking nation.
Action: my jet lag is my life. I always rise pretty early back home and when on tour, I still get up at the same 7am, so off to old Camden town for some more retail therapy. We have a warm up gig tonight with new-grunge outfit Nine Black Alps and some band that broke up 3 days earlier for the NME awards. Not a bad little gig, and selling along side an old flame of a good mate. Small world, as they say. But I wouldnt want to paint it. Its quite odd meeting up with the guys over here. They only get a half-hour set, but their sound and presence is far superior and a lot of 9ba fans are converted.
Date: 25-2-6
Place: oxford
Vibe: cool old uni-town
Score: peter tosh orig Jamaican for 1pound.
Devoured: coffee from a grande-olde gaggia
Action: yeah, thanks again London for the $200 phone bill! Oops. So, now Im working extra hard at drumming up sales. Get into the small township of oxford and am pleasantly surprised with it. Find a caf which time has forgotten. No soy, but those old Italians think an espresso is just that. Cool little town, which from my 2-hour take on, has a bit of an artsy scene to it. The gig is tiny, but it along with every other gig (except Liverpool) is sold out. The 250 fans are treated to corker sets from both WM and the presets (maybe loisxiv too, who is upstairs).
Date: 26-2-6
Place: Leeds
Vibe: not another novotel
Score: slints spiderland
Devoured: brekkie from @ppetite
Action: we get into one town, which I am excited about (as I have read there is a record fair on) but alas, and perhaps to my benefit it is too late. Were doing a gig at the cockpit, which all your fave bands have performed at (judging by the framed tix on the walls (strokes, white stripes, mars Volta, 28 days???? (must be a UK band)) and its a great turnout again. The plus is that the ratio of oz-pommies is about 45:65, whereas I was expecting a big contingent of expats. My search for a half decent soy latte is still on (without settling for starbucks (no multi-nats). Even the brit chains are shithouse over here. I wish cara had taken a job as a trainer and lifted the UK standard, or even been on the road as a dispenser. Itd be full time with Caseys (stage) consumption, though he did get electrocuted tonight.
Date: 27-2
Place: Nottingham
Vibe: sherwoodstock?
Score: little Britain DVDs for the van
Devoured: wagamamas. same old same old. Now a multi-nat
Action: this town is pretty cool too. Hip little caf district, yet still no coffees blank expressions when affogattos are requested. Overwhelmed by a little record store packed to the rafters with so much wax. Yet cant be arsed rummaging through the piles , and note a couple of DVDs on the counter which have made a few journeys a bit less tedious. That along with a deck of cards and connect 4 and the new ipod.
Date: 28-2
Place: London
Vibe: day off!
Score: a day off
Devoured: macs NZ lager at a local bar.
Action: well, fortunately for myself it was a day off. The band trotted off to the beeb to record a few numbers at the zane lowe sessions (the new john peel). Found a local pub with free wireless so I can keep up to date with the world of oz. and some good beers to boot.
Date: 1-3
Place: London
Vibe: its freaking freezing in here, mr bigglesworth
Score: a day off
Devoured: awesome Japanese on the cheap.
Action: Another day off and what better way than to venture off to the tate modern, although when I arrive, I cant really be arsed going round even half of it as I have already trudged through Walthamstow and wood street in search of my wax fix. Nothing turned up, which is good in a way. Saw an amazing sculpture of a polished deep dark red bit of fibreglass shaped into an opened egg, which upon entering every sound is amplified tenfold and your dark reflection is distorted. Its quite a heavy experience. Found a great new caf nearby (the table) though their food had been cleared out basically, but I will be back again. Later that evening, johnboyrock and myself caught up with an ex-pat mate whos doing quite well for himself over here now touring with the likes of Jamiroquai, manic street preachers, dido and rancid to name a few, and hes even managed to scratch together enough to buy a house in London. Hmmmm, I might try out monitor engineering. Yeah, right. Went out to an amazing Japanese restaurant near Camden who sufficiently filled us with sake and great food and unknowingly undercharged us. More fool them. It was great to catch up with Tristan and better to organise some couch surfing after the tour at his pad. It was quite a drag to fight through the masses from the grates and go team show
to the tube, but we made it.
Date: 2-3
Place: Liverpool
Vibe: snowy and desolate town
Score: judgement night s/t for 4pound
Devoured: awesome Indian at maharajas
Action: well, the grub made up for the rest of it, although I did get to see the birthplace of the Beatles, the cavern club. Now that was cool to be there.
But the town did have a deserted feel to it. This is the only show on the run not to sell out, but the gig is a bigger venue, and a good one at that. I even had a merch booth!
Date: 3-3
Place: Newcastle
Vibe: tres bizarre
Score: George Clinton family series #1 for a tenner
Devoured: Thai. Nothing to write home about.
Action: does this place operate in a completely different manner than everywhere else? I was quite enjoying the gigs finishing at 10, but doors opened at 10 here with WM hitting the stage at 12! It was a big rock disco with WM playing upstairs. And I got to listen to all these freaking Aussies talking shit because theres other Aussies around. Why didnt they just stay back there? Anyway enough ranting on my kind. Casey once again was shocked. Shocked to find that one of the said Aussies nicked his tuner. This will go down as the oddball gig of the run. I care not to go into it too much as it will all be censored. Lots of snow.
Date: 4-3
Place: Glasgow
Vibe: this city is going off.
Score: an affogatto.
Devoured: great veg burger from ad-lib, though very steep. And lo and behold, an affogatto!
Action: woke up to find a few cm of snow so I instigated the inevitable snow fight. When in Rome, right? It was all fun and games until one travelled through the van into al, our fearless leader. This cheap shot could nearly bring him to the end of his tether. But we all soldiered on, through poker and shithead. Scotland upped the antes and the vibe. There were kids everywhere and the show was a cracker for all involved. I even had an attempted theft. Apart from that, I havent anything bad to say about Scotland, and Im sure it was an Aussie who did it. I just wish we could have gone to Edinburgh as its my favourite city I have been to.
Date: 5-3
Place: Madchester
Vibe: although factory is gone, this place has a lot to offer.
Score: just some garbage
Devoured: a veg Sunday roast and a half of Leffe blonde at Bite
Action: By having a lot to offer, I didnt mention that the crowd had no appreciation to offer. It was like a golf crowd. Very Sunday. However, the arts section of the town has a great scene, with loads of cafes, vinyl stores, retro shops and cool bars.
Date: 6-3
Place: London
Vibe: 500. More miles to go
Score: a new game to play in the van
Devoured: crew dinner and 2 pints of Leffe
Action: just a travel day, with the addition of the presets as their alternator is screwed, which makes for a very cozy ride, but we are now playing 500 as well. Julian and myself are the biggest losers. Bah. But the travel day drifts by very fast. The band head out to a label dinner, so the crew head off for some traditional pub grub; bangers and mash. I opt for an asparagus tart, which was pretty damn good for pub food. I also opt for some Leffes too, which pretty much flatten me.
Date: 7-3
Place: London
Vibe: possied up there, bloke?
Score: double 10 of helmets betty for 5pound
Devoured: the best English coffee courtesy of tinderbox @ kingsX.
Action: the excitement surrounding the gig is great as its been a sell out for quite some time, and a large very cool venue at that. Ive arranged to meet 4 of my mates at the gig; Andy, Tristan, Rob and Charlie and they all rock up and we wind up talking shit all night and drinking and admiring Robs view of the London sights and gadgetry. 4:30 comes buy and I turn in for the killer drive that I am unaware of that lies ahead. The merch is a roaring success and its sad to see the presets jump ship.
Date: 8-3
Place: gay Paris
Vibe: soup de jour
Score: some sexy French one-way conversations. There is no I in oui.
Devoured: the biggest glasses of beer ever including 2 massive Leffes.
Action: the crew set sails across the channel in search of better coffees. Once out of London we hit a thick fog which can only be described as soup and it doesnt lift until we hit Paris. There were definitely no blue skies over the white cliffs of Dover. So we had a mammoth travel day that got us in at about 830pm to the hotel. I have no idea why I had thought itd be only a 2 hour trek. We pile into the nearest restaurant, and order the most enormous glasses of Leffe and Hoegarden ever, and proceed to knock them down.
Date: 9-3
Place: Paris
Vibe: je taime, moi non plu.
Score: the Eiffle tower
Devoured: the footpaths of France in my trek
Action: I arise at that same hour and get straight to it as I am now informed that some company would be much appreciated in the van for the journey from the gig on to Berlin, so no trawling the rue de Paris for me tomorrow. I hike 7km of meandering streets through some of the most amazing architecture to cast my peepers on the Eiffle tower, and wowsers it is incredible. When I arrive it is almost departure time for the gig, so no viewing platforms for me, but just to be there was something else. I also encounter some very rude and unhelpful folks along the way, and they do stick in your mind more than the pleasantries. The gigs great, with support from a 2-piece san fran band, who were quite reminiscent of the Black Keys. Then Darren and myself bravely soldier on through the night. And day. And early evening.
Date: 10-3
Place: Berlin
Vibe: you have never seen so much snow since Scarface.
Score: an Erdinger for my troubles.
Devoured: 1,200 Kilometers of autobahn
Action: what a drive, thanks to Darren. Sucker! So we left straight from the gig last night at about 1am for our drive to Berlin. I get a quick kip in the back for all of 2 hours and its day light soon enough and the snow is starting to show. Our fearless leader, tom-tom (the gsp) gives us an 1.5hour sector of grief, driving us around in circles while driving Darren mad. Step up, the flight of the navigator style, and we get out and on. The country-side is very white, with lots of wind farms and autobahns and titz. We roll into the gig at about 530pm to find a squat in the middle of nowhere and think weve screwed up again, but alas, this is Berlin and this is punk.
Sure enough at 11 when doors open the place fills up and they lap it up. Itll go down as the most bizarre gig Ive done. I sold out of a kitchen, which I called the bitchin kitsch kitchen. All in all is was a great evening, though maybe I was delirious. Poor old Darren then heads of on his drive back to London with the gear, though he is getting paid more than all of us combined, multiplied by 20 and in pounds!
Post tour syndrome; the feeling of emptiness washes over me when the tour comes to a close. Ahhh, retail therapy. Off trawling for more wax and free wireless connection. Off to the motherland and to my friends pad where Ill be setting up camp for a few days, but my god what happened to my shoulder. I must have slept oddly as my back is killing me so I organise a friend to book a massage (no happy ending) and Im off to Covent Garden to a remedial massage place. 25 pound and 1 hour later, and a tres happy ending. How cheap! Recommendations all round. Dinners with mates, lunches with friends, drinks with buddys. Its great to be catching up briefly with long lost pals. And a bit of sight seeing over at abbey road, although I think I cocked up with the location/angle. Oh well.
Flying home and what luck to have a whole row to myself for both sectors, so up with the armrests and down with the blanket. Brisbane here I come, only to fly out the next day to ROCK-IT in Perth.
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
you going to have your phone with you? international roaming?
im in vegas from the 30/4 to 3/5 then 2 day conference in palm springs, then 5/5 to 8/5 vancouver, then afternoon of 8/5 to 12/5 SF
who you touring with over there?