merchbitch

Prelude to abyss:
After what seemed an eternity on board my flight to LA, thanks to the full flight- yeah, no whole rows to myself this time, dammit- I was greeted with a 3 hour wait at LAX, but glad to be flying NWA flight to Detroit! I didnt cop any attitude, so that was a plus, just altitude Finally I made it a good 20 hours after leaving Brisbane to Detroit ROCK CITY. I couldnt wait to get out and about the following morning and peruse the birthplace of music as I know it. This is Motown, the birthplace of soul. This is where P-Funk began, the heart of funk. And this is where punk was spawned by the likes of the MC5 and The Stooges. Kiss knew it, and I wanted to find out.
Jet-lag hit me harder than ever. Infact I dont recall feeling this sick in the stomach in a long time, but I soldiered on to stock up with my supplies for the run and god what a hassle. This place is so spread out. Americans love big, Im gathering and talk about a desolate town. The motor industry has been shipped out of town and every second building is boarded over. A feeling of emptiness and a kind of regret washes over me have I made the wrong decision? Do I want to be travelling around this place til mid june?
And then I see it.
THE BIG YELLOW TAXI (and put up a parking lot??)
Ahhh, my home away from home.

Date: 6-april
Place: detroit
Vibe: Detroit- (not) rock city
Score: the worst jet-lag ever
Devoured: pretty damn fine pesto pizza (which may well have made me ill)
Action: So I climb aboard our boeing 747 bus and immediately fall in love. Long, blonde, flare. It is great to be back in the fold after my gruelling excursion. Brief catch ups are made, and introductions to skip, our captain, co-pilot, wing commader, and skipper. We roll out of the ghetto and into a seemingly pleasant neighbourhood. The gig is a great small room, aptly named Smalls. die!die!die! are our support for the leg, all the way from NZ, and these guys are rockin. The staff and punters and reps all make for an enjoyable night, and I think it might have just been a bad area in the downtown. The gigs over. The bus is loaded and were outta there on to the next city. Maybe my sleep patterns will be back to the old 7am rising and Ill be okay.

Date: 7-april
Place: Cleveland
Vibe: now this is more like it
Score: a ride to a great felafel joint named Aladdins
Devoured: a great felafel from Aladdins. werent you listening?
Action: So I draw the curtains open from my bunk and step into the loungeroom to look out the window to a different city. Hello Cleveland. And thinking I have the day ahead of me look up and notice its 12:45. It has been a good 5 years atleast since I last slept past midday. The first task of the day is to organise a mobile, but I really want to check out the rock n roll hall of fame and get a coffee, so I venture forth into the unknown. Theres not much time til we depart for the gig, so I heade in the general direction of the rnr h.o.f. theres a ball ghame on just around the corner from the bus, and as tempted as I am to see and feel the atmosphere inside the stadium, I go about the job at hand. The roar is deafening on the outside, and everybody is a teamster. My main priority is complete and I have 45 mins left to see the hall, but when I get there its a $20 admission. Hmm for maybe a 20 minute fly-by. No thanks.
Off I trudge back to the bus. The gig is in the middle of nowhere, but a grande old theatre it is, and all the staff are only too willing to assist, whether it be driving off 20 minutes for coffees for the crew, or driving me 30 minutes for good vego felafels. And damn- was it good. The gig has been operating for 40 years, with every band and their dog performing there over the years. Nine Black Alps join us again for this show, and its good to catch up with them again, but this time we have the upper hand.

AND NOW, A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR, ANDREW STOCKDALE;

Date: 8-april
Place: Philli
Vibe: The home of Rocky and Van Goghs sunflowers. Bringing together the beautiful synergy of low brow fist in face fight for dayly exsistance with flowers. This is the way of the Wolfmother tour.
Score: A kick arse coffee down at the market accompanied by a French crepe served by a waitress with an arse way to fine to have been of native american desent. Every man born in the eighties needs to satisfy his innerchild through running up the philli Museums stairs to attain greatness.
Devoured: 500 steps in my path to Italian Stallion cardio-Nirvana.
Action: THANKS ANDREW, BACK TO OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION; PHILI to me, has a great scene about it. I discover a great alt-area on south terrace with cafes, bars, record stores, hock shops, everything, only to have to leave soon after arriving. Oh well, I didnt blow all my $$$, but had a great cuppa and bowl of mushroom-lentil soup, courtesy of caramel on walnut st. up near the gig, theres a great area too, nearby the art museum, with cafes and restaurants. The bar is pretty cool too, with great pub grub, put on for us. And some kick-ass beers on tap. I opt for the Rogues Dead Guy Ale- superb. The franz Ferdinand lads show up to the gig and hang out with the die!guys and WM afterwards. Off to boston.

Date: 9-april
Place: Boston
Vibe: The Mighty, Mighty Boston
Score: plunger for the bus
Devoured: some great organics from wholefoods
Action: if every town over here keeps outdoing the previous one, my head will implode. Boston is a superb place. Although we got in pretty late, theres a lot around to do. I guess I couldve headed to the spots and looked around, but I opted for some wholesome organic shopping, and Im glad I did. Getting pretty over bagels for brekky already, and searching for java joe. When I arrive at this organic oasis, Im baffled that its bigger than fresh&wild back in the UK. My goodness. The show is sweet and I run into an acquaintance from gigs Ive done in oz, davin. And were off again for one helluva town

Date: 10-april
Place: New York
Vibe: its a hell of a town
Score: Big John Pattons Minor Swing, back into my collection
Devoured: baked eggs with mushies, tomato, and potato. Mmm good.
Action: off to do the banking, and Im overwhelmed by the size of this place. I mean Im only in the Manhattan Burough, but its massive. I then jump on the subway over to the east village and meet up with the Schust for some grub and an aussie coffee maker, albeit no soy. Superb food, and an espresso that hit the spot followed by a grand tour of the LPNYHQ made for a top afternoon for this day off. I then got some insider trader information on where to go for the best wax, so off I trotted, and was quite happy to find that kims videos had their clearance at 25% off alll new wax. St. Marks place was all for me. I then found Downtown Music, which is Zorns main stockist, and was happy to score a few items that have gone walkabout, and was then quite stoked to find THE BEST ASIAN RESTAURANT I have ever encountered, Wild Ginger on Broome St. the food was out of this world and very reasonably priced. Stoked.

Date: 11-april
Place: NY
Vibe: information overload
Score: Rasputans Stash on wax.
Devoured: the best spring rolls I have ever had.
Action: off for some downtown brekky, and a $2.50 granola with fruit and yoghurt hits the spot just right. Now for some more retail therapy. Im not that pleased as I have pfd (wrecked) my headphones, so Ill sample these noise cancelling ones, and hot damn- their doing their job on the plane now, and I scope from the corner of my eye the ipod docking speakers Ive been after, for only $100 (oz=275RRP). Snap! Tips better roll in in the city of tippers. I also peruse the area around Ave A and 14th. The Sound Library, sweet. Overpriced, but great digging underneath and then back to the famous Bowery Ballroom. What a great gig. And the James Bellesini Troupe are there, with farmy in tow. Also the other JBT are there. Sales and tips are superb, and we lose the entire band in an unfortunate aftershow incident well, instead of jumping the bus down to Baltimore, they opt for the party and making their own way down. Could we have an unscheduled day off?