i'm pretty much over the whole sg thang, which is why i never post remarks anymore. so i'm just cut/pasting from myspace/love police sites....
Date: 12-april
Place: Baltimore
Vibe: great area around the docks
Score: a stack of original funk pressings
Devoured: a great coffee from ??????????????????????????
Action: well, (un)fortunately the band did make it, though missing soundcheck. Those die!die!die! guys must drive like old ladies. Im sure they all had a blast at the aftershow party. I got out and around the town and managed to score a bunch of original funk pressings on the cheap. Also got myself cut throated in a afro-barber shop. Tres-styles. The town seemed a bit run down, but by the docks was pretty snazzy. Had an amazing coffee, during the gig as I was on the knod. The first band, the dead set were ex-pats from Sydney and very punk in their approach, setting up their gear on the floor and mashing their rock with sampled sounds.
Date: 13-april
Place: Charlotte
Vibe: a great city in the Middle-East (thanks, Brick Tamland)
Score: an interesting evening with Andrew
Devoured: 2 pints of Samuel Adams organic Ale and a superb veg buritto at Thomas St. Tavern.
Action: woke up, basically in the middle of nowhere (en-route to atlanta) but what a great city Charlotte turned out to be. I was fearing red necks and hicks, but it turned out to be a prosperous little town. Had a bit of a stroll around, in the most glorious of weather to discover a great caf with one of the best sandwiches Ive ever had. The girl informed me of a great art gallery which was housed in an old cathedral that had burnt down. I then found my way back downtown to the library (as you gathered I am a bit outrageous!) to post these here tales. I then met up with Andrew and we strolled around the downtown looking for a bite, but nothing showed up. I recalled hearing about an area called central (which was far from it) and we cabbed it in that direction. Our first port of call was the pub, though Andrew is off the booze at the moment and their menu seemed fitting aswell. The grub was awesome, the samadams organic ales were superb, we chin-wagged about all sorts, and decided to top it off with some pool. We then headed to one of the oddest places Ive been thus far; some local rock-star had put on an evening. We walked into the room and were in an empty room, apart from the star, his 2 go-go dancers and the bar staff. It was lame. We headed upstairs to a room, where the locals were until they climbed out the window and up the roof. Yes, charlotte was interesting.
Date: 14-april
Place: Atlanta
Vibe: still in the Olympic hey-day
Score: some great wax.
Devoured: sierra nevada
Action: had a bit of a stroll around this place, and its so freakin massive. Took me all day to get from one side of the city centre to the gig, but being those sierra nevadas IPA that Ive become fond of its a good thing. The gigs at the aptly named DRUNKEN UNICORN and its a very cool gig graff everywhere and unicorns for days. I met a bunch of interesting folks here, who are now informing me of greener pastures around the town, which Ill be checking out sometime soon.
Date: 15-april
Place: british airways
Vibe: loads of leg room!
Score: cant you read?
Devoured: shit food as my veg option didnt go through.
Action: Off to England for a few days to coincide with the album release. Most of the day is spent at airports and on planes. Pretty drab, not much to report. You should try it sometime if you wanna know how Dave Faulkner and myself feel about it.
Date: 16-april
Place: London, England
Vibe: its cold again.
Score: a day off to get over the flight
Devoured: a few ales with Tristan
Action: landed. Caught the train. Caught the other train. Walked a mile to the hotel. Checked the surrounds of Shepherds Bush. Tried to stay awake due to none on the flight. Went for a few pints with mr t. retire; hurt.
Date: 17-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: another day off to get over the flight.
Devoured: a lot of ZZZs
Action: checked a few old stomping grounds like Camden and Soho. contacted a few mates to inform them of my where-abouts. London calling
Date: 18-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: a gig opposite my favourite caf outside oz.
Devoured: ummm. Some said coffee from SUBURB.
Action: had a bit of a look further afield from SB so Portabello Rd seemed to be the spot. Quite surprised as to how many different sides London has. Though the promise of vinyl failed me here, the food won me over. Then off to rough trade in Covent Garden for an instore in what could only be described as tiny. The place filled up with fans and noise in no time as the band whipped through a few numbers.
Date: 19-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: a day with SFA to do
Devoured: probably some cool vinyl from somewhere. Its freaking hard to keep track of it all
Action: well, lets see. Nuthin and lots. I mean does anybody actually read this.
Date: 20-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: a night on
Devoured: an earful of aussies
Action: Camden crawl is like a miniature SXSW in London. About 10 venues open the doors to bands, fans and curious folk so for 20quid you can go to 10 venues where each has 5 bands. Its a bit of a mish-mash, and I guess you cant get into a club if its already capacity and merch dont go too well. Basically it was a great triumph for the band, and for me out in the foyer, it was a bit of a yawn.
Date: 21-april
Place: Sheffield
Vibe: this town rocks
Score: a Hendrix rarity for 3quid
Devoured: the venues catering
Action: another early start for the drive way up the country, and just aswell for the traffic and my half-arsed directions. we roll into town, and its a great venue, and they tell us that 800 tix have already sold! I trawl off to look around town and get our tma birthday prezzie. British comedy, you cant go wrong. The town is pretty arty, as any town with a tram-line is, but by the time I get out to see it, most of it is closed oh well, the venue is sold out and the crowd is very vocal and get a great show in return for it.
Date: 22-april
Place: Alexandra Palace, London
Vibe: Glorious
Score: A gig in the Palace.
Devoured: organic ales and superb catering
Action: Alexandra Palace was one of those places you just gotta rub your eyes and do a double take. I heard it was on a hill overlooking London, but when we got there, it made up for the lack of caffeine and space in the van. Set on top of a hill with a clear view of everything, it was nothing short of a palace. The venue itself could hold 8,000 or so, and then there were the other rooms and the ice skating rink all set in, well a palace. And the weather that London put on that day was ideal with not a cloud in the sky. It upset me when tristan rang inviting us for a bbq in the park. I had not much to do thanks to the Kaiser Chiefs and the venue, except take advantage of the catering and gawp in awe at the and from the venue. The band won over the crowd with ease, playing their biggest indoor show yet.
Date: 23-april
Place: around soho and covent garden
Vibe: grey
Score: a day with everyones favourite clegg.
Devoured: some amazing organic vegan action
Action: I head out to meet olematey, cleggers and introducer her to her hometown. We stroll around covent garden, neals yard and soho and discover a great little organic veggie place and we gorge ourselves silly on some delicious cuisine. Well spotted clegg! We walked up an appetite and now walk one off back around oxford circus.
Date: 24-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: hook-up with Rob
Devoured: some amazing thai near brick lane
Action:. The band were doing the album chart show today and an instore at Virgin megastore. I hung around for the megastore gig which was conveniently less than a mile from SUBURB COFFEE. It was looking as though not many peole were turning up for their official launch, but as the mi, which I was not required for, so I headed off to Brick Lane with Rob for a few bevvies and some grub. The Ten Bells pub I found and decided to meet up with him at had a history. It was where Jack the Ripper met up with his trollops before doing what he did best, which Im unsure of. Anyways, pool was played, food was eaten and a lot of pints were had, and I felt it when we got to the tube which Id missed the last one. Who knew the tube stopped??? On the buses.
Date: 26-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: setting up for the Q-mag photo shoot (not a score at all)
Devoured: a great brekkie at babes&burgers
Action: well today started a little early for old cotton fingers, well not too early, just before my dose of Suburb Caffeine. So off to an apparent rehearsal studio for some photos for Qmag, which Im helping set up to look like their jam room. Mis-hap 1: its a photo-studio. Mis-hap 2: the backline Q organise has no bass cabs or heads, just 20 marshall quad-boxes. Mis-hap 3: WM is NOT David Lee Roth. So we carry 8 of them upstairs, thinking to bring the rest up later, as the photographer thinks a wall of marshall would be cool. 1 gold star our way. The band get there and think its too DLR so we take a few out of the equation. Snaps are taken. Rock-moves posed. Its odd to watch a drummer play air-drums with a full kit in front of him. Anyways, packed it all down and off to the Koko again, which is where the top of the pops was filmed, and its an amazing old building. This gigs been sold out for a while, and the band turn it on and up for them. Were graced with the die!die!die!guys again for this show
Date: 27-april
Place: british airways
Vibe: how many movies can I watch?
Score: re-acquainted myself with Billy Bragg
Devoured: shit flight food
Action: blahblahblahblahblahblah
Date: 28-april
Place: Los Angeles
Vibe: what the?
Score: amoeba $50 voucher.
Devoured: the best coffee in USA at kings road caf.
Action: Im thinking that this week will be hell, with the only redeeming factor being amoeba, as last time I was here it was shit. But straight away I sniffed out an amazing caf whilst looking for another one that bt had taken me to years ago. This aint so bad. Then off I trot, full of beans for the 2 mile walk to amoeba. Around the first corner I spot a guy up a ladder putting up some Shepard Fairey propaganda billboard, and ask if he works for him. Lo and behold it is he, so we chat a while and he sings a few lines of woman citing that the loves the band. Stoked! We exchange details and off I stroll feeling even better about LA. Ah, amoeba. Last time I was here I spent a good 9 hours here and didnt put a dent in it, but this time its even bigger, but Ive got a 50$ voucher thanks to Casey and the band playing here last time. I walk out of there, having conquered maybe of what I wanted to, but having only spent the voucher. Nice. On the way back I note that the organic chain, wholefoods has wireless, so I take full advantage of that and their caf grub. This aint such a bad place after all
Date: 29-april
Place: Coachella festival
Vibe: could this be the best festival in the world? I think its a contender
Score: seeing a few great artists in some amazing surrounds
Devoured: the best festival catering ever
Action: ony 3 hours SE of LA and you hit a desert oasis called indio, and held in the polo fields is a festival called Coachella, very like splendour, but in USA super-sizing. The fact alone that its at a polo field sounds plush, and it is. The catering, backstage area, vip area, the soft maintained grass fields surrouded by palms surrounded by mountains all adds up to a thing of beauty. Out there amongst it was pretty warm and the sun was relentless, so myles, al and myself ddecided to go brokeback styles, looking California but feeling Minnesota.
Date: 30-april
Place: L.A.
Vibe: I love the smell of carbon monoxide in the morning
Score: a day in LA with SFA to do, hay.
Devoured: another day at the grande olde amoeba
Action: well, day off or not, there was a lot I wouldve liked to have done/seen at the festival, but it was good to not wait around all day for a handful of things yeah, Im jaded, I guess. Maybe you have too by the lack of juiciness and gossips here anyways, checked out a bit more of LA and confirmed that kings road is THE caf.
Date: 12-april
Place: Baltimore
Vibe: great area around the docks
Score: a stack of original funk pressings
Devoured: a great coffee from ??????????????????????????
Action: well, (un)fortunately the band did make it, though missing soundcheck. Those die!die!die! guys must drive like old ladies. Im sure they all had a blast at the aftershow party. I got out and around the town and managed to score a bunch of original funk pressings on the cheap. Also got myself cut throated in a afro-barber shop. Tres-styles. The town seemed a bit run down, but by the docks was pretty snazzy. Had an amazing coffee, during the gig as I was on the knod. The first band, the dead set were ex-pats from Sydney and very punk in their approach, setting up their gear on the floor and mashing their rock with sampled sounds.
Date: 13-april
Place: Charlotte
Vibe: a great city in the Middle-East (thanks, Brick Tamland)
Score: an interesting evening with Andrew
Devoured: 2 pints of Samuel Adams organic Ale and a superb veg buritto at Thomas St. Tavern.
Action: woke up, basically in the middle of nowhere (en-route to atlanta) but what a great city Charlotte turned out to be. I was fearing red necks and hicks, but it turned out to be a prosperous little town. Had a bit of a stroll around, in the most glorious of weather to discover a great caf with one of the best sandwiches Ive ever had. The girl informed me of a great art gallery which was housed in an old cathedral that had burnt down. I then found my way back downtown to the library (as you gathered I am a bit outrageous!) to post these here tales. I then met up with Andrew and we strolled around the downtown looking for a bite, but nothing showed up. I recalled hearing about an area called central (which was far from it) and we cabbed it in that direction. Our first port of call was the pub, though Andrew is off the booze at the moment and their menu seemed fitting aswell. The grub was awesome, the samadams organic ales were superb, we chin-wagged about all sorts, and decided to top it off with some pool. We then headed to one of the oddest places Ive been thus far; some local rock-star had put on an evening. We walked into the room and were in an empty room, apart from the star, his 2 go-go dancers and the bar staff. It was lame. We headed upstairs to a room, where the locals were until they climbed out the window and up the roof. Yes, charlotte was interesting.
Date: 14-april
Place: Atlanta
Vibe: still in the Olympic hey-day
Score: some great wax.
Devoured: sierra nevada
Action: had a bit of a stroll around this place, and its so freakin massive. Took me all day to get from one side of the city centre to the gig, but being those sierra nevadas IPA that Ive become fond of its a good thing. The gigs at the aptly named DRUNKEN UNICORN and its a very cool gig graff everywhere and unicorns for days. I met a bunch of interesting folks here, who are now informing me of greener pastures around the town, which Ill be checking out sometime soon.
Date: 15-april
Place: british airways
Vibe: loads of leg room!
Score: cant you read?
Devoured: shit food as my veg option didnt go through.
Action: Off to England for a few days to coincide with the album release. Most of the day is spent at airports and on planes. Pretty drab, not much to report. You should try it sometime if you wanna know how Dave Faulkner and myself feel about it.
Date: 16-april
Place: London, England
Vibe: its cold again.
Score: a day off to get over the flight
Devoured: a few ales with Tristan
Action: landed. Caught the train. Caught the other train. Walked a mile to the hotel. Checked the surrounds of Shepherds Bush. Tried to stay awake due to none on the flight. Went for a few pints with mr t. retire; hurt.
Date: 17-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: another day off to get over the flight.
Devoured: a lot of ZZZs
Action: checked a few old stomping grounds like Camden and Soho. contacted a few mates to inform them of my where-abouts. London calling
Date: 18-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: a gig opposite my favourite caf outside oz.
Devoured: ummm. Some said coffee from SUBURB.
Action: had a bit of a look further afield from SB so Portabello Rd seemed to be the spot. Quite surprised as to how many different sides London has. Though the promise of vinyl failed me here, the food won me over. Then off to rough trade in Covent Garden for an instore in what could only be described as tiny. The place filled up with fans and noise in no time as the band whipped through a few numbers.
Date: 19-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: a day with SFA to do
Devoured: probably some cool vinyl from somewhere. Its freaking hard to keep track of it all
Action: well, lets see. Nuthin and lots. I mean does anybody actually read this.
Date: 20-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: a night on
Devoured: an earful of aussies
Action: Camden crawl is like a miniature SXSW in London. About 10 venues open the doors to bands, fans and curious folk so for 20quid you can go to 10 venues where each has 5 bands. Its a bit of a mish-mash, and I guess you cant get into a club if its already capacity and merch dont go too well. Basically it was a great triumph for the band, and for me out in the foyer, it was a bit of a yawn.
Date: 21-april
Place: Sheffield
Vibe: this town rocks
Score: a Hendrix rarity for 3quid
Devoured: the venues catering
Action: another early start for the drive way up the country, and just aswell for the traffic and my half-arsed directions. we roll into town, and its a great venue, and they tell us that 800 tix have already sold! I trawl off to look around town and get our tma birthday prezzie. British comedy, you cant go wrong. The town is pretty arty, as any town with a tram-line is, but by the time I get out to see it, most of it is closed oh well, the venue is sold out and the crowd is very vocal and get a great show in return for it.
Date: 22-april
Place: Alexandra Palace, London
Vibe: Glorious
Score: A gig in the Palace.
Devoured: organic ales and superb catering
Action: Alexandra Palace was one of those places you just gotta rub your eyes and do a double take. I heard it was on a hill overlooking London, but when we got there, it made up for the lack of caffeine and space in the van. Set on top of a hill with a clear view of everything, it was nothing short of a palace. The venue itself could hold 8,000 or so, and then there were the other rooms and the ice skating rink all set in, well a palace. And the weather that London put on that day was ideal with not a cloud in the sky. It upset me when tristan rang inviting us for a bbq in the park. I had not much to do thanks to the Kaiser Chiefs and the venue, except take advantage of the catering and gawp in awe at the and from the venue. The band won over the crowd with ease, playing their biggest indoor show yet.
Date: 23-april
Place: around soho and covent garden
Vibe: grey
Score: a day with everyones favourite clegg.
Devoured: some amazing organic vegan action
Action: I head out to meet olematey, cleggers and introducer her to her hometown. We stroll around covent garden, neals yard and soho and discover a great little organic veggie place and we gorge ourselves silly on some delicious cuisine. Well spotted clegg! We walked up an appetite and now walk one off back around oxford circus.
Date: 24-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: hook-up with Rob
Devoured: some amazing thai near brick lane
Action:. The band were doing the album chart show today and an instore at Virgin megastore. I hung around for the megastore gig which was conveniently less than a mile from SUBURB COFFEE. It was looking as though not many peole were turning up for their official launch, but as the mi, which I was not required for, so I headed off to Brick Lane with Rob for a few bevvies and some grub. The Ten Bells pub I found and decided to meet up with him at had a history. It was where Jack the Ripper met up with his trollops before doing what he did best, which Im unsure of. Anyways, pool was played, food was eaten and a lot of pints were had, and I felt it when we got to the tube which Id missed the last one. Who knew the tube stopped??? On the buses.
Date: 26-april
Place: London
Vibe: grey
Score: setting up for the Q-mag photo shoot (not a score at all)
Devoured: a great brekkie at babes&burgers
Action: well today started a little early for old cotton fingers, well not too early, just before my dose of Suburb Caffeine. So off to an apparent rehearsal studio for some photos for Qmag, which Im helping set up to look like their jam room. Mis-hap 1: its a photo-studio. Mis-hap 2: the backline Q organise has no bass cabs or heads, just 20 marshall quad-boxes. Mis-hap 3: WM is NOT David Lee Roth. So we carry 8 of them upstairs, thinking to bring the rest up later, as the photographer thinks a wall of marshall would be cool. 1 gold star our way. The band get there and think its too DLR so we take a few out of the equation. Snaps are taken. Rock-moves posed. Its odd to watch a drummer play air-drums with a full kit in front of him. Anyways, packed it all down and off to the Koko again, which is where the top of the pops was filmed, and its an amazing old building. This gigs been sold out for a while, and the band turn it on and up for them. Were graced with the die!die!die!guys again for this show
Date: 27-april
Place: british airways
Vibe: how many movies can I watch?
Score: re-acquainted myself with Billy Bragg
Devoured: shit flight food
Action: blahblahblahblahblahblah
Date: 28-april
Place: Los Angeles
Vibe: what the?
Score: amoeba $50 voucher.
Devoured: the best coffee in USA at kings road caf.
Action: Im thinking that this week will be hell, with the only redeeming factor being amoeba, as last time I was here it was shit. But straight away I sniffed out an amazing caf whilst looking for another one that bt had taken me to years ago. This aint so bad. Then off I trot, full of beans for the 2 mile walk to amoeba. Around the first corner I spot a guy up a ladder putting up some Shepard Fairey propaganda billboard, and ask if he works for him. Lo and behold it is he, so we chat a while and he sings a few lines of woman citing that the loves the band. Stoked! We exchange details and off I stroll feeling even better about LA. Ah, amoeba. Last time I was here I spent a good 9 hours here and didnt put a dent in it, but this time its even bigger, but Ive got a 50$ voucher thanks to Casey and the band playing here last time. I walk out of there, having conquered maybe of what I wanted to, but having only spent the voucher. Nice. On the way back I note that the organic chain, wholefoods has wireless, so I take full advantage of that and their caf grub. This aint such a bad place after all
Date: 29-april
Place: Coachella festival
Vibe: could this be the best festival in the world? I think its a contender
Score: seeing a few great artists in some amazing surrounds
Devoured: the best festival catering ever
Action: ony 3 hours SE of LA and you hit a desert oasis called indio, and held in the polo fields is a festival called Coachella, very like splendour, but in USA super-sizing. The fact alone that its at a polo field sounds plush, and it is. The catering, backstage area, vip area, the soft maintained grass fields surrouded by palms surrounded by mountains all adds up to a thing of beauty. Out there amongst it was pretty warm and the sun was relentless, so myles, al and myself ddecided to go brokeback styles, looking California but feeling Minnesota.
Date: 30-april
Place: L.A.
Vibe: I love the smell of carbon monoxide in the morning
Score: a day in LA with SFA to do, hay.
Devoured: another day at the grande olde amoeba
Action: well, day off or not, there was a lot I wouldve liked to have done/seen at the festival, but it was good to not wait around all day for a handful of things yeah, Im jaded, I guess. Maybe you have too by the lack of juiciness and gossips here anyways, checked out a bit more of LA and confirmed that kings road is THE caf.
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
You are a big poof girl, you're also the most lamest. Lame is the new F word, still. So what do big bitches like you do lately? We couldnt be fucked reading your blogs. BORING. We are so high fiving ourselves right now.
Laters,
BACON