Nov. 10, 2003 - 10:55
we're here we're here we're here!!! yadda yadda bling bling i
got the zing zing whoopie pie all right!!!!!!!!!!!! i love scotland.
heather took us out on the town last nite and yep combined
with jet lag and a few beers i was singing born in the usa on
top of the table. you wish you had been there i know. well,
okay i wasn't on the table and the only song i sang was a little
neil diamond to myself in the bathroom. it had to be done.
heather's flat rules. and her roommate katrina rules too. she made flapjacks (little oatmeal raisin honey things) last nite and us lushes pounced on them when we got back. i have been sleeping like a baby here on a very comfortable futon. what is it about staying with girls where they just know how to give those little extra perks that make you feel taken care of? especially if you're more of a girly girl than you care to admit? like clean towels and warm blankets and coffee and snacks and good gossip and i think i'm moving in don't tell them yet.
matt is full of verve and his beard is making quite a statement in scotland. the ladies love it. he misses the gym and wants us to do calisthenics every morning. oh god. i told him i'd lie down and watch him do stretches.
tonite is the first show yay!!!in edinburgh my favorite fairyland castle town.
tomorrow is glasgow. maybe brendan will be doing sound again? then i can write Crush Story Volume 2 of old teenage fanclub drummer ha ha.
shout out to tina and sharky i miss you! and yoko-ling! and gummo!
sigh. sweet little gummo roast cutie plump around the edges bury my face in his fur he is my cat baby!!!!!!
more soon i gotta organize.
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Nov. 14, 2003 - 11:44
edinburgh was a show in a theatre
cave and it looked like a haunted house
with candles. people came out (woo
woo) and it was cool to play with
gordon of ballboy. he reminded me of
looper a little. that talk style over guitar.
we stayed with ed of sl records (who
put on the show in edinburgh) that nite
and his flatmate sophie gave up her
bed for matt & I. awww. turns out our
driver alun lives with ed and he's also
an artist (as well as a kick ass
drummer) and his painting are out of
this world beautiful. next morning we
got on the train kind of early cause i had
to go back to glasgow (it's only an hour
train ride) and change bass drum head and insure the drum kit that i was borrowing for our england shows. oh tired. lots of running around that day getting gear in one place and bags in another & plans of organizing but i got a shower at heather's and felt restored. i felt a little wierd about the show that nite--drank a bit too much lager beforehand and felt like i wasn't as sensitive to the music as i should've been. but after a few songs i felt more connected. matt claims this was our sid and nancy show. i got really emotional teary-eyed after the show. all the anxiety of what we were doing caught up with me and we were a bit rushed after playing to load everything up and after a day of running around i think i just had to get my ya ya's out. felt better after the ya ya's were out though. andrea and fraser were so good to us--feeding us and making sure we were comfortable. i had a great sleep there that nite.
next day was newcastle. Alun met us (he is the drummer for the band Desc and they played with us in glasgow--think cellos and sort of luscious indie goth with girl and boy vocals. gorgeous.) We're going to make alun play drums with us on holy cat watch out! we picked up our rental van and then our gear and said goodbye to heather at the shoeshine office and we drove a few hours down to newcastle. Paul, the promoter for this show, met us at the venue and he was so warm and excited for the show that it made me excited too. Not as many people came to this show as anticipated, but the audience was so enthusiastic and they DANCED and matt & i felt great about our set that nite. where does my energy come from sometimes? all day i had been hungry tired whiny bones but then throw me onstage and i'm like animal from the muppet show hee hee.
James Jam played with us at this show too---his excitement for all things antifolk was contagious and he started out the evening with really lovely melodic strummy songs. one song that i can't get out of my head is the "stars are shining in yorkshire tonite just for you". dreamy.
met his girlfriend becky who has a girl band called we start fires and i really want to hear them. i'm thinking pantsuit should come to newcastle and play with them & do ladyfest. oh yeah i'm completely self-centered right now. i'm forgetting to mention what a smash mr. thomas truax is! people are in love with his hornicator and sister spinster and he's got some tom waits--ish wild man blood in him. spooky and kooky he rocks!
we stayed at paul and james' flat that nite. ten guys living in one house! toilet paper was hard to come by, that's all i'm sayin'. had a nice late nite conversation with james and becky about all the riot grrrl bands i saw ten years ago when i was living in london---linus, huggy bear, skinned teen, avacado baby, pussycat trash....
it made me really happy to talk about them---these bands were what pushed me to start playing music and it was so cool to talk to people who knew about them!! paul burned me a cd that nite of some of those bands. yee haw!!!
james gave matt & i his bed that nite. poor thomas was on the floor. i almost said "poor judd is dead".
next day we were off early to hull. took the scenic route and had lunch in scarboro. do not EVEN start singing simon & garfunkel. beautiful seaside town--had steak pie and mashed potatoes and then we walked on the beach for a few minutes. took pictures too.
got to hull in time to drop bags off at emma rugg's house (thomas' friend) and took showers, had coffee, and sat by her electric fires. nice! went to the venue and were immediately greeted by Paul (WHAT IS IT WITH ALL THE PAUL'S I'M MEETING?? in newcastle i met FOUR, i'm not kidding.) the owner of the Adelphi, who ordered us indian food and made us tea and coffee while we set up & soundchecked.
The Hull show was a burst of goodness. Lots of peeps came out and i met these girls from washington state who knew where chehalis was holy cow!
a singer/songwriter named matt (not the major!) opened up the nite. he reminded me of the lach line "i'm an angel and a devil both, don't divide me". so angelic and unassuming and then he'd put on a blast of lung power and rock out and then back to sweet again. he also worked behind the bar and after he was done playing he went right back to serving drinks.
when thomas did his hornicator tune "i'm coming home" he left the stage and went out the door and the looks on people's faces was priceless. the hull audience remembered & loved thomas--they were singing along it was cool.
matt & i rocked out. my drumming is feeling better and better...all this practice is sending me into janet weiss land whoopee! met a girl after the show who reminded me of atlantis black and who said it was nice to see a woman playing the drums. met another friend of kate's named sarah who was lovely too. and quite a good dancer.
we cleared out of the adelphi very contented and came back to emma's flat. she is a sweetheart and gave us wine and chocolate and sang us songs and kept us warm with her electric fires and many blankets and maybe i should move in? she also has a drum kit set up in the kitchen and that reminds me of when i lived with joy tomasko the summer we did NJ shakespeare festival and we kept her drum kit set up in our dorm room. because the time is always right to play! the only song i played then was the eagles--"heartache tonite". at the top of my lungs.
alright kiddies. i have to go eat breakfast now. manchester tonite. i may wear black sequins. in honor of morrissey and happy mondays.
**************************************************************
Nov. 23, 2003 - 3:06
i have five minutes to write an entry. i forgot to mention SO MANY things in my last entries. i'm so behind on my tour diary it's ridiculous.
let me just give you some highlights sand then i'm on a train from amsterdam to haarlem.
i just went to a cafe called 420 cafe. ha ha ha. all i had was coffee.no really. my fatigue has reached delirious heights and i find myself bursting into laughter at trains and dogs crossing the street and typing on the computer and i haven't even partaken of the amsterdam lifestyle yet no joke.
need energy to drum tonite after all.
we missed our flight to amsterdam last nite---and stayed in a hotel close to london luton airport so we could catch an 8am flight. i took a hot bath at the hotel and washed some underwear and socks. it's the little things i'm telling you i felt like a new woman after that.
i just ate ham and cheese pancakes in the middle of amsterdam with matt and thomas and bought some souvenirs.
i'm going to write more entries later. my journal notes are currently in a locker at the train station so what can i do but write a scattered entry to let you all know i'm healthy and eating well and the shows are making me happy. wow london. wow.
more on that one soon.
okay ciao bellas!!!
do some laundry in my honor!
*************************************************************
Dec. 02, 2003 - 1:54
we're back! right now gummo is sitting on my lap and i'm drinking coffee. i
think julie and jon b. worked some voodoo on him. he's been really sweet
ever since we got home. he's not that vocal but maybe i got used to julia's
cat Mr. Munch in London, who has quite a yowl.
monsieur le munch! he was cute and very skinny compared to monsieur
gummo, who seemed to put on some weight in our absence. he's an
emotional eater you know.
this morning matt & i got up at 8am and got some things organized. like
going to the bank and buying cat litter and eating cheap bfast at sidewalk
(aww sidewalk i missed you!) and grocery shopping cause i'm making soup
tonite. and cookies.
and lounging. we got some movies too.
i will now tell you more about our uk/european adventure. in little chunks.
like chocolate chips.
*Not counting the amsterdam entry, i really left you in Hull as we were on our way to play a friday nite show in manchester, home of morrissey and happy mondays. these guys called "acoustic anarky" put on the show for us. one of them was also in a band playing that nite called loose canon with a 17 year old drummergirl named Beck who was the shit! she'd only been playing for 10 months. jeez!!!!!!! she was really good. it was the only nite of the tour that we played early. i wore black sparkle top as it was manchester. there was definitely a college party vibe. felt good about our set and like people were listening. think thomas may have got more talkers during his set cause people were pretty wasted by then. one girl threw up near the merch table and between the smell of vomit and all the ciggy smoke i had to go upstairs to the hotel bar to take a break. oh yeah the venue was the basement of a hotel-the piccadilly gardens hotel--pretty cool room actually.
they had some good food upstairs and while we were eating veggie cheese sandwiches and chips this group of about 30 swedish cheerleaders walked in and tried to steal our seats. ha! when there is food near me i get territorial. had to be aggressive.
though the guys didn't seem to mind the invasion i wonder why.
our friend from sidewalk who we met in nyc named mark silverman came to the show AND let us crash at his luxury condo (he was transferred for his computer job to manchester for a year and they gave him a beautiful furnished apartment complete with guest room & bathroom and towels and dishes and the whole nine yards). After the show we went back to luxuryville and i found some pasta and tomato sauce and fresh parmesan cheese and garlic and made us some grub. the boys decided they needed to drink absinthe. not me said the flea. i had herbal tea like the granny i am and went to bed.
*next morning mark even got up with us at 9am and we had tea and coffee and hit the road like toads. we had to drive to cardiff, wales, alun's hometown! well not his real hometown but he went to school there. he actually grew up in swansea. we made it to cardiff in record time and alun took us to this scrumptious italian cafe run by one little man with about four tables and we feasted. i even found a juice place nearby and before our meal had a spinach and apple juice. need my vitamins y'all.
CARDIFF RULED.
gary the promoter met us at the venue which was upstairs at a pub called dempsey's. virtually everyone we met that nite was friendly and open and we felt really welcome the moment we stepped into the place. awww. loads of people came out for the show and there were even dancers. shout out to sophie who was the best dancer even though she had to tape up her floating kneecaps so she wouldn't get injured. there was an indie-rock dance party after the show which found all of us pogo-ing to the pixies and breeders and shaking our bootys till the bar closed.
We left to crash at Fran's (from the band the wave pictures---he is a true sweetie and my last memory of him was playing drums with he and dave spur of the moment at dashan's barbeque/schwervon video shoot) flat and on the way there we had a few extra people in the van and the cardiff police knocked on the car at a red light and told us all to get out. so matt & i hopped out and the police left to go chase someone else. so there we are waiting on the sidewalk in the middle of cardiff waiting for alun to come get us after taking the first group to the flat. matt had to pee really bad and was about to pee in the bushes when alun came back. phew. almost had an incident there.
The next day we woke up and when i went downstairs they told me Alun had gone to the hospital. See, he had a cracked rib. From before we even started our tour. But it had really hurt him that morning--probably from all the dancing we did the nite before (we also hung out and danced with his friends matt & simon who were so cool). he came back shortly and reported everything to be fine--he just needed ibuprofen. luckily i had some advil on me. that guy never complained about anything. after the hospital incident we made sure he didn't try to carry things. he tried though. we had to tell him to stop being so nice!
**Ah yes. NOTTINGHAM. Looking back, this is the one show where i felt wierd & low energy. the vibe of the venue was sunday nite if you know what i mean. we met the headliner named cass mccombs who has an album out on 4AD. a couple members of his band were from new york and it was a trip that they knew where we lived and about tucasa and the sidewalk. they seemed a little tired that nite too. we stayed with lovely peeps sarah and steve (who opened up the nite--loved his low voice) and i got a cd from steve which i am excited to hear.
next day we had to get out of there early to make our radio interview & press interview at leeds. ooooh la la. INTERVIEWS. hee hee.
we noticed a parking ticket on our van when we left sarah & steve's. which sucked, but it woulda been worse had we not paid it off before we left the uk. i'm glad we were prompt & thankful to ms. julia for takin' care of business!
The radio interview at univ. of leeds was hilarious. the students running the stations were so charged up full of energy and spazziness that i felt right at home. we played dinner and song for weddings and funerals and on dinner i drummed on a trash bin. then we played a question/answer game with some of the dj's. it was trivia about new york city--like how many pounds of trash is taken out in nyc every day? and what is the state insect.
forget about the trash number...of course it was a lot. the insect was the "ladybird" or known here as the "ladybug".
we received a smiley signed picture of the station dj's which is going right up on my wall. the organizer for the interviewer was a lovely woman named helena who gave us tea and even got us a cup for poor alun, who was waiting with his cracked rib in the van. then it was on to the venue to soundcheck and eat and do another interview--this time with a girl named Hayley who was a student. i'm not sure what we said. got asked a lot about being in a band as a couple and also questions about antifolk. I hope we didn't say anything too embarrassing.
this girl band called no problems disco opened up the show and they rocked. they were really fun to watch--both the drummer and bassist had unique styles and were very focused. the singer was kind of casual sort of talking singing and there was a quality of matter-of-factness that i liked. i got their cd too and i'm psyched.
this was one of my favorite shows. i had been complaining to alun about how i kept hitting my hand on the damn floor tom and he showed me an easier way to grip the drumstick. it totally worked and i felt in the zone and had lots of energy and matt & i kicked it.
the sound guy reminded me of someone from new york there was just a punky garage-ey feeling about the nite.
stayed at johnny's place (he's a promoter who put on the johnny a go go go go festival that we played in leeds in may) and ate pizza and slept for a few hours and then it was up early because everyone in the flat had to go to work or school. not us though. we just had to eat breakfast and then go to oxford to rock out! alun had some more friends (he has a lot of friends that guy) who lived in oxford and said we could stay with them and the second we walked in their door i felt at home. their names were chris and yvonne. we lounged for a while and yvonne gave us sandwiches and then we went to the club. it was called the cellar and we had played there last spring. the guys from truck records organized the show (p.c. and paul---they were super sweet and promoted the show really well judging from the turnout). only thing about that place was the sound. last time they stuck me back in the corner and i couldn't hear anything---so this time i made sure that i put the drums the way matt I were getting used to--both of us side by side with me stage left and him stage right. the stage (or floor really as there was no raised platform) sloped downward which is why they usually put the drummers way in the back corner. but we got it sorted out---the engineer girl tried her best to get the sound good on stage but it was tricky that nite. i put an earplug in my left ear and that helped a little. i think it sounded better out in the audience. the actual show was fun and the audience was laid back though attentive. a band called the epstein barr virus played after us. the lead singer looked like a young kevin kline. they sang country songs and it was kind of refreshing after so much rock and roll to get some mellow stuff. i met a girl named lauren that nite who knows jon roren from long island!! thank jon for telling her to come to the show!
okay next up---brighton bristol and london and forgotten things.
***************************************************************************
Dec. 03, 2003 - 11:48
my nose is cold. it's dang cold in nyc. matt made bfast this morning. kielbasa,
eggs, and beans. he likes english breakfasts. he's been up since 6am doing
olive juice things. think this jet lag thing takes like a week to get better. gummo
is sleeping though.
ahh so brighton.
**Thomas had a radio interview with a woman named Claire Kember at
Totallyradio.com/totallywired.com in Brighton, so we left oxford kind of early.
Thomas let us crash the radio interview too, which was nice of him. Claire was
very nice to us and gave me muesli cause i was whining about only having
eaten nuts and an orange that day. We got to act silly and drink coffe and play
some songs off the antifolk compilation, like randi russo and american
anymen. we played the dinner song live and it sounded kind of mellow given
our starving state. think we mentioned finding green stuff under the couch at
one of the places we had stayed on the tour. yuck!
After the interview we went to the venue--which was upstairs at the Prince
Albert. There was a woman with dreads behind the bar and I asked for a glass of water and she said, "Please!" I said, "Please! I've had a hard day with no food. Please can I have some water?"
I don't think she liked me. Getting water is tricky though in england anyway. They want you to buy something and asking for tap water is like an insult. I'm so spoiled, I know. Princess Nanishka.
Matt & I walked up the road after soundcheck and had an omelet & chips. When we got back to the venue Anna and Dide (her mother) were there! We had stayed with them last spring at their beautiful barnhouse in the country outside of Brighton and it made me so happy to see them. The show went by very quickly that nite. I know I felt pretty good....the bantering thing wasn't freaking me out as much anymore. I was starting to relax more by this point in the tour. There's nothing like playing nite after nite to build up not only your muscles but your confidence a little bit too. The turnout for this show was a little low but the crowd who were there were wonderful. A girl named aya told a joke when matt broke a string. i loved that. After the show we went to Manor Farm with Anna. On the way we stopped for pizza and a walk on the beach. Did you know the beach in Brighton is made up of rocks? No sand anywhere. It makes the best crunchy noise when you walk. That nite was so pretty. The skyline was purpley black and Alun told me that when he paints he uses Prussian blue to get the color of that skyline. I tried to dodge waves but didn't want to get my feet wet so i stayed clear of the water. Except I got my hands wet. I pocketed a couple brighton rocks for souvenirs but i can't find them now so they are probably on a stage in paris or something. After ocean time, we went to the farmhouse and had tea and lemon cake with Anna and Dide and Antony (anna's brother) and Snowy (the dog they were taking care of for a friend). I love their house so much--i got the best sleep ever that nite under a huge down comforter and woke up the next morning to Dide making eggs and bacon breakfasts. yum!
*We were on our way to Bristol then. Camilla, who helped organize ladyfest bristol last summer, was putting on our show. ON A BOAT called Il Bordello. Another town where we felt welcomed. We met her at the store she works, called HERE, a record shop with handmade clothes and crafts and comic books. It is a really cool store. I want to work in a place like that. There's even an art gallery downstairs. Camilla was knitting when we got there. My soul sister! she took us to her friend Aaron's house who made us veggie burgers and chips. And we listened to records and everyone checked their email but me who couldn't move from the couch.
Then we went to the boat and set up in a tiny corner by the bathroom. The place was small and swanky. Again the turnout was a little low but it made for a nice, mellow, intimate set where we played lots of keyboard songs. There was a girl named Mel who opened up the nite. She was really sincere and inspiring with her folk songs. She and I talked a bit and we discovered that we have the same mannerisms. We say "Yeah like totally I know" and "dude" a lot. She loves melissa ferrick and I told her I had seen her play in new york. She told me about going to new york and hanging out with cool ladies after an amy ray show. i like amy ray. she has edge. Matt had a cocktail on the boat that nite that almost knocked him out. It was called "warm apple pie". He had to get some tea and chocolate after that one. After the show we went to Here and picked out some goodies. I got a beautiful scarf with wristcuffs knitted by a girl in sweden. Matt got a tee shirt and was excited cause all his shirts were really dirty by then. Thomas got a painting.
Camilla's house was craft central! I want to go visit her and knit and make things.
She is super sweet. my new friend.
Next morning I cleaned out the van and gave camilla all the silverware I had stolen from rest areas. They didn't have plastic utensils anywhere. What was I supposed to do?
We got to London nice and early for our soundcheck at Bush Hall. That nite was day 2 of the strange fruit festival. Some really cool bands played with us, like Vermont (with a singer who reminds me of Anu) and Free Loan Investments (from Sweden) and The Lucksmiths (from australia, with a lead singer who drums standing up center stage. hee!).
That nite was WILD with tons of people and dancing and an upstairs balcony and i worked the merch table and it was insane and beer everywhere and our friend spencer evans came to the show because he was in town with his wife who's in a dance company and during the schwerve set my drumkit kept slipping cause i forgot to put carpet under it and by the last song i was doing the splits to reach the bass drum but really what's more rock and roll than that?
Alun was drumming with us on holy cat while i played keyboards and it sounded very galaxy 500 i loved it. Have I mentioned that Alun is a character in a movie with his black mohawk and kohl-lined eyes and wearing all black but having the gentlest, sweetest personality? We were so lucky to have him as our driver. He was patient and grounded and got us to places on time and not only that, he rocked on drums with a really unique almost orchestral style.
After the show, our whole loony tunes crew went to julia's flat and had drinks and slept in a row on her floor and air mattress. Even the sound guy Cass was there. Next morning Ed (julia's boyfriend and manager/ceo of sl records) made us egg sandwiches while we farted around and checked email and decided when we should leave to catch our flight to amsterdam.
*Despite leaving 3 1/2 hours before our flight, we missed it. The tube had major delays.
Luton Airport (where we were to catch our puddle jumper plane) was a couple hours from julia's house and we didn't want to go back so we stayed in a hotel and ate and crashed. But I told you about that. So next up. Our gig in the Netherlands!
THINGS I FORGOT!
*There was breakdancing in newcastle. Thomas did a full butt spin in front of the stage while we were playing. I did one before he played. and a cartwheel. Oh and this guy named paul took a picture of matt & i on stage hiding in a corner of the stage. Then james jam came up on stage when my mic fell to fix it and he hid in a corner of the stage. ha! newcastle was all about stage corners and dancing.
*i cannot eat french fries for a very long time. well unless there's vinegar around.
****************************************************************************
Dec. 04, 2003 - 8:48
MORE LONDON:
Okay every entry is complete with additional
things I forgot from the entry before.
In London, not only was Spencer Evans there to
party with us, but Paul Goldstein and Sally and
Heather came down from Glasgow and Julia
was there and Paul strangefruit who has the
sweetest eyes and he is a lawyer by day and
rock show organizer by nite! and Sergeant
Buzfuz was there too. With his hoop earring
sometimes he reminds me of a friendly pirate
hee hee.
And Simon from Vermont was really fun to work
the merch table with. He was WACKY and we talked about physics, I'm not kidding. But when he plays guitar he completely spazzes out and it's fantastic. With the girl named Sabine reminds me of Anu. It's like she had a secret when she was performing and that mysterious charm reminds me of Anu.
BACK TO AMSTERDAM:
We got our asses up in the hotel by luton airport at 5:30 am. wah!
Made it to Amsterdam and hung out for a couple hours. Drank coffee and despite what you think you know about americans in amsterdam, we did not fall into the typical cliche. We took a train to Haarlem where our gig was at a place called the Patronaat. We knocked on the locked door thinking we were super early for soundcheck (it was 4:30) and were greeted by a man who looked like a cross between Joe Bendik and Keith Richards. His name was REM, as in Rapid Eye Movement. He said he was so glad we were finally there and that we missed our soundcheck. cause they were opening the doors in an hour. Oops. It was an early show! We went out onstage and I'm not kidding you, THREE guys helped bring out my drumkit and assembled it for me asking if the adjustments were right. Wow what service! They were working for a head sound engineer woman who was really nice and checked drum and guitar levels for us even though they didn't have time to fully soundcheck us.
There was a whole backstage area with water and juice and couches and a shower and this place the Patronaat was actually a rock venue, art gallery, cafe, and black box theatre all rolled up into one enormous building. REM gave us meal tickets and a bunch of tokens for free drinks. We had chicken tikka masala. Then the show started with a band called The Tenants who had recently played in new york at sin-e. Sweet vocals. Thomas took the stage and there was a group of ladies kind of dancing at the front. They stayed there throughout our set too. We were tired but started sweating soon enough, which always makes me play better. After the show they cleared the place out by 10am and then the party started. The staff who worked at Patronaat were all volunteers if you can believe it. They thought it was important to keep a place like that running. yeah! They often hung out and ate and partied after their events. Trays of cheese and bread and tuna and dips and chocolate and beer were brought out and we all hung out talking for a couple hours. The plan was for us to stay at the venue that nite on the couches backstage because we had to leave at 6:30 the next morning to catch a train to Nuernberg. Some of the volunteers said that usually the bands leave and go to hotels and that they were glad we were hanging out with them. A guy named Pieter engaged matt & i in a conversation about America and mass consumerism for a while. I also got a tour of the building and while it is enormous and beautiful they are actually getting funding to build another home for the Patronaat.
I was the first of our gypsy entourage to turn in. The boys gave me the best couch to sleep on. Morning came much too soon. REM gave us coffee and Pieter had left out cold cuts for us to make sandwiches. They came in handy on the train. One reason we wanted to leave so early for Nuernberg was to catch this guy Stefan Wagner's radio show. He was the promoter for our Nuernberg show and was also putting us up that nite. Turns out we got to Nuernberg on time but it took us an hour to figure out how to use German payphones so we ended up missing the radio show. The number we had for Stefan was wrong, which didn't help matters. A woman kept answering speaking rapidly in German. I was so stressed out & hungry after making a German Security Guard call the number we had for Stefan, and determining that the number was indeed incorrect, that I bought matt & I wiener schnitzel's on a bun. They were good.
We walked to the venue which was only a couple of blocks away from the station. When all else fails, go to the venue! They had the right number for Stefan there and he came and met us and seeing our worn out faces he gave us coffee and snacks and told us to relax. Oh, and they fed us in the kitchen downstairs---a broccoli pasta cheese thing that was sooooo good. This venue was also an enormous building that had a cathredal like feel except there were offices upstairs and an art gallery. But think stone and marble. With a dirty little rock club on the first floor. The drums arrived at 6 and that's one thing I should mention about europe. Every single promoter & venue made sure that matt & I had a drumkit and guitar amp for our show. There were no, "I couldn't get the pieces" or "sorry charlie's". All the equipment we borrowed was nice and sounded good and we are so grateful to the promoters for being so cool with us borrowing a backline! Anyway, a guy named Chris gave us drums & amp that nite and he even stayed for the show and that was cool. It was a more intimate show that at the Patronaat---I had one of their local beers and damn, toto we're not in kansas anymore! beer is just better in england and europe. It just is. Toby, the sound engineer for the nite, was really cool and attentive and I dug the sound. (The Patronaat had a soundperson for the monitors and i think it took a while for the monitor mix to sound right.) After the show we went to Stefan's flat and had tea and then proceeded to pass out for 10 hours. It was the only nite of the european leg of the tour that we got to sleep a little more.
The next morn we had coffee and muffins and toast and listened to scout niblett (who we'd heard about nearly every town we played. finally got to hear her and yes, she is all that. i definitely dig her style of pj harvey/cat power while playing the drums. i like those drummers).
It was off to Leipzig that day.
**Daniel (the Leipzig promoter) met us at the train station and somehow we all squeezed into his little car. On the way out of the station he showed us a "things to do around town" paper and our gig was listed for that nite including the pic of me holding up the pamela des barres book. hee hee.
This venue was an arts cafe located in the basement of an art school. There were a couple different exhibitions going on that nite with loads of students milling around. And guess what? A lot of them came to our show! I had no idea that you could cram as many sweaty dancing bodies into a room as they did in Leipzig, but we weren't complaining. I also had not formerly experienced what it was like to have 2 encores with several songs each and to be told "YOU can't stop playing! NOOOO!" by a wailing girl at the front of the stage. She and her friends kept yelling "we wanna dance!" and dance they did, holy cow. The drums I borrowed from Daniel were the best sounding of the whole tour. That floor tom I want to marry. This was probably one of our most delirious wacky sweaty schwervon shows ever. After the show I met some cool people, including a fellow named Jurgen who talked with me about music for a while and brought over beers for us at the merch table. People kept thanking us for playing but I kept thanking them too. When people give you so much energy while you're onstage you can't help but give a lot back. I know it sounds cheesy, but that nite made us high and energized us and if you perform you know what I'm talking about. My drum teacher said to me once that a good show can carry you for a few days.
I should mention Daniel's art project while I'm remembering it. Every morning when he wakes up he talks into a recorder about how he feels....like one sentence. He is going to do this for one year and set all those pieces of recorded feeling/words to music....so he will have 365 separate pieces of music--all strung together. Matt & I said we'd return in one year and see his progress and maybe record some of the words for him. yeah!
Food report: one of the best meals we had pre-show. Vegetables and cheese over brown rice.
Went back to Daniel's flat and slept on a futon. Luxury! Then it was a few hours sleep and back to the train station to get to paris by 5pm that day. The angel Daniel said he'd drive us to the train station and he looked like a stunned deer when he woke us up at 6:00am.
Can't remember the trip to paris. I was sleepy and hungry I know that. I couldn't find a dining car on the train and kept yelling "Manger! manger!" until someone told me that a trolley cart was coming around the train. Oh lordy. We bought coffees and 5 waters and ham and cheese sandwiches and it was like thanksgiving i swear. I know why so many french people are so thin. it's food deprivation on trains.
PARIS PARIS PARIS IS NEXT!
*******************************************************
Dec. 05, 2003 - 9:16
well I tell you this getting up at 7am and going to
be at 9pm thing is freaking me out. I'm going to
admit something here. I kind of like getting up
early (if I am well-rested that is). I find that I am
productive in the mornings. The first few hours
sipping coffee and eating bfast and sending
emails and writing and doing a little music
business stuff. I like it. Yesterday Matt & I did a
new bio and quote sheet to start sending out with
our new cds next week. I know I should be
temping soon--i've started calling around to
agencies--but at least while I'm not working I'm
getting some other stuff done.
Have started working on some new lyrics too for
a psuit song. So far wierder than ever but I always
say that don't I? wierd is good!!!
And yesterday I made a casserole. Two huge home-cooked meals in one week. That's a record. I guess I needed a few days to lay low and sleep a lot and be home-ey.
I did some bday shopping for someone but i'm not saying who. I can't wait to see her. shout out to sharkfina! i dropped the beans. oops. well it's not like she doesn't KNOW it's her birthday.
oh tour diary. that's right.
We were on our way to Paris the last time I left you. I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back. Sorry, I'm back. Maybe that was extra information you didn't need.
We arrived in Paris around 5ish, and made it to the venue by Taxi at around 5:30. We walked into a nice mercury lounge sized club and the engineer had me & matt soundcheck right away. I was using Neman's (from Herman Dune) drums that nite and they were already set up. Herman Dune wasn't playing, but David Dune's other band Temple Temple was. He drums and sings with them. We were also playing with The Thermals, a band on Sub Pop from Portland, Oregon. After soundcheck, we went up to the dressing room/backstage area and found a little party going on with members of Temple Temple and The Thermals. Nuts and cookies and wine and beer and coffee and loungey chairs. Man, they make you feel all rock star-ish in europe. We tried to make coffee but the coffee pot was blocked up which led me and The Thermals singer Hutch to chat about coffee in the northwest for a while. We also met Etienne (guitar player with TT) and Q (sax player with TT), and Nicholas (bass player for TT). David Ivar was at a radio interview so he wasn't in the dressing room. Etienne was sort of hilarious. He said he was shaky nervous and had been drinking beer for hours. He said Temple Temple only played a couple times a year and his nerves just couldn't take it. He was so cute! I just knew he was going to rock. When people are that nervous, there is something at stake, and you just know that it's going to be exciting. I loved Temple Temple already and hadn't even seen them play yet. Matt & I decided that Q should play sax with us on Something Else, which had grown into a crazy psychedelic jamfest over the course of the tour. We asked Q to "come play sax with us!" and it sounded like I said, "come have sex with us!" which made everyone bust a gut. matt said that everyone could have their turn but Q was first. ha ha! We went downstairs and ran through the song, and while we were down there we met up with Chris Hart! Chris is Matt's childhood friend from Kansas, and I got to know him well too cause he lived in NYC up until a couple of years ago, when he decided to be a frenchie and move to Paris. He got married a year ago to a lovely woman named Eliza. She turned up at the club right as
they were feeding all the bands dinner (a lovely
veggie meal of wine, lentils, mashed potatoes,
and string beans). They also brought their friend
Erik along who I had met before but hadn't
remembered where. Turns out he was at the
very last Bionic Finger show! He said he had
loved the Finger. I told him where we all were
now and our different projects. He wants some
cds so I gotta remind the girls. David Dune and
Neman turned up around dinnertime too. Shortly
after we ate, Thomas had to go on. Man, they
don't mess around with nites starting early. I like
it though. Because I am a granny.
Benoit was the promoter (and herman dune's
manager friend) for this show and he was
amazing. He gave us all print outs of the times
we were playing, and somehow addressed our
various concerns with effectiveness and grace. Benoit rules! Thomas said he felt wierd about his set that nite, but I thought he drew people in rather well. His hornicator always turns heads. We performers are our own worst enemies, right? Felt good about the Schwerve set. It was a sweaty festive party, similar to Leipzig and London. David Dune kept shouting out "SCHWERVON!" and it made me happy. Q was perfect on Something Else with the squealing noise-art saxophone! And Neman came onstage for Schwervon and played tambourine and shouted the ON! reallly loudly. matt: SCHWERVE! neman: ONNNNNNN!
heh.
Then Temple Temple played. wowzers. David Dune can fucking PLAY those drums. In his own fantastic style. He sang with less reserve (not that he's all that reserved to begin with) than he does in herman dune. I mean, he wailed some FALSETTO people. Their band was one part scout niblett and one part ac/dc. Etienne was a rock star on guitar. Lisa, David's sister, came onstage and sang a few tunes. It was so cool. Her style was kind of sing talk and she was really sexy but in a real way, not like she was trying to be, which was cooler than cool. I Loved Temple Temple!
The Thermals played next. Thomas told me that the singer had been asleep five minutes before they got onstage. You never would've known the way they were jumping around like jumping beans! man, they rocked. hard! it was so fun to play with bands who made a lot of noise. Kathy was a fantastic bass player and Jordan was a keith moon maniac on drums (he had told me he mostly played jazz except with this band. jeez!) Their show got me all hyper in my skin and I wanted to have a dance party. Unfortunately, I was kind of tired and could only manage a soft shoe. I talked with chris and eliza a bit in the front room and eliza gave me her black sparkly beaded ring (the she MADE!). She's been making a lot of jewelry. I wore it for luck on the rest of the tour. It's so pretty, I feel like audrey hepburn or something, like it can't possibly be mine dahhhling.
We hung out with our sweaty selves after the show. Decided that Chris and Eliza and Erik and David and Lisa should go back to our hotel and hang out with us a little. We tried so hard to be rock and roll y'all. It lasted for about an hour of gabbing and scarfing thomas's chocolate bar before we decided we should go to bed to catch ANOTHER early train to switzerland the next morning. Seeing David and meeting Lisa and hanging with Chris and Eliza made me only want to spend lots more time with them. I was sad to leave Paris....next time I REALLY want to spend a few days there kicking around. And Andre Dune, why did you have to go to new york when we finally came to paris?
*The next morning we got to the train station right as our train to Bern was leaving. Fortunately there was another connection so we hopped on and were only a half hour later getting into Bern than we thought we'd be. Mitch, the promoter, met us at the station and we only had a five minute walk to the venue. He had a hoop earring too and I think he is buzfuz's twin. ONCE AGAIN I am overwhelmed with the art spaces in Europe. The venue was yet another too-good-to-be-true club which used to be a huge barn, and downstairs there was a theatre and a restaurant. Oh and the backstage area had an upstairs with a room of 10 beds (with huge comforters) if bands wanted to stay over as well as a kitchen and bathroom/shower stocked with towels and utensils. Okay not only that, but they fed us an incredible meal in the restaurant. One of the things I loved about touring europe is that the people who are part of the event (the bands, promoter(s), sound engineers, staff working door, bartenders, etc) all sit down before the nite starts and have a meal together. Tonite was no exception. They brought a couple bottles of wine downstairs and there was a table for 10 already set up. I had a pasta dish with a delicious salad and everyone took their time talking and relaxing. Then we all went upstairs and played our show. There weren't that many people there and it was strange to play in such a big room (complete with two engineers, one for the main room and one for the monitors). I feel like our set was okay, but I had some self-conscious banter moments when matt broke a string. I talked about it being thanksgiving and there was silence. I tried to tell a joke that no one understood. again silence. hmmm some nites are like that. Once we started playing the songs again it got much better. Someone told me once that it's not so much what you do on stage that matters (that is important) but it's also how you FEEL about what you're doing that matters too. That comes across as much as the music. And I think I didn't feel so good about myself at certain times during that nite. And I let that bring me down.
It's all good to learn from though. More than ever, I feel like matt & I had such a range of experiences as performers through this tour and it made us grow as a band. Like we know how to handle different spaces better, from smaller crowds to bigger ones, from huge barn-type rooms to small cafes. I have to say there were only a couple shows I felt so-so about, and even those had some gems in them. aw shucks i'm getting mushy. Your little schwerve is growing up.
Next up. Last few days in London.
****************************************************************************
Dec. 05, 2003 - 10:49
And another thing. Government funding of the arts
kicks ass. We never got any flak about the
promoters paying us our agreed-upon guarantee,
regardless of the turnout. We were never blamed
for lack of turnout like we would be in New York.
Some nites there were tons of people but some
nites not so many (just like new york) but the
difference was in the attitudes of people
organizing the events and promoting the shows.
We were always well-fed and got good
accomodations. There is no doubt in my mind as
to why dancers and painters and actors and
artists move to Europe. I know that we are small
potatoes as an indie rock band, but we were
treated with a lot of respect and kindness and it
makes me want to be the same way when I put
on shows or even how I do stuff as a musician in all my collaborations (be they creative or business-wise). The UK was lovely to us too, don't get me wrong. There was a community spirit to most of the shows from the organizers and people were very generous with their time and resources. and Food! I feel thankful.
I am especially thankful to Heather at shoeshine records and Julia at strangefuit who really went out of their way to organize things and help us and make us feel supported and happy.
(hmm like a good bra.) the jokes just don't stop coming do they?
Now that my oscar speech is over, I will tell you about the last days in London.
Gummo is humping the bed right now. Gross.
ODE TO LONDON.
Oh London. I air-kissed you when the plane landed. Our second home. Cadbury bars and hot tea you waited paitently for me to return from Europe. Oh thank you.
Mr. Twirl and Ms. Caramel you make me want to pirouhette around the airport!
We got some chips and tea after going through customs and sorted out some monetary affairs and then hopped on the tube to meet Julia at her office. Her office mates are pretty friendly. They were all having beers after work together as their friday nite ritual and didn't seem to mind at all when a couple scruffy, smelly musicians showed up. We had a beer and called paulie goldstein to see if he wanted to meet up with us but he was already out with his pal. So we went to a pub near the london bridge. beautiful walk by the river, and if we hadn't been so excited to be back in London we probably would've been tired but instead we were happy to have a nite off and chill out. Julia's friends were charming, especially a couple who are getting married who I can't remember the names of but they wanted to get a dog and we talked a long time about our cats and I hope they've gotten a dog by now! We had some more beers, and matt & i stepped out to have some curry and I ordered a little too much chicken tikka which is still in julia's fridge. oops! maybe it's still good?
We slept really well that nite on Julia's air mattress. We didn't know what to do with ourselves without a train to catch or a van to get into or a time frame to work with. Julia cat, Munch, was ill that morning (poor muncher!) so she took him to the vet while matt & i went to the cheap delicious breakfast place and then caught the tube to Tottenham Court Road. The plan was to buy some souvenirs. We got some coffee after shopping and met Julia at ROTA, a cool venue cafe where they have bands play for free every saturday from 4-8pm. We saw the last couple songs of a band called The Evenings. It looked like there was a conducter/second drum player leading this noisy electronica cello five piece. Very unique. I was sorry we didn't catch more...
Paul and Sally were there too. loved chatting with them.
Heather was flying down from Glasgow that nite to spend the weekend at julia's and to see this wierd band play called schwervon at 12 bar and then this other group of musicians on the spit and polish tour. After Heather met us at Rota we went out to eat at a greek restaurant. I had meatballs and cabbage and potatoes. mmm. the only wierd thing was i found a staple in the cabbage. I asked the waiter guy about it and he said that sometimes the staples fall out of the boxes that hold the cabbage. wah? oh well as long as it wasn't in the meat. something about that would've freaked me out.
We went to The Spitz after dinner, to see Gravy Train play at a nite that Paul Strangefruit had set up. Oh my god. Gravy Train are crazee! they play keyboard/drum machines and they have sequined costumes and their music reminded me of Le Tigre but their lyrics reminded me of Peaches. They have a dancer who wore his skivvies the entire show. at one point he was fully naked. They finished the show early because the lead singer girl told the audience they were too drunk to continue and that we would be disappointed if they played another tune. So they stopped and then had a dance party with the audience for an hour.
After some dancing, we went back to Julia's and completely crashed. the wine the gravy train the London parties it was all just too much for us. The next day was our 12 Bar show! After bfast at the cheap delicious place again we got newspapers and chocolate and lounged at julia's in typical sunday fashion. Man I needed it. Watched a stupid interview of Britney Spears. I found out it takes her an hour to put on her makeup and get ready for interviews.
The show at 12 Bar was like a big party, full of a lot of our friends and the venue was very punk club new york. the stage was halfway between the upper balcony and the ground floor, so the people in front of the stage could only see your lower half and the people on the balcony could only see your heads. Thomas had two microphones, one that came up to his waist so he could bend down for the first floor and one regular mic for the balcony people.
Lucy and Sam and Gareth of Misty's came to the show!! And Antony from Brighton! And Buzfuz played and Paul Goldstein (aka spinmaster plantpot) did some of his crazee man performance art (which was both hilarious and scary--the best combo!). Also Claire Kember came from the Brighton radio station and I was a little sad to miss shannon and andrew and also tina's friend aja, but hey, it was a sunday nite. Thomas got wild during his set and jumped from the balcony down to the stage i'm not kidding. Luckily it wasn't that far. Hey that reminds me of that one time I went up on a chairlift cause I was skiing and one of my skis fell off and instead of skiing down the hill with one ski I jumped off the lift. It was probably 15-20 feet up, not that high. I got yelled at but was unhurt and able to retrieve my other ski. I was glad I had the instinct to jump instead of have an accident on the other side.
ANYWAY.
Matt & I had a blast that nite playing. Think we got a little extra energy
from some friends being there and also there was a celebratory vibe
it being our last show of the tour and all.
They kicked us out of the venue shortly after we finished though which
made me a little sad. Think it's just the nature of playing sunday nites
in London---they have a curfew. Andy at the 12 bar was really good to
us (managing to get a drumkit there for us even) and peter at the door
sold our merch for us so really we can't complain much. So we said
some goodbyes and got some chips for the ride home and piled into
a taxi to go back to julia's. Once there I thought I would stay up and
chat for a while, but julia and heather were zonked so they went to
bed and after a few minutes, I passed out too.
Next morning we packed up, got breakfast at a different cheap
breakfast place who said they didn't have coffee cause they were out
of water but interestingly enough they gave us tea. hmm. Then we
parted ways with heather who had to go take care of other musicians
(what? I thought we were her kids!) and matt & i went to the airport to catch our flight home.
The flight was a little turbulent in the beginning but I told our stewardess who looked like celine dion i was nervous and she kept bringing over wine and snacks to us. she told me I looked like molly ringwald (hmm that's happening a lot lately). I watched charlie's angels full throttle and anything else-a woody allen movie and part of bfast club.
We made it to Newark and through customs and got a taxi home (even though it was sooo expensive it was worth it) and then we saw gummo the little fur face!!!!
And here we are home again.
Now that was an adventure, wasn't it?
