We had a small race against the rain whilst the StoneWire van was being loaded up. All morning the weather had been pretty decent for this time of year and right as we were halfway through loading up to get on the road, the weather turned... There were a few more bits of gear to go on this run of gigs and it really did feel like a giant game of Tetris! It was a case of close the back door and don't open it again until we arrive - otherwise we'll get an avalanche of gear burying us!!
20 minutes on the road and all of a sudden a couple of us (me included) are as hungry as hell all of a sudden, not gonna stop yet though, a chewing gum will have to do for the next couple of hours as we've got places to be and traffic to beat!!! This time I've bought my favourite cushion to relax with, very nice indeed - Gaz has bought a towel(?)! - I guess it does the trick. We have a chuckle at something that we notice on the back of a hi-vis vest that a guy on a motorbike is wearing that says 'polite' but in the font that would normally read 'police', can't quite remember what it was about, other than that it was a very clever way of quickly grabbing the attention of motorists. We're making good time and Sky is currently choking as someone mentions a story about 'Gaz's Night Time Sunglasses'...
I'll let Gaz explain that when he feels the time is right.
Traffic beaten and we arrive at our hotel, it's opposite a USA style diner, so breakfast tomorrow is sorted! We've got half hour to check in have a cup of tea and then head to the venue... So point 2 of the 3 is under-way ('cup of tea') when me, Gaz and Steve realise we are in the presence of the loudest kettle in the world, it really is incredible... This kettle is so loud... It's like a train engine or a whale blowing out air repeatedly for 4 minutes.
 |
| RSR Photography |
There's 2 bands on the bill and we are on second, so we sound-check first. That goes pretty good and then it's time to eat and mingle with a few of the people, some of which have travelled quite a distance to watch us. We get the opportunity to extend our set by a couple of songs (cool!!), we play well, the crowd are very receptive and we have a great time playing for them. After the gig, I get chatting to a guy from Ohio, he's here on business and has been very impressed by our set as he came in to the venue not knowing anything about us. Now it's time to head back to the hotel and we once again say a big thanks to the people that came to see us play... And extra special thanks again to those that travelled some distance to do so.
Back at the hotel I have a craving for Oreo's before bed, but the vending machine seems to making my life a little difficult... I proceed by having a wonderful conversation with an inanimate object and the reception staff whilst trying to get a packet of bloody biscuits... In the end I get two packets!!! Me, Steve and Gaz then make it our mission over the next couple of nights to try and watch Countdown every time we're in the hotels... Tonight it's '8 out of 10 cats does Countdown', really quite amusing... In the morning it's 'Vintage Countdown' from early '90's' - fantastic.!
Wake up and BIG breakfast at the USA diner... Thank you very much. Now off to Bolton. This journey takes absolutely ages and the traffic is horrendous as we head towards the hotel, I think an extra 2 hours has been added to the journey. We have about 2 minutes to check in at the hotel before heading off to the venue. At reception we are instructed to press the 'find' button for assistance, the only trouble is, is that we can't find the 'find' button!! We eventually find the 'find' button, it's about the size of an uncooked lentil positioned almost invisibly in the charging dock for the reception phone - brilliant!!! We dump or bags in the rooms and head, rather briskly to the venue. The venue has a great stage set-up and the sound is good, but what strikes me most is how cool the venue owners are, what a cool couple of people. We play our longest set of the tour so far, adding in 'Mama' and 'Walk On' which we really enjoy playing, they add a new vibe to the set and sit nicely in the mid part of the running order. We enjoy 'Walk On' so much that the following night we decide to throw it into the set too! Back at the hotel my bed is like a crusty waffle and the others laugh at my expense with regards to moaning about it - Gaz actually goes on to say he'd prefer to sleep on it himself than listen to me going on about it... Ha! (I'm not sure that's entirely true, but I am whining about it far too much!). Me and Steve laugh hysterically for about 4
0 minutes before bed, I don't even know what we were laughing about... Gaz is part bemused and part annoyed that he can't just nod off to sleep!
Next day we're heading to Altrincham for our double header show with Lawless... This should be cool. We stop for a rather civilised breakfast/lunch at the Trafford centre on our way towards the next hotel and venue. Easy journey this time, no traffic and we have ages of time to kill at the hotel before heading to the gig. There's been a switch in PA at the venue, so there's some equipment juggling for the first hour or so upon arrival. Sound check is a little delayed, but it all goes OK and the bands are sounding good (and loud! - very loud!!). We decide to juggle to set list slightly about 10 minutes before we go on, we want to change the feel of it slightly and as mentioned earlier we switch to playing 'Walk On', can't remember what we switched it with though! 'Favourite Bitch' gets a great reaction, more so than usual tonight and 'Southern Honey' goes down real well... Sky ends up in the crowd having a dance with the ladies at the front. We round the set us as usual with 'Fix You' which gets a great sing along and a real buzz to close the gig and hand over to Lawless. I think we've done our bit for the cause tonight. We had a great energy tonight and the feel good vibe was topped off by the news an hour or so earlier that we'd be playing at the O2 Academy Islington next Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment