I just saw my first internet gig... It was wicked. And weird. Actually, I missed a big chunk and only caught the last 20 minutes or so. I assume the rest was equally great as it was Naomi Hates Humans and she rocks. Here's a 'photo' I took for posterity:

You should all go and buy her album 'Pipe Dreams And Lullabies' as it's probably the best thing you'll hear all year. Go on... off  you go.

www.bwtd.co.uk
In other news, I've been busy uploading more videos to vimeo. Here's a new one. Me and Si Genaro playing 'Garageland' at The Central:


Adam Boucher - Garageland - 23/04/08 

Vinegar & Chips & A Dog Named Boo - 2 Ladies Having Lunch - 17/08/06

The Poet Hi-Ho: I'm In Love With A Fat Lady from Bournemouth

I finally got round to setting up a Vimeo account. Youtube sucks. I've been re-encoding some of the videos I have up on youtube and getting them up on Vimeo. Here's the first few:



Somewhere In Between - 28th June 2006

Vinegar & Chips & A Dog Named Boo - 'Suzie...' 28/11/06

 

Soundcheck with The Poet Hi-Ho

Day 5 - Friday 27th June 2008
Winchester Gate – Salisbury

The final date of the tour. Supporting Ed Tudorpole and Robb Blake. My girlfriend and I had decided to make a 'day out' of it, so she booked the day off work and we headed down to the new forest before the gig. We used to go to the forest quite a bit when we lived in Bournemouth and it was nice to have a change of pace and be around friendly people rather than grumpy/ignorant Londoners.

After Lunch we spent some time meeting/hanging with the wild donkeys.


 
The driving on the tour had all been far too easy. No stress at all. I’d expected to get stuck in heavy traffic on the way into Salisbury but for some reason, things were on our side and we breezed right on through. Weird. The day was going too well.



I’d kind of bigged this one up in my head, as it was the last date of the tour and a ticketed event with most of the tickets sold. Soundcheck had me relieved, as it was the first night of the tour where the soundguy had the p.a. up loud. The other nights were much more quiet acoustic nights, but this was a real gig as it were. Everything sounded ace to me and we met Ed briefly (slightly bonkers it would seem) and headed off to get some dinner before the gig.



When I started my set the room was pretty empty but apparently they’d begin to file through once they heard music. A little odd, but true. I played a blinding set. Probably the best I’ve ever played in a really fucking long time.

 

One thing I noticed while on tour was that with every night that passed, I really upped my game. By the last night I was just flying through my set. I got a great response. Probably about 20 people out of the eventual crowd of 50 and slightly reserved. But that’s what you get going on first, before people are warmed up/drunk.



Easily the best gig on the tour (though they were all great) and the best I played too. I managed to break a string, the first on the whole tour, and even that was fine. It broke right at the end of one of the songs. Perfect timing and I finished off the rest of the set with my backup guitar.

Here's the lovely crowd, just after I played and remembered to take a photo for posterity:



And the end of my final song 'Somewhere In Between':




I met loads of nice people who seemed to really enjoy my set and that’s always great. Robb Blake & Ed Tudorpole were both highly entertaining. I’ve only seen Robb play acoustic and thoroughly shitfaced, so it was excellent to see him doing his full on electric one-man-ska-explosion.

Here's Robb, obscured slightly by the crowd:



And Mr Tudorpole:



So that was it. We said our goodbyes and headed back to London and lots of catching up of sleep. I was buzzing the whole way home with how good the gig was and how great the whole tour had been.

I'd prepared myself for the worst. I even made sure to watch Bad News before heading out. This was what I'd been expecting from my first tour:



Big huge thanks to everyone who came out to see me, put me on the bill, said hi, bought cds or had something nice to say. I really appreciate it.

Day 4 – Thursday 26th June 2008
Remix Bar – Woking

Spent most of the day at home. Restrung my guitar, dossed and listened to lots of Bad Religion.

I had to allow for the horrors of joining the m4 out of London (it can take an hour extra on bad days) and wound up in Woking about two hours early thanks to the clear traffic. Another of the quirks of my sat-nav is that it likes to tell me that the speed limit at certain random points of motorway is 30mph. Lovely. Fuck knows why!

When I arrived in Woking I found the venue nice and easy but again had to find somewhere to park. The sat-nav again freaked out when trying to get me round the one-way system! At one point it was intent on sending me round in a loop. I eventually parked in a car park and found myself in The Peacocks, a generic town centre shopping mall. Woking is so crap, its shopping centre is nicked from another town. I tell you, it’s damn near identical to the Bentalls Centre in Kingston. Except The Bentalls Centre is nice. In fact, Woking is so shit that the most exciting thing I saw during my brief time there was the new Dyson state-of-the-art hand dryer in the gents toilet. It looks super spage-age and claims to dry your hands in 10 seconds. In reality it’s more like 20. That was my highlight people!.

I moved the car after 6 as there was free parking outside the venue. The night was run by Anthea Neads and in keeping with the promoters on the rest of the tour, she is lovely.

I played first and sadly to 6 people (if you include the soundguy!). However, it was still ace. I played great and really enjoyed it. Here’s my lovely audience:



After my set, the other acts turned up and filled the room out slightly. The whole night was basically playing to the other acts, but it was still fun. I have to admit however that none of the other acts were my cup of tea, but all very talented and nice people. To me, all the songs sounded like the theme song to a highly reflective moment in some shitty Dawson’s Creek style American drama. You know, when the far too attractive, skinny 28 year old actor is pretending to be 18 and on the cusp of a life changing moment, which they ponder whilst looking out over the bay/creek/river (delete as applicable) to the backing of said song. Having said that, Anthea played in Inimitable Dragonfly and they were cool. They even included a Misfits cover. Top marks for that!



The gig was in the basement of the bar and the upstairs was taken over by noisy townie fuckwits and a banging soundsystem, which kinda hampered the quiet, mostly female acoustic night vibe. Lots of drunk identikit townie twats wondering into the room, looking bemused and then leaving noisily after Anthea told them there was a cover charge to get in. Not a bad night in all, and nowhere near the horrors I was expecting for the tour as a whole.

Once again, I drove back to London as I was bedless for the night. I was happy to get out of Woking and needed to be in London the next morning anyway.

Day 3 – Wednesday 24th June 2008
Caroline Of Brunswick – Brighton

Once again, I had loads of time to kill before heading off to the next town. The tour was so short notice that anything north of London was kind of impossible to arrange. As such, all the journeys were about a few hours each and left me with lots of spare time. Despite leaving as late as I felt possible, I still managed to get to Brighton with about 4 hours to kill before soundcheck!

Once again the sat-nav played a few tricks while I drove around trying to find a car park. Nothing major, but it seems to be totally confounded by one-way systems! All the street parking seemed to be free past either 6 or 8pm so I lumped for an NCP and what turned out to be £7.50 to park for the day. Brighton was actually a decent place to kill time. I wondered round the shops, got lunch and then eventually headed out on a walk down to the beach.



I arranged to meet at the venue just before soundcheck with Dennis Scunt, a fellow antifolker and all-round nice guy. It was great to see a friendly face and he brought his guitar along, so we agreed to play one of his songs during my set. He dragged out a few friends, which was much appreciated. All the dates (except Bournemouth) were new territory for me and I wasn’t thrilled at possibly being alone for the whole tour. Didn’t have to worry though.

During soundcheck I had a minor run-in with the manager/friend/chief twat (it was hard to tell) of the ‘headline’ act. I was quietly warming up on my guitar when this dick in a flatcap motions to me and says "They’re soundchecking"… I know… I can see that… He motions again and this time says “No. Don’t play, they’re soundchecking”. I could only laugh really, and carry on regardless. What a prick. Post soundcheck, the band headed off to sit in the back of their van. Very rock and roll. Reminded me of when I saw The Libertines at Mr Smiths in Bournemouth (Please don’t ask why I was there in the first place!). I kinda saw this as a bad omen for the night as a whole.

I wasn’t expecting much, as this was the one show of the tour where I’d had very little contact with the promoters. However, as with the rest of the dates, they were really cool and very welcoming. Step forward and take a bow Chimera Music Promotions. You are lovely.

The first act wasn’t great. Again, seemed like a nice guy, but kind of the opposite of everything I like in acoustic music.

I played next and again had a really fucking great time. The audience reacted positively and seemed to get into it. Dennis’ song ‘Stephen Hawking’ (maybe one of the best songs ever written) went down a treat and sounded great. Gave away a bunch of cds and sold a few too.
 
Here's the lovely audience, albeit missing a few bods either side of the camera:



The next band up (unbeknownst to me) were sat directly in front of me and were really into it too...

So... What can I say about Pugwash & Cornflakes? They were fucking excellent and suitably odd. Didn’t take themselves too seriously and had great songs. Their singer had a great punky Morrissey vibe too. 



Here's them fucking up the beginning of one of their songs:



The final band weren’t my cup of tea. They had a real hard time. Clearly on the wrong bill and no one gave a fuck. In fact, most of the audeince left before they'd even played a note. I didn’t speak to them so I can’t really comment on what they’re like but they came across badly onstage. The soundcheck bullshit didn't endear me to them either, though they themselves had nothing to do with that. Nothing personal, just living by the wisdom of Roy Walker - "Say what you see". 

They took a lot of shit from the Pugwash & Cornflakes peeps and stropped their way through the set mumbling and pouting. Too much cockiness and not much to back it up with. A weird Razorlight/Dylan hybrid (is that neccessary?). Top marks go to one of the Pugwash & Cornflake peeps for shouting out a request to "play the one about the paedophile!". The final song was met with silence and then a smattering of polite applause. Oh dear. I went back to my lowly 1.1 Fiesta with a big grin, content in the knowledge that humility and passion can triumph occasionaly.

I had nowhere to sleep that night so I headed back to London. I also didn’t want to have to spend a large chunk of the next day in Brighton and have to pay for more parking. The alternative was a day in Woking. Somehow, I instinctively knew this wasn’t a smart move. So some time back at home seemed best.

Day 2 – Tuesday 24th June 2008
Chaplin’s, Bournemouth

I woke up around 9ish and eased extremely slowly into the day. Stood around not really doing much and waiting until it was time to head off to Bournemouth. I was headed to my parents house and much as I love them, I didn’t need to be there all day waiting for the gig. Before I set off, Kev and his landlord had a look at the route my sat-nav suggested and pointed out that the second instruction was wrong and that I’d be heading down a one-way street again. Stupid thing.

Big thanks must go out to Kev and his girlfriend Zoey. Two of the nicest people you could hope to meet and excellent hosts.

Another far too easy journey again. Once in Bournemouth I spent my time sorting my folks’ computer! Ah, the life of a touring musician! Re-strung my guitar and tried to get some extra sleep before heading out.

The gig was organised by Conrad Barr, who I’ve known for years. He was the first person to book me for a gig. Needless to say, he’s a great bloke. Bournemouth gigs however, have never been all that great for me. That’s a big part of why I moved away. It can be hit and miss. Thankfully, this one was good.

I was on a typical Bournemouth bill with mostly quiet acoustic acts. Not really my thing. The room was quite empty for the first two acts. The signs weren’t looking good. However, when I went on, the room seemed to fill with people. I’ve no idea when they appeared or where they came from but the timing was brilliant.

The lovely audience:





I played what had to be one of my best gigs in a long, long time and really enjoyed it. Even a blind guy unknowingly insulting my performace couldn't hamper things! I helped him outside to his taxi and he was saying how good a night it was and how he liked the last act - great guitar player but not a very good singer! Pure Spinal Tap 'Where are they now file' moment for me. How do you tell a blind man that you're the person he's dissing?! Ace.



Big thanks go out to Emily and Andy and also Dean and his mate (sorry, didn’t catch your name) for coming out to see me. I did well on donations and cd sales again (a real rarity in Bournemouth, where people usually can’t even be fucked to go out if you have to pay to get in) and drove back to my folks’ stupidly happy.

So, this whole tour came about through buying a Glastonbury ticket. I’d wanted to tour before, but never had the balls to sort anything. Long story short, I decided to get a refund on my ticket, and hatched an idea to buy a sat-nav and book a tour instead. And that’s what I did. What follows is an attempt to document said tour...

Day 1 – Monday 23rd June 2008
Mr Wolfs, Bristol

I started the day in my usual frantic pre-gig way. I was about half packed and pretty nervous. A quick trip out to get more photocopies of the ‘Farewell To Harrington’ artwork, followed by much laborious cutting and folding and then burning a bunch of cds.

I eventually loaded up the car and headed out on tour. The drive to Bristol was far too easy. It’s a straightforward drive from London anyway, but that doesn’t mean things would just go right for me. A brief traffic jam about 2 miles outside of Easton was the worst of my troubles. Weird. Things don’t normally go that well for me.

I was heading to a friends house, where I’d be staying that night. The first sign of my sat-nav being a bit quirky came when it tried to send me the wrong way down the one-way street where Kev, my gracious host for the night, lived. Lovely. Thankfully, I have a little common sense in reserve for these kind of occasions and didn’t blindly do what it told me.

I arrived at Kev’s and spent the afternoon reminiscing outside in the sun. It was decided that we’d walk to the venue and leave the car at his. I’d only been to Bristol once and after that experience, decided that I’d really rather not have to drive into the centre of town unless I really had to.

So after a nice gentle stroll to the venue, we arrived and did the usual wait for soundcheck – soundcheck - wait some more for the gig to start and wait a bit more until my set - routine. The promoter seemed really cool though and the room filled a little. Kev got a few extra bods along too (cheers mate!). Mr Wolfs is a noodle bar. In fact, it’s a kick ass noodle bar and I was suitably impressed to find that I got free dinner and beer. Top stuff. I heartily recommend their vegetable noodles!

First up, there was a solo acoustic guy. He seemed like a nice bloke, but his music didn’t really do much for me. That’s quite normal though. I’m not mad keen on the music at most acoustic-type nights. The audience also weren’t very impressed and he was mostly talked over and as such became background music.

I played next and to be honest I don’t remember much of the set at all. It was fucking great though. Everyone seemed to pay attention and get into it.

 

The room had a slightly weird set-up whereby the stage was recessed and the seating was to the left, facing a wall rather than the stage. I tried to move as far forward as I could. I think the soundguy wasn’t too impressed by that though, but I really didn’t want to play so far back.



After me was Mr Duke And The Hoodlum Circus. A fellow antifolker, he played gloriously sloppy punk rock. Pure comedy genius and totally believable. The audience had thinned out a bit but everyone left was lapping it up.



Mr Duke & The Hoodlum circus:



After Mr Duke, Kev and I hung around chatting to Mr Duke and his band and soaking up the atmosphere. It was just a great night all round. Couldn’t have asked for more for the opening date of my first tour. I decided to ask for donations for the freebie cd as a general ‘help me pay for petrol’ type thing. One of Mr Duke’s mates who looked mighty shady (but was a top bloke) gave me some of his ‘loose change’. When I got back to Kev’s I counted it up. £3.87! Nice.

Kev and I walked back to his after the gig and set the world to rights on the way. Bristol was odd. Certain areas were great to look at and totally reminded me of Amsterdam and then a moment later you’d walk into the ghettos surrounded by the shadiest fuckers imaginable.

More talk ensued back at Kev’s and then sleep, on an extremely comfortable futon, that looked like it really should have caused injury rather than a good night’s sleep.

Final tour dates below. Big thanks to Anthea Neads for helping out with the final date. She's ace.

Monday 23rd June - Songsmiths @ Mr Wolfs, Bristol
Tuesday 24th June - Chaplins, Bournemouth
Wednesday 25th June - Caroline Of Brunswick, Brighton
Thursday 26th June - Blue Velvet @ The Remix Bar, Woking
Friday 27th June - Winchestergate, Salisbury (supporting Ed Tudor Pole)

Also, The Lexapalooza gig in September is now basically sold out. There may be some extra tickets allocated nearer the time though. Watch this space...

I've been holding off an anouncement for a while, just in case it all fell through (still could), but I'm going on tour in June. Nothing fancy, but it should be pretty cool. I'm even supporting Ed Tudor Pole! The dates are below. More details to come. If anyone can help with the Thursday-lack-of-giggage, that'd be ace.

Monday 23rd June - Songsmiths @ Mr Wolfs, Bristol
Tuesday 24th June - Chaplins, Bournemouth
Wednesday 25th June - Caroline Of Brunswick, Brighton
Thursday 26th June - TBC - any ideas? email me
Friday 27th June - Winchestergate, Salisbury (supporting Ed Tudor Pole)

In other news, I went to see Zolof The Rock & Roll Destroyer in Camden last week. They were fucking great. I met them afterwards and they are quite possibly the coolest people you'll ever meet.

So the antifolk festival at the 12 Bar... Excellent night. Weird as usual. I went on about an hour late. The crowd had thinned out, but the people left seemed up for it. Someone threw something at me (from the balcony I think) during the second song. Why? When I asked "Which cunt threw something at me?" they had already fucked off. I really wasn't all that bothered, but at least have the courage to admit it was you. Pussy!

Then, a couple of songs from the end of my set someone set off the fire alarm. Lovely! No big problem and it was turned off quick enough but it also cut the power to the stage. The soundguy was nowhere to be seen so I carried on the set unplugged. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Another eventful 12 Bar gig. I also had someone write their constructive feedback on my mailing list... apparently they think I should take my vocals far more seriously! That made me chuckle.  They liked my style, my playing and my songs though... seems to me like they missed the point of Shoutyfolk. Oh well.

In other news, I'm currently trying to plan a tour for late June. Hit a bit of brick wall for the last few dates. If anyone out there wants me to come play in their town, let me know. I'll play most types of gigs. It needn't be your typical acoustic night. In fact, I love playing small unplugged shows. If you can help me out, get in touch.