Leaving on a Jet-plane
On the back of strong hangovers, 38 hours of traveling, over expensive airport food, overdosing on caffeine and marshy getting pissed on by a small boy, we finally arrived in LAX (Los Angeles Airport for those of you from Staveley).
We were greeted by our tour van company and the first thing that sprung to mind was the A-Team..It was a rate piece of kit (see Photos)...equipped with our GPS were off to our home for 2 weeks
Arriving at our Hotel and its amazing apart from the fact the aeroplanes shake the windows when they take off every 6 minutes..We split in to 2 rooms, those who want cancer and those who don't, and agree to meet in the lobby to go get some beers and food...even if it is 2am...
Gilly decided he was still in England by driving down a freeway on the wrong side...one word...prick!!!
We picked up 2 carrier bags full of burgers and chips, chicken wings and any other shit we decided to buy.....mmmm we love cholesterol........
The question is "Are you from the renaissance?"
Obviously the first think we thought about when we woke was a little retail therapy, spotting fake boobs...oh and marshy wanted a camera...
We arrived at our first Tour venue and...1 word...Ghetto...we didnt even want to get out of the van as we were likely to be shot...
we didnt realise arriving at 9pm that our set time was not till 1am ?? WTF?
So in our tired state this was not a good recipe for success, the yanks still found the energy to cheer,
we on the other hand were still unsure as to why we were playing at a bowling alley in the early hours.
2 days in and Me and Mat are acting like natives...walking down the interstate carrying a crate of Budweiser, Bottles of Champagne and bags of potato chips..with the odd spot of jaywalking thrown in, If that wasn't enough Thom Gill told us some amazing news, Burnsy had spoke to an actual American on his own (with help from no-one else), that deserved a toast on its own, this took place in the Jacuzzi where we ignored all the health rules and stayed in for hours..
"Are you from the renaissance?" shouted an 8 year old boy to a very confused Mat Wale, this became the start of an elaborate Q&A session as to what England was like and whether we had sheep or not.
As far as nights out go this next one was "different gravy", we were greeted by the hottest waitress on the planet as she escorted us to our own private table which overlooked the whole LA skyline. The following bar wasn't so glamorous but was situated in the middle of Universal studios, and had a live band playing, which included not only the keyboard player from Guns 'n' Roses and The Bass player from The Knack (my Sharona) but also the brother-in-law of a friend of a cousin who once walked past the cleaner of the lead singer of Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant)
A bucket of blue shit later, and under direction of the LAPD, we stumbled home....
1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, FLOOR....
Marshy's first comment of the day was "I'm sure the beer is stronger in America" as most of us were nursing hangovers, so a trip to Denny's was in order
However even the age old tradition of greasy food could not lift Thom Gill out of the state he was visibly in...Perhaps the Beach would sort him out...?
Clearly we were the only English Indie boys on Santa Monica beach as the rest of the lads had to roll up there jeans..(See photos).
Thursday brought the next gig of the tour, yet another late stage time, and possibly the quietest crowd ever (Thom Gill), despite this we played very well, which was good as we were getting reviewed by a local magazine (www.sugarbuzzmagazine.com).
Even Marshy's determination to get over his ginger albino disability could not prepare him for today's California Sun (82 degrees), subsequently the curtains were closed and he was bound to the hotel room...breath out...log in !!!
The Good Hurt is where avanGaäd took it up a notch, maybe it was the 90 degree stage heat that left the Yanks screaming and shouting for more.
At the bar we were greeted by 4 of the biggest shots of tequila you never want to see and 6 of the greatest boobs you do want to see (see photos).
Every morning we are greeted by the fat hairy chambermaid who cleans our rooms, at this point marshy officially became the most generous band member accidentally leaving a $40 tip...its fair to say he was gutted for days.
Extra, extra...read all about it....."Brunge hits Hollywood"
After a few nights on the lash, me and mat opted for a night in with a 5lt box of rose (Rose Friday still exists over here Crofty) and some shit American tele, while the others decided to go out and paint the town red, this night of relative calm was thrown out of the window as the next morning we were invited to a pool party in the Topanga Hills by the Good Hurt Girls (see photos), its fair to say 4 Lads from Chesterfield couldn't believe their eyes...Happy Days!!!...It was at this very same party, someone decided to throw me in the pool, FULLY CLOTHED! moving my phone Network from O2 to H2O, oh my poor phone...
The Airliner gig was the busiest gig so far...and we went down a storm and Gilly couldnt give away the CD's quick enough...we also debuted a brand new song which until that point unheard...
All fired up from the gig, we decided to treat ourselves to some sushi, and with sushi came Saki, let's just say we were shitted... (See photos).
As newbie's to the "Good old U.S of A" we hit the tourist spots, sadly they had not yet layed the avanGaäd stars on the Hollywood walk of fame...watch this space though...
As our first of 3 gigs on the bounce, Mr T's was definitely better second time around, the sound was perfect, the temperature soared, the crowd were up for it as much as we were, we ended the night with a few beers and an interview from an LA newspaper and when asked about our music style the word "Brunge" was coined..
Red, red wine…..
After a day on the street flyering for tonight's gig we arrived at Spaceland all fired up, we were greeted by Scott our soundman for the night, we were all given free drinks tickets by the weirdest woman on the planet, the whole venue was covered in avanGaäd merchandise, its fair to say it was set up to be a great night...
we shot off for a bite to eat, and all burnt our mouths on some spicy Thai noodles and the iced water didn't help to be honest!!
The venue was dead for the first band, this didn't really dampen our spirits...we took to the stage with the place half full, and breezed through our set with a huge cheer after every song, at one point we even heard a "come on you spireites" chant ... people began dancing along to all the new tracks, which filled us with more and more confidence...we ended the set full of adrenalin, all dripping wet through, yes even marshy...it was now time for few beers...
we were approached by people from record labels, photographers, over enthusiastic Americans and even the headline band (the billionaires) came to show their appreciation. The night was a huge success...
A morning by the pool and under the blazing California sun turned burnsy a nice lobster pink colour...so the 2 hour drive to Goleta for our last gig was the last thing he wanted, however was to prove the greatest drive of the tour...the coastal view, the evening sunset was a big reason to grab the camera, (see photos)..
After the turd in a tortilla wrap these Americans call "Taco Bell", we arrived at the mercury Lounge, "lounge" being the operative word, the stage was tiny and the settee's were a shock to say the least...at this point a different band was put together. unrehearsed, off guard and under the influence of far too much red wine...Mat Wale and the rackets took to the stage...it was fairly busy, but we felt no pressure...with a couple of impromptu avanGaäd tracks thrown in, we all left the so called stage dripping with sweat as usual, as the barmaid told us "the band have a free bar all night...for which marshy and burns had already taken full advantage...
The night was still not over at 2am...as the drive home proved somewhat eventful...we were happily cruising at 90mph, when flashing blue/red lights appeared in the mirrors. at this point gilly shit himself...the cop came to the window with his gun and flash light at the ready.... a little English charm and an avanGaäd cd saw him on his way...Phew...
I clearly had not learnt from burnsy's lobster experience as one of my nipple and one armpit were next to be burnt...don't ask how...
Friday Night saw us off to sunset blvd after a Mexican meal. And of course we washed it down with a few margherita pitchers...
As good as Mat is...the next bar is where i got my best ride, after a few beers i took to the buckin' bronco...no doubt about it.. I was shit...and have the scars to prove it... (See video)
Holby City eat your heart out…
Earlier in the Tour we made a group decision to have a night out in Las Vegas, After a 4 hour drive through the Nevada desert, We couldn't believe our eyes, New York, New York for example was literally a scaled down version of New York itself, complete with Brooklyn bridge and Chrysler Building...one word...ridiculous.
After a 2 hour search for just one room in this huge city, we eventually found one, the bags were dumped, we changed our tops and it was time for a night of beer and gambling, after cheering on Big Joe Calzaghe, who was fighting just down the road, drinking our weight in alcohol, oh not to mention being around £500 down, we ended up in an "Executive Night club" which turned out to be coolest strip club in the world..(Trust us Carlsberg do make strip clubs).
The last 2 days were set aside for topping up the tan, finishing off crates of bud and playing around in the pool...this however did not go according to plan...
After some synchronized swimming, we turned to throwing each other, with the help of gilly and burns I managed to smash my nose on the bottom of the pool...(see pictures)
Que the Paramedics, fire crew and Ambulance. With numerous injections and some questioning for the rest of the band (they didn't even know how old I was...inconsiderate bastards), The next thing i knew i woke up in a room, wired up to every machine possible, with mat acting like a dog with 2 dicks as he got to ride shotgun in an American ambulance and i quote "with the sirens on n everything"..After a few scans and x-rays I left with neck brace and a huge plaster over my nose...but...I was ok...not even a broken nose, the doctors all said i should be worried about something though...the pink nail varish that was still on my toes from the leaving party...
We finished the day with yet more beers in the hotel bar, with the thoughts that were we actually going to miss some parts of the previous 2 weeks...
However, the new songs are more than ready for you lot back home and it was a nice warm up for the UK tour that awaits us in May/June...
See you all when we get back...
lots of love...
Shane, Liam, Mat, Leigh and Gilly.
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