Oct 16 MoFFoM festival @ Radio Lucerna - Prague, Czech Republic
What can I say, first day of tour, first time in Prague... 5 of us
(Seth, Alex, Brent, Gaybot and Gigi) stayed at an awesome hotel Spree Bogen the night before
in Berlin, complements of the people at the House of Culture in Berlin... nice welcoming... there was even a fan from Portugal in Prague!
Oct 17 Chelsea - Wien, Austria
Awes, AWESOME... Seth went and did a solo performance on Radio 4, got back and we all went to
the venue. Nice space. We met Birgit, our booking agent, for the first time. A sweet lady with
an awesome skill for booking bands. The show was packed and all the people we psyched. Oh,
also did a radio interview with Radio 5 that was hillariously silly. Good fun.
Oct 18 Projekt Bogen 23 - Innsbruck, Austra
This place was the second venue under a train track...
three in all. Very cool, excited audience... we all ended up at this really weird dance party
afterward. Strange things happened... look at the wall of tapes!
Oct 19 Kino - Ebensee, Austria
Great sound, great venue, a cinema normally that puts on shows once a week or so.
Super supportive audiences all through Austria... both this show and the last show were sunk deep
in the mountains. Lovely drives make the long journeys a bit more bearable. Brian/Gaybot drove
for the whole tour, a mountain of a man. Yesm.
Oct 20 Haus der Kulturen - Berlin, Germany
What can I say. We owe a great gratitude to the Haus Der Kulturen; these were the people who
brought us over for this tour... without them, it probably would not have happened. This show was
really cool. Biff Rose, a long time musician hailing from New York in the 60's is still kicking hard,
shaking the foundations of peoples' minds. Great performer, tough act to follow. This was also
Rick's first show on the tour with us.
The sound was crisp and clear in this venue... supposedly the show was broadcast on Radio One
Germany as well. Our friends Prewar Yardsale made it out for the show! Berlin is definitely one
of our favorite cities, so much like New York in a lot of ways, but still retaining its own
particularness, and it's inexpensive!
Oct 21 Kulturpalast Linden - Hannover, Germany
So nice to see friends from the last time we were in Hannover... good people from the Silke arp
Bricht came out. It was very cold, I remember. And as always happens, our smallest shows have
often some of our most relaxed and musical performances. This was the first night on the tour
that we all really opened up improvisationaly. Vague memories of almost Dadist
emotion.
Oct 23 Marina di Massa - Tagomago, Italy
Right on the east coast of Northern Italy. Many people have played this obscure spot. It was
our first Italian show. Of course, the food was amazing. Each country is different, the people
react differently; we learn new things from the cultures we're exposed to, though we're mostly
hanging out in venues. We all dipped our feet in the ocean a bit...
Oct 24 Unwound - Padova, Italy
This venue is on the sketchiest looking street, back alley type of place, but once you get in
there, it's hugantic and quite nice! Good people who ran it and many nice faces to remember.
Some older guy came in and started turning his weed wacker on and off right in the middle
of the set! It was gloriously synchronistic with the way things had been going in our freest
of improvisations. Needless to say, Gaybot horked it and hooked a mic up to it, using it as
part of his noise setup for the rest of the tour.
Oct 25 Clandestino - Faenza, Italy
Best meal on the tour, hands down. They brought out like a 4 course spread of all these
delectables I had never set me tounge upon before. Another show where, while playing
felt like they really didn't like us, but after, they couldn't say enough kindnesses.
Oct 26 Ortosonico - Giussago (Pavo), Caserta, Italy
One of the coolest venues I've ever played. We got to the city of Pavo and met the promoters.
They told us to follow them, we go and go and go and go, further away from the city.... into the
country, then we turn onto a dirt road... a mile or two later we come upon this gigantic farmhouse
or three farmhouses. I guess they have rehearsal spaces and a recording studio out at this place,
but also a venue. There were fireplaces and very warm feelings all around.
Oct 27 Soy Festival - Nantes, France
Very cool festival. We drove 14 hours from Italy through Southern France up to the Northwest of
France for this thing (Gaybot gets a trophy for that one!)...
This is where we met our new friend SJ Esau, a cool one man band from the UK. We also met
Zita Swoon, a band from Belgium who played on the floor all facing in toward the middle... their
PA faced outward toward the audience... created a good vibe. The audience in Nantes was really
supportive and the people who ran this festival were really our kind of people, really nice, loving
crew.
Oct 28 Seth solo @ Café Grimault - Nantes, France
It was on this night that Seth performed Act II of his new rock opera, 23 Psaegz (pronounced
"Sages"). This was a small venue, hard to get from one side of the room to the other.... The rest
of the band joined him for a song or two at the end of his set. Good fun. After this, we all went
back to the other venue and checked out bands and had a jam session with this truly strange guy
named BOOTS! He and Seth ended up having some very weird interactions. A head shake is the
only possible response...BOOTS!!!
Oct 29 Fleche d'or - Paris, France
Cool venue, early show... not much to say about it since we played then headed for the border,
wanting to get into the UK as soon as possible... we pulled an overnight journey equalling 16 hours
up to Hull where we met some good friends for a little rest and relaxation, good food and funny
times with some catnip!
Oct 31 The Adelphi - Hull, UK
The Adelphi is a long time
favorite of ours. Paul Jackson, the man who has always run the place, is a true heart with a desire
to push good music in his region. Always good sound and a really awesome audience.... This was
halloween, so the band wore makeup, and we did some spooky stuff.
OOO!!!
Nov 1 Bardens Boudoir - London, UK
Great show... the bands opening up the night were really fun. The band continues to
open up and expand... This was Rick Snell's last show of the tour with us so we played an extra
long set (though not the longest of the tour).
Nov 2 Depford Arms - London, UK
Pretty cool show... some nice bands on the bill, giant stuffed animal type things in the corners.
Our good friend, Nick White, was out for this one... he's the guy who did the cover artwork for
Last Classed Blast.
Nov 3 Norwich *CANCELLED*
Our feelings go out to O'death for their loss. We were supposed to do a show together on this
night, but circumstances of life would not allow. Much love to you, friends...
It turned out on this night, since we had a cancelation, we went to Brighton and stayed with Dillon
of Simplefolk... everyone in the band was a bit antsy, as happens on nights off... we prefer to be
playing, so we grabbed up a bunch of portable instruments and took it to the streets, parading all
over the place. First, all 5 of us piled into a telephone both and rocked out for a while. It took a
bit, but after a little while we had about 30-40 people singing and dancing in the streets of
Brighton. An incredible time. We took it to the beach after a while, awesome night, historical
even.
Nov 4 The Hope - Brighton, UK
Awesome night of music... I really dug what I
heard from Larry Pickleman... pleasant surprizes around every corner! We had a friend, Niq, a 16
year old, who joined us for like 3 or four songs... he caught on to our improvisational stuff
amazingly too... look out for this one.
Nov 5 Port Mahon - Oxford, UK
Early on in this day, the band arrived and had some hours to chill. Seth took a nap in the van,
and within 10 minutes of falling asleep he heard a loud scraping sound. He got up, got out and
saw the car which had just taken off the back corner of our tourvan!!
A bunch of crap ensued... all ending well with an awesome show. It was put on by an arts
collective and a friend, Layla. There were very large canvasses in the room and paint that
everyone was allowed to use. Projections too. Great audience, very alive and fun.
Nov 6 Miss Peapods - Penryn, Cornwall, UK
Yet another beautifully awesome show. Our first time to Cornwall. There was water outside the
venue, I guess it was some sort of bay with boats and stuff. With the tide, the water would lower
and all the boats would be sitting in mud. Funny spectacle. One of the most supportive audiences
of the UK, for sure... felt awesome.
Nov 7 The Junction - Bristol, UK
This was a last minute show, supposed to be a day off, but, like I said before, we don't like days
off... Cool to see some old friends and play a show in this fragrant venue.
Nov 8 2 Pigs - Cheltenham, UK
Cheltenham is always a blast. Good to be back. We stayed with a family called the Whites. Nick White is the
guy who did the artwork for our album "Last Classed Blast." This was also Gigi's last show of the
tour. Sad to see her go.
Nov 9 Actress and Bishop - Birmingham, UK
Something happened here. Things really opened up for us. The band finally got it's improvisation
on... we opened up doors that stayed open for the rest of the tour. Beats says..."best show ever
of any band or individual performer in history." We played a pretty long show, many encores. Beautiful audience.
Nov 10 Wee Red Bar - Edinburgh, Scotland
Awesome show. There was a big cart with bars on both sides which allowed us to wheel all over
the place... oh, and then there was a big circular bent reflector on the ceiling which we were able
to take a group picture with audience members; Gaybot got 'em all up huddled around the center
together.
Nov 11 The Tunnels - Aberdeen, Scotland
Here, yet another great show in Aberdeen put on by the Holy Folks singer, Stuart. They had a
ladder there too, so Gaybot got to do some stick balancing atop the sweet ladder. I don't
understand how some people understand us.
Nov 12 Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, UK
The band pulled the drumset off the stage completely in the middle of the set for this
show. Then instruments got passed out to audience members, and we all did "Balloon Rocking
Chair together." One of my favorite versions of that song yet.
Nov 13 Fishtank - Durham, UK
We had a duo vs. Gaybot in this futuristic tale.
A fun audience allowed us to be ridiculous. The promoter, Carole, showed us all the castle and
cathedral the next day... There was a childrens' choir singing in the cathedral. Yay!
Nov 15 Franzis - Wetzlar, Germany
Oh bother, they did not give us big bottles this time, so no broken. But! There was a grape
giveaway and a practically naked drummer wearing some sex sign. Gaybot's weedwacker got
busted amidst performance. Strange strange things happened. Our intro lasted nearly a half an
hour. Needless to say, the show itself was the longest on this tour... 3 hours straight, ending with
some of Seth's rock opera, "23 Psaegz."
Nov 16 Freiburg, Germany
Here had an amazing audience. There was the feeling that someone was sad in the audience.
We made the call, "who is sad? Someone is sad!!" A dreadlocked man came forward and said,
"I am sad." We got the whole audience to cluster in around him and give him a giant group
hug.... They kept on asking for encores, so we played pretty late into the night. Great.
Nov 17 Zeitraumexit - Mannheim, Germany
This was an art gallery that doesn't normally have live music. They had us in as part of a
festival. Great audience, some did not totally understand when Gaybot disappeared under the
stage, banging and pleading to be let out. Alex and Seth had a screaming battle... the whole
show started with the band playing bottles, weaving into the audience the ridiculous. Very artsy
fartsy. Yip.
Nov 18 Theaterkapelle - Berlin, Germany
We did not expect to have a performance on our last night, but we figured since we were flying
out of Berlin and had the night off we may as well try. At the Haus Der Kulturen show we put
the word out and someone awesome came through with a great show! It was in this old church
with high ceilings and a really cool feel to it. Jan and Heiko, with their projects opened up the
night, nice to see good friends making music they love! Our set started as "normal" with the
band playing through a PA, but about 4 songs into it the Cops came and told us first to turn
down and then that they would take all of our equipment away if we didn't shut the show down.
So, quick thinking Strictly Beats brought us all down to the floor and we played acoustically for
the audience.
After a full set had been played, Beats once again came through and told the audience to get
on the stage... We did a killer version of "Fire" with the band on the floor and the audience on
the stage. A great ending to a great tour. It seemed ironic that on our last night would be the
only show that got shut down and that they music would be placed in the hands, mouths and
minds of the audience after we bowed out.
I want to bid a special thanks to all the people who made this tour possible... Birgit our
booking agent, Mark from Iron Man Records, Lucas and the crew over at ROIR, Haus der
Kulturen, Jeffrey Lewis, Aniela, Liz, Victoria, Joly at Punkcast, Highway Tiger, everyone who
donated pictures to this blog, Erin and Anouk for their moral support, our families, lovers and
friends... all of whom we owe the greatest debt of thanks. Much love from beyond!
