After a Camden headline slot on friday night we quickly packed down and headed home for a 5am start saturday morning. We managed to get up, and by 6.30am we were in the departure lounge of Heathrow terminal 2 at Weatherspoons, making an early start!

we said goodbye to our guitars and organ, hoping they would arrive safely in Moscow and not get lost and end up in China or sumwhere and so we boarded our flight, and discovered what you get on Russian airways (Aeroflot...)


me and Rik wernet too sure about the cucumber omelette and supposed apple and blackberry pancake....



We made it in one piece to Moscow nearly 4 hours later
and had to fill out immigration forms....Rik turned his into a pigeon...which became the tour mascot, after some funny looks at passport control they let us into the city

we were met at the airport by our driver, who was a great guy..and between our lack of Russian and his better..but lack of English we managed to communicate just about.
The first thing you notice in Russia is how bad the drivers are....(luckily our's was great!) but its like being in Grand Theft Auto world.
Heres the view from our flat



we met up with a few Friends living in Moscow (who were life savers..helping translate and looking after us) and we went to the venue where we had our table waiting reserved for us (very rock n roll) we got loads of looks, but to be fair Chris gets them wherever he goes...the first Russian to talk to Chris at the aiport asked him if he wanted a haircut

we had to wait a few hours till show time...but had a great meal, plenty of Baltika and Tuborg, and listened to the delights of Britpop
Heres the venue



and us getting ready to play..and mid set....(more shots coming soon from the russian photographers)



we were then free to dance the night away, learn russian phrases, and get free access to the bar. check out the bands we played with Blast and The Burns..both from Moscow, both brilliant!!
We eventually left the club at 6.30am, and our driver took us back to the flat, we were debating whether to just carry on and start the next day, but instead decided to get at least a few hours kip.

next day, and we went to explore Moscow and do the tourist thing...this was more tiring due to the 35 celsius temps over there, we even got to stand next to Lenin and Tsar Nicholas 2 (and they are both dead...)
In Red Square, dave was disappointed to realise the ground isnt actually red. some girls started taking loads of photos of us, and there was an exhibition of basically Chav cars..but it seemed popular with the locals.











that night we went out again, and saw a few other bars, and had some more Russian beer and ended up finishing in daylight once again, heres some various shots of that night with our friends again...
both chris and Rik ended up collapsed..asleep after....which was fun for us






and this final shot is outside our flat before we left for the airport
the russian women at customs stole my russian vodka, as it wasnt duty free...but she was too scary to try and contemplate arguing with

other things to note about the trip

Dogs roam the streets, if they come near you...you have to bark (trust...they have rabies)
doushe is not an insult..it means shower
improve on hand gestures before you go..they can be quite handy - and we were rubbish at them.
100 rubles is only £2
dont pretend to play street fighter in bars...they dont like it
sock means juice
if you want orange juice..dont point at the mcdonalds lady's uniform just because its orange
dont drink the tap water
dont jay walk...the police dont like that
the metro trains doors dont take any prisoners...(no safety device is in use there..) so dont rush into a carriage at the last minute
if you want to see Lenins real dead body, go on a tuesday
go to Gorky park ..we will be next time
beware of Russian alcoholics pissing themselves at stations...it wasnt a nice image

when i remember more i'll add it

peace x


and finally thanks to Vlado and our driver and Tim, Alexandra and Nadin who made the trip even better!!

some more gigs, some more drinks, some more fun on the road, heres what happened

we played at a place in Corby, which was a really good night, its a small town, but has a great crowd of music lovers(if only we were living somewhere like that...), and we got on so well that we are making a quick return to play their all dayer at the end of the month!!
The local chippy was also very friendly, despite only having the choice of a sausage or a piece of cod, we enjoyed it.
here is top local band Yeltsin (who played acoustic that night), you have to check them out, (just signed to the same management as The Enemy)



and heres some of the lovely locals







dave got stuck in a helicopter on the way home


The following day and we were off to the Cider county of Somerset to play Yeovil.
The Orange box is a brilliant venue, and Ian down there always looks after us a treat
We stopped on the way to see Stone Henge




that didnt quite work....but was a good idea at the time


we made the most of our backstage dressing room (used by none other than Franz Ferdinand the previous week)







the reaction to what was on the laptop is entirely genuine...it wasnt very nice!
Me and Rich managed to find our way to the top of a dis-used dry ski slope prior to our gig, we had forgotten our ski's, so had to pretend

we were staying in Exeter that night, and were lucky to saty in a really amazing house





the following morning we made the most of the giant trampoline, took a dog for a walk, and then went to a little theme park in weston supermare, and beat some kids at laser quest as well as going on a few rides in the pouring rain






we then continued our journey up to Bristol to play Klub Kute, which was a cool clubnight at The Cooler. Another cool gig, with loads of people, and a lovely backstage room with more free drinks, we were having a good weekend for complimentary services.







love love x

PLEASE BUY OUR SINGLE TODAY FROM ANY OF THE DIGITAL RETAILERS, SUCH AS I TUNES. ITS CALLED HALFWAY OUT AND IS ONLY 79P, YOU CAN ALSO BUY RULE OF THUMB AND FIND YOUR OWN WAY OUT...SUPPORT THE CAUSE - THANKS X

Heres a handy link

http://clkuk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=23708&a=1129537&epi=TheFullertonsHalfwayOutEP&url=http%3A%2F%2Fphobos.apple.com%2FWebObjects%2FMZStore.woa%2Fwa%2FviewAlbum%3Fi%3D281658286%26id%3D281658237%26s%3D143444%26partnerId%3D2003

PLEASE BUY OUR SINGLE TODAY FROM ANY OF THE DIGITAL RETAILERS, SUCH AS I TUNES. ITS CALLED HALFWAY OUT AND IS ONLY 79P, YOU CAN ALSO BUY RULE OF THUMB AND FIND YOUR OWN WAY OUT...SUPPORT THE CAUSE - THANKS X

With the bounce of early Razorlight, the energetic rush of emotions of Dirty Pretty Things & some fine raucous singing, The Fullertons will go far!

Subba Culture June 2008

We have started playing some shows to promote the debut single, and after a couple of local gigs played 3 gigs in four days in Yorkshire. York, Leeds, and Hull.
We have far too many photos to document this event..but we were havin a lot of fun as you will see. i'll try and explain as we go...but its still a bit of a haze

The first gig was in York at The Junction,with a cool young band called The Gilligans (www.myspace.com/thegilligansyo) Black Kids were playing a very over sold out gig at the other nearby venue Fibbers, but there were some great people down for us none the less
heres some of the lovely guys and girls from York




Dave kicked off the mini tour in style with a dib dab, theres no other way really....


York is a very historic place, so we had to venture into town after the show to make the most of it, (and after a while...we were askin..."so if they are the city walls..are we inside the city or outside the city - we eventually worked it out)



Chris and Rik in front of York Minster (thats like a big church...)



This women is proper ugly...why it is on the wall of York..we dont know




We ended up in a local pub for local people...it seemed the only place left to go.....Rik enjoyed it


The Following day we didnt have a show, and were staying in Leeds...so as we felt we had earned a night out later that day we went to a studio to do some work on a new song titled "Let you see why"
we were clearly in the right place as next door to us were the amazing "Sunshine Underground" rehearsing their new album, which is sounding great. We discussed the finer points of Leeds over a cuppa tea, and they were kind enough to pose in this photo with us





and here is some proof we did rehearse...








Later that night we did a photoshoot with the excellent Dan Barber, those pics should be coming soon. We were followed by a family of Jippo's for most of it, the little kids classic line was "are you lot celebrities then...we say...no not really, they respond...well you wouldnt be a celebrity cus id come up there and bash ya face in" LOL


On the 3rd day of the mini tour we were playing in Leeds, and the line up was crackin with Road to V winners Rosalita and highly acclaimed Ejectorseat on the bill. The other acts name escapes me...but its probably best you dont have a chance to look them up, it must have been the most bizzare act ive ever seen, it was a kind of american sounding electro duo, that was extremely camp and very energetic, i felt like i had been dreaming it, wasnt a good dream though...
the gig was called Jagermeiester Tuesday, so it was destined to be a messy one.
we went out after the show with the lovely Venue owner and promoter/bar dude (Jordan...aka Brad Pitt - from Snatch and Fez..who were both legends)

After a few drinks at Oporto, it was decided by Jordan that the only place to go would be back to his venue for more Jagermeister and so the fun commenced





And we eventually left quite late into the morning, - as you can see Rik was hit the worst by the generosity of Leeds....

Day 4 and we were playing in Hull, home of the Humber Bridge (just like in San Francisco) and also home to The Paddingtons...who i love.
We went to the venue via the Hotel



and finally.... after many days of the van making stuttering starts it eventually stopped completely right next door to the hotel at the petrol station.


This man was a legend, who got her working again, and so we were ok to go to the Ball.
Whilst we were waiting for the AA we got to know the familiar four walls of 2 colours that is a Travel Lodge room.
we did a very myspace shot in the mirror and played street fighter.....





despite this set back we actually arrived first out of the bands for the show, and were early enough to play some monopoly on the stage




we met some lovely Hull people as you will see




Heres a Go Go King and a Paddington sporting a beard....

we met a security guy at the nearby Sainsburys whose real name was Robin Hood!! wow
and back at the hotel there were loads of rabbits everywhere....we looked for them

and this is how Rich sometimes looks in the morning after a mini tour...of Yorkshire...

Camp Goulash is still very much in our systems, and will probably take another week to fully recover from and by then we will be in the middle of our mini tour of Yorkshire . If you weren't there its basically a 3 day bender with 12 local bands, dj's, camp fire sing along's and despite there being loadsa tents out everywhere very little sleep was had.
We played as the sun came down on saturday night and finished our final song (and forthcoming single) "halfway out" by all being within the crowd itself playing, with beer spraying everywhere and the crowd stealing my mic to finish the song.
Here are some photos ive managed to get of facebook of the entire weekend.









Some of the camping areas we made...red camp was the place to be




just like glasto




Young Husband - doing a fri night DJ set

Dave on chef duty, he wasnt attacked...he put the tape on hi-self


The Young Husband and Langley Road secret gig at gayfield (2am)

Young Husband and Jack

Masterchef - the legend that is Coup

Roberto Cappellina (you have to check this guy out, some qulaity tunes and the best beat boxer ive seen)

the beautiful Rob Power

Mister Kite doing a wicked mid afternoon set

our lovely selves - i couldnt get that apron off all weekend

Rik doin his thang

the fullertons in the crowd

Tom Billington (ex Mohair) playin a brand new and very cool set of tunes

Pant wettingly good Dizzee Cheroot and the Colossus Dream



other highlights of the weekend that i havent got pics of included Langley Road, Alex, The Modelz and Young Husband....
The AA rescuing our van from the mud on friday, the secret gig in gayfield, laser quest in the woods, Pearce Grady and John Harbison in general, the Harrow crowd singing at the campfire, the phantom shit in the woods, the "dance" tent, Cole crashing in a random tent and tellin the owner to f**k off and Grow up when he got woken at 5am. lol, the two Slovakians
who needs Glasto when you have Goulash



our debut single is out on June 23rd..spread the word


..

Its getting closer to the release of our debut single..so the gigs are getting more serious...in preparation and to be mentally ready for the task ahead in Northampton me and Rik did some coloring in, whilst Rich and Chris did a wordsearch






we then managed to get lost on the way back to the venue but found a desserted market, and pretended to be stool holders..i had some lovely bags on sale



(Rik didnt buy any of them, Chris bought his own bag back of me)



Northampton's show was at an Ex Gentleman's club, and so the venue was probably one of the smartest we have seen, the floor was made of marble...and there was some lovely leather sofa's that we took advantage of, and Rich caught up on some sleep



The gig was cool, the first band on were all 15 / 16 and were brilliant, they sounded as big as Muse, and were called SleepyHead. On the way home we listened to the Mystery Jets and did some Rik Astley Dancing in the back of the Van, then spent about an hour directing the Petrol Station assistant around the shop trying to work out sign language for bottle of coke, sandwich etc etc...they should just leave the doors open

After a long night of watching Flight of the Conchords (buy the DVD...possibly better than the Boosh!!) we went to Twickenham for the Filthys All dayer, this is a great day of music in my favourite part of London..the crowd there look as cool as the Shoreditch crowd but arent pretentious and are lovely people!, and to have Coz from larrikin Love serve you your pint makes the whole day even better (i love that band!! - check out his new project...Klezma Villanova)





we found this in the street (if you are now looking for it..please contact) it did make our bottles of Becks look pretty cool!





Good Shoes?

after getting spanked by Noel (and the banker) on deal or no deal we played Pool......









Rik Won....

watched some great bands, Klezma Villanova, Marner Brown, The Voxx, Kevin Tuffy, Kav and we headlined the gig, we played the all dayer before, and have gradually worked our way up the bill..so its only downhill from here
people danced and the sound was crackin...so Filthys and the TW1 crowd are still number 1 in my books!

- we aint done much bloggin before..so we will try and get better, but have plenty more gigs and photo opportunities to hone these skills further! next stop The North!

The Fullertons are riding on the crest of a wave. The band are catching the ears and eyes of A&R men at various labels and are starting to create a strong fanbase on top of their loyal local following. Playing at London's Social provided an intimate platform for the band to showcase new material to a packed, hot and sweaty crowd in the tiny venue.
The muggy atmosphere, it almost felt damp, was thoroughly cut through by a band who are getting better and better with every live performance. Dave Chanell, the band's quiet-offstage can't-take-your-eyes-off onstage frontman draws attention to the band with his unique dancing, fully in touch with the faces on the ground looking upto him with awe.

Opening with the 'Where You Going To Now', the raucous lead track from their debut EP of the same name, The Fullertons crashed out of the stage and set fire to the venue. 'Rule Of Thumb' followed with the band's retro sound coming to the fore in 'Lonely Eyes'

With new songs aplenty in the set, it would be easy for the crowd to switch off and wait for the songs that have been well worn into the Watford quartet's live show – but this was not the case. Indeed 'Hopeless Romantics' and set highlight 'Carlos The Killer' were two of the best received songs, the latter being a dynamically driven song with a slow verse, manic chorus and lunatic of an ending – superb.

'Drink Through It', with it's easy to dance to chorus will stick long in the memory, as will 'Halfway Out' which gave the audience the perfect lead to set closer 'Find Your Own Way Out', a song about working in Sainsbury's and getting out through the power of rock and roll.

The Fullertons have a great collection of songs that embed themselves into your conscious and refuse to budge. The new material proves that the foursome have the ability to consistently churn out instantly accessible tracks which can grab the attention of pretty much anyone who hears them and relentlessly hold on for dear life. Astounding.

- Matt Churchill @ www.GodIsInTheTvZine.co.uk