Day 4, Plymouth White Rabbit
Plymouth’s only an hour away so we have the whole day to relax and recover. W get an awesome breakfast cooked for us, and for me it was my first taste of Facon (fake bacon). I’m still not sold on it, but there was toast, scrambled egg or scregg as the Bangers boys called it and baked beans. I ate my fill, more than most and got ready for our day of treats to continue. They took us to a fucking spa! Ace! Hamish lent me and towel and we went with the others to a charity shop to buy towels and shorts. I had a pair or shorts left in the van from our tour with Shapes back in May. They made enough money at the show the night before to be able to pay for 10 of us to go for a swim. There was a Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna and pool. It was an amazing way to detox after the over-indulgence of the last few nights. We spent a good 2 hours there, making the most of feeling clean. We splashed around and had a laugh, a little too much homo-erotic man handling, but that’s what happens when you get a bunch of dudes in a swimming pool, apparently. We towel off, have a shower and get dressed again. We head back into Falmouth to get a bite to eat; pasties it is then. There are a few pretty good pasty shops in Fally so we get some tasty ones. Robin’s mum is feeding us tonight, and we’re told we’ve each got out own pasty with our initials on! Even veggie ones for Kai and Ben. We leave Falmouth and say our good byes to the Bangers boys. Possibly the most pampered I’ve felt in a long time, let alone when we’ve been on tour. I wish more promoters had that sort of ethic. They weren’t doing it to make money, they were literally doing it to put on some music and get some people into it, an admirable attitude in today’s scene. The fact they’re an awesome band and a bunch of the nicest guys you’ll meet is a bonus.
We get to Robin’s parents house in Plymouth in good time and are seated, and our personalised pasties are presented to us. We were told to compare our pasties from earlier to Robin’s mums. Hands down the best pasty I’d ever eaten. Set me up for the night for sure.
We then drive down to the White Rabbit, and load our gear in. Dan and Ben are there and Discharge (yes Discharge) are in the back room, I guess they’d already sound checked, so we get settled and we get a crate of beer so we start drinking. Its nice having a back room with sofas to relax in, we all chill out and chat, it’s like we’ve know Solutions for years. Kai’s bass strap nut had been slipping out throughout the tour but it was always fixable, but tonight onstage there was not much we could do, so I scramble on, get my bass out, and get him sorted out. They play a tight set ad it sounds big out front. The crowds a bit thin, I think most people are outside drinking cider, getting ready for Discharge. People pile in after we play to see Bus Station Loonies. They’re a Plymouth punk mainstay. I think they were there when it all happened so you could never call them try hards.
After the show we get back to Adam and Gary’s house. Robin used to be in a sick hardcore band called Youth Gone Wrong back when Robin was at university in Plymouth. Everyone bar me and Robin stay at home as us two and Gary head back to the White Rabbit for Jaeger Bombs! Sweet!
We end up at a bar called Ride where some NME DJ is playing. It’s all mashed up electro stuff, and in our current state m and Robin (Party Crew) rip up the (albeit small) dancefloor. We get hideously drunk and get a taxi back to Gary’s. We get into our sleeping bag and fall asleep to Lucero, a great end to a fun night.