Ok so I've had almost a week to digest the happenings
of last weekend....and boy was it a weekend!!....
We don't often have the opportunity whilst playing
shows to hang around for an extra day to soak up the scenery, watch other bands
and enjoy a few drinks together so I think this trip had an added excitement
around it for us.....
The weekend started in rehearsals…unlike most PRR
rehearsals it was a pretty quick and painless process. We ran through the set a
few times and soon decided bed was possibly a good option.....so after some
last minute packing and stressing off to bed we all went.....
6am the next morning, alarm pounding into my ears I
arose to find no hot water...AUUUGH....so after a freeeeeeezing wash by hand it
was van packing time....Getting to Gatwick was pretty painless but I wouldn't
recommend trying to maneuver 5 guitar cases, large keyboard case and a 32kg
suitcase through a busy Gatwick Terminal 3, it will make you want to kill
someone and we very nearly did thanks to Easyjet and their call
centre, we ended up paying over £400 of excess baggage we didn't need!!
but not to worry I'm sure Easyjet will eventually do the decent thing! Even
though it would have been cheaper (and more fun) to have taken an entourage
with us and act like prima-donna’s for the weekend, anyway we didn’t want this to dampen our spirits so
after a spot of Home Alone quote off with Nick (guitar tech) and some weird
looks and questions from airport security we boarded the plane and arrivederci England.....
The flight was quick and painless and soon enough we
were touching down in the beautiful city of Pisa. I sadly didn't see the tower
but I can save that for my next trip!!....
Anyway....as soon as we had arrived at the airport we
were picked up by a driver and whisked over to the venue.....which was a
freaking Serie A (the premiership of Italy) football stadium!!!! I know what
you are thinking, usual day of the week for us....anyway after the first wave
of dread had cleared, we had a look around and started to feel at home........
Unlike any venues or festivals in the UK the Artist
Liaison and people helping were just amazing, everyone was only too happy to
help and it felt like nothing was a bother...even Jon had them running for hair
product...yep, WE ARE ROCK AND ROLL!!!!....
So onto the show... To be honest it was a huge blur, I
can't really remember a thing, all I really know is the show went well and I
enjoyed playing on such a huge stage.....
Sadly we weren’t able to play AVO, there was a problem
with the computer sending samples to the keys, so instead of wasting 5 mins of
Placebo's set, we decided it was better to leave after Ambassadors, personally
I think it was the best we've played it in a long time so it didn't feel bad to
end the set there!! ....
The next morning...well I guess technically the
afternoon. Myself and Nick wandered in to Livorno town to have a look around,
completely forgetting everyone sleeps in the afternoons. ....
So seeing as it was like walking through a ghost town
and everywhere was closed apart from a pizzeria, we decided Beer o'clock it
was....There really isn’t a better feeling than sitting in the sunshine
enjoying a beer in unfamiliar surroundings.....
I feel I need to state that everyone in Italy is
beautiful, and I don't usually say that about places but it's true!! Beauty
everywhere, girls, guys everyone!! ....
Anyway back to the story........
After an hour or two Jon, Paul and Steve (sound) came
to join us, we had a few cheeky beers with them and soon it was time to
eat....In very un-PRR style it only took us a few minutes to find a place to
trough but seeing as we all love Italian food so much I think it made our
decision quite easy. ....
Pizza it was.......
I won't go on about food like I usually do but all I'm
going to say it had meat on it, it had cheese on it and it was tasty.....
I guess you're all wondering where Chloe is at this
point, she accidentally fell asleep and missed out on all the fun thus far.....
After sampling the delights of "duff" beer,
which personally I thought tasted of bad Budweiser we dragged ourselves to the
stadium to meet up with Chloe.....
Sadly we missed the only other brit band on at the
festival "My Toys Like Me" but Chloe had the chance to see them and
said they were really good.....
Kraftwerk were unbelievable. ....
I seriously can’t even start to explain how good they
were. The visuals, the jumpsuits, having robots on stage instead of them in the
encore. It was just mind blowing. ....
After Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin played a schizoid DJ
set, which was damn hard to get into after Kraftwerks magnificence! I got a bit
bored so decided to dance, if anyone knows me you will know I never dance but
because I was bored I bugged a bunch of the artist liaison girls to come dance.....
I don't know how this next part happened but I found
some parcel tape and ended up binding someone together! Don’t worry, nothing
improper!....
After all of the drama I had caused, it was probably
time to leave everyone alone to have a peaceful rest of their night/morning. ....
A huge thank you to Angela and Alessia for making sure
we got to the hotel safe.....
The next morning was hell, I felt so so so sick and to
make matters worse it was also home time. ....
We narrowly missed our flight back to the U.K but
somehow we all got home safely.....
Thanks to Italia Wave for looking after us and putting
up with us.....
Can't wait for Switzerland they have a lot to live up
to........
Jamie x....