BELATED DIARY....PT 2

 

It feels like years ago now, but I'm going to try to pick up where we left off from the last diary entry, which left us headed to...

FRIDAY 16TH JULY - BIRMINGHAM ACADEMY 2

 

Birmingham. We were in a Carling academy venue and the area we were playing in was packed. It was a fast paced, rocky set and then back upstairs to our dressing room for a bit of a party. That's all I'm going to say about our set that night, because that's all I can remember.

 

We have a fairly strict rule in the band that we go onstage for every gig sober and in full control of our facilities - which means that as soon as the gig has ended there's something of a dash for the rider.

 

As we were upstairs chilling, the downstairs area of the club threw its doors open and became a kind of alternative music nightclub venue, not unlike the Camden Palace. With the tourbus not leaving until 1am and my scouse mates Big Andy, Li'l Andy and Ginga in attendance (along with a dude whom they had convinced to drive them back to Liverpool), we decided to have a bit of a party.

 

Well...Robbie and I did. Tim and Lisa headed back to the bus and Lee popped out for his regulation 20 minutes of fun.

 

Lee's 20 minutes of fun consist of Lee hitting the dancefloor at 100 miles per hour for 20 minutes, attracting everyone's attention ("Hey! Who's that CRAZY guy?") then leaving the building. And it's what he always does.

 

Everybody: Hey, where's Lee gone?

Robin and Milo: He's had his 20 mins dude. He's gone.

 

So then it was bye bye scouse mates, bye bye Birmingham and hello Playstation orgy until we arrived in (and at this point I have to check my diary)...

SATURDAY 17TH JULY - GUILFEST

 

Of course! How could I forget Guilfest? We were following Rolf Harris on the main stage and to this day, out of everyone at every festival I've been to, it was Rolf whom most people were clamouring to meet backstage.

 

Guilfest is like a kind of baby Glastonbury. It could be like a Glastonbury training ground for next year. Like Glastonbury's creche. Family Glastonbury, but it was still awesome. We got to see a great rap group called 100th Monkey and we all had a go at the Oxygen Bar after the gig.

 

A few paras ago I wrote 'How could I forget Guilfest?'  I'm ashamed to say that barring what I've written here, that's exactly what I've done. I can't remember anything about the gig, so I'll fast forward to Norwich.

SUNDAY 18TH JULY - GUILFEST

 

The Waterfront is a great venue and we were lucky to have there one of the best monitor men we've ever worked with (apart from our dude Stuart). The monitoring is always crucial to a band's performance and this guy was spot on. i can't remember his name, but he was a tubby dark featured guy, with the easy going nature of someone who is aware of how good they are at their job.

 

I'm tempted to write that we had a great gig, because we did, but then I'm also aware that I've written this about all the gigs thus far with no exceptions. Well, to be honest, we haven't really had a duff one yet. So from now on, I'm not going to comment on the gigs unless they're bad and you should just take it as read that we stormed it. Move in Manchester was a bit dodgy, but that was about it.

MONDAY 19TH JULY - BRIGHTON CONCORDE 2

Brighton the next night was the homecoming gig and the end of our tour. We'd all gotten used to sleeping on the bus, each other, exploring different cities and playing every night so we were all sad it came to an end but looking forward to the next gigs.

 

We were all pleased at the way we bonded as a band and I think a key part of that is that we all listen to each other instead of flying off at musically masturbational tangents. Our tightness as a group then frees Tim up to perform as well as we all know he can, which makes for a great show. You need to check it out.

THURSDAY 5TH AUGUST - BENICASSIM FESTIVAL

 

Benecassim was our next gig - about two weeks later. We had two days of rehearsals and were ready for another gig after the tour. Bene is described as one of the best festivals in Europe and we weren't disappointed. What we were disappointed about was half of our equipment being mistakenly put on a flight to Paris, somehow.

 

That meant a day of extreme stress for Noddy, who was looking after us in Techs absence. Noddy and Stuart (our American monitors dude) were on a par with the A-team as they cobbled together bits of equipment out of literally anything they could find, so that when we hit the stage nobody was any the wiser.

 

Post-gig was funny. Tim and Robin got more drunk than I've ever seen them. For Tim that meant giggling a lot and being slightly more verbose than usual. For Robin, that meant throwing himself in the backstage swimming pool fully clothed (boots and all) with all his money and his passport in his pocket, then staggering amongst all the assorted backstage people like a wet scarecow.

 

Backstage we hung out with Snow Patrol and a Spanish band called Fangoria. The keyboard player out of Snow Patrol proceeded to give me the best tips ever for Ps2 game Pro Evolution Soccer 3, which means I now beat my uber-competitive flatmate, which makes my life that bit rosier. Thanks dude.

SUNDAY 8TH AUGUST - SUDOESTE FESTIVAL

 

It was a great time - unlike the Sudoeste festival in Portugal, which at first threatened to be a disappointment. We had an hour and a half drive over rugged terrain through what seemed to be a desert when suddenly the festival loomed up at us - and the bastard started to rain.

 

Binbags were put on monitors, the kit was covered up and the people ran away in droves apart from a hardcore few who clung to the barrier at the front and just dealt with it.

 

We managed to overcome our despondency, however, and gradually the rain eased off and the crowds grew until we had a proper gig on our hands. James were massive in Portugal and it almost felt like a home crowd for Tim as his performance seemed to hit another level. He was great. As we rolled home with Monkey God, our last number, the crowd were going nuts.

SATURDAY 21ST AUGUST - CHELMSFORD V FESTIVAL

 

Next up was V! Now we're coming closer to the present and thankfully this gig is fresh in my mind. On Saturday we were in Chelmsford playing to a near capacity crowd in the Music Choice tent. Prior to that, Tim Lee and Lisa had performed a short accoustic set in the Virgin Hospitality tent, which was full of tabloid celebs, band members and free food and drink.

 

They stormed it and had a great set. Tim somehow managed to get everyone to shut up, which was no mean feat with the amount of free drink that was flying around.

 

We only had a half hour set, which we packed with our strongest live numbers, and it went by in a flash. Then we went and partied in the festival for awhile. The atmosphere in Chelmsford was great - the sun was out and it was probably the sexiest festival I've been to with the band. Everyone was smiling and loads of girls were in bikini tops...

SUNDAY 22ND AUGUST - STAFFORD V FESTIVAL

 

...which wasn't quite the case with Stafford the next day as the weather wasn't as good and of course, we weren't in Essex any more. But, our set was actually stronger in Stafford than it had been in Chelmsford. Our tent was packed to capacity and a small technical hitch at the beginning of Monkey God aside, we couldn't have played much better.

 

Then it was a quick dinner, ogle at Amy Winehouse (I don't think she remembered me from our last encounter) and home.

 

That's it from us for a little while, but stay in touch with the site as I believe another tour looks like happening sometime in Oct / Nov. See you soon.