Tour Diaries

World Tour 2007

Tour diary world tour 2007.

Hong Kong
After an early start from Dorset seems to rush by and I’m on the plane. The flight goes ok good films on the plane. This is England being my favorite as it’s a film I’ve wanted to watch for a while. After 12 lots of sleeping we arrive in Hong Kong in a storm, but its not too bad (I’m told later its the edge of a typhoon so could have been much worse. I get completely lost at the airport trying to find the bus to discovery bay where I’m staying… but eventually find it.
I head to Joe’s place and have some more sleep before heading into Hong Kong City. The City itself is immense. It goes up for miles in the air. The streets are also very hectic like London at peak time but all the time. This coupled with humid weather makes me feel very disorientated… It’s an amazing place nonetheless. I soon meet up With Joe and Samantha for a drink then food. After that we head to a bar called the watch where they have an open Mic night. After a wee chat to the people who own it I stick my name to play. We then proceed to drink and watch the other acts. Although my lack of having my guitar on me means that I will have to borrow one to play and the guy running the event seems unsure that anybody will lend me one. But we wait for a while watching the generally rubbish cover acts… the only exception is a rather good rockabilly surf band. Then as what looks like maybe a promising band are about to play just before my turn a band of old men push the que and a fight erupts. I decide I’m too drunk won’t be using my guitar and that it’s probably not worth getting involved so we leave. We catch the boat back and crash out.
The next day I awake early and hang round the flat for a while before taking Joe’s dog for an explore. We wandered round for a couple of hours with me getting totally lost. But Goldie Joe and Samantha’s dog is so well behaved and gets me home in the end. That night we go out to the mid autumn moon festival the moon is so bright and their are hundreds of kids running round the beach with Glow sticks and Lanterns we drink and chat with a few of Joe’s friends. It’s a pleasant night on the beach before we hit the town for a few on the outside benches where we meet a few more people and some very drunk idiots too. It’s not long before we head for the flat to rest for a fairly big day tomorrow.
Today is the day of the first show of the tour and Joe has organized an event on the side of a mountain in a pagoda. But first of all we have to get stuff ready so after a late start we hit town myself and Joe have decided to make some CD’s for the event so we run off 50 copies of the Cd with nice card sleeves and string held together packaging funny how the old tricks work best. With 25 CD’s to do seems a tall order and especially as we decide they should be free as to make it a memento of the event. We soon head for the Pagoda and the view of Hong Kong from there is amazing it’s a really nice little set up. Until security for the place arrive (we are kinda running this event very unofficially) we’re told we can’t bbq in the pagoda which is fair enough and then are told we can use the car park. We get BBQing and once everybody has eaten I start play deciding to go on first as Joe is the Local and many people have come to see him. It’s very dark and despite the tea lights seeing the guitar is somewhat tricky. But the show is fun people seem to like my stuff and I play a very long set for me. Joe (outlying Islands) is up next and his stuff is mainly very quiet and beautiful I thoroughly enjoy his all but too brief set. We drink and Chat it turns out that a couple Ross and Julia know various friends of mine and they love my music and want to set up 3 more shows for me in Hong Kong. Which on this Visit I’m very keen to sort out next year. We head home and it seems later than it is but we still get in at midnight and I know I have to get up in 5 hours for my plane (or so I think…)
I wake up and say farewell to my host and spend my last 28 Hong Kong Dollars on the bus to the plane. When I arrive I check in and the lady at the till informs me I’m early… 24 hours early… doh! But its fine she can fit me on this flight so I head for the terminal and ring my mate Iain so that I can make sure I can hook up with him when I arrive. Its all fine so I’m quite relieved and a little disappointed I’ve left Hong Kong a day early but means an extra day in Japan…

Japan
I land in Japan a day earlier than expected and after a quick call to Iain think I know where I’m going. I feel insanely disoriented from the off… it’s properly outside any of my comfort zones. This is going to be a real experience I think to myself. I find out that the Airport in Tokyo isn’t actually in Tokyo. The train takes an hour and half. I get off the train at Shibuya, as the train stops and it sound familiar. I head to what I think is the correct exit at the correct station… After phoning Iain it turns out that I have got off at the station nearest to his house but the train wasn’t supposed to stop there. A manic feeling of disorientation hits me… the hectic ness of everything going on around me… When Iain Arrives I think its the most pleased I’ve been to see anybody in my life…We drop my stuff at his and head to see Pelican and KTL. I enjoy KTL a lot but pelican after a while bore me slightly so I step outside. We then head to the bar… we chat to some of Iain’s Japanese mates (him in Japanese and me in English with them not really understanding me). We chat a bit to pelican and I tell one of Boris (the drummer I think) that I like his band when they do drone… not the 70’s rock stuff… ha ha! We also say to the singer of envy we like his band. We then head to Tee pee Iain’s local bar… its like the Japanese cheers when he walks in. We drink there again with him speaking in Japanese and me in English (with nobody understanding me but politely nodding to me. After a while we head back insanely drunk.
Day 2 in Japan consist of heading into town and looking round record shops (where we bump into Pelican in two different record stores… I think they where stalking us… ha ha!) And seeing the manic streets of Tokyo. We then head to a pub (hub the English pub apparently) where we meet Tom and Clay of Veee deee…and then onto rock bar mother… which is an awesome small bar that you can choose the music so we order every thing from cryptosy to Elliot smith via my bloody valentine. Its really good fun. The after clay leaves we head to a pub called Angel where Iain is in love with the Barmaid. We drink there for ages before Tom leaves to catch the last train we stop for one for the road… which turns our to be several. After a taxi ride I’m pretty sure we hit tee pee again but I was so drunk my memory at this point is hazy.
The next day consists of a massive Hangover and lots of sleep. We then head out for some traditional Japanese food with Tom and his Girlfriend… slight problem lies in that I’m a vegan and there isn’t an awful lot of Japanese food that doesn’t have meat in it. The waiter tells me my original choice is no good (he says basically that the food is crap)… then points to prawns… I tell him I can’t eat that and settle for the only other vegan friendly choice tofu and salad… when my meal comes its a raw lump of Tofu and salad (I’d hate to think what the other thing was like cause this is pretty weak). After we head to Karaoke. It’s not like British Karaoke where its all Maria Carey wannabe’s its friends sitting in a booth having a laugh… after a masterful performance of House of pain Jump around by Iain we all settle down… I do Joy division predictably… but the Drowning pool- bodies as its so shit I don’t care if I fuck it around… Iain does a very funny dragon force and Tom’s Abba is special. It’s a great laugh and we head home after a good night.
The next day is my first show it’s playing in Yoyogi Park. It’s chucking it down… Tom Text though saying that I’ll still be able to play as there will be some where sheltered… so I drag my bones out feeling none too right today. The rain and the lack of actually anybody turning up to see me means I knock it on the head pretty much a minute of two after getting my guitar out. We head to Hub I shibyua and its suggested I play there but I’m feeling too ill and head back to Iain’s to sleep for 14 hours.
So by the time I come round its Monday… Iain has to work so I head for a random wander I see some shrines and inside the depths of Yoyogi park (its now not raining). I wander to the nation stadium and as I walk through an alley way see the biggest spider (I must admit I was quite scared). After some random wandering I make it to shibuya and then my way home. We then head to the rock factory where I’m playing tonight it seems Tom hasn’t actually booked anything for me its just Open Mic nights… it feels a little crushing to have to play to people who aren’t going to get my stuff and have to play with shit Like Trevor a man who sings to a backing CD… I play ok apart from my last song where things fuck up… then we head. To give Iain a break I head to Tom’s its miles out and its pretty late when we head back. He lives right out in the suburbs…
I spend the next day sleeping a lot and wandering round Tom’s burbs… its very quiet is all I can note really. We soon head into Town to the ruby rooms where tonight’s show is Veee deee are playing this one and so there will be at least one act… I play a set first as the Promoter Acco says she’d like me to. Then Veee deee she seems to love us both and we get free drinks all night… which means when I play 2nd to last at 11.15pm I’m battered… I still play ok and the night has been great fun with some reasonable bands playing. Acco tells me and Iain to come drink with her there the next night. We once again we hit tee pee but it is for the very last time. We play darts drink and have a great time before we head back to Iain’s.
The next night is my last night in Japan so we head into the center first of all and hit the electrical town after a bit of a wander and some arcade action we head back to shibuya and get my train ticket for the plane the next day. I then head to ikibukro for a recording session with Tom and Clay from veee deee. We play for a couple of hours and hopefully the recording will be more successful than the London recordings. We then head to a pub called the black sheep bar where I’m informed I could have played if they had actually tried to book the show in time… ho hum! My lesson I’ve certainly learnt from this trip is to tour Japan really you need a record out in Japan and need to be supporting a larger band otherwise you are pretty much relegated to the dregs of shows. I bid farewell to Tom and clay after that and me and Iain Head to shibuya where we hit Ruby rooms again to meet with Acco (I think Iain has a new crush… ha ha)… its a techno night and after a while I get bored and head back… on the way getting accosted by the usual round of vice girls and one girl who doesn’t look like a vice girl who tells me I’m handsome and could I take her to a love hotel (they have hotels for one night stands in Japan). I politely refuse saying I’m tired and I need my bed (which is true… but I’m really not that kinda guy… guess I’m an old romantic fool sometimes… ha ha). Its one thing though that shocks me about Japan is the vice trade and the damn right creepy white guys who sniff round the Japanese girls in a really perverted way…
Anyway soon Iain back… and its time to crash out.
The next day is my last day and it’s not long before farewells and heading to the Airport… Iain’s been a star putting me up translating and generally looking after me I really think without him my stay in Japan would have been an utter disaster. Mr Burns we salute you!
I soon head to the airport where it turns out my Australian Visa hasn’t been set up by my travel agent so I have a massive hassle and trek across the airport to get a visa and have to pay out more money… stressed I finally head to the lounge before boring the plane to Sydney.

Australia

After the worst flight ever… no TV as it was broken… no sleep cause of turbulence and boiled veggies as my food… I land in Sydney. After a wee wait for my stuff (heart racing cause I think its lost). I’m through customs fairly quickly compared to some people. I’m green stamped then I’m out. I head to my sister office and drop my stuff its great to see her and we have a wee bit of breakfast and a chat. I then head to a very good record shop called Red eye where I buy a Hungry Ghost CD I’ve been after. Seems like a pretty cool shop I Shall have to make further investigations later on in my visit as I feel like a space cadet I head to my sisters place and sleep for a bit before heading to town to meet her.
We head out for food and my first night is spent having a pretty chilled out time. It’s really nice to hang out with my little sister again and it’s not long before we head back to her flat, which she has literally just moved into a few days before.
We head out to the Sydney opera house and Sydney Harbor Bridge its pretty spectacular and we take pictures and film. We then decided to head towards Bondi Beach… Its seems so has everybody else and the bus ride takes ages. When we get there its blowing Gail and looks like it will rain any minute we sit on the beach for about 2 minutes before abandoning it as a bad idea. We then take ages to get to Bondi Junction cause everybody else has sacked it off as a bad idea too… opps! Ah well no accounting for the weather is there. We get Lyd a Television and then head to the show.
We meet up with the kids putting on the show they seem really nice. And we head to where we are playing in a disused chemical factory. It looks like something out of a Horror movie its lit up with candles and kinda freaky looking place with it sliding door. But it’s a nice place to play and the Event organizers Louise, Luke and Steph have cooked some nice vegan munch so it’s a very nice atmosphere. The act that play are pretty good Steph’s amazing and does a slint cover, Ethan is very nice in a folk punk way, Louise does some nice instrumental bass stuff and A kid called James who is very shy but amazing player and singer. It goes pretty well and I play for an absolute age till I break a string then I’m limited to songs I don’t play with that string, but still it’s a good length set. We wander out into the streets looking for somewhere to drink… but after a while me and Lydia knock the idea on the head, as she’s pretty cold and tired and head back.
Sunday is a day of rest it said somewhere in some fiction book called the bible I think… so we chill do my washing (which is much needed as I haven’t brought many clothes on this tour) and chill after a small wander into Sydney city center where we look at books and drink coffee… we also see the extent of the manic moth plague that has affected the city. Before crashing out with a DVD and chilling some more.
The next day I get up late and pack my stuff ready for the off to Melbourne. I wander round Newtown which is near where I played on Saturday Its a pretty nice place and reminds me a bit of Haight street in San Francisco… I find a good record store called Paint it black. It has loads of stuff from mate’s bands in the UK and US in it… but is a little under stocked. But its a nice place so was well worth a visit. After milling about round Newtown I walk back into the Center and back to red eye records before meeting my sister. We head for Pizza as she tells me they will make me a cheese less pizza… sadly though the Pizza shop is shut so in the end we just get chips before I head with her to the airport and this time a fairly painless night flight to Melbourne.
I land in Melbourne round some time after midnight. I get a bus to the center then give a taxi Driver to my friend Ross’s house… seems the taxi driver is unsure where it is and I have to get a map and show him. He drops me in a weird place and after a wee bit of phone directions I find Ross… luckily cause I was scared I’d been dropped in some random suburb of Melbourne. I hit his house say Hi to his housemate Dave and we have a chat and chill out.
Next day I wake at a none too unreasonable time feeling fit to go… I head out into town and go explore. Melbourne does seem to difficult to navigate and the train system seems fairly easy to figure (after Japan that’s a relief… ha ha). I wander round the town seeing a few sites and stopping at coffee shops. In the evening I head back to the house figuring after walking round for 6 hours I need to relax. I watch we jam econo the minutemen Doc and chat to Ross and Dave about Punk rock scenes a lot of the time its me and Ross talking about mutual friends which is nice.
The next day I head back to the city with some good places to go and visit from Ross. First place I hit is a record shop called Missing link… it has everything in it and its annoying I’m running so low on Dollars as I could have spent a small fortune in there I really could have. Is one of the best record stores I’ve ever been in really is. I then hit a vegan restaurant called FGY which is a Buddhist place which serves me some amazing food and jasmine tea… feeling pretty relaxed I wander out walk round some more before heading to Fitzroy which is where my two shows will be. I walk round and again pretty nice place a bit like Newtown or Brighton that kinda thing… very hippified I guess vintage clothes stores second hand record stores. I then wander round the cathedral briefly looking at the beautiful architecture. Before heading to get my stuff and heading to the show. The gig is in a new space which is all sound proofed and has a new PA called Deago studios. The show tonight is a noise night and this is the first time really this has happened on this tour so I’m quite excited about it all. The first guy Simon is great his stuff is very bleak and drone based with weird vocals and the odd low beat. He’s only really disturbed by the fact the guy who run’s the venue keeps fiddling with the PA and makes the sound too quiet. Next up are fully Ugly who are two guys who run the venue and they play acoustic melodic dark stuff really nicely too… kinda odd band out I guess but fits nicely with what I do acoustic and noise for me tonight. I play pretty well after the first song which the guy fiddles with the PA I have a go at him and he fixes it back to how he had it… Once that songs over I hit my stride and feel pretty pleased with how the show has gone. People seem to dig it too asking for my contact details (not to self must put a noise track up soon). The last guy to play is a guy called grover he plugs in and makes the most amazing noise for 2 minutes before the guy fiddles with the PA and he rips the leads out and finishes. I’m left wanting more and must get some of his stuff as its genuinely mind blowing stuff all 2 minutes of it.
We leave the venue and head to Toto where we catch the tail end of a band who sound like the cramps mixed with the birthday party I guess… kinda boy/girl shout garage sleaze… pretty good. We drink and myself and Ross get chatting to a chap called Pete who works at missing Link and runs a label as well as being in several good bands. He has toured America with his band Whitehorse who I’ve been told to check out by people before (I will definitely do so). We head to another bar called black cat talk stuff like putting up bands and accents till it’s late and we head home.
I wake up late and drift back off before heading into Melbourne for one last look round and too hook up with my friend Claire (Fairy) who is over here traveling. We wander round get coffee and vegan munch. Before hitting an awesome Zine store with Zines from all over the world and including my friend Paul’s dance like nobody is looking zine. We then walk over to Fitzroy where we have a tea in friends of the earth before I bid her farewell. So good to see so many of my friends who have become scattered across the globe doing so well for themselves and enjoying themselves as well as seeing how well my sister is doing. Australia seems to be a nice place from my experience…
I head for my last show at Dirty Little secrets we go for a Mexican meal first a nice burrito and chat with my friend Tom Duggan. Before we head down. The first chaps on and is abysmal so we stay in the bar then another guy comes on does Oasis covers… oh great going to be one of them nights. I play and it’s pretty empty and my pedal board makes a horrid hum… not one of my finest moment and kinda sad way to leave oz really. Oh well happens. The last guy is called Pete he does some original some cover including neutral milk hotel, which is always ace to hear people cover them. It’s not long before we head off and back for a wee chat then hit the hay.