chrisg's Tour Diary

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May 8, 2005
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May 6, 2005

May 7, 2005 - Le Pub - Newport, Wales

London streets have proven very difficult for us to master. It's not the left-side driving or the roundabouts, but the fact that there is virtually no grid, and streets seem to change names on a whim. We finally found the club, but then got lost just trying to get to the back side of it, so lost that we ended up completely out of Islington and into the next borough, Hackney. Andy, one of the promoters of the club, guided us street-by-street on the phone until we got back. It was probably an expensive phone call, but I really don't know when we would've found it otherwise (thanks Andy!)

We're playing upstairs at a venue called the Garage. The load-in process is hilarious. From the back of the club, you take your equipment through three double-doors into the main downstairs venue. You then continue to the back bar downstairs, which you go behind in order to enter a door to the kitchen. You walk though the kitchen a few steps to a stairway. I can only imagine that this stairway was made for hobbits, as it has a height of about 4 feet and a width of about 3. Slowly but surely, all of our stuff is loaded into the venue. The sound guy is a bit grumpy, not perhaps by US standards but at least compared to every other person we seem to have met so far. We meet the Rogers Sisters, who have just come into London from a tour in France. While CW sets up his drums, we chat with Miyuki, the bassist, and trade tour stories back and forth. It's an interesting comradery that is shared by touring musicians. Stories tend to center around topics like how much money touring costs, what it's like to stay in motels and on people's floors for weeks on end, and what clubs have been great and/or fucked you over. In some ways it sounds like commiseration, but it's obvious that most people are doing it because it's so much fun in its own way.

We take off and go get dinner at a nearby pub. Friday is in full force, and there are lots of (drunk) people there welcoming the weekend. We meet up with a friend of Adrienne, grab some coffee, and then head back to the venue. Holy crap! The place is packed with people. Our desire for food has cost us the ability to watch the first band, Go Team Go, who I was really interested in seeing, if for no other reason than because one of the guys in the band has pointy white shoes similar to mine. But we got a CD from them and it was great, making me all the sadder. The second band is LOUD and really fun to watch, playing music that most Americans would move around to, but the crowd seems to be content just bobbing their heads. We go on next, and I've made the clever decision to put on my 'London' outfit, which consists of a tshirt, another shirt on top of that, and a suit jacket. By the end of our first song, I'm already sweating like a madman. It's a good thing I don't wear makeup.

The rest of the show is a blast, and the Rogers Sisters play a great set afterwards. We get to spend some time hanging out with Sarah and Ollie, dance a little bit, and finally turn in around 5am. Being further North on the globe than I'm used to, I'm surprised to see the sky gradually lightening as I go to bed.
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adrienne has a diary entry for this date as well
This entry is part of the Euro 2005 tour
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May 8, 2005
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May 6, 2005
© 2005 Citizens Here and Abroad ·  · Photography by Jason Koxvold