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max's tour diary
the binary tour, 1-11 april 2009
OK, so this is my third journal and third tour with a band. As usual so excited, spent the last few weeks getting the stuff together, saturday, work arrangements. Adam arranged the itinery and plans as far as I know. We were crashing at promoters' and friends' places. The gigs were strung out around the country clockwise from London.
The 2nd April came and I was off. On my way to London to meet Henry, songwriter to Mystery Jets, to borrow their nine person minibus. On the way I was feeling a bit scatty and mistake prone. Perhaps I was too pleased with my French army hat combined with what can only be described as a camp tight fitting, stripy top and navy blue jacket. I thought this was a bad frame of mind to be in but nothing I could do about that. Took a couple of wrong turns, whoops.
On meeting up with Henry, I managed to leave the essential photocopy of my driving licence for the insurance in the car. Poor Henry was having a bit of a domestic with his ex that he was already late for. My mistake made him even later. Felt bad. OK so I got the van and headed straight to Heathrow Terminal 1.
After three laps of the parking system I couldn't find a place to park. I found a place that appeared to be where the mini buses were all loading and unloading so I parked up and ran in to see if The Hot Toddies, the other band coming on the tour, had arrived. Nope they hadn't so I went back to check on the van. It was moments away away from being towed by the security! After checking my insurance, searching the van, calling me an idiot and generally being really pissed off they admitted that there wasn't anywhere I could go and wait with my minibus as it wouldn't fit in the car park. As they were venting their anger on me, two pretty girls approached and softened their mood. Thanks Hot Toddies!! So I got away with a parking fine. The other two girls from the band joined us, we loaded up and raced out of there.
The next stop was Brighton. On the way I tried to learn the names of The Hot Toddies, Erin, Jessica, Sivia [sic] and Hiedi [sic]. This will take a couple of days to commit to memory. The awkward niceities of people who are obliged by the situation followed. Where, what, all that sort of stuff. Naturally, they were too tired to talk and snoozed to Brighton. As soon as we found Foxes! house (Adam and Kayla's anyway) we started rushing about moving equipement to the van and then both bands had an interview on local radio station 'Reverb'.
Adam managed to drop Matt, the newest member of Foxes!, in it by stating something he shouldn't...never mind this is the pitfalls of live interviews. Foxes! also did an acoustic version of 6 O'Clock. There was a bit of a feeling of separateness between the bands as they had only just met.
After the radio interview, it was straight to the first venue to soundcheck. The venue was decorated with a raised cityscape all around the wall. It had a large array of lights. I had made sure I didn't have to do any more driving so got stuck into the booze.
I got a Hot Toddies transfer tattoo. The night was in contest with another event happening in the other room above us. The sound of the other gigs happening above was at times annoying. On the plus side there were some Hot Toddies fans. They were keen, singing their songs outside and during soundcheck. The first band on was Bobby McGees they sang about relationships past and love. They were very twee with a charasmatic Glaswegan male singer and his incredibly cute partner. I bought their EP. This drew my thoughts away to my girlfriend back in Oxford, day one and already missing her.
The Hot Toddies looked absolutely shattered right before they went on. Foxes! were enhanced by the addition of Matt, who is the newest member of the band. Foxes! set was excellent they have spent a long time practising and it showed. The night drew enough people to fill the van's tank. After the gig we all went to a park at the top of the seafront near Adam and Kayla's. Alan started the entire Beatles back catalogue but we all got too trashed and had to head off home. Nice 4am bedtime.
Night prowling in Brighton
The next day I woke at Alan's and we got the van tidied and filled. We had a full English and tried to hurry everyone else. After the inevitable driving round getting equipment and stuff around Brighton, we headed to London at about 2pm. The weather was fantastic and the drive went pretty well. Bit of traffic on the M25 and in the centre. We rolled into London listening to Islands and everyone was in good spirits.
After everyone did their soundcheck, Adam, Kayla and I went for a below average curry next door. I had a bit of a sugar low and so lost my temper but felt better after the food. My good friend Dan and his amazing girlfriend came to the gig. Adam had lots of friends there. The first band on were an excellent little kinda twee band call The Bumblebees. They really looked like they were enjoying themselves. We were all chilling in the hospitality room. However not being able to drink was getting on my nerves so I was pushing for us to leave. The plan was to head to a friend of Adam's called Alex's house and party a bit then crash. We loaded the van and squeezed everyone in with my friends Dan & Ashley and the soundman. On the way, there was a spontaneous rendition of Ironic by Alanis Morissette.
On arrival at the party, everything got a little bit out of hand. Dan was being rude and not making sense. I was charging around very excited. About 4am everyone was starting to get tired. I settled down to try and get some sleep for the drive to Portsmouth. Alan, however, had got to the state of inebriation where he won't listen to anyone and is determined to continue partying. This meant he was shouting and and crashing about the lounge where everyone was sleeping. This meant I couldn't sleep and I was kicked on a number of occasions. Alan did finally leave us alone. The funny thing was that when we woke Alan couldn't remember any of it and proceded to advise Adam in the most serious of tones how we should give Max (me) the comfiest bed and let him sleep. This became a running joke for the next few days. I was quite irritated with Alan.
We soldiered on to Portsmouth. The first two gigs were in good venues with proper sound systems, actual stages and sound men. The Portsmouth gig wasn't so good [but the promoters were lovely!!!]. The sound man was messing around for ages trying to get things right. There was a bit of a panic finding somewhere to stay. Foxes! and me ended up in a hostel that was really rough and run by a Chinese gentleman who had issues with musicians. Apparently, previous performers had broken every rule in the book so we were having our names checked against a list of offenders, despite Adam claiming never to have previously been to Portsmouth. The gig was a bit of a let-down, a small venue that failed to get more than maybe twenty clients. The Saturday nightlife didn't inspire many good responses. The rest of the evening was spent drinking and smoking on the beach. The weather was still warm enough to fool around on the waterfront comfortably.
The next morning, we were happy to be heading off to Exeter where everyone was excited to be supporting Art Brut. Alan said that Art Brut are a band for proper musicians. Or something like that...whatever that means. The weather was still fantastic and the scenery on the way was spectacular. Cows, sheep. Big views of valleys from the top of hills. The mini bus was struggling with lots of steep inclines but we did it. I was telling Jessica about the New Forest that we drove through.
The trusty van arrives in Exeter
After a couple of hours, we stopped at a pub and had oysters and everyone had a pint except me. On rolling into Exeter, we unloaded straight away and spoke to a confident sound engineer. Some members of the group weren't too keen on his style. The Hot Toddies and Foxes! weren't going to get a soundcheck because Art Brut were going to be too demanding on the time and sound technology. The guys went for a drink in a bar that smelt like BO and Jessica, Alan and I went for a pizza. I found it necessary to eat 1 ½ pizzas. Must have been the long drive. Foxes! were slightly dismayed to have only been given a 15 minute set but The Hot Toddies were willing to reduce their set, so sweet.
As it turned out, I already knew the lead guitarist in Art Brut. I had spent a night drinking with Jasper near Brick Lane. I felt cool. Adam hit it off with the lead singer to Art Brut, Eddie. Apparently he was a fan of Foxes! and he was keen to have a drink with us later. I roped one of the super keen Hot Toddies fans into looking after the merch on the promise that I would do it all later. As it turned out, I coerced Alan into doing it.
This gig was the main reason that The Hot Toddies originally came. I got straight into the drinking and was quite messy by the time Art Brut were on. The sound in the Phoenix [Art Centre] was great and Foxes! and The Hot Toddies' sets went really well. Looking good with cool lights too. I got a free Art Brut t-shirt, which was sweet. After lots of faffing around loading the van, we all headed to a late pub nearby and Art Brut joined us later. We drank until 11. Eddie was determined to purchase a Foxes! EP for himself and Adam and I were determined that he got one. There was an embarrassing moment when we both tried to thrust one at him at the same time. Not cool.
When the bar closed at 1 we still wanted to carry on so we headed back to the van to get more booze and sleeping kit. The Hot Toddies headed out to the promoter's house that turned out to be a castle with its own organ. Matt decided that he was too drunk and tired outside Eddie's hotel room and so we headed back to an old friends of Adam's place. I went straight to sleep and slept well. Matt committed a sleep walking crime of an aquatic (call of) nature. So began another running gag of the tour.
The next morning we picked up the pieces and headed back to the van to load. Then me and Foxes! went out for a walk in Exeter. My shoes had fallen apart dancing to Art Brut so I was on the prowl for a new pair. After breakfast we headed to a vintage clothes shop called The Real McCoys and I found some new shoes. The Hot Toddies surfaced from their castle around 2pm and came to meet us in the shops. The was not my idea and clearly flawed. Once they arrived in the large, popular shop, we were delayed. Heidi got stuck in a dress, Erin got lost in the shoes and Silvia was in a mess over the hats. We did get on the road again to Bristol after heading back to get paid for the show. Apparently the finances were going quite well.
We arrived at The Mother's Ruin in Bristol and set-up for the gig. The promoter was really cool and had a lot of effort into promoting the gig, with a sweet poster and everyone was keen to get a copy. It turned out that the illustrator of that poster was an old friend of Adam's called James, who had turned up to surprise him and flog some posters! They hadn't seen each other for 12 years. So that was a great meeting.
The gig was great - nice and personal. The atmosphere was nice and friendly. The layout of the venue was also really cool, with the bands lording it over the bar. Alan loved The Hot Toddies' set. So much so that he completely lost control and threw himself on the floor, much to Jessica's amusement.
When we packed up the decision was made to head back to James' house. Ahh James' house... the perfect contrast to The Hot Toddies' castle in Exeter the night before. It can only be described as a construct designed by the creators of Withnail & I, thrown together in a kind of Young Ones style. We set up camp downstairs in the kitchen and the lounge. Alan, Matt and The Hot Toddies were jamming, throwing together a new track. I was flitting inbetween the two rooms, if you went into the lounge, you could see "superbed" and Adam's face lit up with self-indulgent joy, listening to music he made in his early teens with James. The house was populated with interesting characters. Painters and fighters. Fun people. Loads of weed was smoked and a good night had. The partying seems to be second nature to this party.
We all crashed out as comfy as possible. The superbed wasn't as super as we needed so Heidi and Erin went up to the top landing and settled down in a dark corner. When they aroused, they discovered what turned out to be ferrit faeces next to them. Mmm nice. They're a long way from that castle.
So Bristol was done. The weather had turned shit and we rolled out to Liverpool. We arrived late and set-up in the venue. Foxes! and I headed from the least American diner you could imagine nearby. Then we headed straight back to the venue. I was really up for a pint.
My drinking kinda picked up and the night got quite messy by the time of the gig. It was my turn to inextricably lose control during a Hot Toddies set. I found myself flailing about and then threw myself on the floor in front of Jessica. Her head rolled back in reels of laughter.
We were shown to a really kind Liverpudlian called Jim's house. He was very helpful and assisted with moving our kit into his place. We went to a bar to settle in and had a few drinks. There was an open mic night and Matt couldn't resist demonstrating the ready-practiced Ironic. With a full compliment of Hot Toddies and Kayla. However, Alan couldn't help himself and tottered around on the stage, it's hard to keep a good man down.
The Hot Toddies hit Liverpool in style
When they kicked us out of there we headed back to Jim's place and continued until 6am. This was possibly the longest night for us. For me it was characterised by my sudden need to offend or at least say the most disruptive stuff. "Did Adam touch you up last night?". I was embarrassing Adam with lude comments and he was retaliating in a big way. "Max has a special contract with his girlfriend where he's allowed to do whatever on tour." That embarrassed me and put me in my place.
The next morning greeted us with another parking fine. I couldn't wake up for when my alarm went off and neither could Adam. After which Alan and I found somewhere to park. Kayla wanted to go to another vintage clothes shop and took everyone there. Alan and I had other ideas and headed off to have a look at the sites around Liverpool. The girls from The Hot Toddies didn't surface until around 3 or 4pm and Jim patiently hung around his student digs for them to get their act together. Showering takes a long time, especially when you're a pretty 4-piece from California.
We regrouped in our usual haphazard way and headed out of Liverpool just in time for the rush hour. Nice. The weather was good and we drove slowly out through the Liverpool Heritage Sites. The sat nav seemed to take us through a very odd route passed lots of little side roads. A manic roar of the engine scared a group of local kids at some traffic lights. They quickly told us to 'fuck off' and gave us the finger. Nice. Anyway the traffic was bad, which probably had something to do with the Chelsea-Liverpool game that was happening.
After arriving in Preston, setting up and soundchecking, Alan and I sat in a pub and had a bit of a football chat in front of the game. The crowd at the gig were a bit of a mixed bunch. Everyone was staring intently at the bands with very little reaction. This didn't stop Adam and I having a boogie to Hot Toddies, by now we know their music very well.
I spent much of the night bothering the promoter on where I was going to park the van so I could drink. This turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax but it was still fun. Again the kindness of the guy hosting us was exceptional. So friendly and accommodating. We all had blow-up mattresses or a sofa, which was a luxury. The partying still went on till some time in the morning, as usual.
Fully bonded and fully on tour with booze and fags
The next day the drive to Oxford was the longest of the tour as Preston was, in fact, contrary to Adam's knowledge, north rather than south of Liverpool. It would have been maybe 4 hours if we hadn't run into traffic outside both Manchester and Birmingham. The weather had turned stormy and rainy and the drive seemed to take forever. This wasn't helped by the toilet breaks that seemed to be demanded more and more frequently. I was happy though because I had taken up smoking for the tour, to be more rock 'n' roll, and was enjoying the regular rollies.
On arrival in Oxford, we headed straight to The Cellar. Just before we arrived, a good friend of The Hot Toddies was walking in front of us on the road. I took a dislike to his humourous gag as he stood in the way of the van, as I was anxious to see my girlfriend. I just wasn't in the mood for this jokery. After unloading I was straight over to her for some tlc and a bath. At the gig, it was cool to be in Oxford because friends I only see when Foxes! play Oxford come out from whereever they live the rest of the time.
I was being the usual pushy git trying to get everyone to leave as I couldn't drink. We were staying at my house that night and I had to drive to Wallingford. Thankfully, everyone bended to my wishes. I think The Hot Toddies were getting a little perplexed with the lack of nightclubs and late nights on the town on the tour. They wanted to stay out in Oxford with their friend. On getting back to mine, everyone drank heavily and chatted. My little bro Pete was skulking around the house and soon joined in. We played a celebrity game where everyone picked a celeb and we all had to guess who each other had picked. This went down well and so we changed the rules from celebs to people we had met on tour instead, to great amusement.
The next day was spent relaxing in the house before we headed to Peterborough for the final gig. It took longer than we thought to get there. Once at the venue, we set-up, soundchecked and then headed out for a Thai meal. We had to return to Oxford after the show and so this night I couldn't drink at all. Bummer. Foxes! set received a 'boo!' from some punks hanging out in the corner who, after the show, received a dressing down from Alan who didn't find it funny and who wasn't intimidated by the trio of earrings, leather jackets and shaven heads giving answers like, "It's not our kinda thing." In general, the crowd were staring and sipping. However, after the gig I was chatting to the second band and they gave a great review.
Naturally, I had a little bop with Adam. So, after loading, the decision was made that everyone could drink cheap booze accompanied by Hot Toddies' friend (who's name I still can't recall) in the van. Why couldn't I see the problems that was going to cause? Constant wee breaks demanded by slurring voices in the back. I was fuming by the time we got back. The only good thing was that I could increase the chain smoking that I had taken up for the tour. Adam had taken up smoking as well and had collected all the tobacco packets that had been smoked collectively. I refused to buy my own and insisted on smoking everyone elses.
When we got home I went straight to sleep and then work for the morning after. We had decided that The Hot Toddies would come to Brighton for an end-of-tour party. I was pretty shattered and tired of driving by now. We listened to Modest Mouse all the way home. The only reason we had music in the mini bus, other than normal radio was because of Kayla's genius idea of linking up a mini radio transmitter into the mp3 players and leaving it on the dash board. Then the only that work on the van's sound system - the radio - could pick up the signal. Utter brilliance. This was a life saver for not getting bored, especially on this last trying leg.
In Brighton, a large take-away curry was ordered and champagne. We hit the drinking in style and went out into the park we had visited on the first night. I was so exhausted I had to retire about 4am or so, as I had to return The Hot Toddies to Heathrow the next day. Everyone had bonded really well and sad that it was ending. No one was prepared, I don't think, to head home and continue with their lives. It was hard to imagine any of us doing anything other than going to new venues and gigging. There was plenty to talk about - a new joint project called The Fox Toddies and a coastal tour of California in September. I wish I was going to be able to drive for such an event.
Anyway, I delivered Hot Toddies back to Heathrow, where we still got grief from a member of staff. I couldn't work out if he was having a joke or just being a job's worth. Whatever the motives, I gave him a short sharp retort and drove off.
Ahh relax, Radio 4. Back to find normality again. Whatever that feels like...
written by Max Pozzoni, 2009