manchester – may 19
More sleep then I have had all tour. 8 hours solid. Then we hit the road, already reading a review of the Glasgow show in the morning herald. Nice one.
When we pulled into Manchester, the club is in the university building. Folks there are charming enough but there is too much tangle of steps and halls and elevators and no humpers to help. It almost sucks. Plus fred discovers his bag of pedals is a miss. Him and I go off to just catch a closing music store, and purchase a couple things for him. It changes his sound for the better this night.
The choir has changed into yet another outfit I have not ever seen them in before. This helps explain their massive luggage tote I reckon. A woman appears out of nowhere back stage, walks up to me and gives me a startling kiss, hands me a cd. Then I recognize her as the lead singer form the band that opened for us last time giant sand played in town here. I remember them sounding very good then. she looked completely different, and so I enjoyed the moment of startle, which never really happens anymore.
It is the first night on the tour that chairs were not set up. The crowd was on their feet from the onslaught, and this helped a great deal to get them well into it. it has been uncomfortable for the audience to get up and stand once they are seated. So this was a happy happenstance. We rocked for them. maybe it was the most rocking night yet.
Me and fred had some wonderful crazy duels. I brought Courtney Tidwell up in mid song to sing with us on “robes of bible black”, it being her final night with us. Lovely.
Then we slammed the encore hard and left in a stately triumph, soaked again. the facility shut down fast around us. We had not eaten yet today. It was midnight. It takes forever to unload by ourselves, with steve left doing all the pack up himself. Steve will me a poppa soon, and his momma to be was their for a visit. Sweet.
Then the hotel was a big drag again. way out of the way and modern cheapness, motel style crap. Takes forever again to get back into town to find some food. Forever to order. Forever to get back. The usual linger with multitude on empty stomachs when the day has taken its toll and delivers only exhaustion now.
Finally back to sleep land. its after 2. we have to be in the van tomorrow by 8. My phone does not work in the room.
Sucks. Need a family fix.
Morning comes and the fire alarms all start screaming at painful levels because apparently mat used some foot spray that sent a cloud of muck up to the ceiling. It felt like permanent damage. Outa there.
Tonight will be the last show. Rumble in brighton. The handsome family will be there too, just like family.
Then the long flight home tomorrow.
- – - – - – - -
We arrive about mid day in brighton.
The weather is perfect for brighton. Damp and fresh and chilled and windy. Back home its already 100 º. I take it in and can’t get enough of that air in my lungs. But its also been a short night of sleep and there is some work to do in email land. so I venture in to the venue. It’s a massive elegant place called the dome. It will seat 1500 people tonight and be sold out for us and the handsome family.
I spend most of the afternoon sorting out some emails and eyeing my luggage to figure what not to bring back to Arizona. Its always good to jettison the extra weight collected on tour. There is just no room and the extra lug of it does not work. I am finally able to head out for a 30 minute walk before dinner. I grab steve left so we can hang a bit. Anders joins in too.
We head to the sea of course. On the way there my cell phone rings. It’s Isobel Campbell. a happy surprise. The omens have been pointing toward a meet up with her, but when it didn’t take place in glasgow, I figured something’s wrong with the omens. Now walking and talking on the phone in England is very tricky. The cars attack you from different directions when you cross the street of course.
And then we round the bend and the wind kicks in and it’s howling a gale. I can barely hear her at times on the phone, but at the same time I am hooked by the sound of her voice. When she says making music confuses her, I am sold.
I do not want to let her chirp out of my lobe, but the wind is scraping it out to sea violently.
I put up a pretty good fight, until we agree to have at it at some other point. After I hung up, I was wondering why I didn’t get hooked to her voice from her record. But here on the phone I couldn’t get enough. Maybe there is something I can do about that up there in the future.
- – - – so we walk down to the sea and out on a long stone pier thing and the water slams against it, rises up and whips us with a salty wave. The ocean is severely tormented and in full rage. I am able to hang on to my hat, but just.
We head back to dinner then, but run into the entire rest of the band at a sweet little pub along the way. So yeah we go in and partake for a moment. Then we all head back down to the sea for a quick video of us all being battered by the waves coming over the walls.
Ok then…
The show this night will be sedate compared to how rocking it was in Manchester and Glasgow. Even Birmingham was way more rocking. I am not sure why. It was a great set, but I thought it might be bloated again with too much material maybe. Although certain high lights like “astonished” and “dirty from the rain” as well as the usual nuggets from ‘sno angel…but also especially “spiral” all go down very very well.
I think more then anything it is the big stage and how spaced out we are set up. It steals the vibe a bit amongst us. I have gotten severely used to th echoir being right behind me and pulsating there. Anyhow, we get through it good enough. And then we all just stay back stage and enjoy each other. Hang with the Sparks and event folks and let the tour slip away under us tonight. I strip off the sweaty duds and the hot shower save my life. Sip the last sip and head out into the night with my posse like it was a small town on wheels. Me and steve know a little fish and chip shop, we fill up the troops. 9 fish and chip to go for our van, and then pass the other van stopping for there’s.
And ok then. we drive the hour or so to the London airport hotel. I sit up front with steve driving and we yammer all the way there. Talk about the old times. The tours. The road. The life at home. I love steve. He looks good right now, coming through some hard times the last few years, and looking good now. Everybody here is sweetly taken with his prowess on the road here. The man is righteous.
Sleep comes and sleep goes. The hotel is way modern and space ship like. I can’t find steve’s room to do up the final economics. I am beat. His room is a million miles down some endless halls. I retreat back to my room and to tuck the tour in and put it to bed.
So the morning comes. I repack and leave my bag with anders to take it back to denmark with him. I leave with only my 2 guitars and a small bag of wires and such. One dirty shirt stuck in there too, from the stage.
I am good to go and amazed at such glory. The sound and the brotherhood have surpassed anything I have known.
The end.
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— – - — — – - — removable appendix:
We manage to make our connections in new york after a lengthy passport control line. But this is where we separate now. I am heading home to Tucson for the next 5 days, and the choir and band continue on to Ottawa.
Goodbyes and hugs all around. It’s a thick leavingness that has the heady aspect of seeing each other again in a week in new york, if all goes well with border crossings and such.
So I get to my plane. I am finally allowing myself that moment of solitary joy of a tour gone well. A tour better then any other I have ever been on. I am traveling on a mileage ticket with an upgrade, and the plane is a 767, so the seat is large to allow this moment of celebration and pre flight fizzle drink. Especially after a sweaty long rush to get to the gate with the usual lug and wool coat steam. Then we set on the run way for a long time and it does not matter to me. Its just like flying.
Then we fly off. I glance out the window and see something like 5 huge aircraft flying parallel to us. Its like a dream. How can so many planes fly at the same time so close to each other ?
I am trying to take in all that has just happened on this tour, but it is too much yet to digest. I just stare at the big ships flying out the window, until I realize that they are actually ships and not planes. The line between sky and sea does not exist. It is comprimised in haze.
Weird. Seeing them ships fly like that.
Time for home.
The end.