21:47, 29/08/2007

Down and up and across - tour diary #2

New York, Monday 20 August 07

Pub Nite hosted by Emma

Tiki Bar Otto's in the East Village had invited us back for Monday night. This was good because the incredible tiredness and jet lag that we were suffering when we played Saturday made it almost impossible for us to know how good we were or even finish the set.

So we tried again on Monday and it was great! We'd spent the day wandering around Soho doing a fairly substantial amount of shopping (and a feed at Fannelli's on Spring) and we got back to Brooklyn mid-afternoon to chill out for an hour or so before taking the F train back to Manhattan.

Carrying flight cases on the New York subway is not something we'd recommend...

Otto's the second time was good. A much bigger crowd, probably drawn by the fact that the second band (we were first on before them) was Black Flag guitarist / singer Dez Cadena's new outfit, Brick Bats, a great covers band playing well known and obscure punk rock classics. They kicked off with 12XU from Wire which is a song that always puts me in a good frame of mind.

We whizzed through a full set this time and had a good reception. Jennie was particularly interested in a tall, dark stranger watching us from the front who despite the hot and humid conditions, was wearing a woolen overcoat. Respect. So, tall dark overcoated stranger (let's call him "Sebastian"), if you read this, get in touch. Jennie would love to talk to you about coats and New York and stuff.

Headlining was The Rats, a brilliant, simple, punchy punk rock band who looked and sounded like they's stepped straiht off the stage at CBGB's in 1977 and into the wonderful, tiny back room of Otto's Shrunken Head, a place we'd love to play again.

We stayed and drank beer and Margaritas until late o'clock, talking to various friendly East Villagers, including Emma, the Rats' guitarist and resident DJ who suddenly surprised me and Jennie by being Swedish. A Scandinavian conversation followed. Jennie and Frankie on the door posed for photos. We were drunk but not too drunk.

Jennie and Frankie

We vanished our huge flight cases from hell into the huge trunk of a New York City cab and headed home, feeling good.

Thanks to Nell, Dot, Frankie on the door and the great sound guy whose name we never got for making us feel so welcome.

Otto's Shrunken Head night 2 (set)

Funtime
Lacka Lacka Firecracka
I Cannot See
Labradoodle
YTFU
17
7-1 Regime

Philly, 21 August 07

The Khyber, Philadelphia

Next morning, we mooched around Brooklyn for a while having banished our hangovers with a slap up feed at Dizzy's, an excellent neighbourhood diner in the Park Slope area, and then made our way to Penn Station on the Subway to get the Amtrak down to Philadelphia.

Once again, I repeat, carrying flight cases on the New York subway is not something we'd recommend...

The Amtrak was great. Spacious, comfortable trains with just the right amount of air conditioning. We rolled through New Jersey, alternately industrial wasteland and green suburbs, and were entertained by our fellow passenger, Jody, who told us in detail about her trip to New York, and the Greek restaurant she dined at which we won't have time to visit. She gave us Greek cookies from her dinner and friended us on MySpace later. Nice lady, very talkative.

When we arrived at Philly's 30th St. Station, it was, you guessed, grey and overcast with the promise of showers to come. After cabbing it to the venue to drop the gear off, we walked to our hotel to check in. In an error caused by bad website usability and my drunken tiredness when booking it, I'd accidentally booked a room with a (very small) double bed rather than a twin. Oops.

Jennie and I are close friends but not that close. Luckily there was a big shelf underneath the window which I converted into a makeshift bunk, surprisingly comfortable. Think I'll try and book a "shelf room" again in future. We at Deathline certainly believe it is the furture of hotel accommodation.

The Khyber is a great venue. Small and intense, the live room's next to a great bar serving good beer and wine. We were fortunate to play with three really excellent bands. Opening up was Wonderful Spells, a Boston quartet playing punchy, Merseybeat influenced pop rock with three part harmonies.

Then we played our set to a very enthusiastic response from the local crowd who'd come to see their friends, The Failed Alliance who followed us onstage. They come on like a frenzied, Philly version of McClusky laying down a magnificent wall of sound over which the twin vocalists, brothers, on bass and guitar shriek out a litany of rants that threaten to split our eardrums. Magnifique!

» bang lime

Headlining were the stunning duo bang lime from New York, two members of Canadian art rockers Metric, who play a stripped down, beat-laden rock that just sounds brilliant. Joules on drums is one of the best we've seen live, and his interplay with Joshua on guitar and vocals makes them a distinctive and exciting band which we totally recommend.

The best gig of the tour.

The rain came down in earnest at the end. The cab driver who took us back to our hotel amused us with his complaints about the English weather we'd brought with us.

Philly was full of nutters who would randomly accost you on the street, but the cab driver was funny. It's not a place Jennie or I would have thought of visiting but the music took us there, which is a good thing I think.

I got a good night's sleep on my shelf.

The Khyber (set)

We Took Paris
7-1 Regime
I Cannot See
Labradoodle
YTFU
17
Lacka Lacka (Firecracka)

New York, 22 August 07 (day off)

After returning from Philly on the Amtrak (thankfully the final bit of Subway-based flight case lugging - not recommended...) we returned to New York, New York, our spiritual home, New York, New York, where you're never alone.

Wolfing down a Caesar Salad (3/5 stars) at the burger bar below Tyler and Kate's apartment, we hotfooted it into town on the F train to do some sightseeing. Manhattan was shrouded in dense, low cloud which obscured the tops of the high skyscrapers. We took in the amazing Grand Central station, the walked down Broadway (with a detour to Macy's and Victoria's Secret) towards the East Village.

We did some shopping at American Apparel and then plunged into Camden Town, I mean St Mark's Place, resisting the temptation to get tattoos at the various parlours dotted round. I bought a tie and a Rolling Stones t-shirt; Jennie later found great Led Zep and Kiss shirts.

Weary, we decamped to a comfortable and welcoming bar with a lovely, friendly barmaid, at the far end of St Mark's and drank and ate bread and olives and planned our assault on the Midwest that would start with a flight to Chicago the next morning.

We got home to the flat after 10 and slept soundly, unaware of the storm on the horizon.

Chicago / Madison, 23 August 07

Morning came and so did a cab to pick us up bright and early. We negotiated the traffic to the unloveably chaotic LaGuardia airport and checked our instruments in bfore eating a hurried breakfast bagel. Nice.

The flight was uneventful, and a couple of hours later we were touching down on a sunny Chicago O'Hare airport. It was sunny! It was hot! Perhaps the curse of the British weather had left us...?

Yeah right.

O'Hare is a huge, sprawling airport but well organised and when we emerged to baggage reclaim, our flight cases were already waiting for us, neatly stacked at the oversized baggage area.

We went to Budget and picked up our car, a massive American beast of a vehicle called a Dodge Charger which was the only thing they had that would accommodate our flight cases for the two hour drive up to Madison for a reasonable amount of money.

We drove out of the lot and onto the freeway, it was hot and sunny and we had over four hours before we had to be there. The aircon was on and the FM radio was blasting. It was all good.

Nothing could possibly go wrong...

Could it...?

to be continued

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Down and up and across - tour diary #2

In /music/deathline