Vessels

Another day and another tonkingly long drive – the majority of which was spent asleep by myself and the rest of last night’s party crew (not counting Sz, who forseeing this drive, got himself an early night last night, allowing the rest of us to party it up – legend). Tonight we played in Munich, in the Glockenbachwerstatt, another ‘cultural centre’ comprising venue, exhibition space, café, practice rooms and general progressive attitude to art and music. We arrived to find that We vs Death, the headline band had pulled out of the gig a week ago, promoting us to headliners, and instilling the worry that nobody would show. However we still played to a good 35-40 people, and the gig, despite its clanging errors, was a proper jovi, mainly for the incredibly receptive crowd, and the enormous screen that Sz was able to project onto… No parties tonight however, just a quiet drink and then some sweet, sweet rest…..

Tonight we played in Berlin, after another megadrive, this time across from Brugge. We arrived late, unloaded, went to a restaurant round the corner from the venue, ate some pasta, bumped into This Will Destroy You and then headed back for soundcheck. The gig was lovely, in a bar/venue in the east called N.B.I. It was nice to see familiar faces, including the boys from the Pattern Theory and the Jenniferevsies crew again.

The real boon though was after the gig – having never been to Berlin before, Jon, Martin, Tom, myself and Lukas & Jimmy Theory stayed up all night, first in a bar near where we were staying, and then huddled around the Fotoautomat, where unlike in Britain, the devices still give you four separate photos, and develop them old-style in the machine with films and chemicals and lights – Rinsing. I think we spent about 2 hours and about 24 euros just photographing our smiling faces – bear in mind that on the shots with different folks in different frames you have about 4 seconds between flashes to get in and out and switch places. Note the chimera-esque shot in the centre – much planning was required, especially to get the legs at the bottom, which involved Lukas leaping from the booth and then Jon instantly diving in on hands and knees so that I could climb on his back – which would have been all fine, save for the pile of sick in the corner that no-one had noticed, but by then I was atop his spine, and his lovely bearded face was only inches from the chunder in question, and his anguished gargled cries of terror fell upon deaf ears. We laughed so hard I thought I might collapse……

Tonight we were in Brugge, as the support slot to Daturah from Germany. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but the venue, the promotion, the sound, the lighting  and the hospitality were immense - best of all being the beautiful restaurant that we driven to by taxi immediately after soundcheck, where we feasted upon fine cuisine and lovely beer in the midst of this wonderful picturesque little city. My only regret is that we didn’t have any time to look around the city, but maybe next time.

Daturah made an immense noise – beautiful sounding slow building post-rock, although nowadays I’ve heard so much of that kind of stuff that it takes something really unique to make a band stand out. They had some sweet visuals as well - Super-8 cine film that had been hand coloured one frame at a time….

That’s three shows down, and three shows where Sz hasn’t needed to setup a projector or screen because it’s all been provided in-house. He seems a lot happier with his visuals now as well, the old classic ‘four shows to really get going’ - so tomorrow night, in Berlin, with Jenniferevsies again, should be a megascoop. `Early start though, to cover the eight hours across Holland and Germany in time for soundcheck – so off to bed…….

Today we played in Luxembourg, in another awesome venue, for another awesome promoter, with another comprehensive rider, and incredible catering, and a bonza hotel at the end to boot. The crowd was a little sparser than last night, with maybe 50 or so people watching us when we took the stage.

Jeniferever from Sweden played before us, and were fairly astounding. I’ve listened to an album or two of theirs, and its always nice, but live it was something else. At times all five of them are singing, sometimes there are two basses, and the whole thing is covered throughout by an otherworldly array of sounds and textures from their many guitars and effects and synthesisers. This combined with the smoke, ghostly lighting, and their elfin sillhouettes made for a fairly astonishing experience - to the point where I really didn’t want to go on after them. We’re playing with them again in Berlin in two nights time, but this time we’ll be the support act, which suits me just fine….

Today we arrived in Leuven, Belgium, the home of Stella Artois, for our first ever mainland Europe show, and it has been Jovis all the way. The venue, the promoters, the roadcrew, the lighting technician, the sound technician, the caterers, the locals, and everyone else we’ve met along the way have been astonishing in comparison to what we’re used to in the UK. The mind boggles.

Sz drove through the night, like some kind of legendary Terminator machine, and the ferry journey largely passed me by, as I spent over an hour on the phone to our insurance company, listing our equipment, one item at a time…

Stuk - This is where we played, an enormous, government funded art complex filled with students and a mishmash of technology and historical architecture. Grampall Jookabox played first and then we headlined. They were an awesome two piece from Indiana in the U.S: two drumkits, bass, looped harmony vocals - a treat for our first Euro gig. And then we played, to our surprise to about 100 people, some of whom seemed to know who we were, and some who’d had just come to find out thanks to the awesome promotion - top show all round I thought…

Sometimes in the UK, if we’re lucky, the promoters make a poster, here in Leuven, we had our faces sporadically projected on a massive screen in the venue bar, which was a bit disturbing, especially since Lee looks so much like Keith Chegwin in this shot…

……and the megavenue - note the massive, in-built screen at the back for visuals - far better than the white sheet that we hadn’t even prepared….

….and the dream team - Sz on visuals and Jon on sound. The sound onstage was immense, and according to those in the audience the visuals were crisp and clear….

And finally, this is Geert, of Concurrent distribution, sorry for the fuzzy photo, Martin took it, and he’d had a Leffe or two by this point. Concurrent distribute our album in parts of Europe, and it was Geert who hooked us up with this and our Brugge show. Jon and I sat with him and some of the crew and an American singer called Whip until 6 in the morning - boisterously contemplating the nature of maintaining a family whilst out on the road, and art, and Randy Newman, and various other subjects that rest in a hazy but fond part of my mind….

You can now buy ‘Retreat’ at these online shops:

iTunes
Junodownload
Boomkat

We’re now back from the 1st leg of our tour (although only just - we
got a flat tyre on the M1, just twenty miles south of home today) we do
actually have the CDs as well. Sorry to those who came to the gigs
where we didn’t have it, and thanks to everyone to came out to listen.

Xx

Hey there. We kick off the UK leg of our tour this evening in Preston. Please come say hello, and maybe get your mitts on an limited tour CD of remixes and exclusives…..

Featuring remixes by Lee J. Malcolm, Peatronica, Little Evil (Middleman), Brendon Anderegg (Mountains), Bracken (Hood) and Errors, plus a bonus unreleased tune from the Minnesota sessions - Knee Jerk. Check out the awesome Errors remix over at the Myspace.

If you can’t make the shows and still want a copy, don’t worry. It will be available for download soon.

x

Were in this month’s copies of Rocksound and Bearded magazines, so go find ‘em!

Rocksound
Bearded

Also, by tickets in advance for our London show at the Buffalo Bar @ WEGOTTICKETS to avoid disappointment on the door.

Tickets for Leeds show available @ SEETICKETS

ps Aberdeen show added - 10th April @ The Tunnels

Mr Lee J. Malcolm has done gone and made a Techno mix, hasn’t he. And they’re only giving it away over at Fact Magazine, aren’t they.

ps the answer to both of these rhetorical questions is yes.

x