Sorry. I know. It's been a month since I've blogged. SXSW was too much fun and the UK was too much to take in. Below is a diary of our UK tour with A Place To Bury Strangers and Darker My Love that I wrote for Athens Blur Magazine to be featured in their next issue. I'm sorry if it's a little more "wordy" than my usual blogs.
Day 1, Dublin, IRE
The flight was only 7 hours but we lost 5 on the way. Everyone is giddy; it’s the kind of giddy people get when they are up passed their bedtime and everything is hilarious, for no apparent reason. We hop on a bus towards downtown Dublin. The taxis are on strike today so we have to carry our bags and gear about a half-mile to the hotel. Our giddiness subsides. We realize later that John’s luggage is still on the bus. Now we know the tour has officially begun. We meet in the hotel bar for our first pints of Guinness. After a few rounds, we take our drinking out on the town. A realization hits me. Dublin and Athens should become sister cities. Drunk, obnoxious sister cities.
Day 2, Dublin, IRE
Did a good bit of sightseeing today. There are lots of street musicians in Dublin. They play mostly American music. No matter how hard they may try, I still hear the influence of Irish folk music in their covers of American songs. I guess it’s much the same as how bands from the South will undeniably sound Southern to everyone else, regardless of their intentions. Tonight was the first show of the tour. I was more nervous than I thought I’d be about playing in a new country for the first time. All went well though. A few of the guys from the bands forget about sleep and stay out drinking all night.
Day 3, Glasgow, UK
7am rolls around pretty quickly. It’s a short flight to Glasgow. I grab lunch at Quizno’s. The guy making sandwiches is ecstatic. He asks me if I’ve ever eaten there before. Apparently, Quizno’s is a totally new thing and everyone is excited to have another sandwich option besides Subway. America is apparently taking over the world one fast food joint at a time. It’s kind of depressing. The show was fantastic tonight. Glasgow has really enthusiastic crowds. The Scottish accents are difficult to understand, and even more so when you’ve had a few pints too many. I think I sold a Scotsman the rights to our songs. I’m not sure, but I definitely agreed to something.
Day 4, Manchester, UK
Today is our first day on the road with our driver for the week, Ricky. We change his name to Ricky Bobby immediately, because we’re jerks. Our Sprinter van has 4 vertical, stiff seats and a beanbag. A Sprinter is not anywhere close to the comforts of an American Econoline. After the show I go for a walk to stretch out the ol’ sea legs. When I walk back in the venue, I’m wearing the hood of my sweatshirt over my hat. The bouncers tell me I need to take the hood off my head. Apparently the cops will tell me the same. They have to be able to see a person’s profile at all times on the CCTV cameras around the city. Ooohhh, 1984!
Day 5, Leeds/Nottingham, UK
I really like Leeds. It’s laid-back and not as “posh” as some of the other cities in the UK. This comparison is similar to how you might compare Athens to Atlanta. It seems everyone here loves discussing the differences in our cultures as much as us. One of the bouncers explains to me how he’s envious of American’s right to protect their homes. He tells homeowners can get sued if a burglar injures himself breaking in to your home. He says if you kill or injure an armed person breaking in to your home, even if you’re protecting your family, you will most likely get time in prison. I don’t know if any of what he said is actually true, but for a minute, I feel really proud to be American. We leave Leeds that night and stay in Nottingham with one of Ricky’s friends. They are obsessed with Guitar Hero.
Day 6, Oxford, UK
There are a lot of really old buildings that are beautiful and massive. Good lord our country is young! The bar we play at is where Radiohead played their first gig. After the show, the promoter takes us to a club. It’s three dance clubs in one giant building. They play an awful lot of American music. I heard everything from Huey Lewis to Pantera. Some people will dance to anything. Also, not coincidentally, ecstasy is really popular here.
Day 7, Birmingham, UK
The venue is located in an industrial section of town that appears to be pretty run-down. There isn’t anything to do but sit at the club and wait for the show to start. Tonight has the smallest crowd of the tour. This city could be easily confused for Birmingham, Alabama, in everyway except the pronunciation (which is “Birming-um”, not “Birming-HAM”). We’ve been very fortunate to have time to sightsee and to play for good size crowds thus far, so I can’t complain. At least I’ll get a good night’s sleep.
Day 8, London, UK
London reminds me of New York City but cleaner and calmer. I could definitely see myself living here. Sold-out, rocking show tonight. Perfect way to end our tour with APTBS and Darker My Love. A late-nighter is had by all.
Day 9, London, UK
We spend the day lounging around a friend’s house. Everyone is too exhausted to really do much else. On our way to the venue the police stop us. They search our van and verify our ID’s. They’re looking for terrorists. I suggest they search Walker because he looks like a redneck Osama. They are far friendlier than any American police I’ve encountered. They don’t carry guns and I think that may play a part in why they don’t bully people. We play a headlining show at The Victoria. It feels good to play our own show with a full-length set.
Day 10, London, UK
Our friend Bernard gives us a music history tour around the west side. We see: Abbey Road studios, David Gilmore’s old house, the Tabernacle where Pink Floyd first played (back in the Syd Barrett days), Rough Trade records, the different neighborhoods where Punk, Glam, and the Psychedelic music scenes blossomed, respectively. We play a show with our old tour buddies, Manchester Orchestra, in the Camden Market section of town. I wonder, do people in the UK think they are an orchestra from Manchester? Arriving at the airport to fly home, it finally rains for the first time since we’ve been there. Dead Confederate leaves thinking it is 65 and sunny in the UK year-round.
