Day one of tour. It's 7am, bus call is 9am and I still haven't packed. My clothes are all wet and I have no idea where my passport is. Tour starts here. I can hear Sam snoring in the room next to mine and I have 7 missed calls from my TM in a vain attempt to wake me up. First things first, coffee. We have a full day of running around each corner of London before we even get to Bristol: Charlie in South East, Frank on a boat somewhere in Hackney, then Manor House to get our back line, then Notting Hill to get our merch. I take a moment to think about this. It's 7.20am. I have another coffee. I don't do pre 10am very well at the best of times, let alone when I have to think about things and be a fully functioning adult. Coffee number three. Eventually I shove my half wet clothes into my housemate's bag (having just found out my suitcase is busted) and listen to Daisy Dares You’s I’m Not Your Enemy on repeat (remember that tune? No? Okay… moving on…) which successfully pisses everyone off.
10.30am and as is standard for most first days of tour we're running late. But we eventually hit the road and head on our pre-tour trek around London. David, our tour manager, has only threatened to throw me out of the van once (that Daisy Dare’s You track is REALLY catchy), and as this tour goes on you'll probably see a few recurring themes: my undeniable talent to piss people (including myself) off, and coffee. Speaking of which we're just about the motorway, so I'm gonna drink my coffee (number 4 if you're keeping count) and have a nap. Bristol Louisiana, see you in a few hours.
“No soundchecks”.
Cool. We’ll roll with it.
“Another band on the bill and no one knew.”
Sweet.
“All the stage times have changed.”
Great.
“We don't have any coffee”
Shit.
Fuck it, it's day one of the tour, this shit is gonna happen. I opt out of watching the locals and Arches to catch up with some old friends and chat total nonsense until it's time to hit the stage. This is my favourite bit about touring, the first song, the nerves, the kids who expect something from you, the kids that have no idea what to expect. The set is a blur, but we were on fire and I remember thinking ‘hey, for a first show on a tour, this is fucking awesome’. We close with Let Your Heart Sing and depart the stage. As we pack down the gear, I check myself for bleeding bits, of which there were none. Apparently, I didn't work hard enough. Few beers and one load out later, we're gone, heading out to a hotel to get our sleep on. It's nearly 1am… it's been a long day, but I'm looking forward to Sheffield tomorrow.
Nap time .
Sheffield Yo
I spent the night not sleeping. There is something about being on tour and insomnia that goes hand in hand. That and Sam and David snore like fuckers. Nothing two coffees from the comfort of my Travelodge bed can't sort out. As we're literally in the middle of nowhere, we swiftly get our stuff together and head down the motorway heading to a rainy Sheffield. Compared to the hectic running about of yesterday, today is totally relaxed. A pretty uneventful and straight forward drive to The Cooperation is a perfect time to nap, so that's what I do.
I don't really know much about Sheffield, I've not spent much time here so pre-sound check we take a wander into town. Charlie skates off searching for a nearby park and the rest of us take camp in a student bar, sheltering from the rain and in search of an internet connection… I knew today was gonna be chilled, but this getting slow now… I can feel myself beginning to get bored and annoying. Sound check passes with minimal issue, everything is working, sounding good. Cool. Know what? It's too cold out to really go anywhere, I don't really know anyone in this city… I guess we'll just sit here and drink some beers and wait for our set. Natives pass our dressing room and drop us off a bottle of rum, a thank you for joining them on tour, and a real testament to what a great bunch of dudes they are. Arches take to the stage and are on form. It's not the biggest audience tonight, but there is a vibe. I find it's shows like this that really show the grit and staying power of a band, 30 people in a room or 30,000 in an arena, makes no difference whatsoever: a truly great band will take to the stage a play their hearts out. And that's exactly what we did. Opening with Pleased To Meet You we didn't look back. Frank, Charlie and Sam were on form, and while there may not have been many in attendance, I hope they enjoyed our chaotic pop-ness. After packing down, I head over to the merch table and watch Natives take to the stage. They entertain and play their heart out. It looks like everyone's finding their feet on this tour. Heading back to our hotel for a few more drinks and pizza and I'm fucking shattered. After an hour of winding up my tour manager to the point where he almost threw me out a window I fall asleep… Tonight I’ll dream about tomorrow's coffee.
Nottinghamahamhamaham
Fuzzy heads. Early morning fuzzy heads. Shitty Travelodge breakfast. Still in Sheffield and I feel kinda sick. Least the sun is shining and today we're playing in…erm… wait…
“Dave. Where are we playing tonight?”
“Nottingham, Jamie. Today we're playing in Nottingham.”
The nausea turns to fear. See, I really love Nottingham. I spent a lot of time in Nottingham when I dated a girl who lives there, whose heart I broke real bad… and then wrote a bunch of songs about her and breaking her heart. I've said this before, I'll say it again: never date someone in a band. Okay, so the chances of me running into her are slim to none, but nevertheless I shall be looking over my shoulder today for some kind of fist shaped comeuppance aimed squarely at my head. Luckily for me our paths never crossed.
Tonight we're playing the Red Rooms and as the doors open, the room starts to fill up… tonight is gonna be sweaty. Really sweaty. Arches take to the stage and play a blinding set, their best of the tour so far… the nerves are starting to set in. Retiring to the backstage to warm up and get ready, I try and put the nervous energy into something useful and start strumming my guitar.
String breaks. Fuck.
We’re on in 5 minutes.
Fuck.
Okay, let's jump onto the spare and tune that up.
Another string breaks.
Fuck.
We’re on in 3 minutes.
Seeing the panic setting in, Barry Arches tosses me his telecaster and we jump up on stage. But thats not the end of my woes, not by any length. None of my leads are working. Sam's amp is making some unholy noise. Everything feels like it's falling apart before we've even hit a note… but in the middle of the pure panic, I have a moment of pure clarity. “Fuck it… this is meant to be fun, let's just have some fun”. Dealing with the shit the best we can, Sam gives the nod and we kick off a set of 30 minutes of pure fun. The front row of the audience are right in my face, smiling and dancing, behind them a group of Bleach Blood fans are singing along: it's pure perfection from chaos. The end of the set comes too quickly for my liking and a few high-fives later, we leave the stage and camp out upstairs in our dressing room, followed soon after by a bar next door. Beer happens. Unsuccessful attempts to chat up the barmaid happen. Lots of Motown and Northern Soul happens, driving back to the hotel singing along to Weezer’s first album from start to finish happen.
I'm pretty sure when we all wake up and head to Birmingham, sore heads and regrets are going to happen, but I’ll let you know about that soon.
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