www.myspace.com/thelakeandelishow
Eli will play a show or two in Europe...see above...
Urbantramper & 10000 times glorious:
Sat, sep 13th: Deptford Arms, London
Tues, Nov 4th: London, TBC.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Something is ALWAYS possible..
Anything is not always possible...
www.myspace.com/thelakeandelishow
Eli will play a show or two in Europe...see above...
Urbantramper & 10000 times glorious:
Sat, sep 13th: Deptford Arms, London
Tues, Nov 4th: London, TBC.
www.myspace.com/thelakeandelishow
Eli will play a show or two in Europe...see above...
Urbantramper & 10000 times glorious:
Sat, sep 13th: Deptford Arms, London
Tues, Nov 4th: London, TBC.
Friday, 5 September 2008
Day 7..Show 3: Hannover
Gig number 3 today, and our first in Germany. People have sniggered when we’ve mentioned Hannover so we’re apprehensive, but curious. We arrive at Kulturpalast Linden to be greeted gruffly in German by an old dude telling us not to enter (we find out later he’s paid 1 euro a day- on top of his dole- to help at the bar, kind of a work for the dole scheme, I think). We wait until the sound guy arrives and all is well. The promoter arrives to kindly show us our dinner. Great scene.
Milford T is supporting us this evening. Look her up, she plays some crazy, obscure, pop tunes that are surprisingly catchy.
We play a good show to a receptive crowd. Cries of ‘more’ are heeded. The sound guy from earlier has gone home sick, so another dude takes over. He is super into our tunes- but goes a little mad with the reverb. Good on him.
We were to be staying at the owner of the bar’s place. But her kids had chicken pox and we weren’t sure if we had had them, so we end up sleeping in the bar. Party on…
Milford T is supporting us this evening. Look her up, she plays some crazy, obscure, pop tunes that are surprisingly catchy.
We play a good show to a receptive crowd. Cries of ‘more’ are heeded. The sound guy from earlier has gone home sick, so another dude takes over. He is super into our tunes- but goes a little mad with the reverb. Good on him.
We were to be staying at the owner of the bar’s place. But her kids had chicken pox and we weren’t sure if we had had them, so we end up sleeping in the bar. Party on…
Day 5...Lac Noir
We haven’t swum yet so that is our goal for today. Miga directs us to Lac Noir with some beers. Bliss. Ian and Joe are inconsolable when we miss the swiss ‘wedgie’ style wrestling. Sorry guys. We then head to Bad Bonn for a beer and Pizza, where we watch an EM cup game. It’s good times…
Day 4...To Switzerland!
No gig till Tuesday so it’s off to Switzerland to see some old friends. We sleep in, and leave late in the afternoon. We drive to Fribourg via Catherine’s Chateau overlooking Lake Geneva. The hills are steeper here and we have breif scare which involves us all pushing the van as Kable wills the LDV to make it up one of the steepest ones. It does. We cheer and continue onward…
Happy Families, Merci Catherine.
Happy Families, Merci Catherine.
Day 3...Show 2: Lyon.
Departure is slow and solemn, but with our supply of baguettes replenished, spirits rise and we make our way to Lyon. Another 6 or 7 hour drive in 35 degree heat with few stops. The joy of driving in the summer heat. We arrive, confused and hot, at what appears to be an abandoned office building around 5pm. The concentration of gig black and white, hand-drawn gig posters leads us to the entrance to Grrrnd Zero, Gerland: our Venue for this Saturday night, mid June in North east France.
Our manager, Thomas J, had been in contact with Guilliame and it was him he asked after when he met us. We explained our manager was a slack bastard who never left his computer and with increasing excitement were shown around the crazy, carpeted, converted office space that was Grrrnd Zero’s venue number 2.
The band was allocated two rooms with ‘urbantramper’ scrawled on the doors and we had a bed each. “Thank you kindly…that’s just great.” Guilliame then unveiled our spread to incredulous gasps of joy. There were like 9 quiches of different flavours (made by Guilliame himself) and a huge pasta salad…Mean as. The lack of sleep really caught up with me at this show and the rotating fan did little appease the sweltering heat, or clear the fuzzy thoughts in my head. That said, I think we played pretty well to a fairly decent crowd. They were quiet but we were told it was the heat, and I believe it.
We were followed by Sharon Tate (his name taken from Charles Manson’s wife). Sharon was a nice guy and he dressed up in high heels and lipstick for his show. He also fixed a plastic penis to himself so that it protruded from his midriff. He entered the performance area to the tune of the Brittany Spear’s song ‘Miss you're too fat no you're too thin’, holding a mirror that he studied himself in as he pranced about. The music changed and he then proceeded to smash the mirror on the ground and stamp on it with his heels. The music changed again as he splashed water on his face and writhed on the ground. I may confuse the chronology of the events but bear with me. Sharon then read from a book for quite a period of time in French. Someone from the audience shouted, insults? Tate continued. More shouting, the offender is berated by Sharon and restrained by Guilliame. Tate then proceeds to wrap himself up in cling film. Slowly and thoroughly… Slowly and thoroughly…
We were told later that the extracts from the book were mainly concerned with sodomy and assholes. Sharon was a nice dude, but I can’t recall his given name.
After Tate a hardcore jazz instrumental band played. They were kind of like Tortoise and the Drift. But heavier. They were very good. Sweet drum kit and cool trumpet effects. There was some crazy dancing to these guys and our shouting friend from earlier was resolute in his goal to play along on one of the drummers broken cymbals. More restraining from Guilliame was necessary, though the cycle of disobedience, then ‘telling off’ was quite comical.
Early night. Long sleep…
Guilliame.
Our manager, Thomas J, had been in contact with Guilliame and it was him he asked after when he met us. We explained our manager was a slack bastard who never left his computer and with increasing excitement were shown around the crazy, carpeted, converted office space that was Grrrnd Zero’s venue number 2.
The band was allocated two rooms with ‘urbantramper’ scrawled on the doors and we had a bed each. “Thank you kindly…that’s just great.” Guilliame then unveiled our spread to incredulous gasps of joy. There were like 9 quiches of different flavours (made by Guilliame himself) and a huge pasta salad…Mean as. The lack of sleep really caught up with me at this show and the rotating fan did little appease the sweltering heat, or clear the fuzzy thoughts in my head. That said, I think we played pretty well to a fairly decent crowd. They were quiet but we were told it was the heat, and I believe it.
We were followed by Sharon Tate (his name taken from Charles Manson’s wife). Sharon was a nice guy and he dressed up in high heels and lipstick for his show. He also fixed a plastic penis to himself so that it protruded from his midriff. He entered the performance area to the tune of the Brittany Spear’s song ‘Miss you're too fat no you're too thin’, holding a mirror that he studied himself in as he pranced about. The music changed and he then proceeded to smash the mirror on the ground and stamp on it with his heels. The music changed again as he splashed water on his face and writhed on the ground. I may confuse the chronology of the events but bear with me. Sharon then read from a book for quite a period of time in French. Someone from the audience shouted, insults? Tate continued. More shouting, the offender is berated by Sharon and restrained by Guilliame. Tate then proceeds to wrap himself up in cling film. Slowly and thoroughly… Slowly and thoroughly…
We were told later that the extracts from the book were mainly concerned with sodomy and assholes. Sharon was a nice dude, but I can’t recall his given name.
After Tate a hardcore jazz instrumental band played. They were kind of like Tortoise and the Drift. But heavier. They were very good. Sweet drum kit and cool trumpet effects. There was some crazy dancing to these guys and our shouting friend from earlier was resolute in his goal to play along on one of the drummers broken cymbals. More restraining from Guilliame was necessary, though the cycle of disobedience, then ‘telling off’ was quite comical.
Early night. Long sleep…
Guilliame.
Day 2...1st Show: Bordeaux
We wake to baguettes and warmth, search for and thankfully find our blessed van, then take France’s smooth & sometimes white (but always expensive) highways to Bordeaux. Our beloved gadget the ‘sat nav’ gets us to 'La Politique' safely and without error. We are greeted with sunshine, smiles and cool beer in green bottles. My vagueness is still with me and I awkwardly attempt to introduce myself and the band in broken french. Though everything is lighter in the sun, and to have arrived to such kind people, in such stunning surroundings is a beautiful thing.
The venue is a sifty bar/ 2nd hand clothes store with a stage and a couple of washing machines. La Politique is run as a collective, not for profit, by members of local bands (look up: Miniscule Hey, Good old days, Kid Bombardos). We pack in and sound check. Sweet. Then the call for food is heard and we experience our first taste of how bands are treated in Europe. Food? Homemade? Fuck yeah… It really was a great scene.
The weather is beautiful and we play some frisbee in the plaza. Where are you now? Super spinning yellow frisbee of joy?
We perform first due to sound restrictions later on, and although I am still feeling effects of fiendishness two nights prior, we play a pretty good show. It is a small, but receptive crowd who make us feel pretty good about ourselves. Merci. Monsiuer Botibol, a solo acoustic act, follows us with some cool shit. He uses a loop machine and a glockenspiel to great effect. Bien jouer!
Joe and Ian are all about the party and continue to an ‘indie night’ with M. Botibal’s manager. The rest of slowly sip Bordeaux reds at the venue before we all do a mission to ‘Miniscule Hey’s Flat. The French people continue to crank in the kitchen as we commandeer their lounge for the purpose of much needed repose. An early start and another long journey awaits us in the morning…
The venue is a sifty bar/ 2nd hand clothes store with a stage and a couple of washing machines. La Politique is run as a collective, not for profit, by members of local bands (look up: Miniscule Hey, Good old days, Kid Bombardos). We pack in and sound check. Sweet. Then the call for food is heard and we experience our first taste of how bands are treated in Europe. Food? Homemade? Fuck yeah… It really was a great scene.
The weather is beautiful and we play some frisbee in the plaza. Where are you now? Super spinning yellow frisbee of joy?
We perform first due to sound restrictions later on, and although I am still feeling effects of fiendishness two nights prior, we play a pretty good show. It is a small, but receptive crowd who make us feel pretty good about ourselves. Merci. Monsiuer Botibol, a solo acoustic act, follows us with some cool shit. He uses a loop machine and a glockenspiel to great effect. Bien jouer!
Joe and Ian are all about the party and continue to an ‘indie night’ with M. Botibal’s manager. The rest of slowly sip Bordeaux reds at the venue before we all do a mission to ‘Miniscule Hey’s Flat. The French people continue to crank in the kitchen as we commandeer their lounge for the purpose of much needed repose. An early start and another long journey awaits us in the morning…
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