IT WAS WORTH THE 60 MINUTES
Been a while, back seat in the corner next to the window as always. No table and all seats facing forwards this time so it’s got potential to be the mute seat. Conversation in the front three rows is flowing about food, I’ll stay quiet for now as just ate a ham and cheese sandwich.
This morning before leaving for our first show in over a year I went for my first run since breaking the sub 24 hour time in my last event and attempt at running one hundred miles, 22 hours 58 minutes was worth the two blisters. I picked up no other injury’s and I’ve now fully recovered after a couple weeks R & R. I feel even closer to the South Downs way after that mammoth task. The Alps still remains a challenge and I’ve a couple months of training before getting back there to attempt the TDS race, tag lined the UTMB’s wild sister so that should bring a fair bit of effort out of me, my legs and my mind. I’m strangely looking forward to it as always.
Meanwhile back in the van….
We are on route to our first BirdPen show in over a year, a festival in Belgium so I have positive buzz notes floating about as it’s always such a welcoming country for us.
Mikes been banging on about some Norwegian cheese we should all try, Jacobs at hand but he lost the knife so we have to try and tax one from somewhere.
Nibble nibble then, in a bit again.
Monday morning, thoughts and reflection from the van:
The cheese was nice but there’s been way too much bread intake and not enough cooked things over the last few days on this trip. Arriving somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the dark to an unlocked guest house with nothing inside doesn’t really bring warm comfort or sunshine vibes to seven slightly weary men who’ve just spent almost 13 hours in a van. The towels finally turned up and mine smelt like Rover the Labrador had dried himself and slept on it after a dip in the local stink stream, which was nice. More bread and waiting around awaited the day.
Arriving on site the lovely organisers had arranged a nice big television for us backstage to watch the world cup competition of kick ball. We scored six and they only scored one. More waiting, watching more kick ball and mooching about filled most of the rest of the daylight hours with a grey school diners meal thrown in for an attempt at stomach comfort.
I think for the first time in my life I might have enjoyed the setting up and packing down/ loading the van than I did the actual gig. I’m kidding of course ( or am I ? ) but the show had its problems as it’s been a while and with new setups and bits of tech, things can take a little while to bed in I suppose. It got better after the glitches and sound problems thankfully and the crowd were tip top as always in Belgium so cheers to you all for being there and being cool.. It’s good to be back but there’s work to be done from our end. Our Sundays evenings accommodation saw us stay in a quirky guest house with a huge porcelain chicken on the stairs and a massive long tap in the bathroom. I finished the night eating Crisps for fucks sake.
Here’s that really long tap.
And here’s me thinking about things with the chicken.
It took another twelve and a half hours to get home.
Carry on.
I am Dave Pen
BITS OF STUFF
Greetings to you all out there in cyber space land. I’ve have just returned from a very much needed rest of eleven nights on a Greek island, the time spent close to the ocean and in the warm sun was splendid.
Just before I left I was in the studio with Archive creating some new mad other worldly banging tunes. Prior to this we’d played our first festival of the summer in Germany alongside Mogwai, it’s always a strange feeling when you share a bill with other artists who have inspired you along the way. I wonder if this still happens to lots of other people in my situation? I hope so. The journey home ended up with me sweating it out and staring at a square on the inside of my bunk until my eyes slowly closed over the course of what felt like forty-five minutes.
The BirdPen latest album has been generating some good reviews and its great to see the LTD Edition versions of the gatefold White Vinyl albums available. Check it out:
Bird and myself have been back into the studio, which we set up in the surroundings of the New Forest down here in Hampshire to start writing what will be our fourth album. It’s early stages but 9 new songs have been created in the first writing/recording session. We are due back in next month for session number two. No need to speak about what the concepts of the writing are about yet as ‘In The Company Of Imaginary Friends’ is still very fresh in the mind and I’m looking forward to getting out and playing the songs live again this Autumn/Winter.
I’ve been delving back into the twisted tales of the dark sinister minister Mr Jim Jones again lately. I read Deborah Laytons book ‘Seductive Poison’, which is a brilliant haunting insight into the world’s most famous cult leader and his followers of the Peoples Temple. The faiths he was preaching about in the early days were that of a pure world with no fear or hatred and to then end up a paranoid junkie manipulative mad ranting demon bringing the deaths of over 900 men, woman and children just reeks of mad sinister evil. I found a link to the final forty-five minute recordings in Jonestown but couldn’t really bring myself to listen through it all. It all really creeped me out for a Wednesday morning so I went and mowed the lawn instead.
We’re back on the road again this week heading back to Germany for the Southside and Hurricane festivals. Always some top acts at these two festivals so will in doubt have a mooch and lend my ears to a few.
Might shove some random poems up on here at some point soon too. I’ve been jotting down rhyming ramblings a lot lately and I should get them off my Phone and up on here.
I don’t blog enough these days either.
I am Dave Pen
SECOND RAMBLE
We are a few more shows in now after I decapitated a snowman in a car park and slept for 18 hours. It’s all going great and we are playing for almost 2 hours a night so the memory is on top form. I’m hungry and sandwiches are on their way for the after gig snack, the pizzas have disappeared, and I guess that’s a good thing, right? I do like a slice now and then though.
………………………
My tired head is awaiting the bus to collect us from the hotel in Hamburg. I need to sleep some more after bringing the rider back to the hotel last night. We avoided the darkness and flashing seedy lights of the reeperbahn and celebrated the shows successes so far and having the next day off back at our hotel. Earlier on in the day Smiley and I walked into a pub full of the walking dead, it was no safe place to watch a football match and the flesh on the people in that place was grey and crawling so we turned and left after five seconds. I wouldn’t have wished this bar on anyone, it was proper grim.
………………………..
Onwards we go enjoying every show with the Germans treating us well with Frankfurt being my favourite crowd for some reason, maybe it was the free box of Maltesers that reminded me of home and the 10 mile run of discovery I did plus Motorstorm for the PS3 for ten Euros from the bargain bin from the Media Mart down the road.
Bunk time television shows have kept me company in the late hours as we’ve been hurtling down the autobahn. I’ve been trying to drown out the insane snoring from the depths of the bunk below me and Fortitude has been a cosy companion for such a freezing snowy show.
…………………………
Into Slovakia and its capital Bratislava where an electronic beats festival awaited us. Our first time here and a nice plush hotel was arranged for some r&r time during the day before our 1am headline slot. The hotel was nice but I got right into it with a duff locker in the spa changing rooms and had to get the maintenance men out to wrench it open with a couple of screwdrivers only to realise it wasn’t my locker at all. My key said 62 and Locker 63 wasn’t mine, it was actually 65, I grabbed my T-shirt and bailed for a hotel room bath and a curry feeling a little bit like Kermit.
The gig was cool and full of screens so we got a butchers at what goes on out the front, it was like 2001 a space odyssey and that is a good thing right?
Leaving now at 4.09am.
I am Dave Pen
TOUR BLOG 1 – BUNKED
The cosiness of having my own cheap suite in a budget hotel has now gone, the dark comforts of the bunk have set in and I quite like it. So far I’ve avoided anything intoxicating my blood stream, from bud to mud I’ve said no. One Pina colada is all I had, this wont last. I have to be realistic about myself and a day off is looming, I will run before poison though.
The sun has tried a few tired attempts to brighten the skies but has failed and been mulled and jumped on upon by a bunch of dark grey moody rain filled clouds. It sometimes feels like I have TSAD. Today’s view from my bunk window didn’t really fill me with bright up and at them energy.
I’m on a new wanna be swanky bus which has a cheap IKEA naff bling vibe to it. Different coloured dimming lights, a TV that comes up from an invisible slot and fills the whole of the front window etc. The light in my bunk doesn’t work and there is no power in there of which to charge devices. We all need devices right? It’s all European so I miss the sturdiness of the 3 fork UK plugs.
We’ve done two shows so far. One was brand new and some of the processors in a computer decided to bail out for a minute or two, which meant Pollard and I had to ramble at the French audience for some time. They weren’t going anywhere and were sometimes as silent as a stone in a vacuum pack. All was well on the other show in the mess fest of Amsterdam until my guitar sounded like a ten-ton ball of electric wire that wrapped my brain and was plugged into the mains. I couldn’t get monitor man Kev who was dressed as a shark to notice my intense loud problem and when he looked he thought my head gesture meant up, so the level went empire state. That didn’t help and by the time we managed to bring it down to the human ear-viewing platform it was too late and my vibe had been dropped like a wedding cake. The nerd in me was coming out and the fact that the show was top didn’t matter. When you are one song away from the end and something goes wrong it can destroy the whole thing. Is that ungrateful or professional?
So far I’ve watched 3 films. Halloween 4, Halloween 5 and Halloween 6. They are all completely mind numbingly terrible. Why am I watching them? I have brought so many good films with me.
Here’s another glamorous bunk photo from being on tour.
I am Dave Pen
THE LAST HURDLE
On the train heading to the studio up near Cambridge to do some writing and recording. The sun is flickering and flashing through the trees and windows on the train, that’s a certain way to trigger a migraine. I’ve had to put my sunglasses on, I look a bit like a jackal with my black hat, black puffa coat and now black sunglasses, I have no intentions of starting a fire and I’m not carrying anything illegal. I’ve been on a blog lull of late and haven’t entered anything since the big slab of photographic evidence from The Quest for Mont Blanc. That seems far away now but I know she is still there waiting and taking anybody who chooses to attempt to summit and touch the top of her head. So from the open space way up on top of western Europe’s highest point to the crammed stuffy germ filled carriages of trains zooming to the capital of England. Nobody wants to sit next to someone else, including me if I’m honest and I’ve been carrying the lurgy for a few weeks now. Starting from my nose to my head, then my limbs and now my chest, which is just where I didn’t want it to set up phloem camp. Its hit me hard enough to have to cancel my final endurance test of the year which was my first ultra marathon of forty five miles down on the Dorset coast this Saturday. I’m truly gutted, I wanted to sign the year off with a big test and now I cant and it’s made me itchy and irritable. Fuck you germy virus fucks. Get out and don’t come back no more.
I’m not sure why I’ve not blogged of late, maybe I’ve been doing too much and finding the actual time to sit and write out what’s happened seems like a memory slog . A few random past thoughts are – Touring with BirdPen across Europe was like the miles we covered, some were long and slow and some went quickly and I enjoyed most of the ride, a record new zero funds made on the merchandise in Stockholm, a blown tire on the Autobahn, shady Czech traffic cops, horrible Swiss border Nazi’s, tambourine thief’s in Berlin, chocolate cake in Bern, happy faces at the front of the crowd, serious arm crossers at the front of the crowd, nobody at the front of the crowd. Dancing till dawn, coffee and doughnuts, good luck charms, welcoming promoters, backstage invaders, going deaf and vomiting, needing sleep and needing more sleep. The birds will always find the antennas and we will continue to transmit.
I’m on route to the studio to record vocals and guitars for new Archive material, Darius and I spent a day together last week demoing some ideas which I’m exited about, we then spent six hours watching a world war two three part drama and ate lots of food. Perhaps we were fuelling up for the oncoming fuzz marathon of playing live in 2015. Next year will be full on from what I can see and the new album, which is called Restriction, is out January 2015. It will be great to get it out there on the road. So 2015 will bring a whole wedge packed whack of new sounds. I will have three albums out by the end of spring. Archive – Restrictions in January BirdPen – In The Company Of Imaginary Friends in March and We are Bodies in April of which The Kendal mad man Robin Foster and I just mastered this wonderful album in Abbey road. Always a special place to work and topped off nicely by getting to see Underworld perform live straight to Vinyl in Studio one, what a nice way to celebrate finishing the album. Sometimes my job is truly the best job in the world! I don’t know how I’m going to remember all the words I have written though.
Final words and am gonna close this one, I’m DJ’ing with the Manglebird and a bunch of dear friends this Saturday, then off Warsaw and Berlin for Restrictions playback party’s next week. I have to admit I’m gutted my legs wont hurt, guess I’ll open the sets with Road to Nowhere by Talking heads. I am Dave Pen
WARM MEMORIES
Here are a selection of photographs from over the summer whilst on tour. Warm memories.
Another Summer
Finally got a version of word again after the last update to the mind control made it all stop working, that notebook thing for the computer doesn’t work as well for me for some reason. Weird that as its all words after all isn’t it?
I’m sat in what was my little studio room and is now a half made room for a very small person and a storage space of stuff from my life over this summer. I don’t have long left until I will definitely need a new space to express thoughts and ideas. She’s still shacked up in the main bedroom for the next couple of months.
My coffee cup has a mallard on it and the coffee is lavatza, the same coffee Pollard insists on having for the tour bus. You can see him coming from a while away in the distance carrying a massive straw sack of beans before every tour. All hell does break loose when something happens to the coffee machine when we are away, HEADS DO ROLL!!
So now the summer is closing down but still the sun is shining. Is an Indian summer of the cards perhaps? How very nice for the sweat glands to keep clapping their hands in pure open pores celebration. The downside to all the heat and yellow and white light for me has been trying to run, it has lagged over me so much whilst trying to train to run my first marathon, draining me after thirty minutes with sweat pouring off me. I am sure once the winter is fully pitched and hanging on our bones I will think? ‘What was I complaining about’? Its now gonna be cold and damp for 6 months or more.
So the festival season is coming to an end and we’ve been back and forth all summer long, 2 left including the show in Warsaw of which is where I am finishing this blog right now on the 36th floor of the Continental hotel, this is the view at dusk:
And this is a list of how my summer went:
It was full of noise, heat, blown air conditioning units, cheering fans, grounded tour buses of ferry’s, upset stomachs, the history of Britain (almost finished), crap movies and films about football hooligans, singing fans, cushion throwing fans, champagne nights, watching the sun rise, hangovers from hell, running for trains (hung-over), pina coladas, breast milk, broken amps, guitar pedals with minds of their own, legos and nintendos, meeting jack black, watching three quarters of a crowd leave the gig we were playing as they were all there to see a teeny pop band, crying girls (because they were there to see a teeny pop band, not us), broken buses, going mad on the bus, reading books, DJ’ing at a camp site in the French Alps, coming home to find my lawn burnt to a crisp, Queens of the stone age, Amphitheatres, hummus in a can, singing Life & Death with Robin, needing more sleep, Athens to Barcelona, laughing, not eating enough, things I can’t remember, blah, blip, bang, crash, and a drop of wallop.
I have taken a fair few photos over the summer of which I will post up as another “photo” blog, quickly after you’ve read this one.
Whoever you are
I am Dave Pen.
W.U.U.Y.D Tour Photos
Here are some random snaps from this Autumns Archive Tour..Click ,Snap, Etc!!
A ROOM WITH A VIEW
ALL IN ALL
CANCEL THAT
DAVE & DEATH
DON’T THROW STONES
EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME
FUNNEL
GREEN SCREEN
INTERGALACTIC
LET THERE BE LIGHT
LONG LASTING
LOOK AWAY CHILDREN
LORD NOYCE
MY NAMES ON YOUR BULLET
NIGEL’S SOUNDCHECK TIME
OVER HERE
PIGS BEWARE
POINTS & PROPHETS
POSTER FACE
ROADS
SHOE FACED
SMAK
SONIC CATHEDRAL
SPACE INVADER
STAIRWAY TO KEVIN
THANKS
THE BRIDGE
THE CHAMPIONS
THE CHEERING CROWDS
THE SEAGULL
TO LEAVE YOU MY DEAR
TONY’S PLACE
TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHT
WAITING
WHO?
YOU ARE FREE TO GO
YOU SAID IT
ARCHIVE W.U.U.Y.D TOUR BLOG DISPATCH 6
So after the smiling faces of Italy we headed into Austria. A last day off in Vienna before seven shows in a row was had in the company of a huge American sports bar filled with television screens beaming sports from all over the world for our first stop. We ate like tourists and drank like the English. Then we moved on to a more traditional drinking establishment which was a lovely old Viennese bar, we snuggled in there for a few more hours then went and wondered around looking at the sites of Vienna in the cold air of the night and stopping in many more bars. The show on the Monday night was awesome and the crowd were really up for it, which was fantastic for a Monday show.
Into Poland we went after that and as always the Polish were so welcoming to what we do and the two nights in Gdansk, were we’d never been before were special. The club we played for two sold out nights was filled from top to bottom of faces looking at us from all angles; everywhere I looked there were people watching.
Into Prague to sleep for a long time and wake up on an empty bus so I went strolling around the city before the show.
One of the most smoky gigs I’ve ever done I reckon. The ban hasn’t quite caught on in the Czech Republic yet!! A rowdy and fuzz filled show was played and a slightly crazy looking massive bearded man jumped up and down in front of me for pretty much the whole show which was a bit odd. Maybe I should lose my beard soon?
Back on the bus for half of us as half the touring party jumped on a plane to get back to Homeland as soon as they could. I snuggled into my bunk for the long journey and slept like a massive log.
Back in Homeland now writing this after a night in a nice hotel before the final Archive show of this tour and 2012.
I’m listening to Scott Walker’s new album. It makes me think of what Larry David might sound like if he decided to go into a music studio whist on really strong hallucinogenic drugs. His new album is really intense but has also made me smile.
The sun is shining here in London
I am Dave Pen
ARCHIVE W.U.U.Y.D TOUR BLOG DISPATCH 5
Ok so I’m sat in a nice quaint hotel in Rome. It took us all day to get here and the roads around where we are staying is like a catwalk for bony birds to prance down so certainly a near on fifteen/twenty ton tour bus wasn’t gonna slip down these streets.
I need to re-cap where I’ve been what I’ve done what I’ve seen for this blog.
Our shows in France have now finished and we had a fantastic time as always touring the familiar country. The Zenith shows I have to say were up there with some of the best shows I can remember playing. The energy was amazing and the crowd were fantastic.
This tour has flown pass and we are now over the other side of the hill with eleven shows remaining. I have a bet with Smiley we won’t see any snow fall on this tour and so far I’m winning. The winner gets an Irish Coffee, nice.
On the film front I’m gonna have to think hard about what I have watched since last time. Here goes:
Marwencol – 8/10
The Woman in Black 7/10
Apocalypse Now – Redux Edition 9/10
Beyond the Black Rainbow 9/10
Red State 3/10
Beasts of the Southern wild 8.5/10
Aaaaannnd I have to confess in a pure bored and nerd horror state of mind I watched all four Phantasm Movies and I give the whole collective of movies an 8/10 rating and Hank from Breaking Bad is in all four of them, total bonus!!
At this point in time I can’t remember what else has happened lately which means I will carry this on very soon.
Amsterdam was a good day off and a great show and a bonus to have some of my hometown crew come out and see Archive play. I like Holland a lot and wondering around the streets of Amsterdam is always a total treat. On our day off we had some muffins and went to see a movie “Beasts of the Southern Wild” see score above. I then searched out a nice bar I have visited every time I’ve been to Amsterdam and got snuggled in for some beers and laughs. I love this bar and have many memories of it over the last 3 years of my life. Next time in Amsterdam, I will definitely be going there again.
A big part of recreational activities is reading and before the tour I bought along four books – At the Mountains of madness by H.P.Lovekraft, Here Come the Barbarians by J.M Coatzee, The Man who cycled the Americas by Mark Beaumont and This Book is full of Spiders by David Wong. I’ve read three of them so far and I’m now on “This book is full of Spiders”. I thoroughly enjoyed The Man who cycled the Americas and Mark who is a friend of mine is a true adventurer and I highly recommend his two books so far, they are very inspiring. I am also loving J.M Coatzee’s work at the moment his dark look at South African history through fiction is so very captivating and also bleak but thoroughly enjoyable.
I’m writing this on the bus in Milan after a couple of great shows in Rome. Wow what a city that is, I wore myself out cramming as much in as I could. I think the Pantheon stole the show for me. It blew me away.
OK that’ll do for this one I reckon
I am Dave Pen
ARCHIVE W.U.U.Y.D TOUR BLOG DISPATCH 4
So into France we go…After a superb and warm filled show in Nimmes we had a day off in Nante and stayed in a hotel/apartment that was like a cool box. I tried and tried to get the heater to work and just couldn’t work it out. What happened to the simple things, there was quite literally about 16 buttons on this controller and none of them when pushed did shit!! I woke up the next morning and walked around with my duvet wrapped around me, I can’t remember the last time I did that and have certainly never done it whilst on tour.
Touring always has it’s up’s and downs and of late the feeling of being a bit “lost in space” has started to orbit around me. I think it’s a natural thing when sometimes you need space and peace and quiet and time to think. Sleeping lots is good and reading and exercise all help my mind with the obvious cranking up instruments, hitting toms and singing your guts out is all therapy to me. What seems to be the problem Mr Pen?, Nothing Doctor, I will be fine in a few days time.
I wonder if I should watch all four Critter movies I have with me, that might lift me from my slumber. I love ridiculous Horror movies.
I will carry this blog on.
I’m not a big fan of days off on tour to be honest, it kind of breaks the routine and flow of show days and always seems to leave me more tired that when I’m performing. So after shows in Nante, Bordeaux and Toulouse we had a day off in Caen and also had to cancel the show due to yet more un-foreseen circumstances. So then the next day was also a day so we drove into Belgium a night earlier before the show in Brussels. We travelled to Brouge through the day and watched the masterpiece that is it Apocalypse Now “Redux” version. Three hours twenty minutes of pure genius and madness was enjoyed thoroughly and this film will always rank of one of the best films of all time in my opinion.
So we arrived in Brouge where we were staying on a boat hotel. Sounded quirky but to be honest it didn’t really do it for me and I woke up to realise Mike, whom I usually share a twin room with had sacked the cramp cabin style room vibe off and obviously gone to the tour bus which was parked in the carpark outside to get his sleep for the night. I had thought of doing the same thing but didn’t and now I am wide awake at 6.30 and writing this blog. I want some water but there is no mini bar and the breakfast doesn’t start until 8am. This place kind of sucks to be honest, I do have a chocolate milk drink in a can in my bag but it’s not really what I want right now to quench my thirst.
I am very much looking forward to playing in Brussels tonight and I also have my wife and family coming out to visit so it will be great to see them all.
I am awake and don’t want to be, I want to sleep.
Here’s a picture of a man kissing his horse.
I am Dave Pen
ARCHIVE W.U.U.Y.D. TOUR BLOG DISPATCH 3
And so we carry on, Germany continues back to Hamburg on Halloween to re-visit the scene of the illness stricken gig. It was a good show as was the show in Berlin, then onto a festival in Dortmund and now somewhere I can’t remember without looking at my itinerary.
Still in Germany we have been joined by my old Madman friend from Kendall that is Robin Foster with his band of merry French men to accompany him onstage.
Its Friday night and I’m sat on the cold bus and it’s raining outside. I can see people mingling around the venue front doors smoking in the wet. Silly bugger that nicotine bloke, he used to be a mate of mine but I realised he was ripping me off left right and centre so I gave him the sub and got the fuck out of dodge.
Gotta day off in Cologne tomorrow so that should be nice, the last time I was in Cologne I almost dies from vast amounts of Absinthe and a herbal tea, Think I’m gonna find the steam room this time and rest my beard for a bit. Be sensible and all that.
Popping back into the venue now, this will continue……
A nice day off in Cologne was had and the gig was even better. The Monday was onto Saarbruken where I found the biggest men’s shoe supplier in Germany. The woman in the store told me that they get 500 pairs of men’s shoes a season, that’s pretty impressive I reckon. I managed to find my self some new moccasins for 30 Euros reduced from 100 Euros so I was super chuffed at that bargain, I need some new ones as my other pair have been worn down so much if I stood on an ant I would feel the murderous guilt crunch under the thin layer of sole that is left on the shoes.
On the film front I’ve been watching more and more and the scores are as follows
Skyfall 6/10
Cosmopolis 3/10
TT Closer to the Edge 8/10
On the Waterfront 7/10
Incendies 7/10
Spun 5/10
The Hunter 8.5/10
The Hunter starring Willem Dafoe is the best film I’ve seen so far, a soul searching and dark film with some awesome and bleak scenery of Tazmania with a superb score accompanying the film.
I’m sure there are other films I’ve seen which I can’t remember right now so will add later.
So we played our final show of the German leg of this tour last night in Saarbruken. This was a new town for us so a new crowd to play to which attentively listened to the set. We also bid farewell to Darth Robin Foster and his band of imperial troopers after there support of a few shows with us, what a splendid bunch they are and I’m sure they will return in the future to open up again for Archive.
In France now and the sun is shining so that’s a good sign, am sat upstairs on the bus as just got up to write the rest of this blog, am gonna grab a coffee like a doctor on ER, Said the grumpy Mr Partridge.
I think this is Dispatch three complete.
I am Dave Pen
ARCHIVE W.U.U.Y.D. TOUR BLOG DISPATCH 2
There’s nothing worse than a skinny hotel bed. I kept rolling over and almost falling out of the damn thing every couple of minutes in yet another restless night of woken attempts at sleeping. Maybe I’m to wired to sleep? Episodes of Homeland and the walking dead kept me company though.
A Sunday of strolling around Munich was calm and some fine German nosh was scoffed alongside some even finer Augustina beer. The Manglebird, Smiley and I ended up in a Irish / Australian bar supping Guinness watching 22 men kick a ball on a massive plasma TV Screen, then we got a cab back to the hotel. Nothing really exiting happened to be honest; some days off are just that…A Day off.
A grey day with Winter sharply biting the heels of the slowing down Autumn was next for our show in Munich. Thankfully the weather didn’t have any sort of knock on effect for the fine people who came out to this show.. t was great and the crowd were fucking marvellous. Ending the night with our first official encore with Kings of Speed left the room with a warm fuzz filled glow. Cheers people of Munich and a nod to the hotel staff who I must say were the most pleasant bunch of ladies we’ve ever encountered. They where so Polite and friendly and that club sandwich was ace. Danke schön to you all.
I’m writing the part whilst on the bus about to watch the film “Bernie” Next inserts soon.
So ummmmm yeah ok where was I? Where am I? Oh yeah I’m In Berlin, again. After 5 days off!!! We were supposed to play Hamburg last night but due to some crazy vomiting, uncontrollable bowel movements, severe teeth grinding back problems it was just impossible for us to be able to perform a show so for the first time that I can remember on a tour, we had to cancel a show. Tonight’s show in Berlin is on though all be it though still feeling icky and cramped we will beat this bastard illness with amplified music.
To completely change the subject I have been watching a fair few films lately so here are my scores for them:
Bernie 6/10
Bad Ass 3/10
The Mist 8/10
Red Lights 4/10
Jeff who lives at Home 7/10
Goon 5/10
So Far the Mist is in the lead, I liked the TV Movie vibe of it and it was very unpredictable.
My stomach hurts and I’m waiting for the washing machine to be free.
Report again soon
I am Dave Pen
ARCHIVE W.U.U.Y.D. TOUR BLOG DISPATCH 1
I have always slept awfully when we start tours and only ever manage to get some real shut eye when we cross the channel sea and I stay in my bunk on the bus when it’s parked in the bottom of the ship. It helps me get a couple hours nod before the swaying and revving of the road will keep me restless and in and out of the sleep I so badly need.
Writing this now I am in Luxembourg and have just returned from a stroll with a few others from the band. It was a lot warmer than I thought it would be and found my self sweating a lot climbing up huge steps to get to the top of the city walls wearing a thick black leather jacket.
We went to French restaurant, the menu was in French so I ordered some French food, after I’d finished my meal asked for the bill in French to which the snotty waiter replied we don’t speak French here. So I said “THANK YOU” in English at a decent level so he could hear me. I don’t know what language they speak in Luxembourg and have been here four times. I always thought it was French, sorry everyone. It’s Luxembourgish isn’t it? Do they speak this language anywhere else?
The first show was good and we put in a decent performance on a very tight stage so not much room for a wild spin or a cartwheel but the crowd were great and I must say that people in Luxembourg can clap in time. It’s always a slight fear when a crowd get exiting and start clapping along to a song and it’s way of the tempo of the click I have in my ears but…This crowd were on the money so an in time applause to you all. I was also relieved that my voice held up seeing as it had broken like a smashed piece of glass just a few days ago. Covonia cough syrup (The original one) thank you for the help and the drowsy buzz you gave me, I’m still gonna give you a few sips later for tonight’s show.
So in Zurich Switzerland now looking forward to tonight’s show, It’s Friday so the vibe should be good. Bring it !!
SO after a great show in Zurich we headed to the beautiful and tranquil setting by the lake that is Stravinsky Hall in Montreux Switzerland. I woke up to a stunning view of the lake and the sun was shining, in true rock n roll spirit I got up and went for run right along the lake, forgetting the altitude difference so breathing was a bit heavy at times but felt good for my efforts of trying to stay fit on the road. (I do feel a bender of sorts on the cards soon though).
The show was awesome this night and the venue was stunning. Apart from Saints losing 4 1 to West Ham this was a great day.
On a day off now in a Best Western Hotel in the middle of nowhere near Munich. Robin Williams and Sheryl From Curb your Enthusiasm are over dubbed in German on the box. Tour Dispatch 1 done.
I am Dave Pen
5 Days 3 Gigs
TUESDAY
Wipe, wipe, wipe, the windscreen wipers wipe. January rain and drizzle streaks its way across the wind-sheild of the cheap splitter van as we motor it down the M25. Stef on sound up front next to Mike who is driving. I’m typing will breach on drums has his head against the back of Stefs seat and is trying to catch some zeez !! Tim is waiting for us round the roundabout. Still in the UK.
We drove onward on the big train that runs under the sea. Then drove more in the rain. We stopped off somewhere to eat as we knew when wed arrive at our destination there would be nowhere open. The town we stopped in was quiet and we couldn’t find anywhere to eat, one restaurant had the rocket prices of 58 euros a main snack so we didn’t enter the cash snack pit. We were just about to succum to an Istanbul kebab shop when we jolted left to check one last time if anything else could savor our 5 hungry beaks and there hidden behind lights , the words pizzeria !! Thank you god of Italian cuisine blessing us from the rainy clouds somewhere in France.
Sadly my carbinara wasn’t great and it came with a raw egg yolk sitting all orange in a half shell which I found slightly unappealing. Its still raining I have no idea where I am. I finished reading the white tiger and am now watching Woody Harrelson in the film Rampart. It’s a quite depressing story about a quite fucked up Los Angeles police officer.
WEDNESDAY
Slept quite well after watching the end of the Nordic sci-fi horror movie that is Troll Hunter and there were bill goats in it.
More driving with a William S burrows documentary for company and tomato soup from a vending machine.
“Hang a left” Mike says to breach who is driving. We have finally arrived at a gig.
THURSDAY
Gig in Bordeaux was great all be it a few ghosts in the machine sending a few things odd here and there.
It’s always the case though it seems, when you arrive late at a nice hotel and have to leave first thing in the morning that you get the nicest hotel you’ve ever had. My bed was wider than my height on all four sides, sofa, massive bath etc… Good to get some short comfortable sleep, which I usually miss when, I’m away.
Punctuation was strong though the next morning and we ate breakfast with the business tie men all around us. Got back in the condensation vehicle and headed off to Paris. The sat nav says turn left in 300 miles, time to crook my neck in an uncomfortable visit to the land of nod I think, will type soon yeah.
I woke up and wiped the wet window next to me clear, the January sun at last shone through the speeding motorway trees and lounged upon my face for a few lazy minutes.. Serotonin levels are low at the moment. Grey is such a tired colour.
On the grey note I decided to watch the Oliver Stone biog movie that is W. A film about that cretin George W Bush, I like Josh Brolin ever since his days in the 80’s mega skateboard film “Thrashin” but he didn’t look neither younger or older in the past and present times of silly old W. Interesting film I thought and the congress of lizards that they all were and are is quite creepy in some scenes. Oh and old lizard face Condoleezza Rice’s voice was way over the top, might as well have given her a fork tongue and be done with it. Mice anyone ?
FRIDAY
The paris show was just awesome. A great crowd and a great atmosphere inside yet another boat. I like boats but don’t mind if I never play on one again, I always feel I’m gonna clock my head on a low rafter or steel beam and the soft swaying that occurs when waves hit the boat makes me feel drunk when sober. Also for some strange reason there were mosquitoes everywhere , in January!! I was paranoid of swallowing one whilst bellowing out some words live on stage, luckily this didn’t happen. It was good to see friends and musical acquaintances after the show and I steered clear of any booze instead settling for lemonade or limonad’ or what ever..
I zonked out after a midnight sat nav tracked greasy Maccas hunt and slept well.
On our way to Liege now and I’ve been reading Jon Ronsons The Psycopath Test. Am I or aren’t I?
SATURDAY
The show in liege was bright and warm. A wide stage and a bigger venue of which we were happy to see nice and busy. The new material has been going down really great and feedback has all been highly positive. Beers, whiskey and champagne went down a treat, obviously not all together in a weird booze filled fucked up cocktail though. We left the venue late and found a quick Turkish slab snack shop and scoffed, we then found the hotel. My room was like a shallet ice box with those kind of rubber-ish curtains u get in caravans. I ran a bath to warm up and then dozed for 4 hours before having to set off for the homeward bound trip back to the village. A massive thanks to everyone involved with these shows and a high salut to all our fans, be back soon !! I finished The Psychopath Test, I’m not one by the way but we all have tendencies for sure. Stay sane people.
I am Dave Pen
Dave Pen's Blog 