The last time we were in London we were asked by NOKIA to take part in their NOKIA N8 Summer Live Series. We filmed at The Crypt Studio in Crouch End. The footage was taken exclusively on cell phones. Not too shabby!
After the Manchester show, we discovered a place to lay our heads called 'The Mill'.
We loved the setup and vibe of the place and were able to get some good rest before we split for the next stop. Random encounter at the end of a show night: we wound up enjoying some of the finer things with the band The Ting Tings. Friendly folks...
MANCHESTER was a good one. One great thing I've noticed about the EU fan contingent is the barrier work they put in. Doesn't matter how many people are in the room, be it ten thousand or twenty five...these devoted babies are right at the edge of the stage, rocking the barrier like they battled for it and normally that is the case. This was again proven at the Hop Farm Festival in Kent the following show. It was our first festival of the season and we had the privilege to open the show's main stage. Not expecting too huge of a showing being first on, we walked out to find our devoted Babies at the barrier (of course), eagerly awaiting the set to commence. Quite surprisingly, we saw that the festival scene had already begun and we noticed thousands had already arrived and had taken their positions while more were filing in. It's a fantastic realization to see the festival spirit so alive, and to have the reward of our first exposure to the curiosity of a completely new audience. The early birds. The seekers. You know who you are. Obviously we have a much greater appreciation for this perspective being new to this scene, but God love ya...
Our set flew by in a flash and before we could blink it was gone. A moment of sunshine came from behind a cloud and spread out on the stage as we played, and I found I was trying to burn the image in my mind as it happened for future reflection.
I discovered some new music that day and was pleased to walk away with having found City and Colour who performed directly after us. Good sound, great songs + harmonies...always goes down smooth. COORS, taste the rockies. The 70's ranch wear that the guitar player donned was also quite refreshing. I have to say that a handsome poly-western suit is an under-appreciated fashion play and coming from Corning, CA, I noticed. Well played, gents. A toast to Canada for these...well played, indeed and happy Canada Day!
The rest of this day was spent hanging out with some extended family and friends in The Brandon Flowers cast and crew. We hadn't seen some of them since our previous tour and it was nice to catch up in the festival setting. Our trailer was situated around the other band's that were up that day and everyone performing was friendly and had nice things to say which was a good feeling.
Here are some shots of the line-up and a few moments from the stage that etched this experience in our minds:
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A BIG thanks to Miss Bev for all her hard work and for including us in such a cool eclectic event. Sent us away with our sails full and our hearts warm...
If you get the opportunity to experience The Hop Farm Festival, do yourself the favor. You won't forget it.
NEXT UP
ABBEY ROAD...
WEEK ONE - Third time to the UK and running strong. The first day was a marathon as we had to hit the ground at Heathrow -
off the plane to meet Platinum Tom, who was waiting with our rented splitter van, (RIP White Rider) and so it goes…
picked up the gear we had waiting in storage and found our way to Stoke Newington to sort out a rehearsal space to try everything out. It took about 5 hrs from airport to practice space to navigate through London traffic so by the time we got there we were slightly cooked. All we had to do was get enough rest for the Hyde Park endeavor that awaited.
Our first festival in England and a fest it was. We showed up with time for a series of press obligations before hitting the stage at 5:30. As we walked on we realized there was a problem with the keyboard. One of the obstacles to overcome when touring outside of the US is the difference in power for electronics. The issue was that one of the stage hands, not realizing that we need to plug all of our pedals and keyboard into a power converter had fried our keyboard 5 minutes before we were to start. Festival changeovers happen at a very quick pace and I can see how it could happen easily if there is a lack of communication but nonetheless we were kinda fucked. Someone produced a replacement in the nick of time and we were allowed to play our whole set in front of the packed audience. Whew…stressful moment but was abated in time to let loose and move on to do what we came for.
Once the set was over we were escorted to do our final bits of press with Absolute Radio who set us up on a small stage inside of a swanky lounge to play and acoustic set for a table crowd. Quite the dichotomy of performances to walk from a giant feeling festival stage, straight to vegas lounge act…In the ABSOLUTE RADIO INTERVIEW that followed we were asked if we had ever done something like that before. Andy answered with an astute, "Any band that says they've never played in front of a crowd eating, is full of shit." (I'm paraphrasing, of course but you get the point), Well said.
After all was complete it was our turn to spectate and that we did…among other things.
I was amazed at the cast of characters that you see wandering around the dressing trailers set up at these events…I looked to my left at one moment and saw that I was standing about 5 feet from Prince Harry. He was in festival mode with couple royal body guards directly on his heels. I have never thought I would be so close to not only Royalty, but men in Docker's packing heat. Dignified protection.
Not sure how much this one might be worth but just as we were waiting to be led up the side-stage to watch The Killers performance Prince Harry entered the port-o-potty right in front of us. Amazingly enough, the body guards waited for him to exit and when he did…we got this: Photo credit Andy Ridley
Watching The Killers perform to a sea of people was an intense energy…
We celebrated into the wee hours of the morning and slept it off the next day.
BIRMINGHAM - The Home of Metal
This show was anticipated for us, as we were there not long before with The Bravery and were looking forward to our inaugural headline voyage. The best part about this one was not only seeing our fans anxiously awaiting our arrival in queue as we arrived but the interpretive dancing chap with corn rows shouting at us as we played through our set. I didn't realize until Card brought it to my attention that it was the same guy that was screaming that it was his Birthday, shirtless at The Bravery show three months ago. Yep, amazing…
We drove through the night after the show, entertained by a hard nosed game of 'Would You Rather…'
"Would you rather be baldheaded with a birthmark on your dome in the shape of cock-n-balls or have a hairline that starts 1" above your eyebrows?" Good question.
This was followed by a new game we created on the fly called 'At Capacity'. The object of this one is to think of a ridiculous support scenario and choose between the lesser of two evils. For example: 'At capacity: Nickelback or Creed?' The first game split our sides with laughter…the second stressed us out a touch to invasion the obligation of a horrible reality. Found it to be a tad masochistic but we were quite entertained driving through the night to Newcastle to say the least. Our surrogate home away from home. Bridgette's Manor. xoxo Wey aye, man.
More UK Babies arrived to this show to greet us before we performed. When we arrived, I saw we had barely missed ANVIL playing the same room. SHIT! If you haven't seen the documentary, "The Story of Anvil", do yourself the favor…It's epic.
That show went well and was our first opportunity to play a full set which was a lot of fun and a nice change from our standard 30 minute banger we had been playing on the past two passes through England in support slots. Many thanks to all the Babies for making the trip to see us and hanging out after for photos and such. We love you all.
After amazing rest and a great visit with our tour mom, Bridget we set off again to our next stop, Manchester. HERE WE, HERE WE…HERE WE FOOKIN GOOOOO!
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xo
Friday marks the beginning of our UK tour with a show in London's Hyde Park for Hard Rock Calling. The string of 12 shows will take us up and down England and Scotland during the next few weeks. This trip is going to give us a chance to play some extended set times and feature songs that we've not had the chance to perform over here. Check out some of the dates to see if we're coming anywhere close to you and be sure to get involved!
Me checking it, Me rocking it, Me feeling it, Me wrecking it! In other words, we are excited to have been chosen to film at the legendary Abbey Road Studios for the "Live at Abbey Road" TV series! Not sure on when the episode will air but will share as soon as we know more.
Check it out: Live from Abbey Road
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