Entry 6

Ok, been writing this over several days, it covers the past week, been difficult getting it posted due to hecticness and generally shit phone reception...

Couple of days off. Went down to London. Went out to see our friends the Callino Quartet (who played on the EP) play at Dingwalls with the Bell Orchestre.

They were brilliant. They did some Bartok, it was really heavy, surreal to experience in a "rock" venue. The quartet (Sarah Sexton, Micheala Girardi-violins, Rebecca Jones-viola, Sarah McMahon-cello) met The Bell Orchestra and the rest of The Arcade Fire at the Banff Centre in Canada while they were doing a residency there. They've performed with them several times before---then they played on MY album---thats when things really took off for them...anywho, bell orchestre were pretty amazing, although i kept wanting someone to sing...it was entirely instrumental. Great musicians, though.

Lazy rehearsal with the PP guys the next day. So much so we planned another one on Sunday. Long train ride up to Barrow-in-Furness the next day. Beautiful small train ride between Lancaster and Barrow. It goes along Morecombe Bay i think. Sheep grazing on the grass in front of you, beyond them, the sands of the estruary, which stretch out for a mile, beyond that the sea...

Got to Barrow and no one was there. Waiting out in the sun for 2 hours with my £1600 keyboard on my back, dodgy-looking kids on bmx bikes riding by casing me out...finally someone turns up and lets me in, had a bit of the rider, which has been very consistently made up of hummus, pita, beer, water, jar of peanut butter, white bread. i suppose i can't complain, but thats often all we eat...Place was funky, big cavernous place called the Canteen, walls all painted white, felt a bit like skating rink. Turn out wasn't great, maybe 25 people, which really, was surprising, cos I didn't see 25 people out in the city. Maybe they're all in the submarines, testing radiation levels, that sort of thing. Still managed to sell a few EPs. Long, late drive to middlesborough to check into travelodge. SLEEP. Poor johnny gets up at 7 to catch train to London to do some Moondog-themed gig at the Barbican. Had an amazing lie-in, somehow.

Drove into Hartlepool, weather being uncharacteristically beautiful. Walked around the town. There was an old steam ship called the P.S.S. Wingfield Castle that was made into a museum that you could walk around on.

Heres a picture of the engine room. Look at the creepy mannequin engineer:

We were all standing out on the deck of the Wingfield, when we heard an earth-shattering KA-BOOM! Some re-inactment actors had a group of schoolkids out on the dock, presumably giving them a history lesson, accentuating the finer points with a good ol' bit of canonfire. i suppose thats what it takes these days.

Hartlepool gig was funny, venue was a repurposed church, bar/venue/community recording studio. Great people, about 30 of them, good vibe, all the same. As we were loading out, an unruly mob poured out of the pub across the street. The engineer said "If that lot comes this way, you guys better head back inside." Don't know if i mentioned this but things are VERY tight in the back of that truck, will only all go in a certain way, so we're desperately trying to load this shit in the back, meanwhile this blob of riff raff is slowly moving closer towards us---i could hear the cellos playing the theme to fucking JAWS...

Exciting!

Drove back down to London the next day and I went immediately to Ed's in Stokey to rehearse with the PP dudes. We felt better for it and i slept like the dead. 1st gig at the 100 club last night. Showed up and there was a mostly in-tune Yamaha grand piano on stage. I was so thrilled. And the engineer was cool about using it (pianos are kind of a bitch live, with a loud band). Played a really fun set---man, being behind a real piano live was fucking AWESOME. I've only ever done it one other time i can remember. Happy days. Got the same again tonight. I'm very pleased. Tomorrow morning doing a radio one session with rob da bank. Radio one. You're the only one. For me. Radio one. you stole my gal. but i love you jus' the same. jimi hendrix? anybody? radio one album? nevermind. xJ