4 december......arrive in blighty to find we have been booked into chelski "football" (let's not exaggerate this term when it comes to these overpaid, coke-sniffin'(yes we know all about you mr. midfield playa), international mercenaries) club hotel! wentto bar to get a pint...their pumps were broken! Sort it aht Roman! get to see bardo pond in the evening.
5 december.....brighton. mods and rockers have packed up their knuckledusters and scottered off to their homes to sit in front of a 2 bar fire. it's pissing down and windy and cold. and the venue is on the waterfront. the water has infected the pa, as it sounds like a wet blanket all night and j's vocals come out sounding like bubbles. over-enthusiastic promoters make me uncomfortable.
6 december....london. bang in the middle of town. christmas shoppers twat us around the head with bags of crap they have purchased for their unlucky loved ones.full house. the longer the dino thang goes on, the more you wonder each time how many people will come to the shows. has the novelty worn off you wonder, or do they still have something to offer. well they have 2 new songs to offer from their album to be released. a good foretaste. lou (barlow) opens up, as support act, at 2 london shows. the guy's got balls. and a great voice. and an arsenal of great songs. the crowd are quiet for 1st half of each night and then just make a racket.
7 december.....london. get to go to music stores to look for studio monitors. the rip-off merchants of denmark street / tottenham court road see no pennies from me.
8 december.....off to all tomorrows parties. we stop at stonehenge! fantastic. my favourite part of whole tour. a crisp winters day with sun. the structure isn't as big as i had imagined, but also not spinal tap size off course! an amazing place. mystical, weird, different. you cant say that about the london eye! we arrive at atp and there's watt, shivering and moaning like an old man. boy is it cold there! a good start....the chalets are much better than camber sands. but after this, its all uphill!
went to watch the stooges in the big hall. set started like a boxer coming outta his corner in round 1. pow pow pow....punk'o'rama. but then...but then....it slowly descended in panto. weak ass songs ('skullring' anyone?) and iggy becoming more the ugly sister. "behind you...the exit's behind you" we all shouted.
and then "sonic youth". or should that be "chronic tooth" performing songs from their latest album "rather ripped off". jeezy creeky....they are so SHIT!!! unbelievably bad! boring songs, non-exsistent stage persona, shit sound, crap, CRap, CRAP!!! people just STOP! get a proper job! you have hoodwinked so many people for the last 17 years with yr drivel and FINALLY they are realising that you are a sham. you have no interest in making music that goes forwards...you live under the illusion that because you are in sonic youth you have some sort of divine right that every string or skin you hit is for the betterment of music. you have failed to produce anything decent since 'daydream nation'...and even that was the last straw. ugh! but the worst thing is that i get to hear this fart-burp musick another 3 times after this!!!
the dead c were excellent!
went to get a drink in a bar, but they were ALL closed by 3am! a scandal!
9 december....dino day. didn't get to se many other bands in other halls as had to hang around and show interest in our hall for sake of professionalism. gang of 4 were better second time round that evening.
10 december...dino had to play again because many people couldn't get into the hall the day before to se them. they are much much better than the night before. this never happened at camber sands! you never had to wait in a line to get into a show or get a wristband early enough to have the privilege of seeing yr fave band. that was the beauty of atp at camber sands...you could see evrything that you wanted to, and never had to miss a show because 2 bands you liked also played at the same time in different halls. shite organisation. saw barry running about squaking that he had had people asking for their money back and that he had threatened to shove their money up their asses! nice.
it's j's birthday at midnight.
11 december....gave "stooges" another chance. same songs, same order, same between song banter, same moves/jumping up on amps...iggy has been taking lessons. i dislike them more because i hear their crew are making watt's life hell" they won't let him touch the settings on his bass rig (digi photos are taken of the settings before the show), and they have marked out with white tape a small area in front of his bass rig from which watt is not allowed to come out of whilst onstage.
negative approach were amazing.
maybe i've had enough of my fill of previous atp's, but this one was just plain disappointing. and i don't base this just on the fact that i saw less than mediocre performances from the bigger bands.some of the other stuff i witnessed was less than sparkling, the location, the queues, the weather.....
12 december.....knackered and smelling like a brewery we head off to dublin. to all promoters...dinosaur jr. are not averse to eating in not glamorous looking indian restuarants : we are shovelled to a fancy one and its expensive and tasteless : the black hole of calcutta. meet shields family.
13 december....lovely drive to west of oirland.hicks from the sticks stuff. i don't think dj will be returning there too quickly. fish tasted fab. had fun keeping hannelore entertained whilst parents dined in peace....she is now a keen fish spotter, and can babble and burble the names of most fish caught in the north sea.
14 december....from the west of ireland to paris!!! the dartboard tour! arrive pooped. playing in 7000 person space hall. first ever time dj have played in france as original trio. good show. and then the sonic yoof! we all stay backstage and play with hannelore! catering was first class.
