Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra euro expedition spring 2010

all hands on deck....our ship has set course for foreign climes and will endure 6 weeks of punishment as governments rise and fall, and one crisis leads to another. But the music will save those who are willing to listen. On board we carry the future......his name is Ezra.
The gritty UK leg kicks off with a visit to the southwest, where Bristol reveals the opening acts of the spring's seasonal play....beautiful sunshine feted by a cold breeze.The city is steeped in history....John Cabot, Isamabard Kingdom Brunel's magnificent suspension bridge, the colonial past and a rich naval and trading history. The show is sold out, and an understandable anticipation hangs above the gathered listeners. First show is like being back at school after the summer holidays....familiar and yet unfamiliar surroundings, meeting old and new friends, engaging your mind and body to do things they kinda forgot to do over the last few weeks / years. A good start, but it'll get better.

Birmingham is a grim dark hole. People live in a time warp.....stuck in 1973. Old rockers who perpetually live forever on the guestlist, dressed in uniform black with bad hair day everyday, and their burdzzz who cackle and machine gun fire invectives like "luv" and "sweetheart" and "darlin'" at the end of every sentence. Photos of Ozzy, and other less great Brum rockers cover the walls, reminders of the Black Country's rock heritage. The streets are grim and dirty, and restaurant hunting takes on a journey of epic proportions. The worst curry ever was shat onto our plates in a fleapit restaurant where the bathrooms served up a sink pull of puke and the staff were so bored that they took to watching us like members of a long lost tribe who had just come out of the jungle. Much banter between audience and band between songs remind me of a "Sebadoh" show.......can this really be happening at a SMZ show? Oh yes!