Morcheeba Spring U.S. Tour 2008

March 24th
9:30 Club
Washington, DC

March 25th
Trocadero
Philadelphia, PA

March 26th
Webster Hall
New York, NY

March 27th
Sommerville Theatre
Sommerville, MA

March 29th
Club Soda
Montreal, QC

March 30th
Opera House
Toronto, ON

April 1st
Park West
Chicago, IL

April 2nd
First Avenue
Minneapolis, MN

April 4th
Gothic Theatre
Englewood, CO

April 5th
Belly Up Aspen
Aspen, CO

April 8th
Commodore Ballroom
Vancouver, BC

April 9th
Showbox
Seattle, WA

April 11th
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA

April 12th
4th & B
San Diego, CA

April 13th
Henry Fonda Theatre
Los Angeles, CA

Happy Thanksgiving (Canadian Style)

And where do you want to spend your Thanksgiving this year, my good man? Why Canada, of course. They have turkey here, right?

Well, actually I'm back on tour with those lovable Canadians, Bedouin Soundclash. We just finished up our headlining tour of the UK, it was smashing, I might even post a story or two, and now we are doing 3 weeks headlining in their homeland. They even have their own currency, it's off the hook.

I'm starting to think the FAA has me in their system as "one to harass". Yes, I have had the most hellacious travel week. Step in to my world.....

So I left London on Saturday and my flight was delayed about 2.5 hours. I had a connecting flight at JFK in NY (thanks travel agent, why on earth would I want to fly direct to Dulles which is only 15 miles away from my home instead of making an unnecessary connection in NY?) so the delay was going to make me miss my connection in NY and that was the only flight to NY that night. Now, being that I work with bands, I travel with gear (mics, outboard gear, etc.) this stuff has a little weight it. Now flying from the States overseas, you can check two bags and have 2 carry on items, no problem, just one charge for the overweight gear. Now, flying out of London, you can check 2 items but only carry on 1 item. What the hell? This is extortion. I originated in DC with 4 bags total, what am I supposed to do with my 4th bag? Sell off the contents? NO, they are going to charge you for checking a 3rd bag, PLUS charge you for that overweight item you know is overweight because it's electronic and for your work.
Unreal.

So I get into NY, have to go through immigration, customs, etc. Find the American Airlines counter to pick up my hotel voucher and plane ticket for the morning. So luckily, I get all my bags, throw them on a cart (btw, these carts are FREE in Europe, but $3 in the U.S., again, unreal) and head to the train to take me to the hotel shuttles. That alone was an ugly experience carrying all of this gear, but I finally made it to the hotel, grabbed a few beers, overpriced chicken Caesar salad and then to bed, just to get up at 7am and do the whole thing in reverse.

I make it back to DC Sunday morning, with all but one of my bags. Just grand. I go back and forth with the airlines to find my bag. In the interim, I find out my flight to Canada the next day is at 6:30am. WHAT IS THE DEAL???? My bag finally gets delivered by 5pm and I even get some laundry done. Bonus.

OK, so it's the next morning (Tuesday), I drag my ass out of bed and make it on time back to National airport. So everything is fine, I make my flight to Montreal, bags and all make it through security, I'm on my way.

NOW, I get to Montreal and have about 30 minutes to make my connecting flight to Moncton, NB. I have to go through customs and immigration again, and I find out I have to pay for my $150 work permit downstairs. The clock is ticking. I get it all done, and have about 15 minutes to get on the flight. I recheck my bags and head through security. They screen my work case, which I am used to, and the agent says "we have a problem", oh my. I had a couple of screwdrivers in my bag and he says, go back to the counter to have the agent check the bag for me. I barge up to the desk, tell her "I have 10 minutes to get on this flight, can you please check this for me? (this will be my 3rd bag to check, which I'm sure she's going to charge me a bundle for). I don't even get that far, she says, "It's too late, I can't check the bag, the flight is leaving." Super.

So now I have a dilemma, leave my work case at the airport and make a mad dash for the gate, or get on the next plane to Moncton, NB which is in 4 hours. This is a no brainer. It REALLY sucks, but I have no choice. I ain't leaving hundreds of dollars in gear randomly at the airport in Montreal. And of course I could have slept an extra 2 or 3 hours, but what's sleep anyways?

OK, I made it. Woohoo. Hooray for Mike. and here I am in Canada. Bags and all.
Happy Thanksgiving. I can't wait to fly again. What's that? Great, I get to fly to Montreal on Sunday. I'm so excited.......

Bedouin Soundclash UK & Canadian Tour Dates

The lads have asked me to come with them to the U.K. and Canada. Great bunch of guys, very glad to be out with them. Here are the dates. These are all headlining dates (and well deserved). Come out if you can:

UK
Nov. 04
Oxford, UK
The Zodiac

Nov. 05
Southampton, UK
Southampton University

Nov. 06
Cardiff,UK
Cardiff University - Great Hall

Nov. 07
Sheffield,UK
Plug

Nov. 08
Norwich,UK
UEA

Nov. 10
NewCastle, UK
Newcastle University

Nov. 11
Glasgow, UK
Classic Grand

Nov. 12
Manchester, UK
Manchester Academy 2

Nov. 13
Birmingham, UK
Barfly

Nov. 15
Leeds, UK
Stylus @ Leeds University

Nov. 16
London, UK
The Forum

Canada
Nov. 20
Moncton, NB
Oxygen

Nov. 21
Saint John, NB
Monte Carlo

Nov. 25
Montreal, QC
Metropolis

Nov. 26
Ottawa, ON
Capital Music Hall

Nov. 27
Kingston, ON
The Ale House

Nov. 29
London, ON
Cowboys Ranch

Dec. 01
Toronto, ON
Koolhaus

Dec. 03
Thunder Bay, ON
Kilroys

Dec. 04
Winnipeg, MB
Burton Cummings Theatre

Dec. 05
Regina, SK
Distrikt Nightclub

Dec. 06
Calgary, AB
MacEwan Hall

Dec. 07
Edmonton, AB
Starlite Room

Dec. 08
Edmonton, AB
Starlite Room

Dec. 10
Vancouver, BC
The Commodore Ballroom

Fall On Me

Back on the "Steel Horse" again. Oh I love the cheesy road lingo. I picked up a tour with a bunch of lovely Canadians (aren't they all?) called Bedouin Soundclash. We are opening for Hot Hot Heat in the U.S. for about 5 weeks. Here's are the dates:

Sunday Sept. 23rd
Domino Room
Bend, OR

Monday Sept. 24th
Wonder Ballroom
Portland, OR

Wed. Sept. 26th
SOMA
San Diego, CA

Friday Sept. 28th
Majestic Ventura Theatre
Ventura, CA

Monday Oct. 1st
Gothic Theatre
Englewood, CO

Wed. Oct. 3rd
Fine Line Music Hall
Minneapolis, MN

Thursday Oct. 4th
Vic Theatre
Chicago, IL

Friday Oct. 5th
St. Andrews Music Hall
Detroit, MI

Wed. Oct. 10th
Higher Ground
S. Burlington, VT

Thursday Oct. 11th
Paradise
Boston, MA

Saturday Oct. 13th
Webster Hall
New York, NY

Sunday Oct. 14th
TLA
Philadelphia, PA

Monday Oct. 15th
Ram's Head Live
Baltimore, MD

Wed. Oct. 17th
Center Stage
Atlanta, GA

Thurdsay Oct. 18th
The Social
Orlando, FL

Friday Oct. 19th
Culture Room
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Saturday Oct. 20th
State Theatre
St. Petersburg, FL

Monday Oct. 22nd
Meridan
Houston, TX

Tuesday Oct. 23rd
Emo's
Austin, TX

Wed. Oct. 24th
Granada Theatre
Dallas, TX

Sat. Oct. 27th
Rialto Theatre
Tucson, AZ

Sunday Oct. 28th
Henry Fonda Theatre
Los Angeles, CA

Monday Oct. 29th
House of Blues
Anaheim, CA

Tuesday Oct. 30th
The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA

Summer recap, coming up....

Lump Sum

Gonna lump a few of these together since they are lump-worthy. Albany, NY. What can I say. Wow. Albany. Nice theatre, lots of weird folks. Lots of weird heckling but only from one guy. During the show, this guy starts yelling out to Sean between songs covers of other songs, from, "Listen to what the man said" (a Paul McCartney and Wings song, no less, dumbass), "Goldtop Mountain Heart Queen Directory", & "Lenny Kravitz". What an ass. We soon escorted him out, turns out he was quite drunk, big surprise, and when the state troopers are escorting him out of the building, he apologizes, says he had a little too much to drink, was having fun, and fessed up to smoking a little pot before the show. He was immediately placed in handcuffs and into ye olde State Limo. Have I said, "dumbass" yet? Glad to reiterate.

Northhampton, Mass. The Iron Horse is this little old ski lodge looking place that holds about 150 people and for some reason they insist on booking rock bands there. I don't get it, it's just too small and loud, but what are you gonna do, gotta make the best of it. One highlight of the town is a cafe called Haymarket which has great vegan/veggie delights and great coffee. We did also have fun at the open mic night across the street from the club in some little bar.

OH Wait, funny story. So this guy that is on tour with us (I promised I would not mention any names here to "protect the innocent" had a funny run in. So there is a theatre across the street from the club we're playing and they are having a show the same night as us. So after our gig is over, we load out, pack the trailer and we all head over to this little bar for a nightcap before we drive to Boston. So our bus driver moves the bus back to the hotel and the bus from the band that is playing at the theatre is moved into the exact same spot where OUR bus was parked. The ole switcheroo, as it goes. Here's the real kicker, this guy with our group, doesn't realize it's a different bus, and the entry code to unlock the door is identical to our bus. Weird? Weird!
So he heads to the back of the bus, there are a bunch of dudes hanging in the back lounge he doesn't recognize, but he says "Hey" they say "Hey" and they sit around and talk for about 45 minutes. He says he wants to open the window and they won't let him and it gets a little ugly, next thing he knows he is getting carried off of what he thinks is HIS bus. Furious and cursing like a sailor all the way, he gets outside the bus, looks at the side of the bus and says, "wait a minute, this bus is blue, ours is red, whoops! Who's bus was I on?"

Funny? Funny!

Boston was just plain uneventful. Great crowd, cold rainy night. Sean was really affected by the fans in a good way. They were singing EVERY word, LOUD, to every song. It kind of freaked him out but he and the band completely enjoyed it. It was awesome to see him react to them and vice versa. Wonderful show, but I'm ready for a day off. Oh, and the mango at the Thai Place down the street, Brown Sugar, was not ripe at all. Good sticky rice, though.

Stuck out here in this beach town of New Jersey

Ah yes, the famous Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. Why is this little beachside rock club so famous? Some of Rock's greatest have cut their teeth there. Patty Smith, Joan Jett, The Replacements, Ian Hunter, Glen Burtnik, and probably the most famous, Bruce Springsteen. Like he'll ever go anywhere.

It was a balmy 43 degrees and party sunny this day, and even colder in the club. What gives? These fingers are very delicate and have many knobs to twiddle and lord knows I can't do it with frozen little fingers.

It was one of those weird crowds who thrive on rock history and nostalgia, perfect for the son of a Beatle. For the most part, they were into it and there weren't too many request for "other" artists material. As a whole, the town is just sort of weird. It's a beach resort that used to be a big deal from about 1890 and into the early 1900's. Read more about it here.

They went through a bunch of degradation, erosion, crime, financial collapse and are now in a period of regrowth. Not the most inspiring town or hot spot for a beach vacation, but just up the shore there are more desirable locations, but there is a certain dark charm and feeling of being part of it's history that lies here. Farewell from Asbury Park.

(Photo courtesy of Sherry Nelson)

Mountain Mama

OK, there were a few mama's in the mountains of Charlottesville. I'm sure they ARE there, I didn't see a whole lot of them, but I can tell you, it was damn cold. It's April, what is going on with this whole Global Warming craze? It's eluding this tour.

And another thing about stairs. If you're going to start a rock club with live bands, why on earth would you put the stage on the second floor? Band gear doesn't just "magically" appear on stage, it needs to get "loaded" UP the stairs, OUT of its cases and ONTO the stage. Then back DOWN the stairs and into the trailer. My coccyx still hurts.

I did have a nice piece of tuna steak, though. Thanks C-Ville.