Glissando interviews

So we have a couple of new interviews up if anyone is interested in how we feel about the state of things:
www.sandmanmagazine.co.uk or pick up a paper copy
http://theambientinterviews.blogspot.com

The new record gets closer..... also we have kindly had some very good bootlegs recorded of some of the shows on the May tour. Luckily we seem to get sent such things rather than them being leaked for all and sundry. If they come out as well as I hope they will we might make them available for release after the album comes out... we'll see.

Aberdeen

This is the show I've been most looking forward to the whole tour. We get to play with Stars of the Lid again and also Remember Remember, who from the track I've heard sound awesome. I get to hook up with some friends I met when I came up to Scotland with Her name is Calla in March which is pretty exciting.
The beautiful Phil meets us at the station and we head for a beer before soundcheck. We get a lovely meal from the grand folk at IMP who are putting on the show.
The atmosphere in Tunnels before we play is amazing, dark and lit by candles and fairy lights. It's the first hint of nerves I've had all tour. The room is hushed and you can hear every breath.

Remember Remember make loops and rhythms from such things as lighters and scissors and build huge trance-like movements which go down a treat. They have just signed to Mogwai's Rock Action label... good work.

Stars of the Lid battle over the Whitesnake covers next door to almost shake the Tunnels down. Amazing show once again. We get drunk, the Futureheads DJ some generic indie and we head away from the last show.

Phil is a truly great host, we eat lunch, say our goodbyes to sunny Aberdeen and sit on a train for 6 hours back to Leeds.

Glasgow

I'm sitting in a cafe/bar called Stereo where last night Stars of the Lid played. Tonight we support them and I'm a little nervous. If only we could have played with them last night.
Instead we had the worst night of the tour, a noisy unattentive crowd that showed absolutely no regard for any of the bands and their art.
My pedals break, we can't even hear ourselves play and it's a frustration I haven't felt for some time. Some people must have enjoyed it as we sold a few records but I hated every minute of it from arriving at the venue to leaving.
However we meet old friends and new friends and Heidi brings us some home-made Glissando badges which brightens the mood.
Celtic won the Scottish championship at the expense of Rangers, someone is shot in town as a result, the atmosphere is dark as we trudge through the city to our hostel and some bastard steals my lighter.

Edinburgh

The train journey is wonderful, beautiful scenery all around, Edinburgh is equally beautiful, one of the nicest cities I've visited, it reminds me of a larger scale version of York - which ain't a bad thing!

We meet Euan - our new friend and he looks after us with much kindness. We sound really good tonight, a large room but we fill it with unusual ease. The crowd is silent and there is an amazing intensity to us that we've struggled to hit in previous shows. Edinburgh is one of the tour highlights for sure - despite missing the supposed epic Champions League final. Another breakfast of kings and on to Glasgow....

Nottingham

Instead of playing Derby we sit in the garden of the Exploits of Elaine around a nice fire, drinking while the night closes in. Sunday is slow and I'm not happy. The show is good - in a delightful little tea room in Nottingham city centre. I hate writing about shows and how they are - it's too difficult to put into words. We have a few travelers from afar tonight which makes us happy.

Derby

Is canceled - but thats cool as we're fucking loaded and we can afford the extra train fares and not getting paid for a day. Wicked.

We rock to Nottingham a day early.

Our Chichester to London train is slightly delayed which means a stupidly mad dash across London for our connection. I find myself wedged in the train door, forcing it back to try and pull Elly and our cases onto the train as its setting off.

Man, I feel like Harrison Ford.

Chichester

There are 3 hours to kill before our train takes us to Chichester, we drink coffee and accidently steal a fully awesome veggie breakfast. True story.

La Havana is comprised of 3 tiny tunnels which suits us just fine. We meet some beautiful people, Up C Down C slay again and hopefully deafen the fuck pigs who talk through our set.

Tonight's accommodation is provided by Chris from Flies Are Spies From Hell and his unbelievably kind family who make us very welcome and we drink whiskey and wine into the early hours.  

The Great Escape

What a great idea to create a festival where you pay £20 and then can't get to see the bands you want to see unless you feel like queuing for four hours.

We meet Paul Marshall for a beverage before before he plays to a handful of people in the middle of nowhere.

At least we get some rock action in the form of Sunset Rubdown and Okkervil River before standing in a queue of about 700 people trying to get to see Yeasayer who are probably playing in someone's basement. Good planning that.

However there is hope as we get into Komedia to see the hideously good Elizabeth Walling and Jacob's Stories whilst getting far too drunk for far too much money. Ah well.

Brighton

Having not been to Brighton for about 6 years it is indeed quite pleasing to be back, I'd forgotten how beautiful it is and lacking in corporate exposure.

Tonight we play with Up C Down C who are crushingly loud.

It doesn't feel right tonight, for various reasons.

Leeds

...and we'll all float on ok.

It's nice to be home for a little while and we get to see Oscar for the first time in a week!

Old friends and new friends are at the show and we have a blast. It feels like we've hit some sort of form now and thanks to Tim we sound about as good as we can.

Newcastle

Hangover.
Hangover. Everyone has a hangover. Jonny Spokes makes a wonderful breakfast and things slowly look up. the aim is to get to Newcastle in time watch the final Premiership game of the season. We make the second half.

The Newcastle natives are friendly and the Head of Steam venue is lovely.

d_rradio are beautiful, Spokes slay, Lanterns on the Lake are splendid.

The room is deadly silent when we play, its perfect, we play almost perfect.

John and Daz make us very welcome, I do my usual trick of attracting gays, we listen to records and fall asleep.

Manchester

Today we meet our new friends for the weekend - Spokes. The venue smells of sewage. The sound engineers... well... maybe I'm missing something but randomly muting various channels whist a band is playing doesn't seem quite right to me, especially the vocals. Balls.

We stay in the house that Spokes built and play voodoo mind tricks and drink our weight in alcohol. Good times.

Sowerby Bridge

"Hi - I live in Sowerby Bridge - I'm a twat. I can't seem to find a seat to sit on, I know I'll sit on the merch." Not on a chair next to the merch - no - actually on the merch.
Last night was the weirdest show we've done in a long while.
It seems our new record is too expensive for some folk in Sowerby Bridge at £8. "I'll go buy it from Woolworths". Good luck Dickface.
We play well and shift some records and hang with Worriedaboutsatan which is always a pleasure.

Tamworth

I'm not sure we've played a show that's gone over so many people's heads before. Are we really so confusing?
The good people of Structures are very kind to us and most of the evening is spent rocking to some of the quality music that Colin is spinning, including Mogwai Fear Satan - loud.

Tunbridge Wells

Having never been to this quaint, peaceful town before we're excited but drained from the rare English sun and trying to get across London with our lives in cases.
The wonderful Bob meets us and greets us with pasta and beer and we head to soundcheck with sweat on our cheeks.
The show is quiet but we play with our balls out and it's one of the most intense performances we've pulled out in a while and for once we sound huge. Yes huge, like an empty ocean trying not to be so.
We stay with Lawrence of Shit and Shine in his spectacular Orange amp infested flat most of which will today travel to ATP. Bastard.

Some photos from the Leicester show last night.

...and so it begins

Our tour kicked off on Saturday in Sheffield, I'll do my best to keep a tour diary updated as best I can.

Train travel can be tiresome at the best of times but carrying tons of equipment which weighs the world is not easy - nevertheless we are on the road and this is it for a few weeks now so we better get used to it.

Also keeping an eye on equipment on trains so any chancing robbing bastards don't ruin us is not much fun but here we go.....

Sheffield goes well - a lovely little venue called The Redhouse and a perfect intimate setting for us, some nice folk from Corleone help us out and we stay on Quiet Lane which no doubt will be used in a song at some point.

We already have a day off due to having tickets to see Bjork but she's ill and cancels the show, however I'm not feeling so amazing myself and the extra few hours sleep is massively needed at this point.

And so to Leicester - we're excited to be hooking up with Her Name is Calla and hanging out and playing some rock music. We are a family now you see, there's no going back. Another tiny show and a nice reception - and the first time we haven't played Floods live in as long as I can remember which is actually quite nice. Most of my time on stage now is spent enjoying my new reverb pedal and last night trying in vain to keep in time with Elly due to the incredible double-kick-drum heaviness that was in the venue downstairs and vibrating through my body whilst we were playing.

'Calla were on form, Tom's Marshall amp head found itself airborne and lands perfectly across Adam's drum kit, balancing with Olympic greatness while chaos ensues at the end of New England once more. Good times.

It was also pretty exciting to have Foals open for us - not quite sure how that happened.

London today is canceled - maybe the venue owner doesn't like ambient post-wankery too much - I don't know... these things happen.