Tourswede

Jukebox The Ghost.. on tour ...

2011-10-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

We are almost 3 weeks in to this amazing tour. We just had some days off where we saw Lisbon and one day off driving through the mountains in southern France. All the remaining shows are in France apart from one in Luxembourg and and one in Switzerland.

JTG live in action!

We struggled finding bottle recycling!

Night off in Lisbon. We found a jazz cafe and Ben joined in but the house piano had not been tuned for some centuries and sounded... not quite right!

There are some small roads and steps that lead up to the castle ruin in Lisbon and local artists took pictures of people who used to live in these streets and were part of their culture. To keep their memory alive.

View from the castle grounds...

Ben being Ben!

More live action from Jukebox the Ghost! We are very lucky on this tour that Mike, the sound engineer, is mixing these guys SO well. They are sounding great and winning over new fans every night!

Jukebox the Ghost on stage in Mannheim, Germany.

2011-10-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

Jukebox the Ghost

2011-10-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Month long tour with Jukebox the Ghost from the US! 3-piece band with Drums, guitar and piano/keys. Great catchy songs that I am just starting to get to know!!!

supporting James Blunt for all these shows apart from one.

WED 05/10/11 Hamburg, Germany
THU 06/10/11 Rostock, Germany
FRI 07/10/11 Kiel, Germany
SAT 08/10/11 Halle/Westfallen,Germany
SUN 09/10/11 Mannheim, Germany
MON 10/10/11 Dusseldorf, Germany
TUE 11/10/11 Basel, Switzerland
WED 12/10/11 Strasbourg, France
THU 13/10/11 Travel Day
FRI 14/10/11 Pau, France
SAT 15/10/11 Travel Day
SUN 16/10/11 Lisbon, Portugal
MON 17/10/11 Travel Day
TUE 18/10/11 DAY OFF
WED 19/10/11 Marseille, France
THU 20/10/11 Grenoble, France
FRI 21/10/11 Clermont-Ferrand, France
SAT 22/10/11 Bordeaux, France
SUN 23/10/11 TRAVEL / DAY OFF
MON 24/10/11 Luxembourg, Luxembourg
TUE 25/10/11 TRAVEL / DAY OFF
WED 26/10/11 Lille, France
THU 27/10/11 Nantes, France
FRI 28/10/11 Paris, France
SAT 29/10/11 Dijon, France
SUN 30/10/11 Travel / Day Off
MON 31/10/11 Geneva, Switzerland

Sunn 0)))

2011-10-09T12:50:00.001-07:00

I spent a week selling merchandise for Sunn o))). It was really loud and really great!

The show in Torino, Italy, was in an old prison. Not much had changed apart from some paint.

Death-row!!

Prison cells were used as backstage rooms. bad vibes all around!

One smoke machine was placed in the stairs leading down to death-row chambers.

Italians hanging out....

More smoke was needed in Switzerland. Along with 130 DB!

Sebadoh remembers Bakesale and Harmacy

2011-09-09T02:41:00.000-07:00

Sebadoh.

Jason. Lou. Bob. We finished another great sebadoh tour a short while ago. Bob D’Amico now plays drums… great musician and superb to travel with! Played some fun shows. Zurich and Edinburgh were my personal favorites. Mainly because of the sound I think…. the soundguy in Zurich really got it!

We were supposed to be at Pukkelpop but due to the tragic events there we played a “pukkelpop tribute” show in Ghent at an inner city beach instead. That was a fun day and the people organizing it did a great job. Thanks!

After Ghent was supposed to be a day off but Sebadoh were asked to play a benefit show in Brighton to support people who were affected by the burning down of the records/cd warehouse in London during the London riots. Mega thanks to Shaun who organized the gig, fed us and let us stay at his house!! (and thanks for the records!).

This tour was in support of the re-issue of Bakesale and Harmacy. I cannot wait for another re-issue tour… OR any other reason that will bring Sebadoh and Jens back on the road in Europe. Come on guys… just make something up. Say we are re-issuing the t-shirts from the last tour or something!

Till then….

CLICK on the pictures for a slightly enlarged version. yes...

At Vera in Groningen, NL. Definitely one of the best venues in Europe! for all the reasons I have probably mentioned a million times before.

more vera.

Sebadoh took the train to ST Malo for a festival and flew to Oslo after that to play another festival. so Jens and I had 2 days at a hotel 20 minutes outside frankfurt. Jens found Deicide 1st LP original mint. I found Bolt Thrower 'In Battle there is no Law' also mint original. All this one a street with a cafe with great eggs! Quality.

Jens drinks coffee in the garden at a hotel somewhere between Austria and Holland.

Ghent, Belgium! Lou found it hard to push his pedals without shoes. So one was enough.

Ghent backstage

Ghent gig happening!

taking pictures against the light made me go all arty. Mmm... feel that art degree in full working force! ha.

more of the same...

and again....

So. There we were. Hanging out drinking a beer outside the hamburg hotel and SWOOSH... from the sky comes Lou's trousers. Sailing from his window and on to the street. Very surprising to say the least.

Brighton show. at Coalition.

London show at Electric Ballroom.

Thanks guys!!

Ryan Bingham June / July tour...

2011-08-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hey. This is just to catch up on summer touring. In June / July I was out with Ryan Bingham again. Martin was along on this tour which was great. Good times all around! Pictures in mixed order as usual....

beach gig in italy. Soundcheck with shorts!

Martin and I in munich bar!

I tried to help Martin with a sig for the merch area. Its the most question.

Leaving munich.

It was hot in italy and Liam had to improvise with summerwear.

Martin and Liam celebrate the tourist train!

Soundcheck.

Show time!

The hardons were in hamburg same day we were. I went over for 5 minutes to say hello!

Gothenburg.

Beers and pool in Cafe The MInds, amsterdam.

See you on the next tour...

Sufjan Stevens tour. Part 2

2011-06-18T03:49:00.000-07:00

The Sufjan Stevens tour ended and I was home on July 1st. A really really great tour! I do hope to see those guys again. We had some nice days in Barcelona... 2 shows and some time off. Kate came to visit for those days and we had some really nice time by the beach and at the shows. The highlite was seeing Low at Primavera. And the parties at the hotel!

Below are some pictures from the last couple of weeks....

Our bus broke down a few times. We had to jump on the band bus... very tight!

David opened every show, Beautiful songs! David.... if you read this... you rule!

Ferarra, Italy. Lovely old theater.

Italy, Done! Crowd was loving it, again.

Barcelona crowd!

It was soo great having Kate come down to Barcelona. Great memories!

Kate and I hanging out. We spent a whole afternoon on the beach... a nice change from berlin city concrete :)

David asleep in Portugal.

I was so hungry and they tasted so good but this is not enough food to feed a full sized swede!

James in the thick of it

We do love confetti. yep!

Sufjan Stevens Tour (Part 1)

2011-05-15T16:41:00.001-07:00

Hello.

It has been a long time since the last post. I have been crazy busy!

The Times New Viking tour did not happen as planned. Instead I had an opportunity to jump on the Sufjan Stevens tour! We started in Bergen, Norway and are working our way across Europe towards Portugal.

It is almost full production on this tour. We have 11 people on stage and 9 crew personnel. We travel with 2 nightliner busses and one truck for lights, stage monitors and instruments. We also have a piano.

The response and reviews so far have been amazing. Its long days on the road… loading in at 9 or 10 am and finishing between midnight and 2am.

Here are some pictures from the first couple weeks. As usual they are not in exact order....

First couple of days were spent in Bergen.

More Bergen.

Hanging a 2nd projector for the visuals.

Ferry to Germany from Sweden. Sun deck. Blue skies!

This is what Paris looks like after a Sufjan show.

Band rocking the Paris Olympia.

Sufjan wears wings for first song. They are always hanging around somewhere in the venue. More wing pics to follow...

Julien & Brendan... the Audio department.

Brendan setting up.

Julien's monitor world

Wings in London

Starting to pack the truck

Soundcheck!

1st night in London. We brought the bigger balloons!

Tour update

2011-03-21T04:04:00.000-07:00

The Kyuss tour is going great. We have a day off in Vienna today, nice!

I will be with Kyuss up until April 6th. The next tour is Times New Viking in April / May. Then its back with Kyuss for some festival shows, followed by a european tour with Ryan Bingham (June / July).

Most of August I will be out with Sebadoh. Dates to follow soon...

Kyuss tour update

2011-03-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hello

My camera was stolen in Hamburg inside the venue so there will not be any pictures for a while. Kyuss tour is going great!! Sold out shows and lots of work.

More info soon.

Kyuss in March 2011

2011-02-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

January has been all about hanging out in Berlin. Home improvements. Tax returns. Buying new amazing speakers. Playing Doc Watson and John Prine on repeat!

Next tour that is definite... taking care of guitars and bass on the Kyuss reunion tour.

Sat 12-03-11 N Oslo Rockefeller
Sun 13-03-11 S Stockholm Debaser Medis
Mon 14-03-11 off xxx xxx

Tue 15-03-11 D Hamburg Docks
Wed 16-03-11 D Berlin Columbia Halle
Thu 17-03-11 D Saarbrücken Garage
Fri 18-03-11 CH Basel Z7
Sat 19-03-11 D München Backstage Werk
Sun 20-03-11 H Budapest West Balkan
Mon 21-03-11 off xxx xxx

Tue 22-03-11 A Wien Arena
Wed 23-03-11 I Milano Live Club
Thu 24-03-11 D Frankfurt Hugenottenhalle
Fri 25-03-11 GR Athens Fuzz Club
Sat 26-03-11 off xxx xxx

Sun 27-03-11 B Brussel AB
Mon 28-03-11 D Köln LMH
Tue 29-03-11 NL Amsterdam Paradiso
Wed 30-03-11 off xxx xxx

Thu 31-03-11 UK Nottingham Rock City
Fri 01-04-11 UK Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
Sat 02-04-11 UK London The Forum
Sun 03-04-11 UK London The Forum
Mon 04-04-11 UK Glasgow ABC1
Tue 05-04-11 UK Manchester Academy
Wed 06-04-11 UK Bristol Academy

Come say hello... if I'm not busy!

Jenny & Johnny (08 Nov - 15 Dec)

2010-12-26T15:20:00.000-08:00

Last tour of the year! Jenny & Johnny from LA. First few weeks supporting Vampire Weekend. 2nd part headline shows in the UK.

French TV show.

Dan is on the case with hooking laptops up to hotel room TVs. A legend with technology (no matter how hard they make it for him!)

Cables, cables. And more cables.

Newcastle to Glasgow. Snowstorm during the overnight drive. Dan catches a few Zs.

Ryan Bingham

2010-12-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

I was out touring with Ryan Bingham for a short while before jumping over to the Jenny & Johnny Tour. I hope to see them again this summer!

On route through Switzerland. Good posing all around!

Live somewhere in Italy.

Pawpaw & Elijah in the moment

More classic backstage eating! Is that bacon?

Male modeling at its finest. :)

GNAW: Oct 2010 Tour

2010-10-30T02:12:00.000-07:00

I came home a week ago from the very awesome GNAW tour. It was a short run... and I hope there will be another! The pictures are not really in order but the tour schedule looked like this...

13.10.2010 Trix Antwerpen Belgium
14.10.2010 Magasin 4 Brussel Belgium
15.10.2010 Bielefeld AJZ Germany
16.10.2010 Maroquinerie Paris France
17.10.2010 Le Romandie Lausanne Switzerland
18.10.2010 Jubez Karlsruhe Germany
19.10.2010 OFF
20.10.2010 Le Sonic Lyon France
21.10.2010 ? Lille France
22.10.2010 OFF
23.10.2010 Supersonic Birmingham UK

View from the Paris venue street

The Sonic boat venue in Lyon, France.

One of many nights sleeping with the jeans tucked in to the socks and hoods closed tight around the face.

Eric gives the evil eyes.

The band!

Premier Classe Hotel. Carter shows off the promotion.

Dinner in Lille.

Lille.

More Lille.

Eric, Jun and Brian hanging out.

Super Sonic Festival in Birmingham.

Alan on Vocals!!

Caitlin Rose tour (Part 2)

2010-09-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

These pics are from the last few days of the first tour with Caitlin Rose. On our way up to the North York Moors we stopped in York for pictures and some pizza. Good stuff.

Lots of old stuff in York.

The Band Room in the North York Moors. A weird and wonderful place right in the middle of nowhere. Its an old purpose built 'band room' for performers from almost 100 years ago.

Waiting on a show to start.

Caitlin Rose tour (Part 1)

2010-08-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

A while ago I saw an email about possibly working with Caitlin Rose. I was really excited to be doing more work with people and music closer to the country music genre. At first the plan was for them to do this on their own but then they agreed that I would do part of the tour... including UK and Ireland.

There is a lot of press and reviews about Caitlin's debut album and I think its as good as they all say it is. Normally a full band but this time on the road its Caitlin (vocals guitar), Jordan (bass vocals) and Jeremy (guitar vocals) and they sound really good. They are also really great people so its been a fun run. Its been a busy schedule so these updates are all overdue and the pictures are not really in order. More to come. As usual.

Caitlin's debut album. Buy it!

Day off in Liverpool. Much excitement about visiting Mathew Street where the Cavern Club is.

Soundchecking in Birmingham Glee club. One of many sold out (small venue) shows!

BBC 6 live recording with Marc Riley. Spent a whole day there. One of the engineers suggested a good indian take away and it was one of the best I've had. A mushroom karahi with stuff on the side. Amazing!

Hanging out in Dublin. Jordan and I chill for a bit.

My new hobby. I love finding these things. This was at a travelodge in the midlands (UK). Is the wood coming off the door?? No wories... just tape it up with the "wood tape"! Classic.

OUtside York. Another fine example of how to fix a broken lamp in a hotel.

Budget is slim so we are packed tight. In a Vauxhall astra we fit: 4 people, 2 amplifiers, 5 large bags, 1 bass, 2 guitars, 70 t shirts, 150 CDs, 100 vinyl, 4 pairs of wellington bots, water and beer!

Its tight. No joke.

BBC Wales recording at Green Man Festival.

Dinosaur Jr: Belgium - Sicily - Poland

2010-08-09T06:37:00.001-07:00

Last minute job! Dinosaur Jr was over in Europe this week for 3 festival dates. I came along to help out. Gigs were Brussels - Sicily - Katowice, Poland. We arrived in Palermo for the 2nd show and the town hosting the event was a couple of hours drive up in the mountains.

On the road again.

Dino was n ot playing until late so Marco and Luigi (friends of the promoters) took us swimming. Thank you guys!

Tim, Brian and Lou.

The salt water worked magic on Tim's hair

Not a bad place to spend a few hours. (26/27 degree water)

Showing those Italians how to really look good on the beach!

Waiting for soundcheck.

Murph is always soundchecking!

It really was an open air festival... including open air stage so we had the occasional bits of rain. plastic covers for the pedals.

Surrounded by little villages in the hills... this was a great location for a festival. Dino played a great show!

Summer trip past the Arctic Circle

2010-08-07T04:50:00.000-07:00

Last year Kate and I traveled around on the west coast of Sweden, staying in hostels and swimming as often as we could. This year we went up north past the arctic circle. We started the trip in Stockholm... then an over-night train to Lulea where we rented a car.

First stop: Vallen, just south of Skelleftea. Erik (from Cult of Luna) has a family summer home there and treated us to a few days of swimming, relaxing and an old wood-fire sauna.

The view from the house.

Outdoor waffle-making station! (with lingonberry sauce)

After Vallen we drove a few hours north east to Jakkvik. This is right on the western shores of sweden's deepest lake.

Many of the villages have a church but in the olden days... families who traveled far to get to church stayed in small church cottages before heading back.

Driving towards Arjeplog on our way to Galtis hill.

Galtis has an amazing view over the lakes around Arjeplog. 7 degrees and wind so it was chilly. Kate took nice pictures of the small flowers growing up there.

More Galtis views.

A quick stop on the road to check out more water.

Stora Sjofalets national Park. A must-see if you make it up to this part of Sweden.

This is the road that goes north-west past the national park.

Elk alert!

A definite high point to make it past here.

midnight light.

Back in the south. Day trip to Ven... a 30 minute ferry ride. Then rent bikes!

Last proper day on holiday.... sun, good swimming. Good times.

Taylor Hawkins & the Coat Tail Riders TOUR Pt. 2

2010-07-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

Its been another week and a half on the road with Taylor Hawkins & the Coat Tail Riders. We started off by doing 5 shows in 4 days, now we are in Stockholm and will play Gavle festival tomorrow. Rest of schedule looks like this...

July 8 Gavle Sweden Getaway Festival
July 9 Copenhagen Vega Club
July 10 Zottegem Belgium
July 11 Weert Netherlands Bospop Festival
July 13 Manchester UK Club Academy
July 14 Dublin Ireland Academy Dublin

Great show in Berlin!

Arras, France. This was the 2nd festival show that day (played Belgium in the afternoon)

Taylor Hawkins... last days on tour....

2010-06-16T05:45:00.001-07:00

The Taylor Hawkins tour has finished but I will be back out with them for their next run July 01 - 15!

Last show 'Donington Download Festival'. Taylor & the Riders played a great set and packed out the tent and beyond. A good way to end the tour!

Taylor & co supported Supergrass on their last ever UK show in Brixton Academy. Another very memorable night.

2010-06-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

The Taylor Hawkins & The Coat Tail Riders.

So far this has been a really fun tour. Everyone on tour is really nice and the band has been playing great! The routing on tour is not always fantastic. The last few days on this tour look like this: Frankfurt (GER) - Southampton (UK) - Glasgow (UK) - London (UK. BUt so it goes....

Rock Im Park Festival. They played 2nd to last AND at the same time as Motorhead but still had a great turn out. Also some technical problems on stage so Drew (Tour Manager, also plays with Foo Fighters AND plays drums for Chicago!) is on the case.

I was lucky to get a hotel room in paris with a view of our van + trailer. 12.5 meters in total so I was thankful that the hotel could offer parking right outside the front door. I think it also helps when the hotel staff are massive Foo Fighters fans!

Go Belgium!

Few more shows and then this short run is over. Hope to see them again.

Taylor Hawkins & the Coat Tail Riders

2010-06-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

I started a new tour today. Taylor, drummer from Foo Fighters, has a solo project where he drums and sings. They landed this morning and tomorrow is the first date in Amsterdam.

Updates and pictures to come later... (I promise Joel!)

Off-tour things

2010-06-01T14:33:00.001-07:00

Since I was away on tour for my birthday Kate surprised me with a visit to Tropical Island for my birthday present. A massive dome used to build Zeppelin ships some time ago. Over the last 6 years or so its been made into Europe's largest indoor tropical rain forest. There's also a 200 meter sand beach, a lagoon, A SAUNA WORLD which was really great. A trip well worth going to if you have the time. Its completely bizarre and utterly brilliant! Thank you Kate!!

Dinosaur Jr played Berlin so I got to see everyone and hang out for a bit. Good show and I had the best view!

Barzin tour (final part)

2010-05-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Hello.

I realize that these pictures and notes are in reverse order so if you want to get them straight please start at the bottom of this post.

I just got home from the Barzin tour after a few days of heavy driving: Zamora, Spain - Prague (via Paris!): 2280 kilometers + stopping for breaks.. and traffic.

Next tour.... Taylor Hawkins.

-------------

Driving home!

By the river in Zamora, Spain.

Nick fell and fractured his ankle in 3 places! Still able to dominate the card table!

Book store show in Madrid. It didn't sound as good as the other shows but the atmosphere was great!

Late night dinner. When all else fails its back to the vending machines!

Having a break on the swings

My birthday night! We stayed out in the country side at a family home. They had several big lounges but this one featured the big open fire, local red wine and a Gun.

Santander, Spain. Really cool venue! A local theatre/circus group uses this space and redecorates it every few months to a new theme. That day it had a few large trees made out of small branches and apples. Very different. The show was great. People were seated and were very quiet and respectful. One of the highlights for me for sure.

Barzin Tour (part 1)

2010-05-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

We're half way through the Barzin tour. So far its been a really great tour. The band has a simple set up: acoustic guitar, accordion, vibes, drums and guitar. Its mellow atmospheric singer songwriter. The band are experienced on the road which makes it easier to do long drives, deal with tough days etc .So far though its been a nice time, mostly spent in Italy, eating nice food and having amazing coffee!

We started the Spanish part of the tour yesterday and today we are in Santander. Tomorrow its driving down to Algeciras.

Here is a short recap of the last 2 weeks...

First Italian show in Varese. A small town in the hills. The people here run a great little cellar venue and cafe upstairs. I liked the coffee so much and when I asked the owner the name of the beans he was so honored and asked if giving me one Kilo of those coffee beans would be "enough as a present?". It was!!

Twiggy Club in Varese

Next show was in Pisa. Didnt have time to visit tower in the day time so we paid a visit late after the show.

Verona. Show was part of a festival in town but they had problems with the council and moved it to a suburb of verona. It had the feling of an old occupied house, really great atmosphere and vegan food! There was a castle behind us on the hill from a long time ago.

Ariano. A small town near the east coast of north/mid Italy. Population... maybe a couple of thousand. Played the Porcupine Pub. I went for a walk and found some advertising boards outside clubs that had not been updated for a while.

Rome. The Colosseum is impressive as always. Had a nice couple of hours in rome in the evening before taking the very full nightbus back to the hotel.

San Sebastian. After a 13 hour drive from Italy it was nice to arrive at a hotel on the beach. Just a little too cold fro swimming!

Soundcheck in San Sebastian. It was a nice theater with a balcony.

More updates to come...

Barzin Tour

2010-04-27T15:47:00.001-07:00

New tour.

26th: Paris, FRA
27th: Paris, FRA -
28th:
29th: Varese, ITA -
30th: Pisa, ITA -
1st: Verona, ITA
2nd: Ariano nel Polesine, ITA
3rd:
4th: Rome, ITA
5th: Cuneo, ITA
6th:
7th: Donostia, Spain - Lugaritz kultur
8th: Santander, Spain
9th:
10th: Algeciras, Spain
11th:
12th: Vitoria, Spain
13th: Madrid, Spain
14th: Valladolid, Spain -
15th: Zamora, Spain
16th:
17th: Barzin fly home
18th: mattias to prague
19th: mattias home

Some pictures from the Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobious Pip tour...

2010-04-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Meat delivery outside our hotel

Fans of Pip. In Cardiff

The venue is the small white boat in front of the big massive one!

B DOLAN supported on the tour. Great dude. Great songs.

Giving it some in Brussels at the AB

Riding along

James lives dangerously trying to plug in some stuff! Great place for a sound desk!

More Dan & Pip...

2010-04-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

I jumped back on the tour for the Ireland run...

20. Apr 2010
LIVE @ The Barfly
Cardiff

21. Apr 2010
Live @ The Pavillion
Cork

22. Apr 2010
LIVE @ Roisin Dubh
Galway

23. Apr 2010
LIVE @ Dolans (venue changed)
Limerick

24. Apr 2010
LIVE @ Whelans
Dublin

Then back to Berlin...

Touring again

2010-04-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Hello.

Out on tour again. Now its Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip. Just a few european dates....

14.04: Brussels
16.04: Paris
17.04: Lille
18.04: Lyon

Then its back to Berlin for a short break and then the BARZIN (Can) tour: 26.04 - 17.05.

M

Tour work

2010-02-24T06:10:00.001-08:00

Hello.

Its been a weird few weeks. The Shy Child tour that was starting soon has been cancelled. The LCD Soundsystem tour that is starting at end of March is canceled for me.... problems to get a working VISA to the US.

I'm waiting to hear back about a tour starting in March but otherwise it is all quiet. I'm in Brighton this week and will be going back to Berlin on Sunday.

Laters.

4 day Dino run

2010-02-14T02:12:00.000-08:00

A quick summary of the past few days....

After Madrid we took a train to Barcelona. The show that night was really good. Nice venue and audience. Next morning we flew to Palma. The equipment was a bit faulty and we spent a long time getting it right and getting the amps grounded. In the end it was a good show. That night they took us out to dinner to a "cook by steam" place which was cool.

Last night was the last show in Laax, Switzerland. A bizarre gig to do. They were booked to play an after-ski club in the swiss mountains. Very nice location, beautiful mountains etc but the gig was weird. Band played well though. Now its back home for a while.

Palma live

Lou had the crab!!

The crowd awaits Dino in Barcelona

Dinosur Jr: 09 - 13 Feb

2010-02-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

Straight after the Lou B tour we flew down to Madrid to start a very short run of Dinosaur Jr dates: Madrid, Barcelona, Palma and Laax (Switzerland).

First night was practice. Noel is at the controls as ususal...

The perfect pack

2010-02-11T06:50:00.000-08:00

Bad bird

2010-02-10T16:13:00.001-08:00

Stuffed bird backstage in Prague. Probably sen better days...

Lou Barlow & the Missingmen Stage setup

2010-02-10T05:42:00.000-08:00

In case anyone is interested....

Lou's setup for this tour was: 8x10 bass cab, markbass bass head, fender vibrolux, marshall 800 with 2x12 box. Tom played an Orange AD50 Custom shop head, marshall 4x12 and a fender super reverb. Raul on Yamaha drums!

Lou London

2010-02-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

Tour is going well. Lots of driving. Not the worst for a tour but certainly not the easiest. We have 10 shows, no days off and in total 5150 km of driving.

Here are some pictures from London. Lou doing his solo thing and also The Missingmen!

Lou's 2nd show...

2010-01-31T17:16:00.000-08:00

... was great! Lots of people and a great atmosphere!

First tour of 2010 - Lou Barlow & The Missing Men

2010-01-30T16:38:00.000-08:00

Back on the road. First tour and first night at AB in Brussels. Great show and all around good night.

Potsdam - Park Sanssouci

2010-01-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Kate and I took the train to Potsdam to see some old buildings. A nice day out with some great sights. Must be great in the summer!

More pictures from the Berlin snowball fight...

2010-01-13T08:15:00.000-08:00

Berlin public snowball fight

2010-01-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hello. The other week someone started an internet "invitation" for anyone who wanted to come down to Gorlitzer Park and have a snowball fight. 30 people became 50, then 200 then 500 and in the end 1500 people had "accepted" the invitation and met the other day. The organizers divided the fight to 2 'areas' of berlin: Neukoln vs Kreuzberg!

First video shows the police turning up to stop the music that the organizers were playing. They didnt get away without a couple of snowballs! ha

Second video shows the countdown at the start where hundreds of people started the fight (more joined later).

*** Here's a youtube link from someone else's camera. Much better than mine! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bUSvFDzfPs

New years

2010-01-06T07:00:00.001-08:00

Christmas in Sweden

2009-12-25T05:14:00.000-08:00

End of last show in Belfast...

2009-12-15T17:45:00.000-08:00

I will do a full "end of tour" blog from the Answer tour soon. For now here is a picture I took from the last show at Ulster Hall in Belfast at end of show.

First few days of the Answer

2009-11-29T10:25:00.000-08:00

Dan drank a lot of beer!

We're traveling and sleeping on a nightliner bus on this tour and it has full-on disco styled sofas and wallpaper. It leaks water and feels like it has not been cleaned since 1976. Drinking beer helps to forget about those things.

The Answer UK Tour

2009-11-29T10:21:00.000-08:00

We started The Answer tour about a week ago. We had a days rehearsal in Manchester. Then it was a gig in Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle.

Today is a day off in rainy dark Newcastle. Miserable!

These are the shows we have left...

30/11/2009 SHEFFIELD, UK SHEFFIELD CORPORATION
01/12/2009 NOTTINGHAM, UK NOTTINGHAM ROCK CITY
02/12/2009 WOLVERHAMPTON,UKWULFRUN HALL
04/12/2009 BRISTOL, UK BRISTOL ACADEMY
05/12/2009 OXFORD, UK OXFORD ACADEMY
06/12/2009 SOUTHSEA, UK PORTSMOUTH PYRAMIDS
08/12/2009 CAMBRIDGE, UK CAMBRIDGE JUNCTION
09/12/2009 LONDON, UK HMV FORUM
10/12/2009 LIVERPOOL, UK LIVERPOOL ACADEMY
12/12/2009 DUBLIN, EIRE DUBLIN ACADEMY
14/12/2009 BELFAST, UK ULSTER HALL

Then its time off for Xmas and next tour is likely to be with Lou Barlow, starting sometime at end of Jan 2010.

M

Lissy

2009-11-29T06:54:00.000-08:00

Hello

Its been a while since the last update. And its been pretty crap updates. Apologies.

We had fun on the Lissy Trullie tour. Apart from the last day when she had a reaction to something she ate and we had to rush her to the hospital. I'm terrible with hospitals and medical gear so spending a few hours in a rural french hospital was not fun (see pics below).

After the Lissy tour I had some time at home in Berlin.

Lissy Trullie tour pics

2009-11-29T06:48:00.000-08:00

RIP Jerry

2009-11-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

http://beatcrave.com/2009-11-08/jerry-fuchs-dies-after-fall-down-elev
ator-shaft

It was a pleasure to have known and worked with Jerry on the road. You'll be missed!!

LISSY TRULLIE

2009-11-05T01:14:00.000-08:00

Hello.

I'm starting the Lissy Trullie tour today. It is 6 shows: 1 in Belgium and 5 in France. More updates to come later!

Mattias

A A BONDY update

2009-10-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

We're over a week in to the A A Bondy tour and its going well. Very well! People are loving the shows and the guys are playing really well. They've been supporting the Felice Brothers every night and its been a good tour so far. A couple of pictures so far...

Macey on Bass. Bondy on Guitars/vocals. Ben on Pedal steel & drums.

Bondy checks out some drums in Koln.

Church venue in Koln, Germany.

Next tour - A A Bondy

2009-10-04T09:07:00.001-07:00

Hey

I am back from the Dinosaur Jr tour and spending some days in Berlin. Next weekend I start my next tour which is with A A Bondy on Fat Possum Records. Really great stuff. Check it out...

www.myspace.com/aabondy

I'll be driving him and a 2-piece band until the 28th Oct.

Till then....

Dinosaur Jr - Italy... Austria...

2009-09-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

We've had another bunch of shows with Dinosaur Jr. We spent several days in Italy, then 2 shows in Austria and then up to Germany.

Vienna by night

I spent a few hours walking around Vienna at night. Some cool architecture

Pack them in!

Arena in Vienna. A massive old slaughterhouse. Noel poses by the trailer!

New Age Club, Italy.

Bob Corn supported Dino on most of the Italian shows. Great singer songwriter.

Lou finds an abandoned head backstage.

... and takes it to stage!

More Dinosaur Jr pictrures

2009-09-10T17:26:00.000-07:00

Sight seeing somewhere North of Rome

Beat up legs

Johnny Foreigner supported in Paris

Tomas doing his best Metal-pose impression

Day out in Paris

J gets new drum gloves!

Noel and Lila

Dinosaur Jr in Europe Aug/Sept 2009

2009-09-10T13:33:00.001-07:00

Hello

Here is a much delayed blog update from the road. I am out with Dinosaur Jr taking care of the guitar and stage teching. I’ll keep this fairly short so I don’t bore anyone.

The band flew in to London and we started the tour in Oxford. It was a good show! The first day of tour is always exhausting. Lots of things to sort out and get in order. We had some strange thai food across the street and that was about it for the first night. After Oxford was Cambridge and again it was a good show. Then Brighton, the Concorde2 music venue on the beach. Brighton had been sold out for a long time and was a great show.

I missed the next show in Belgium as I had a wedding to go to in Canterbury. My friends from University Steve and Caroline were finally getting married! I flew down to Zurich to meet up with the band 2 days later. The club in Zurich, Abart, is always hot as hell and always full of people. Great show though as always! That night dinosaur were supported by Spinnerette from the US.

The reason I have not been blogging much is because there has not been much time. Our schedule after Zurich was as follows: Luxembourg, Rotterda, Amsterdam, Malmo, Trondheim, Oslo, Tel Aviv, Sheffield, Stradbally, Bristol, Paris, Rome and today we are in Bologna.

The band is same as last year: J, Lou and Murph. Crew is Tomas the Tour Manager, Noel the soundman and me. So far its been great! Here are some pics…

Rome

Tshirt bootlegger in rome outside the venue

Stopped in Pisa for lunch on our Paris to Rome drive

Pisa

Tomas, Noel and I. Tower of Pisa

Paris

Tel Aviv

J holds a Master Class in Tel Aviv

Trondheim

Paradiso, Amsterdam

Wedding in Canterbury

Murph!

First show

Holiday in Sweden

2009-07-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

Hello

Kate and I went to Sweden for a 10 day holiday. Our main goal was to be by water so we spent almost every day either sitting by the beach, swimming from the cliffs, rocks, or driving around the small islands around Bohuslan north of Gothenburg. We finished our trip with 2 days on Oland on the east coast, where my mom's side of the family come from.

These pictures are somewhat in order. I really wish though the the phone would take better quality pics. Later this year I will get an actual digital camera! Still... some nice shots of great places.

First day. Landed in Copenhagen and decided to stay for a few hours

Nyhavn in Copenhagen

Nephew Gustav

Niece Siri

On route to Gothenburg we stop at Nimis. An art project/community close to Kullaberg. Built by driftwood and other pieces of junk.... its still an illegal project in a nature reserve and I guess the political debate is still going on. More info on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladonia_(micronation)

Kate takes the throne!

This stone castle castle shaped building is a book according to the artist

Classic farm close to Nimis

Day trip to Gullholmen (north of Gothenburg)

A lake ... close to midnight. Groovy light

I like this picture. Kate & the boat.

Typical west coast cliffs!

Stenungson

Pancakes for lunch!!

Sexy sun tan stripes from the glasses

Oland bridge at sundown

We circled the north part of Oland

Lighthouse at Olands most northern edge (Long Erik)

Kate at Alvaret

Storm brewing as we were leaving oland

Lomma beach minutes before leaving Sweden to go home

S9 train home to East Berlin!!

Killswitch Engage & Simply Red

2009-07-05T04:07:00.000-07:00

Hello.

The summer has been sort of chaotic and not much steady rhythm to any touring so not many pictures and lots of jumping from tour to tour. After Dinosaur Jr I drove to Paris to meet up with Killswitch Engage and help them out with equipment for a week.

Since then I've been working with Concert Online on the Simply Red tour. We do live recordings of the each night's show and sell on memory stick at the end of the show. I'm on the simply red tour until 7th July and then its off to Sweden for a week of holiday.

I think once we head back out with Dinosaur Jr there will be more interesting blogs and some pictures. Promise!!

.

Dinosaur Jr: June 2009

2009-06-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

Dino have just released a new album, Farm, and its really amazing. I don't think it matters at all if you were a fan before... this album just rocks!

They flew over to do a couple of shows. First was for the Mojo awards in London at the Forum. It was nice to see everyone again and the show was really great. Second night was in Derby and J had some problems with his pedal board. In the end he pulled a few pedals from it and did the show without his usual equipment. It was another great show I thought.

Noel (FOH) jams with J in London. (Check Noel's travels at www.noelatthecontrols.blogspot.com) Dino will be back later this year for a tour. I can't wait!

Hockey in June

2009-06-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

I went to the Rock am Ring weekend with the band Hockey from the USA which was fun. Larry, a friend from the UK, was tour managing and it was fun meeting up again. Again... no pictures!

Filthy Dukes & Charlift: May 2009

2009-06-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

2 short trips for the end of May. Filthy Dukes had 2 shows with the Gossip in Germany and Chairlift (USA) needed a stand-in driver for their last 2 shows in Oslo and Stockholm. No pictures from either. I guess I was busy working! :)

Juan Maclean: April/May 2009

2009-06-26T18:08:00.001-07:00

After the Hard Ons tour I drove straight to Paris to start the Juan Maclean tour. We played a mixture of venues and the shows were mostly very good!

2nd and final part of Hard Ons tour!

2009-05-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

Not much has been posted over the past few months. Its been busy on the road and after a while I just slipped with the updates! Here are a bunch of pictures from the last few weeks of the hard ons tour... maybe not in chronological order!

Comments for pictures below..

After the ferry to England we played Kettering. Weird place. I was happy to remain in the back and watch the "bar screen".

Hard Ons in Kingston.

The Stupids in Kingston.

A moment by the sea in Brighton

Ah the "beach"!!!

Steve and Ray in Brighton.

Pete Zonked in Cologne the day after the show.

Blackie makes a new friend in France.

l'Isle Bouzon

l'Isle Bouzon gig. These guys are amazing. The looked after us for a few days, did a great gig, put us up in an amazing house out by their farm and fed us with great eggs!! I would love to go back and see these guys again. Hopefully not to long in the distance...

More l'Isle Bouzon

Michael smokes

Gillsie sells t-shirts from back of the van

Rainy night in center of Bordeaux

Ray gives it some on the bass guitar

Gillsie enjoys the entertainment at a french shopping center

Our host "the lawyer" in Turin, Italy

Italy... Skaletta Club

This was actually a hostel in Spain. One wonders what this grand old building was used for previously!!!

Pisa.

Naturally!

North of Valencia where we went swimming

Muscle flex

Gillsie and Greg are about to check in at Madrid Hotel.

The local clown show was before our gig somewhere in Spain.

Quick summary (Oslo to Swansea)

2009-03-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

We did the day ferry back to Stockholm and stayed at the aiport. Ray, Blackie, Greg and Michael flew to Tromosoe the following morning and Gillsie and I drove to Oslo. We had a great cruise with perfect weather and good music. Got to Oslo and spent an outrageous amount of money on pizza! Next day was a show in Oslo, well attended and a really great gig. They really work so much better in a small club, in my opinion. I got to meet up with Kriss from Aethenor/Ulver so we hung out for a while. I also went to visit my uncle and his family outside of Oslo which was amazing. I have not seen my cousins for so many years and it was nice to see them all!

After Oslo we had a long drive to just north of Hamburg. Not many people at the Hamburg show but still a decent night. Utrecht had a great audience. Blackie and I found a great vegan restaurant not to far from the venue. Blackie can not eat from any place that serves or handles meat in any way so we usually check in advance and find some all-veggie places where we can go. Its made me feel better about tour food because we've found some nice places and its nice when there is more than one person who is into finding these places.

Now we are back in England. First show was in Kettering last night. A small punky place called Sawyers. Great people and cool vibe! Tonight we are in Swansea and it seems a quiet night. We'll see if more turn up but right now its a hand full of payers in the venue.

2009-03-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Stormy weathers coming back England!

Seasick Ray!

Quality footwear at the Utrecht gig

Oslo

Sun setting over Finland as we were leaving to go back to Stockholm

Hard Ons in Turku

2009-03-20T15:17:00.001-07:00

Finland at an end

2009-03-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

We are back in Stockholm. We had an amazing time in Finland and it was sad to leave. Tampere had the least amount of people but was still a good gig. The backstage area had its own sauna which did it for me! Good people and nice hotel! Next day was in Turku and this was also a good gig. More people than in Tampere and there was also a metal gig happening on the floor below which was good fun. Last night was the last finish show in Helsinki and there was a few hundred people there. A really good night and everyone went out after to drink apart from Blackie, Ray and me. Today we started at 5 am to get back up to Turku to catch the long day ferry back to Stockholm. A boring ferry with bad coffee and too much karaoke. We have just arrived in Stockholm and tomorrow morning the band fly to Tromsoe and Gillise and I drive to Oslo for a night off!

Gustav and me (On our way up to Sweden we passed Lund so I got to visit my nephew Gustav for a few hours)

Hard Ons in Tampere

Michael the soundman but not very visible

Gillsie stretches in the hotel lobby

Hard Ons

2009-03-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

A general update on things.

After the Secret Machines I had a couple of weeks to hang out at home (Berlin). As usual there was lots of good food to be had. Nice to be home cooking (for a change!).

I picked up the Hard Ons from the airport on March 11th . I figured that Blackie had not probably eaten much for the whole journey from Australia as he is a strict vegan and they usually can’t cater for that. I took them to Voner which is a veggie kebab place around the corner from my place. Next day was the first Hard Ons show of this tour in Berlin. It was a really good show and I was reminded how awesome their music is live!

We have toured together before and it’s a good vibe with these guys. Touring this time is: Blackie (guitar/vocals), Ray (bass/vocals), Greg (drums), Michael (Tour Manager/Sound), Gillsie (Merch) and me. Day after Berlin was a day off (in Berlin) and after that we left for Sweden. First show was in Vasteras and it was not very well attended. Good venue though and nice people. We stayed in centre of the town and managed to get a little shopping done the next day. Greg was in dire need of some long-johns. The Australians are having a bit more to adjust to having just come from very hot weather. Luckily it’s not that cold here right now.

Yesterday we got up, had lunch in Stockholm and got on the 16 hour over-night ferry to Finland. This ferry is classic and Gillsie and I finished the night in the karaoke bar enjoying some seriously out of tune drunken Scandinavian singalong.

We arrived at 10AM in Helsinki and drove up to Tampere where the first Finish show is tonight. Tomorrow we play Turku, then Helsinki and then its back on the ferry to Sweden where the band flies to Tromosoe in NORTHERN Norway for one show.

This tour runs till the 23rd April and we are covering some good ground. More pictures to follow….

Ps: I have a new phone which does not take as nice pictures as the last one. Sorry!

Finland ferry!

Ray

Greg

Blackie

Cold sea

Me & the Machines

2009-03-05T10:26:00.001-08:00

Last few days of Secret Machines

2009-03-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

It was a nice day off in Paris and even better to have night off loading equipment in and out of clubs. Day after was show day in Paris at La Maroquinerie. A really great venue with good food and helpful staff. These last 4 shows in France are with Friendly Fires and so we are sharing the merch areas, which is cool but its just a little more cramped and a whole lot less interest because Friendly Fires are the main act and bring, in general, a much younger audience.

Paris was good though and we left the next day for Caen. Also a good show and a nice little hotel within walking distance to the club. The club is quite new purpose built for gigs so all the essentials were there… including a raised load-in-ramp. Sweet. The merchandize area is in the same room as the gig so it was nice for a change to see the whole show. TSM played another really great set (one of the beauties of working on the road is you get to see the band play live so many times that you get to really know the live sound). I’m really in to their setup and of course the 28” kick! A driving hammer!!

Last show was in Tourcoing. A fairly big venue which packed out pretty quick, it was a weekend night after all… I think! Phil played a couple of solos that really blew me away. I was only in the venue for about 10 minutes because the merch was in another section. We were a bit late arriving as we got up early and detoured via Omaha beach to check out the memorial sites. We got there just after 8Am and there was nobody around which made it that much memorable.

Next day we traveled back to London, dropped the equipment on the way in to the hotel, parked up and went for a final dinner. It was nice to sit down and spend some time hanging out. It’s always weird leaving a tour with a band that you have never worked with before because in that tour you are covering thousands of miles, a bunch of countries and generally living close to each other for 3 weeks. The just like that you depart and people go their separate ways. The band was doing press the following day but I was heading off, making my way back to Berlin. It was a great tour and I look forward to seeing the guys again someday. They definitely made a new big time fan!! Keep rocking!

Mike and Josh greet the punters!

Caen Harbour. Our hotel had a view out over this which was sweet.

Cargo Club, Caen

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach memorial

Omaha Beach

Mike at the Omaha Beach

Thanks...

2009-03-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

... for reminding me that the name of the city we visited on-route to Paris is Chartres. A place I'd gladly go back to. Coincidentally... I went record shopping last night and picked up a 3-song 12" by Jack Rose and one of those 3 songs are called Cathedral et Chartres! Small world.

Paris

2009-02-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

Big old church we visited on route back to Paris

Thats a door!!

Inside there was some good stained glass.

Spot the headless lamb! This church was full of headless beings.

Post church wind-down in the sun.

Paris

Notre Dame

Josh ponders the Dame

More Josh & the dame

The van, man!

2009-02-26T16:10:00.002-08:00

Secret Machines update

2009-02-26T16:10:00.001-08:00

Hello

Brussels was cool. Botanique is a great venue in central Brussels. Inside its round shaped with several layers of balconies and layered steps moving up from the center floor. The pictures don’t really show it but I though the ones posted in the blog below are cooler.

After Brussels we drove a few hours and slept in a roadside motel, total band camp stylee with bunk beds and all. Up early and headed to Rennes in France. This was the first of 4 shows with Friendly Fires and Twisted Wheel. I liked Twisted Wheel and thought they had some good tunes. They just come off a tour with Oasis and were pretty tight, as happens when a band spends any amount of time on the road. It was a rude awakening though to have share stage and general space with other bands. Not because of what they are like… more because for the last few weeks we’ve rarely had any support bands and have had most of the venues and backstage areas to ourselves.. which has been sweet. In Rennes there were people everywhere, equipment stacked left right and centre. It was cool but it made me realize how spoiled we’d been. Show was good and the band made some new excited fans. Always a treat when people haven’t seen or heard the band before and get to see them for the first time. I think some people just have the rock gene in them and need it woken up sometimes! Personally… I knew I was back in France when it came to catering. I sat down to eat and was informed that the meal was couscous with chicken. I said I was a vegetarian and asked what the veggie option was. Reply was ‘Couscous minus chicken’. Sometimes after a 7 hour drive after a night of not much sleep a plate of dry couscous with raisins is just not enough. Don’t get me wrong… it was good couscous… so after we loaded out I found a late night diner that served a mean 3 cheese pizza! Hit the spot! Hotel had ‘central’ heating and the radiators were cooking… and no way to turn them off so I slept with the windows and balcony doors wide open.

Wednesday mid day we set of for Paris… stopped by in a small village about an hour south west of paris to look at a church from ages back. I’ll dig out the name later! Ts a day off so we could take our time and relax. The guys were having wine in the sun and in general it was a great day. Got to Paris and parked up. We all went out for a walk and some of the guys were waiting to be seated at a steakhouse so Josh and I strolled through Paris, found a really great Thai place, walked down to the river and checked out Notre Dame. We did a few hours walking that night and that was enough to pass out on. Today is show day in Paris. I was at this venue recently with Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip and really liked it. Great food so I think people will be psyched… apart from Josh who cant eat too close to show time. As usual he will probably get his to go… put it in the back of the van where it will be left for a few days before being thrown out. It must be hard to be in that position to not enjoy the food. He learnt his lesson in England though having a massive Indian meal 30 minutes before show time!! More of this later….

Brussels

2009-02-24T11:38:00.001-08:00

Secret Machines in Brussels

Secret Machines sound checking in Brussels

Heading south

2009-02-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

Nijmegen (NL) sounded great. Its weird when the merch table is in another room. Can't wander too far from it. Its been a while since I've sold merchandise on a tour and sometimes it sucks not being able to wander round but its also good. You get to meet some serious fans, some saner than others. After Nijmegen we drove about 3 hours that night and stayed in a Mercury hotel somewhere along the highway. It was a nice place.

Next day was Berlin and the Frannz Club. Really nice venue with cool people and a great audience. This was the first german show and they went crazy on buying tshirts! It started snowing after the show which made me happy. I would always rather have cold and snow rather than medium and wet. I got to hang out with some friends that night which was very cool. Its always hard coming home mid-tour, see your friends, and then leave again. Still... only a week and a bit before I get to be home for a while.

Hamburg Sunday night. At LOGO club. A venue I have never been to. Good size, lovely people etc. Not too much to report on these 2 german shows actually apart from that they bought a shit load of shirts .Lots of Large and XL (good as we had too many of these).

Secret Machines go East

2009-02-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

After getting not so much sleep on our night of arrival in London things improve. The next day I found out that the venue had reserved a space for me in their loading bay... in central London. This never happens so it was sweet to be able to leave the van, walk 3 minutes around the corner and be at the Islington Hilton. Good tea in that Hilton. And nice packets of shortbread, the good kind. Anyways... show went well. Around 800 people were there and had a good time. The band had extra lights hired in and the guys made a amazing effort.

After London was Brighton, at Digital on the seafront. Around 300 people and another good show. After the show we packed up and drove up to Becky & Dave's house. He had prepared a seriously tasty curry with rice and bread. It seemed like the meal raised moral massively. Big thanks to Dave for hooking that up. After the meal we drove to Folkstone and stayed in a Premier Inn a few miles away from the ferry. We had an 11AM ferry to Calais the next day and off to Amsterdam for a NIGHT OFF. This was the first night off on this tour and everyone loved it. The hotel is pretty decent and walking distance to the venue. I went in to town and had pizza, then back to the hotel to relax, read and start some budgeting for a tour in April/may.

I'm starting to like Amsterdam more and more these day. When I was younger I thought it was too tacky and too touristy but in recent years I've got to see much more of "normal amsterdam" and started to appreciate its more alternative sides. Its expensive but there are some lovely cafes and shops and of course the architecture is quite stunning throughout!

Tomorrow we're off to Nijmegen and to another classic venue that I really like. After tomorrow night's show we head towards Berlin. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my bed for a night! For now though... road life.

Josh feels the breeze!

2009-02-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

Ferry crossing Dover (UK) to Calais (FRA)

London

2009-02-16T03:58:00.000-08:00

We were in Bristol Thekla last night. Venue is the lower deck of an old boat, quite cool really. The people there were really nice and very helpful. It was sold out at 400 people and quite rammed. It baffles me how people pay to go to a show and then spend the whole night talking in the back. Last night there was a couple of guys who did not seem to listen to a single song at all. Yapping away for the entire set "my mate garys got this stereo and then him and Charleene went to Ibiza yeah etc etc... got this wicked video etc etc" On and on it went... very animated and completely unattached to anything happening on stage. I swear they thought they were at a DJ night somewhere else. Anyways... their loss.

The indian food last night did not hot the spot. I ordered the wrong thing so I am fault. These things happen. After the show we drove back to London. I know its great for the band to wake up and be in London but from a driving/parking point of view it can suck. We got to London at 4AM, I was parked and asleep by 5.30 and up at 10 to pay for more parking. We load in at the Islington Academy at 1pm today and then its a full NME night with a bunch of bands. We are in Brighton tomorrow and my mate Dave is a cooking a chickpea curry for us. Bonus. Then its off to Europe.

What I do

2009-02-13T14:05:00.001-08:00

Secret Machines at Leadmill.

I am such an artist. SKILLS!

This is my merchandise stand at Leadmill in Sheffield. Its nice to have your own box to keep things safe. It also means you can get away with doing emails and having curry without people staring too much!

Secret Machines Pt. 1

2009-02-13T07:30:00.001-08:00

I started the Secret Machines tour this week. Drove up to Glasgow on Monday, Tuesday they were rehearsing all day and Wednesday night was the first show at King Tuts (Glasgow). Tuts is always great. The staff are great, friendly and seem to want to be there. The tomato soup was ace again.. different from their usual style but very nice, followed by macaroni cheese. The show was sold out in advance which helps because you know it'll be a good show. It was my first time seeing them and I like what they do live. As it turns out I think most of the UK dates are sold out in advance. I'm doing merch on this tour so its pretty busy.

We're five people on the tour: 3 band, 1 tour manager/sound and me... driving and merch. I think it'll be a fun tour. So... Wednesday was Glasgow, Thursday Manchester (Ruby Club) and tonight we are in Sheffield at the Leadmill. Classic venue. Should be good tonight.

I'll post some pictures later.

Oh.....

....and the rest of the spring touring schedule looks like this:

09 feb - 28 feb: Secret Machines (US)
11 mar - 22 aprl: Hard Ons (AUS)
23 apr - 10 may: The Juan Maclean (US)

Looks like Dinosaur Jr will have a new album out soon and I think there will be some touring with that later in 2009.

MJ

Brighton

2009-02-06T07:46:00.001-08:00

I am in Brighton this week preparing for the Secret Machines tour which starts on Wednesday. I start picking up equipment on Monday and the band will have a rehearsal day Tuesday, first show at King Tuts on Wednesday. It'll be nice to go back to King Tuts. I like their tomato soup!!

End of Aethenor tour

2009-02-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

Last night was the last show on the Aethenor tour. We were at Paradiso in Amsterdam and normally that place has everything worked out and are usually very helpful and professional. Last night I think we got the ‘Sunday Crew’, the poor sods that were being punished and had to come in and work that type of show. There wasn’t a massive crowd but those who were there were nice and paid close attention.

After the show we went for a beer, some went out after that but as we had an early start I headed back to hotel. Today was an 8am start and we got to Calais in time for the 14.20 ferry. It was a bumpy ride today and heavy waves and winds! There had just been massive snowstorms in the UK and it seemed to me to be quite deserted everywhere. I got down to Brighton at about 21.00 PM and am now at a friends house having tea. I have this week off and then I start the Secret Machines tour soon, which I’m excited about. More news later.. here are some pics…

Stephen, Steve, Daniel, Chris & Vincent.

Mr Steve Noble

Dinner at Melkweg

Vince 2 and Vince 1 in pose

Chris (FOH - Sound) and Kris at Melkweg

Synths at WORM in Rotterdam

Bigger synth at WORM Rotterdam

2009-01-31T14:56:00.000-08:00

Stephen vs Gong

Daniel kills time waiting for Brussels departure

Aethenor soundchecking in Rotterdam

2009-01-31T14:52:00.000-08:00

Aethenor - Part 1

2009-01-30T16:17:00.001-08:00

First tour of the year

I am now out on the first tour of 2009. Lucky for me its Aethenor. A really great band and some lovely people. It’s a short tour with only 5 shows: Berlin, Groeningen, Brussels, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. We are in Brussels tonight and there are roughly 150 people at the show. The band are playing well but yesterdays show was much greater! Last night at Vera they hit a tight level!

After the last show I’ll be driving straight to Brighton to hang out for a few days, have the van serviced and visit loads of pubs. It will be the first visit back to Brighton since I moved to Berlin. Then on the 9th February I head up to London to pick up equipment and then head to Glasgow for the first show with the Secret Machines. I will be driving them for their UK/Euro tour and I’m really looking forward to that. We are playing Berlin which is ace so I get to see some friends… even if it’s just for the night!

I will hopefully be more active on the blog now that I am on the road ;)

Steve, Kris and Chris hang out after the Brussels show.

Dark picture, I know. But I still felt it should be there.

Cold winter in Berlin.

View from my flat.

New Years in Berlin

2009-01-14T12:46:00.001-08:00

2008 update

2008-12-31T04:43:00.000-08:00

Last post of the year.

Since the last blog I have not been up to much. I went back to Sweden for Christmas and visited my family which was lovely. Its always nice to get back home. I also made a trip up to Oland on the east coast to visit my grandparents and my great grandfather. I did a short trip to Moscow with Cult of Luna which was amazing. I want to go back there at some point when there is more time to look around. The show was great and the people looked after us! Originally this was supposed to be a tour but because of various problems it was now scaled down to just the one show in Moscow. Lucky for us it was the warmest winter in Moscow for many years so it stayed around -5/-6 which was great. It could be nearly tripled under normal circumstances.

Its been a long empty break for me recently so I am looking forward to getting back out on the road in a few weeks. First up is Aethenor for one week around Europe. After that its Secret Machines and then the Hard Ons. The summers are usually busy so I’m hoping to do some touring with bands that will play some interesting festivals.

All the best for now & hope to see you soon!

Mattias

Cult of Luna live in Moscow

Fruitplate Backstage

Moscow subwaystation

Cult of Luna Kitchen Fest

Moscow Cathedral

Red Square

Moscow subway

Gustav the nephew

Joe's visit to Berlin: Tiergarten

Joe's visit to Berlin: The Wall

End of Dan & Pip europe tour

2008-12-01T02:51:00.000-08:00

Here is the end of another tour.

After Metz there was a show in Strasbourg supporting Fujiya & Miyagi from Brighton. It was nice to have venue parking (for a change) and great catering. This was one of my favorite shows of the tour. Next day was in Zurich. The show was supposed to have been at Abart but was moved to Hafenkneipe which is a small bar that holds 100 persons. The show was sold out and rocked! The sound was amazing in there and the audience loved it. I believe this was the first ever show in Switzerland for Dan & Pip. Made some new friends there that night which was nice.

We drove to Stuttgart after the Zurich show to break up the journey to Berlin. The show at Bang Bang Club in Berlin was better than expected and people were getting really in to it. After this we had a day off in Berlin so I went home and stared at boxes in the new flat hoping they would unpack themselves but no such luck. Two last shows were Dusseldorf and Munich. Both shows were good and Munich was a particular highlight. It was part of a indoor festival held at a radiostation/venue.

This is it for now. I have now more tours for the next couple of months apart from a quick fly in/fly out gig in Moscow with Cult of Luna at the end of the month.

I'll update the blog if anything interesting comes along!

Paris & Metz (Dan vs Pip in Europe)

2008-11-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

Paris traffic sucks. We left Utrecht with plenty of time but the Paris congestion was worse than EVER. It really was. It only takes minutes to remember that the French in Paris have a particular style for city driving. In summary its basically drive as you like and honk your horn whenever people get close or just once in a while in general because everyone else does it. In some of the bigger more chaotic ‘roundabouts’ its quite amusing to just barge in and honk wildly and pretend like everyone else is wrong. Everyone else does it so I guess its ok.

Dan & Pip had a late show so we did not arrive until just after 8pm. I spent the next 2 hours trying to park and getting stuck in small alleyways next to beautiful old churches and ambulances. All this did not matter when D&P went on as they played one of the best sets ever! For whatever reasons they just came across well and there was great energy across all the songs, I loved it! People were dancing and were in to it just as much as me. James the Soundman did a great job once again…. proving also once again that bringing your own soundman, if you can afford it, makes nights like these even better. I am room-sharing with James and he is a really great guy even though he keeps me up most nights with his snoring. Its not intentional but my daytime caffeine intake is now risen to at least 6 espressos a day. Thank goddess we haven’t got any massive drives on this tour.

I started the day today (Sunday) by meeting up with Stephen from Aethenor. He just got back to Paris and it was great having a coffee and catching up. I will be touring with Aethenor at the end of January again. At noon we left Paris and headed for Metz. It’s a day off today and everyone is in the mood to chill. An hour in to our journey it started snowing and shortly after we were slowing down and battling against the blizzards. We arrived safe and sound in Metz and the snow kept falling. I went out for a walk to get rid of the restlessness of a whole day in the van. We are on the outskirts of town so nothing is near but I did find a pizza place, ordered up some big ones and came back to the hotel. I was soaking wet with snow, sleet and general wetness so clothes are now on the heater and I’m in bed in my boxer-shorts eating pizza in bed listening to Bob Dylan and watching the snow fall outside.

Still quiet. :)

Normally this place is rocking with youth and life.

Metz on a snowy Sunday night.

Pip is surprised by the sudden snowfall.

Dan & Pip in Paris. Saturday 22 November 2008.

Utrecht

2008-11-21T14:24:00.001-08:00

We were in Utrecht, Holland last night. The gig was amazing and the audience loved it. Lots of CD signings and general hanging out afterwards. The club served a really good vegetarian meal and were really ace people. At about 22.00 we discovered that the hotel check-in would close at 23.00. I was on the merch so I asked one of the club guys if there was someone who could watch the merch table while I drive over to the hotel. The guy insisted instead that he would jump on his bicycle and cycle to the hotel (4 kilometers each windy and rainy direction) and check in for us so we didnt have to move our van. Total dedication and a very nice gesture!! Thank you dude whos name I can't remember!

Dan vs Pip in Europe

2008-11-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

Hello.

A new tour has started. Its great that its Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip again because they are quite genius and the tour dates are in general very good. Although... I find it a little uninspiring going to Brussels for a first show. The city irritates me. We were supporting Late of the Pier and it was a sold out show at the AB club.

As we were trying to leave the next day there was a massive protest march against some new law that is being passed whereby european tobacco farmers are given less land for their tobacco farming. Sounds like a good plan to me but obviously certain european countries are not happy. Oh well.

Angry europeans take to the streets to fight the power!

Moved to Berlin!

2008-11-17T02:40:00.000-08:00

General update

I came back from Berlin last Tuesday after signing the papers for my new flat. I spent all day Wednesday packing and running around. The Mighty Boosh were doing their first show in Brighton that night so I thought it’d be nice to go and see that. We had far too many drinks so finishing packing on Thursday morning was hard work. My mate Joe was coming with me to Berlin to help move in and to get a chance to see Berlin (his first time). We drove until 1 or 2 in the morning, slept, and arrived in Berlin on Friday just after lunch time.

Records way too much for my liking. It was a brutal load in to the new flat but I was also thankful to have help from my Danish friend Kasper. The three of us worked like mad and finished after a few hours of manic running.

Saturday was spent seeing the sights of Berlin. We walked and walked and walked some more. The combination of the move and the walking knocked us out pretty hard so we only had a few beers that night. Joe flew home on Sunday morning and I continued unpacking boxes.

Today is Monday and I leave for tour soon. It is the European leg of the Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip tour. Its only 10 shows so I’ll be home soon again to complete the unpacking and start looking for second hand sofas and tables!

Here’s some pictures from Joe’s first visit to Berlin…

Berlin pt. II

2008-11-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

I have flat! I will not bore people with my flat finding problems but in general it seems that I am coming from the hardest angle: Foreign & self-employed. They don't like it. A few agencies stated that because I am not German and can not produce the right official documents which prove that I am "debt free" I will struggle to sign a normal housing agreement. It was suggested that as part of the 'offer' to the owners I should pay 3 or 4 months rent as a nice token... and also pay 3 months rent as a security deposit. We were looking at no less than 2000 euro to even set foot in the place. No thanks! One of the private land lords that I was in contact with had some flats but they were either too expensive or already taken but during our 'last' conversation he mentioned a small single room flat that was being refurbished and not advertised yet. If I wanted to I could have a look and if I liked it I could have it. I did two visits there to be sure and although its not completely where I wanted to be its still good and the price is not bad. As I was leaving after my second visit I felt I needed a sign that the choice was right. So I then noticed that there was a good coffee place next door and also a 'Vebab' shop one block down which is a totally vegetarian version of the classic Kebab shop. Maybe I'm on to a winner. So this is all looking good. I fly back to UK Tuesday, pack Wednesday and move here Thursday! Still no sign of work but at least I have a flat.

Last night I went to a house warming party in 'Mitte' Berlin. Vicky and Klara live in an amazing penthouse flat with a roof terrace. Its only 360 degree berlin city-centre skyline view but what are you gonna do?! ;) Before I knew it was 06.30 and time to go home. Trains still run at that time and my new favorite eatery 'Cafe Baghdad' was STILL open so I had some food. Cafe Baghdad has been open every time I've been there. 07.30 on wednesday morning they were there carving their kebabs, a few nights around 3am, 4am, 10pm. They never sleep. And lucky for us they make a great homemade falafel for 2.10 euro. Bargain!

Vicky's party got the better of some dude who was trying to leave but did the mistake of sitting down for a minute...

Berlin

2008-11-07T05:10:00.000-08:00

Hey. I am in Berlin looking for an apartment this week. I flew in on Monday night and I will be here till Tuesday. I have found nothing so far and I think its because I'm being picky... which is fair enough but it makes it hard. In Brighton I have always lived within quick walking distance to centre of town and I think I would struggle if that wasnt the case in Berlin. I want to be in the Friedrichhain or kreuzberg area but also close to the trains. Berlin is a big city and I will spend enough time sitting on trains to get places so at least I can skip out some of the walking. I don't mind a sleezy and worn down apartment but some of the ones I've looked at are proper rubbish. Also... some of the apartments from 1890 - 1910 have the shower in the kitchen which is also not a plus! I have a few more days to sort this and then make some decisions.

Work is slow after having a big chunk cancel on me recently. I go out again with Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip for about 10 days in November which will be great. Then there's a mighty big break until January 26th when I go out with Aethenor for 6 days. Its a small run but they are great people and an amazing band. Then I think I'm lined up for 6 weeks of the Hard Ons from Australia. We've also toured before and that would be an amazing tour. Seems like this winter will be the dark era that I always dreaded would happen. Its fine.... I've had 2 great years with no cancellations so now its my turn. Ups and Downs I guess.

On the 'plus' side.... I've been reading lots and I'm currently enjoying Smoke & Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. Very recommended!

Ok.... time for me to leave this cafe that I'm at because I'm hearing the same CD start its 3rd turn in the player. I'm off to contemplate signing up for a lovely but small AND expensive flat in Friedrishhain. Its really lovely. And expensive.

Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip Tour pt. 3

2008-11-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

Another tour has finshed!

We had our last week on tour with Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip in the UK. I fly to Berlin tomorrow to continue flat hunting. I come back to drive my things over on the 13th November and then its back out with Dan & Pip on the 18th November to the 29th November.

Guildford to Durham: Dan v Pip Part 2

2008-10-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

After our two days off we had a run of 7 shows. Guildford was good. Not a massive attendance but certainly enough to make it a good show. Next day was Norwhich and this probably my favorite show of the tour. It was sold out in advance, 700 tickets and it was rocking. The venue was also one of the best: Awesome sound system, great staff who knew what they were doing and parking straight behind the dressing room!

After Norwich was Leeds and that was also a sold out a show at 450 tickets in advance. The system didn’t look like much but when Steve started it all up we got some massive sounds happening. After Leeds was Hull, then Sheffield and Durham last night. All the shows have been good and it’s a real pleasure being out with Dan & Pip and everyone else on the tour. We have one more week of shows and then I start wrapping up my life in Brighton and get ready for Berlin!

In the van & ready to leave Durham

Cathedral in Durham. Very nice.

For an extra pound at the pub Oli got an extra burger in his burger!

General Update

2008-10-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Time for an update.

I am currently in the middle of the Dan vs. Pip tour but we have 2 days off (17th and 18th) so I am back in Brighton. Its nice to get back here from time to time. Days off mean lots of coffeshops and lots of record shopping. The best buy in recent time is the new Giant Sands album... amazing! Actually.... its been a good month for country records. We were in Liverpool recently and I found a 2nd hand LP shop with a MASSIVE country section. I managed to pick up some good condition and VERY cheap Lefty Frizzell, Charlie Rich, Louvin Brothers and a few of the early Kenny Rogers & the First Edition. Good times all around!

I was due to go on tour with The Answer in November and December but they recently canceled those dates for unknown reasons. Behind the scenes the truth was actually that The Answer had been given the support slot for the upcoming ACDC tour! They were under strict orders not to say anything to anyone so when they finally released the press details me and some of the other crew that had been on standby were told we were no longer part of the team. It sucks but as we all know this touring work can be a real shit business and these things happen.

I pick up the Dan v Pip tour tomorrow and we do another 11 shows for this tour. Its been really good fun and it'll be sad when its over.

I'm still moving to Berlin so I will be going there to look for flats on November 3rd and I officially leave England on November 13th!

Over & Out.

Rainbows

2008-10-18T11:33:00.001-07:00

Kid Carpet poses with the double rainbow at Warwick University

Tourswede

Jukebox The Ghost.. on tour ...

Jukebox the Ghost on stage in Mannheim, Germany.

Jukebox the Ghost

Sunn 0)))

Sebadoh remembers Bakesale and Harmacy

Ryan Bingham June / July tour...

Sufjan Stevens tour. Part 2

Sufjan Stevens Tour (Part 1)

Tour update

Kyuss tour update

Kyuss in March 2011

Jenny & Johnny (08 Nov - 15 Dec)

Ryan Bingham

GNAW: Oct 2010 Tour

Caitlin Rose tour (Part 2)

Caitlin Rose tour (Part 1)

Dinosaur Jr: Belgium - Sicily - Poland

Summer trip past the Arctic Circle

Taylor Hawkins & the Coat Tail Riders TOUR Pt. 2

Taylor Hawkins... last days on tour....

Taylor Hawkins & the Coat Tail Riders

Off-tour things

Barzin tour (final part)

Barzin Tour (part 1)

Barzin Tour

Some pictures from the Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobious Pip tour...

More Dan & Pip...

Touring again

Tour work

4 day Dino run

Dinosur Jr: 09 - 13 Feb

The perfect pack

Bad bird

Lou Barlow & the Missingmen Stage setup

Lou London

Lou's 2nd show...

First tour of 2010 - Lou Barlow & The Missing Men

Potsdam - Park Sanssouci

More pictures from the Berlin snowball fight...

Berlin public snowball fight

New years

Christmas in Sweden

End of last show in Belfast...

More pictures from The Answer tour....

more Answer

First few days of the Answer

The Answer UK Tour

Lissy

Lissy Trullie tour pics

RIP Jerry

LISSY TRULLIE

A A BONDY update

Next tour - A A Bondy

Dinosaur Jr - Italy... Austria...

More Dinosaur Jr pictrures

Dinosaur Jr in Europe Aug/Sept 2009

Holiday in Sweden

Killswitch Engage & Simply Red

Dinosaur Jr: June 2009

Hockey in June

Filthy Dukes & Charlift: May 2009

Juan Maclean: April/May 2009

2nd and final part of Hard Ons tour!

Quick summary (Oslo to Swansea)

Hard Ons in Turku

Finland at an end

Hard Ons

Me & the Machines

Last few days of Secret Machines

Thanks...

Paris

The van, man!

Secret Machines update

Brussels

Heading south

Secret Machines go East

Josh feels the breeze!

London

What I do