 |
Andy: Rain, Grace Jones and meat vans
Date added: 23.07.2010
Flight to Poland uneventful, which was an event in itself. Couple of hours late here and there, but nothing to report. Drove past Lech Walesa's boatyards. Other than that, it was one of those long silent journeys where short of drawing pictures and showing them to the driver, no conversation is possible.
Last time we played this festival, rain was horizontal. It's a world war 2 airfield right on the Baltic, so aside from a couple of emergency bunkers there's no cover.
An unexpected surprise to walk into the catering tent and find a genuine Japanese Sushi chef, candles burning and some nice bottles of wine on the table.
Pearl Jam were on before us so went to have a listen. Half a tune later, it was off to see Yeasayer who have transformed their live set in the last 6 months and were brilliant.
Interview question of the day went to the polish TV girl who asked me "what is your length?"
No rain for the gig this time and the crowd was massive - Glastonbury main stage massive. About 60,000 people went back into the darkness. The new live set didn't disappoint. Crowd surfers got dumped up front every few seconds.
Hung around in a military bunker for a bit afterwards, where a couple of DJs were backed up by male and female Divas who told us to 'Reach Out' again and again.
Back at the hotel, the bar was still open. I went to get one in for the road. A stylish woman in a flat cap said Hi and offered her hand. Having just been to the loo and washed mine, it was one of those tricky ones where you either start lengthy explanations or offer a wet handshake. I went for the damp option, and it was at that moment I realised it was Grace Jones. We moved on from there, but she was much keener on Tour Manageress Jo anyway.
A few hours later I made my way back home via Munich, where I tried to find the driver who'd locked me in his bus a couple of weeks ago. I didn't, but I will.
Home in the South West of France it was baking. In the garden I've got a bit of veg on the go. Around the veg I planted some wheat. Enough, in theory, to make a year's worth of bread.
It had grown pretty well, and it had to be cut now - it was dry and rain was due before I'd be back from the next set of gigs. So I went to ask my neighbour if I could borrow his scythe.
He found it, sharpened it, and told me that he last took it out of the cupboard in 1954. He showed me how to use it, and the old magic was still there. A couple of rows in, he handed it over and left me to it.
By hand, with no machinery to dry it, you have to get the wheat in in full heat. 36 degrees in this case. Luckily, friends were staying, Bec and Rich, and Rich is no stranger to hard work. It was seven hours of labour, me cutting and Rich tying it into those bundles that you see stacked up in the fields in old pub photos.
Friday Poland
Saturday France
Next morning I took the scythe back and made my way to Dublin for the Oxegen festival. Puncherstown Racecourse is the exact spot. The rain in Ireland was astonishing. A freezing cold monsoon. We went straight in to a lot of Radio interviews. Just running between their caravans made it look like you'd had a fully clothed relax in the bath.
Normally we play in the Dance Tent, and it's always kicked off. This time, we were playing outside in the downpour, with Goldfrapp under cover and Jay Z on at the same time. But the Irish aren't afraid of a bit of rain, and sea of waterproofs gathered in front of the stage. Banner of the day was a mobile phone number and, underneath, "band members only".
A couple of hours in an airport hotel later it was back to France. The band were heading for a day off in Scotland pre T in the Park. But there was an invite back home to the neighbours' wedding, an invite you can't turn down if you want to avoid being Les Anglais all alone up on the hill.
I live a long way from anywhere. But the girl getting married was somehow best friends with the top male dancer from the Parisian Ballet. It was an odd scene after the wedding dinner, when a semi-circle of farmers gathered around a wafer thin dancer, trousers half way up his chest and half way down his shiny ankle boots, watching him work through a ten minute Ballet Flamenco.
Local guests had agreed to help out by putting people up.The Dancer was with me. He didn't fancy the walk home in the dark so I borrowed my friends van who was doing the cooking. To pick up all the meat for the wedding, he'd done a last minute conversion to make the van refrigerated. Problem was that he hadn't had time to fit a partition between the back and the cabin, meaning that the windscreen was iced over. Less than 24 hours after Superstlylin finished in Dublin, I was driving home hanging out of the window of a meat van whilst the star of the parisian ballet rehearsed his Mikado.
It was a tired trip to Edinburgh the next morning. I wasn't alone. I arrived at the GA portakabin to find the whole band asleep on towels. The night off in Edinburgh had obviously been busy. Our old mate Cyrus had been the host. He's not known for an early finish.
Once again the weather wasn't ideal, with a howling wind blowing across the site. We were playing outside here as well, with a set time that coincided with the world cup final. But once again the crowd gathered in the wind and rain, and did us proud. A fair bit of beer came on stage, as is the way at T in the Park, but the left-right wind meant the front row got the worst of it.
It was an afterparty back in the portakabin until the tour buses were allowed to move offsite at 1.30am. The idea is to stop drunken campers getting run over by giving them time to get out first. MAD was in full flow until Tour Manageress Jo but some electric tape over his mouth. He took it off and carried on, but then realised it was for the best and put it back again.
A couple of members of Madness jumped on the bus home and managed to keep talking for 9 hours.
Currently en route to Hegyalja Fest in Hungary. Saint Saviour is practicing with her new onstage torch.
We've been driving a while, and are going on directions provided by Motorhead's truck driver. MAD is back. He just woke up and came down talking about soundsytems in foreign tongues.
Andy Cato
|
|
|
SaintSaviour: ‘A breath of fresh Eire – boom boom!’
Date added: 11.07.2010
Touch down in Dublin and are ushered into a black Range Rover (laser dude Ryan's fave car) which catapults us towards the Oxegen site at roughly the speed of sound. Not what you need if you have issues like, ooh, er, a sense of mortality....i.e. you’re not Keith Richards.
After about 2 minutes of this, we began noting with much hilarity, how the trees along the way all seemed to be leaning over. Wonder why that is, we thought... Aaah, now we see, it's that driving, horizontal rain and gale force winds.
Oh. Dear.
I was just able to make out a crudely hand written sign taped to a roundabout barrier which said 'this way to Oxegen, don't forget your wellies - LOL!'. Here we go again, I thought, in my sleeveless top, looking at Tom in his Havanianas.
Oh. Dear.
The weather was downcast, the people backstage were downcast, even Jay Z with his mobile multimedia wall he installs in dressing rooms, complete with outrageous TV, games consoles and ice machine, was downcast. Some people have to make do with a cheap wheelie suitcase and a Tesco carrier bag mate.
We arrived at the (waterlogged) stage to look out at a sea of exactly 75 people and turned to each other for support. Andy didn’t even feel like giving his trombone a warm-up toot. Tom just went very quiet. My rainbow costume made me look like Elton John on Ecstasy, trying to put a vibe out in Basingstoke town centre. “Don’t worry!” I said to the guys, “this could be AMAZING!”
How they laughed.
Anyhoo, what we were to learn a few minutes later, is that Dubliners don’t give two hoots about a bit of rain, they were just all in the bar, and as soon as ‘Song For Mutya’ kicked in, we had a massive crowd of terribly enthusiastic kids in pink raincoats singing that bloody awful whistling song along to every tune.
Like all good women, I was RIGHT! It WAS amazing! I had the best fun ever, although I wasn’t getting wet, well apart from sweating quite a bit under my comedy costume, but YAY!
Thanks Dublin xxx
|
|
|
SaintSaviour: Gdansk! G’boogie wonderlaa-and!
Date added: 05.07.2010
Ok we’ve just been to Gdynia to play at the Open’er festival, and all anyone can do right now, to block out the pain and suffering of the day's delayed flights, bomb disposal explosions, security threats and peeing pants in public is to come up with any song with the word ‘dance’ and substitute it with ‘Gdansk’. My current favourite is ‘Private Gdansker’ but Martin really likes, ‘Let’s Gdansk, put on your red shoes and Gdansk the blues’, and Mike’s is ‘Everybody Gdansk now!’ Funny suggestions via Facebook please.
We are finally on the connecting flight from Munich back to London but hours earlier today, found ourselves holed up in one corner of a departure lounge while two skinheaded security guards threatened to "punish" us whenever we edged towards the public toilet, a metre away. 12 hours to get from Poland to London – YAY.
Apart from the current debacle, Open’er was actually fabulous. It was quite strange going on after Pearl Jam and we expected to receive a muted grunge-based reception at first, but as soon as our intro music began, I looked out to a sea of tens of thousands of hands in the air, clapping along. By the second tune, there was already a steady stream of people crowd surfing to the front and being pulled out, which carried on for the entire gig.
It’s a beautiful thing to be in countries all over the world where audiences break the language barrier by singing along to the tunes, even new ones, particularly ‘Paper Romance’, and Poland didn’t disappoint, screaming along in unison.
Also - I think I mentioned this when we were in Warsaw late last year, but Polish kids are waaaay cool. Style wise, we should look to them and see what they got. Walking around the site earlier to check out the Yeasayer set, surrounded by beautiful, thin, doe eyed kids in apocalyptic chic, black kohl and ironic undercuts, I felt like a complete tramp. A fashion Philistine, a Haute-Couture heathen, a LOSER. I had to scuttle backstage hiding my ten-quid-glasto-sunglasses horror and binge on the sushi rider (good name for a band).
Ah well, I didn’t see anyone there with a black latex batsuit on, so there. Na Zdrowie!
|
|
|
Andy: The Glastonbury-LA-Vegas Weekender
Date added: 30.06.2010
The Glastonbury-LA-Vegas Weekender
Friday
8m Band bus leaves Hammersmith for Glastonbury
9am I leave for Toulouse airport.
12pm No sign of the plane. Then flight comes up as cancelled. Disaster. Start looking at any options that will get me to Glasto in time. Aren't many, maybe one at a push. Then it turns out that the flight isn't cancelled - someone has pushed the wrong button on the airport screens. It's going to be 2 hours late, but that's doable.
7pm Finally arrive in Glasto. Another 9 hour trip. Jumped the queue for a bowl of pasta and went into interviews.
9pm Hear a bit of Dizzee, and get a lucky break into Winnebago Land where it's festival heels, ice machines and wooden seated toilets.
10.30pm UK debut of the new rewritten live show. Previously at Glasto we've headlined the Other stage, played the Pyramid stage etc, but tonight it feels special to be back at the John Peel Tent - the home of new music, and tonight the new Armada. Great crowd in the there. Roar goes up as the lights dim. Becky's new costume unfolds. She owns the stage. First tune kicks in. Sounds massive. MAD comes in on roof-lifting form. The Festival Flags are flying.
We'll play it better. These versions are all new and need bedding in, but it's a key GA moment. Most twittered band at the festival afterwards. BBC turned down the competition and stuck with us for an hour.
Friday Night Glastonbury...
Messages came from all over the world and GA records climb the charts. Definitely going to release these new live versions as soon as we can get them down.
(Saturday)
12.30am Began long walk across the Glasto site to the Downlow. Wanted to catch up with Horsemeat Disco and friends before we had to leave. Walked past a 7 floor tower block complete with curtains and satellite dishes - the most incredible festival structure I've ever seen. Took a while to buy the moustaches that you need to wear to get in to the NYC Downlow experience.
Once in, worth it as always. If Mad Max ran nightclubs, this is how it would look. Amid the wigs and sparkles, a lot of people were being generous with their hip flasks. Good festival accessory.
3.30am Leave Glasto for Heathrow with a bus full of friends and a warm bottle of white wine. Big Tunes of the journey, Foreigner, "I want to know what love is" and "I've had the time of my life" by someone and Jennifer Warns.
7.30am Arrive terminal 5. Culture clash at reception as businessmen checked out and the Glasto bus checked in.
11am Leave for Los Angeles. Air steward says to Tom he's going to "give him a slap". Don't think that's in the air stewarding manual.
5.30pm (LA time) Arrive at the Standard Hotel in downtown LA. Lot of DJs kicking about in reception. A boy comes up and asks who we are. We tell him. His girlfriend produced the perfect gasp. If you ever want to make a sound effects record and need someone to do "sharp intake of breath", she's your girl.
7.30pm Last year there were 80,000 here at the Electric Daisy Carnival. This time it's 120,000. Flashing ears vendors will be able to live off this for the year. Some technical issues on stage. Whilst we get it sorted, a troupe of dwarves in tommy cooper hats pass by, followed by 20 or so gold suited zombies. We go in at the harder end of the GA sound and up from there. Big occasion. The fireworks man hits all the right spots.
Saturday night LA...
10pm Hand over to Sasha and share some champagne from paper shot glasses that aren't water proof. Made for a quick drink.
12pm Back at the rooftop bar at the Standard.
6am Up to get a cab to a friend's house for the England game
7.40am Goal line outrage.
8.45am Despair. Headlines of the day - "Hunbelieveable" and "Mullered".
10am Off to LAX to catch a flight to Vegas. Post match depression adds to fatigue.
12pm Yet again, the plane is 2 hours late. Try to find another flight. No deal. We're heading for an afternoon party and we were meant to go straight on when we arrived. Call goes out to the promoter to rejig set times.
12-2pm Gather round the airport screen for Argentina v Mexico.
3.45pm Finally arrive in Vegas. It's 40 degrees, with a wind blowing like a hairdryer. The hotel is decorated with huge butterflies, flowers, plastic chandeliers and drapery, with colours and placements chosen so that nothing matches. The whole is then lit by bright white little spotlights in the roof. It's like being inside your nan's floral print wallpaper. It cost 2 billion dollars to build.
4pm Walk into the pool party where we're playing. Brutal heat, with sprinklers everywhere to take the edge off. A DJ is standing on the turntables, shouting "put your f***ing hands up" and throwing money out into a crowd of very big guys and ladies in small bikinis. They could probably do with the cash. Bottles of vodka are going for $500 and poolside balconies for $25,000. That's before you've paid for your gym membership and plastic surgery. An expensive sunday.
7pm We were meant to play 2-4pm - peak time for the afternoon session. But the late plane and lineup reshuffle meant we got the 7-8.30pm shift. It's a tricky one as the party essentially finished at 6. But we got together a die hard crowd around a core of house music loving brits and made it work.
9pm Dan (manager) makes a few quid on the blackjack table and buys us a cocktail or two.
12pm Plans to go to the hotel nightclub are put on hold. Exhaustion has kicked in. The Glasto, LA, Vegas weekender comes to an end.
Sunday
7.45am Head off to the airport.
11.30am Arrive back in LA. We've got meetings with 3 key film teams before heading back to the UK. Not feeling as fresh as we'd like, but nothing new there. We meet the music people at Fox, Dreamworks and Universal. Lots of driving across the old studio lots where 19th century New York streets blend into the Scooby Van or Homer's house. Bump into a reality TV agent who says there may be an exciting opportunity on the new series of 'Automotive Rebuild'.
Should just get back in time to leave for Poland. If you're up around the Baltic, we'll see you there on Thursday.
Andy Cato
|
|
|
Andy blog 24.6.10
Date added: 24.06.2010
The Japan Plan, monsoons, and the
Eastern Weekender.
The Plan, made in Japan after the last gig, was to
rewrite Black Light Live. There were massive festival moments to be had
in these new tunes if we took each one apart and reconfigured them just
for the live experience
The Problem - given the
schedule with gigs every weekend, we had window of 3 days to turn it
around before going straight into a no soundcheck festival gig to play
the new material.
The only way to get it done was to get the boys ,
girl, and gear down to my place in France where we had the studio to
rewrite the tunes and big enough speakers to get an idea what it might
sound like over a PA.
Monday 7am- South
West France. Early start in studio to get the ball rolling and tidy up
ideas we've been working on last week. Tom touches down later bringing
some more sounds and ideas with him. Start putting it all together.
Monday 11pm -
Slow going
Tuesday
4am. We've got a definite structure for 3 tunes, but there are 6
to go and the band arrive tomorrow. Nevertheless, DJ maneuvers from the
previous weekend mean a bit of sleep required so agree to resume at 8am
Tuesday 8am
Blurred start. Studio busy as there's a problem with the big speakers
that are going to be essential to get an idea of how things are going to
sound at Fridays festival so a couple of local french technicians are
in action. By the end of the morning we're only halfway there with the
rewrites. Martin (drums), George (guitar) Sam (sound) and Tim
(technician) arrive red eyed after a 5am wakeup call to get the early
flight over. Setup a spot for them to start listening to the demos of
the tunes we've worked on while we work on the rest. Meanwhile Sam and
Tim assemble a mock up of the gig setup next door.
Tuesday 4pm Start
running tunes with the band. First one takes several hours to turn the
idea into a reality. We don't have this long for all of them.
Wednesday 4am
Only 3 tunes full worked through as a band. That meant there were 6
still to try before the singers, Becky (saint saviour) and MAD arrived
the following morning. Agreed a 7.30 am start.
Wednesday 7.30am The new vibe
on the tunes is sounding electric and keeps us going. But we're up
against it. A couple of tunes go into cul de sacs and it takes a while
to get out. Meanwhile the singers are here, so we go for a two-tier
system by making them some more up to date demos of the finished tunes to
go and listen to while we carry on.
Wednesday 7pm Finally we've
had a go at all the tunes and have got working versions. But we still
need to transfer them from my studio gear onto the live gear, rehearse
them, sort out the levels, work through it with the singers etc.
Have a pizza.
Wednesday
8pm. Start playing as a full band. As we play, things change as
always, and take time to sort out.
Thursday 4am and we've only
played final versions of each tune once. Crisis meeting. We need to run
through the set as whole before Fridays gig, but people are wiped out
and everyone has to be at the airport by 9am. (Apart from me - I've got
to drive to Barcelona, catch a plane to Ibiza and DJ that night.) Agree
that we'll get nothing out of playing anymore that night. So start
emailing and texting management and agent to find a way of making a long
soundcheck happen before the gig in Bulgaria Friday night. Meanwhile
make CDs for everyone to learn it while travelling.
Thursday 8am.
Team leave for the airport. I start the 4 1/2 drive to Barca. Got a load
of new tunes to check out for the DJ set which means a few dodgy
moments labelling CDs at the wheel but at least keeps me awake.
Thursday 6pm
Arrive in Ibiza to hear that we've managed to get an hour and a half
slot to soundcheck. Meanwhile, listening to the new live set during my
journey to barca and tom during his journey home, we've realised there
are a couple of things we need to change. With all the new sounds etc
back at my studio, a fairly involved plan required to make the changes
we need.
3am
Friday Finish DJ set
5am Friday, off to the airport. First flight to
Palma. Full of Germany supporters having the 7am airport whisky. Then to
Munich. Got left locked inside the terminal transfer bus until a
passerby heard me banging on the window. Just made connection to Sofia.
Gig in Sofia was right next to the runway - the old terminal 2 - so not
far to go on arrival.
Friday
6pm Boys all set up and ready to go. Blistering sunshine. Nervous
moment hearing all that work on a PA for the first time. And......
It sounds huge. As we'd imagined it but bigger still. Pretty
frantic soundcheck. Things always come up when you're doing it for real.
The fact we've got the best stage and sound team in the world means we
can pull off the impossible.
Friday 8pm. Tired and nervous moments before trying
it all out for the first time in public. A massive thunderstorm arrives.
Monsoon rain. Reduces catering to a carrot sandwich underneath a
leaking parasol. Lightning bolt lands in the next field and everyone
dives for cover. Assume gig is off.
But the thunder
passes and slowly people come out and brave the rain.
Friday 9.30pm
Showtime.
The first big new moment of the first tune
arrives. This is it. It kicks in, the rain falls, every hand goes up in
the air, it sounds massive, we've done it.
Lots of eye
contact on stage as 90 minutes of new music flies at us and everyone
tries to keep on top of things amongst the noise, water and lazers.
It's been a big, big night for GA. New versions sound so good, we
decide that night to make a new record of these versions. White Light.
Celebrate in a night club in Sofia. Last time I DJ'ed there, the
guy who runs the airport offered to delay my plane so I could have a lie
in. Couldn't find him this time.
Saturday 7am. Beginning of a
long trip to Istanbul. Band via Athens, Crew via Vienna as they needed
to get there a bit earlier.
Saturday 5pm 10 hours later we arrive on site. Few
detailed changes to be made so Technician Tim gets things setup
backstage while the other bands are playing. Tricky to hear what's going
on but nothing we haven't done before. Get it sorted then off for
interviews.
Saturday
9.20pm 10 minutes until the gig. Bad moment. Realise that one of
the things that was changed that afternoon was wrong. Fly over to the
stage to sort it. But the Stage is in chaos. The boys have 15 minutes to
changeover from the previous band to us, and the local guys have
everything plugged into the wrong holes. Language barrier doesn't help.
Sweat dripping. Break the news to Tim that on top of all of that we've
got something else to sort out. He's stoic as always. 4 minutes to go.
Saturday 9.31pm Curtain
goes up with everything in place. Stage looks out onto the hilltops of
Instanbul. Second run out for the new set. Saint Saviour and MAD on fire
with the new material.
High spirits in
the team post gig. GA Live has never sounded so good. Bring on the
summer.
Sunday
4am. Istanbul's bars wind down. Party rolls back to Jamie + Jo
(tour managers) room. Time to bail out. Me and Tom have to get to Space ,
Ibiza, for the first We Love Sundays session.
Sunday 9am. On the tarmac in
Istanbul. They start coming round with free cups of water and talking
about air traffic control restrictions. Our connection in Barcelona
starts to look impossible. Just making headway when the call for a
doctor on board comes across the tannoy. Happily the man concerned
realises that missing our takeoff slot would make him feel even worse
and pulls himself together.
Sunday 1pm Land in Barca. Have requested seats as
near the front as possible for landing so we can get off quickly. We
might just make it. Sprint across the airport to find our flight still
boarding. Home and dry. Except that it turns out this plane has been
filled with too much petrol and they need to syphon some off otherwise
the wings will fall off when we land. It takes 2 hours for the truck to
come.
Sunday
8pm Long awaited cold beer at Es Torrent with Dan (manager) and
Nick and Bev from the islands famous Rock Bar.
Sunday 11.30pm Quick chat
with Space TV before taking to the legendary Terrace DJ booth. It's the
return of GA to We Love Sundays and there's a lot of expectation in the
air. We've been speaking to all concerned about getting the lighting
just right all week. What a difference. A lot of first plays of new
dancefloor material and Black Light DJ edits. Terrace back to it's
rockin best. Sleep deprivation seems to create total telepathy between
me and tom on the 4 deck setup.
Monday 4am Hand over to Ralph
Lawson and head back for a lie down
Monday 9am Back in Ibiza
airport to get a flight to Barca and pick my car up for the drive home.
Tom already on his way to Stanstead. Really starting to feel the pace at
this stage. A disappointing 2 hour delay leaves me camped out by the
gate clutching my mobile with the alarm set to full blast. The 5 hour
drive home not the easiest. Passes by in a state somewhere between
meditation and collapse.
Monday 10.30pm Just over a week after the Japan Plan
kicked off, and I arrive back home. Last 7 days feel like a lifetime,
but then with GA in full swing, they often do. We've returned to the
terrace in style, rewritten 90 minutes of Black Light music and seen it
move two festival crowds from front to back.
If you'd
offered us that a week ago we would have taken it.
|
|
|
GA Blog 55: Tom - Black Light remixed / CRASH-CRACK-BOOM!
Date added: 23.06.2010
Hi Tom, how are you?
I'm fine, although I am standing on the edge of a Bulgarian thunder storm.
How exciting.
Yeah. You might be able to hear the thunder. KA-BOOM-CRASH-CRACK-BOOOOOM.
Ah yes, there it is.
Did you hear that?
You couldn't really miss it.
It's definitely going for it. Which is obviously handy when we're just about to play a gig.
An outdoor gig?
Yes, of course. But we've just had a really good soundcheck. We've basically run through the new Black Light live experience, which is sounding mentally exciting. So it's all good. It might even stop raining.
That's a good "show must go on" mentality.
Oh, of course. It's the only way. But I am standing miles away from anything vaguely electrical. Although I am in front of a telly, watching the build-up to the England game which (KA-BOOM-CRASH) is going to kick-off exactly as we go on stage.
What have you done to change the set?
In a way, the last set of touring was a faithful reproduction of the album as it was and we've now decided to ramp it up a bit. We'll be delivering it in a much more dance-orientated style, applying what we'd do in DJ set to what we do live.
Did anything spur this change?
Well, we had a mild epiphany a couple of weeks ago when we were out in Japan doing a live show sandwiched between Sasha and the Chems. We just realised there's stuff we could do that would really take this material to an uninitiated audience, which is where we're at now with these festivals coming up. So we've upped the ante. It's sounding good. I can't wait for Glastonbury.
We saw someone on the Glastonbury Facebook page raving about how great you're going to be.
Oh good, so there'll be at least one person there then. Was it written by Mrs Findlay from Cambridge? It's going to be ace, though. I'm really excited. We're so pleased with this re-jig of the set that we're even talking about releasing it as some kind of Black Light remix album.
Where did you work on it?
I was out at Andy's place in France for a few days. We've got a lot of shows to come, right up to the Park Life festival in Australia, so we'll really be able to enjoy the fruits of our labours.
And anyone who's seen you recently will get something different.
Totally different, yeah. Anyone who thought they'd already seen it and was mulling over whether to buy a ticket - don't miss it! We feel totally re-born, actually.
Was Japan fun?
It was good, yeah. Obviously the gig was the moment we decided we needed more welly, so it was a qualified success, but a lot of good came out of it. And we did a good DJ show afterwards. But my highlight was probably going to the fish market they've got in the middle of Tokyo and having the most amazing sushi.
Were the Chemical Brothers and Sasha both good then?
They were. Sasha seems to have (KA-BOOM-CRACK) moved away from the trancey stuff and gone back to proper house music. And the Chems were sounding heavy. It was cool.
Who else is playing this festival tonight?
They've got (CRRRRRRAAAASSSSSSHHHHH) wow - that was a big one! Sorry yeah, so it's Babyface Clan, Adam Freeland, 3D Disco and us. Babyface Clan are soundchecking right now in the middle of all this lightning. I've gotta say, it does look like this storm is here to stay.
Is there a big crowd?
At the moment, no. But the doors only opened a few minutes ago. And if you were sat at home thinking, "Shall we go and stand in the middle of a field?" you'd probably decide not to!
You're in the big John Peel tent at Glastonbury. So if it rains, you'll probably get a bigger crowd.
That's true. We're really excited about playing in there. John Peel played a big part in my music-loving life - I remember my dad introducing me to his show. It means a lot to us to be headlining his tent. Hopefully we're going to smash it. That's the intention.
And BBC4 have already committed to showing your set.
Yes, and 6 Music will be playing some stuff too.
All their cutting-edge channels.
Exactly! That's where at right now.
You're off to Istanbul tomorrow.
Yes. Last time we played there was a few years ago and it was great. After the gig we went to an after-show party and there was a cardboard cut-out of me there! About two-thirds life size. We took it out on the town with us for a while. Mini Tom is probably still out there, propping up a bar somewhere.
The weather forecast for Istanbul is sunny, 27 degrees.
Perfect! I'll wear my Speedos.
They're back in fashion, aren't they?
Apparently so. Sales are up massively - about 250%. I shall look to get myself a pair at the airport and jump out in them at the end of the show. That could work.
Are you following the World Cup?
Yeah. Obviously the first England game was a huge disappointment, and it's a desperate state of affairs when a nation is waiting on the return of Gareth Barry. But maybe he's the missing link, if he allows Gerrard to get out there and express himself. Obviously I'm not going to watch the Algeria game tonight, but I've got a feeling we're going to be alright. I'm sure we'll scrape through, only to go out in the quarter finals, as per usual. But I am enjoying the World Cup. Particularly Maradona. He's just brilliant. I love him.
How many games have you watched so far?
Probably about four. So not that many. We've been working too hard. But I'm hoping to watch a lot of the final group games.
So, as of tonight, it's festivals as far as the eye can see.
It is. It's very exciting. I think it's going to be a very good summer. Having made these changes to the set, we've got a real sense of confidence about what we're doing.
You seemed quite confident before.
Well now we're even more confident!
Are you still going to make the dance music Andy was telling us about last time?
It's been superseded by this remixed version of Black Light, really. We want to get that out there, and then we'll maybe go back to the dance music later in the year. We'll use the Ibiza season as a time to take it all in.
And your first Ibiza show is this Sunday.
It is. Bulgaria to Turkey to Ibiza in three days. (CRASH-CRASH-KA-BOOM) Great routing by our agent!
He does seem to be a chap with a globe and a pin.
Oh yeah, totally. Maximum transit time. I imagine I might be feeling slightly frayed by Monday afternoon.
And you're shooting away from Glastonbury too aren't you?
Yes, straight to LA. That is just outside Taunton isn't it? That's what he told me.
Something like that. And, from that point, you're gigging and DJing all through the summer.
Yeah, it's our moment to make hay while the thunderstorms come down.
Have you heard about this DJ chart they're talking about launching?
No. What's that?
Some kind of new official chart countdown of who the top DJs are.
Wow. If we could get to Number 79 that would be amazing!
Finally, how are things looking with Lovebox?
I'm just really looking forward to it. I can't wait for Roxy Music to take the stage. But I've developed this theory that London nightlife is in a state of crisis - the clubs are falling left, right and centre, because there's too much stuff out there. So I just hope that among all the noise, that people think Lovebox is still worth seeking out. Because I've got a feeling this could be the best one yet.
|
|
|
GA Blog 54: Andy - House explosion / parlez Francais
Date added: 28.05.2010
Hi Andy, how are you?
I'm fine, thanks. I'm just in the studio.
What are you working on?
We're going to put out a GA house EP sometime around when our Space season starts, in a few weeks' time.
It could literally be out that soon?
Yeah. We're not exactly sure how we're going to put it out, but it'll certainly be out there before too long.
Did you used to put things out on 12-inch in the old days?
Yeah. You could get a white label pressed up really quickly and then drive round the shops getting it out there. And then as dance music started going via labels, you got this whole thing where there'd be a few months between making the tune and the release. But one of the upsides of the whole digital thing is that you don't get much money for it, but at least a tune can go from the studio to the dancefloor in a matter of hours. That's what dance music should be like.
Does this new stuff have vocals on it?
It's got cut-up vocals. It's a four-track EP as it stands, which really covers the bases of Groove Armada on the Space terrace. There's some big tunes on there.
Are you looking forward to Ibiza?
Definitely. We're doing a bit of everything out there this year. We're residents on the terrace, we're playing with Pete Tong a couple of times and I'm doing a session at Pacha with the Swedish House Mafia. So we're back in Ibiza with a vengeance.
Will you be staying out there?
No, it's all in and out jobs, because the festival commitments for GA are pretty full-on. In fact, someone just asked me when my next free Saturday was and I looked on the calendar to discover it's not until October 4th! So we've got a fairly busy summer ahead.
It's good to be busy.
Yeah, it's exciting. The live show at the minute is brilliant. We played the closing gig at the Great Escape Festival the other day and it's just a real pleasure to play the Black Light set. We want to play it to as many people as we can.
Are you playing a slightly shorter set for the festivals?
We played for an hour at Great Escape. But we didn't go on until about 1.40am. At that time of night, when people had been watching the FA Cup final and having a few pints, it's good to keep it punchy!
Did you still play a mixture of old and new songs?
That's right, yeah. It's about half Black Light, with four or five old ones in there too, re-done in a Black Light style.
Does the Black Light stuff seem to be getting the recognition from the crowd?
It really does. Paper Romance is definitely an anthem now, as is I Won't Kneel. And there was a great moment at the end of Paper Romance when everyone just kept singing it like a football chant. The word is definitely spreading.
Are you pleased with how the album is doing? Is it all going to plan?
Well there wasn't a plan, really. The only plan was to put out a record that we thought was the best one and then just be committed to spreading the word on what's a bit of a departure for us. I think looking at the reviews people have been writing online, people do think of us in a different way now and there are people listening to us who weren't listening to us before. So, in that way, we've achieved what we set out to achieve.
It's very hard to pull off a reinvention in music.
It is. And there are still a lot of people out there who would love this record, who still haven't checked it out. But that's the great thing about festivals. You're not just preaching to the converted.
Is it odd rocking up in a different field every weekend for the whole summer?
Well, having done it before, I think it'll be a few months where everything is vaguely familiar, but you're not quite sure what's happening!
Are there any festivals you particularly love?
Lowlands was the one where we got the loudest ever recorded cheer, so that should be a lot of fun. And last time we did Istanbul that went pretty mental as well, so it'll be good to go back there again for the first time in a while. And, of course, closing the John Peel stage on the Friday night at Glastonbury is going to be wicked.
Will you stick around at Glastonbury?
Normally we do the whole weekend and get involved in late night manoeuvres. In fact, last time I was there I ended up sleeping in the boot of someone else's Winnebago, which gave them a bit of a shock when they came down to get their can of beer in the morning. But this time we can't because we're actually DJing in LA on the Saturday night after. So we go straight from Glastonbury to the airport. Sorry, one second...
[Andy proceeds to speak fluent French to a man in the background for a little while, before eventually bidding him "Au revoir"]
Wow. Impressive language skills! Were you good at French before you moved out there?
No, not really. I did it at school like people do, but it was definitely nothing to write home about. But out here my life is in French, so it seems to have sorted itself out.
You really just picked it up?
Well, there's no English people here, so you'd be quite lonely if you didn't. And you'd be quite hungry as well.
Did you take lessons?
No. I had enough there to understand the basis of what was going on, but if you have absolutely no choice, it's amazing how quickly you can pick something up.
What was that chap just talking to you about?
Oh, it was very exciting. He's been cleaning the windows, and he's told me that I've got an enormous bees' nest behind one of the shutters.
Oh dear.
No, I'm delighted to have bees here. The world is running out of bees, so if we've got a few, I'm going to hang on to them for as long as I can.
So, yes, your trip to LA sounds a bit bonkers. What are you out there for?
It's another one of these Electric Daisy Picnic events, these massive raves that they have out there.
Does it feel like the tour helped with GA's presence in America?
It does, yeah. It looks like we're going back later this year, and we'll be playing in venues twice as big as we did last time. So something's working.
You've also announced the UK tour. That sounds like a fun one.
It's gonna be great. Back in old haunts like Brixton with our best ever live show. That'll be quite a moment, I think.
And there are more tour plans to come?
Yeah, we're off to America. And it looks like we're going back to Australia later this year as well.
And before all that, this house EP will appear.
Yes, we're going to finish it over the next fortnight, then we're either going to hook up with a label or we might just put it out there ourselves.
Will it be released as Groove Armada?
Actually we need to come up with a name. It's going to be "Groove Armada presents something". And whatever that something is will be the basis of the Groove Armada house explosion.
Groove Armada House Explosion sounds like a good name.
Haha! That's true. It's definitely got the Ronseal factor. I'll put that one on the list.
|
|
|
GA Blog 53: Tom - Time off / OAP angel dancer
Date added: 19.04.2010
Hello Tom, how are you?
Good, thank you. Very well.
Are you back in London for a bit?
I am. I've kind of got six weeks off, apart from the Great Escape in May. It's quite nice, actually. Quite mellow. I've decided to try making some pop music for a couple of weeks and see if I can carve out a career in that. And if not, I'm going to go back to making underground dance records.
Are you going to be the singer of this pop music?
I'm not, thank God! I think sometimes producers forget in this day in age that cos you *can* sing, doesn't mean you *should*.
Is making pop as far as your plans stretch for the six weeks off?
Yeah, I'm messing about with this guy - I can't really say who - producing some songs that he's written. It's really interesting. I'm just going at in a kind of, throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks sort of way. We'll see what comes out. The genius of pop is not putting much in, whereas with Black Light it's very dense. So it's almost like a total opposite. But I'm really enjoying it.
You have, of course, dabbled with pop with things like Song 4 Mutya.
Exactly. That was a great pop record. I do have an ambition in that area, I think. As a kid growing up, I was all over that pop stuff, like Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince. I think I've got a natural inclination towards it. And then I'm going to try and make some dance music after that. We're going to be residents on the terrace at Space in Ibiza this summer, so I thought it'd be time to make some dance music again. Which is great, because there's so much brilliant dance music around at the moment that I'm quite excited about it again.
What would you recommend for anyone who hasn't been listening to much dance music?
A good starter pack of what's been great about dance music this year is definitely this mix by a pair of DJs from Berlin called Modeselektor. They've done a mix on Physical Records, a trendy Berlin techno label, which is brilliant. Just buy that. It's a mixture of dubstep and house records, Busta Rhymes is even on there. It's kind of like a 2ManyDJs for the digital generation. I still can't get my head around how clever it is. And when I look at the kind of people we're booking for Lovebox this year, it feels very reflective of that anything goes ethic, which is what's good about dance music right now.
Are they playing at Lovebox?
Sadly not. They also do this thing called Moderat, which is like a mellow, young Kraftwerk kind of vibe. We desperately tried to book both of them for Lovebox, but were rebuffed on both, I'm afraid. They're not doing very much this year.
So, even when you have time off, your time off largely involves thinking about music or making it?
Yeah, exactly. Or nagging people at Lovebox to work harder, which I love doing while I'm having a cup of tea and sitting in front of my computer. Or, if I'm feeling really anal, alphabetising my CD collection.
Really?
Well, I lost my much-loved iPod on tour in the States a few years ago. I stuck it in the docking station in a hotel and ran out in the morning. I didn't have it backed up anywhere, so I've now been going through my CDs and doing that all over again. But it's been quite a nice experience, listening to really random things. So, the iPod I'm about to compile will be the best iPod that's ever been made. It's just done with love and consideration and quirkiness.
Aside from losing your iPod, it sounded like you folks had fun in America.
Yeah, it was great. The San Francisco gigs were amazing - just being in that venue where people like Janis Joplin and Hendrix played. It's got a tiny, tiny dressing room, but the vibe is incredible. They were magic gigs too. In fact they were particularly magic for this 65-year-old man who was right at the front dancing. He must've been a choreographer or something back in the day. He looked like Jerry Garcia from Grateful Dead, but he danced like an angel. He was what that gig was all about for me. He was extraordinary.
How was New York?
That was probably the stand out gig. New York is where most of the interesting music seems to be coming from right now, so it's got a fantastic vibe. Webster Hall was a great venue, with a great crowd. People got up on stage at the end. LA was also brilliant, and Miami was cool too. It was a great tour.
Are you happy with how things are going with Black Light?
I am, yeah. It's so different to stuff in the past. It's all quite slow burn - but we're ticking along in a mellow sort of way. It's selling really steadily and we've got some great things to look forward to over the summer. I've wanted to play at Great Escape for ages. And then headlining the John Peel stage at Glastonbury should be fantastic. I think to be headlining that stage in the festival's 40th year is pretty great. Obviously it would've been nice to be headlining the Pyramid, but this is a pretty good alternative!
Sometimes a tent can work really well for a dance act.
Yeah, particularly now. It would've been harder two years ago when we were all about screens and lasers. But we were using in-house lighting rigs in the States and it was feeling great. I think we're really set up to give it a good go in that tent.
You're up against U2 on the Pyramid that night.
Oh, even better. So it'll probably be quiet for the first ten minutes, then we'll get a surge of people coming to the tent when they realise they're playing their new stuff! Haha! But, yeah, it's a really good slot for us.
And the next single is Look Me In The Eye Sister as a double A-side with Just For Tonight.
That's right. We did think about History, which we obviously did on Jonathan Ross, but that tune's kind of out there and been discovered anyway.
How was Jonathan Ross?
It was good, yeah. TV always looks much more glamorous on the screen than in real-life, but it was fun. Tina Fey was amazing and I managed to get Heston Blumenthal's email address so that I can get into the Fat Duck. And the performance itself went really well.
The reaction online seemed to be great - albeit with many mentions of Bronski Beat!
Which is fine. It is a homage to Smalltown Boy, with a similar chord progression. But, yeah, Will Young was really good, and we did it totally live in one take. I think we might make one more appearance with him this summer.
You've got quite a busy festival season coming up.
Yes, busy and varied. We're doing all the big UK ones that we wanted to do, although as has been much publicised, we're not playing Lovebox this year, which I think is the right decision. I just hope none of the festival promoters does what one did earlier this year - he came up and said, "Don't fuck it up" just before we went on stage.
Why did he say that?!
I don't know. It was the oddest thing that's ever happened to me at a gig. We had "a word" about it afterwards. I was slightly flabbergasted. That is not a great motivational speech. And we didn't fuck it up. As I told him forcefully in the hotel the next day.
Will you be announcing some European festivals?
Yes, there's definitely a few coming up. Look out on the website for those. We'll be travelling far and wide, to all strange corners of the planet. It's all going well internationally. The international sales of this record will definitely be better than they were for the last couple of albums, which is great.
Let's finish, as ever, with a Cambridge United update.
It's going quite well, actually. There's no chance of us reaching the play-offs or being relegated this season, but I'm really looking forward to next season. There was an aborted attempt by the fans to buy the ground, which seemed to just fizzle out. I did pledge money towards it, but nothing really came of it. But I think we've got a great manager, and he's had a season to get the wage bill down and build a decent side. I think we'll be challenging for the play-offs next year. I'm pretty confident of that.
|
|
|
GA USA Blog 4 - SaintSaviour
Date added: 02.04.2010
Wow. New York is fan-bloody-tastic. From the Sea Lion in Central Park to the hipsters in East Village, there’s a whole load of coolness going on here. We arrived late on Tuesday night, tired from a hectic and horribly turbulent flight from LA, and a lack of sleep after Tom and Andy’s DJ set the night before. Our label guy had announced an RSVP email address live on KCRW (LA radio show we were playing live on that morning) and all 6 phone lines jammed with eager LA beavers wanting to come and see the boys spin some records while the rest of the band and crew looked on, drinking their rider.
Anyway, that made for a lively evening so my New York hotel bedroom was calling the minute we touched down and I retired like the terrible bore I am. The boys of course kept the whole hotel up again that night with yet another DJ set in the lobby. I've said it before and I'll say it again – thank heavens for earplugs.
The next morning I was lucky enough to be able to jog round Central Park. What I had planned to be a quick 30 minute affair turned into three hours of filming, snapping and ogling at the animals in Central Park Zoo. Wearing only jogging gear, I had to buy a bag to carry all the souvenir pennies, cuddly sea lions and snow globes. I now have one from each place we’ve visited, much to the frustration of US airport security...
We arrived at the Webster Hall, had a quick pastrami sandwich with pickles and all kinds of insane dressings, and cracked on with our soundcheck. The venue is rough and ready, but oozing charm and, dare I use the ultimate over-used adjective in music, ‘vibe’. Its a Vibeathon in there, just vibing all over the damn place. I almost vibed myself. The show had long since sold out so we had a slight nightmare organising guest list stuff and this added to the pre-show nerves, along with the laser dude Ryan bowling into the toilets to find me naked. (hey, I was changing into my sparkly sequinned catsuit which, according to one LA reviewer, gives me a ‘sequinned camel toe’. I of course plan this to happen, it’s my way of expressing my feminine power. Ahem. ) Blushes over with, we did our customary dressing room pre-gig rituals (not telling) and went out to face the crowd.
Boom! From the very start of the gig, the vibe in there was insane. It felt truly effortless to perform to the New York crowd, because they were simply engaged and up for it all the way. There were so many people singing along to the new material, which was amazing to see. Paper Romance was a big hit with them, and although Ben wasn’t there to sing along with me this time, I had a load of new voices making sure they were heard. Of course when Mike stepped out the party stepped up a gear and the balconies started shaking.
My manager told me afterwards that they had to move back for fear of an impromptu stage dive from the rafters. By Superstylin, it seemed the crowd had decided en masse that he might need some company, and one by one, began hoisting each other on stage, leaping about with him for a bit, and then jumping back into the willing hands of the punters below. My respect goes out to the lady in red who climbed up, took all the applause at the end of the set, then leaped back onto one unsuspecting man who promptly fell over. Hilarious fun, I hope no one was hurt.
New York, our encounter was brief, but beautiful. Please have us back, we love you.
|
|
|
Andy's GA USA blog
Date added: 31.03.2010
GA Live touches down in the USA
First gig - legendary venue. The Fillmore, San Fran, where the Pistols played their last gig, The Doors, everyone. It's where Scorcese filmed The Last Waltz. The posters of previous gigs below are a fraction of what's hung on the walls.
The night before we'd arrived from the UK and went straight from the airport into a DJ set at a party for our new label OM records. Afterwards, we made the mistake of staying out late enough so it's morning again in the UK and sleep is impossible. This made the 5 hour soundcheck hard work, but we needed to get the new track History into the set. It's winning the most votes on the download charts in the US at the moment.
The Fillmore crowd did us proud. The response at the gig was electric. Saint Saviour blew people away as always. MC MAD raised the roof as always. They love live music here and the Black Light combo of rock 'n roll and electronics feels right. We went out to a couple of places afterwards, but I called it a day when someone tried to pierce my ear with their earring.
San Fran sold out so fast that we had to add an extra show here. It's always nice when you do two nights and can stroll into work the second day with everything set up.
Just off to answer questions in a record shop.
It's good to know there is still a record shop....
------------------------
The store was up on Haight street. Beatnik capital and hippy hangout of the 60s. It's still got that feel, mixed with a lot of people a bit to old to be carrying skateboards. It turned out that a member of the Brian Jonestown Massacre worked in the shop. If you haven't seen the film Dig!, then watch it and all will become clear.
Back at the venue for soundcheck, an immaculately turned out Californian woman arrived to make me some new in-ear monitors. This involves filling your ears with putty so they can get a model of the inside of your ear. But before they can do this, they need to clean your ears out. The Americans are never shy of throwing a chemical at a problem, and true to form she used Peroxide. Presumably I now have punky, blonde ear canals.
Gig 2 at the Fillmore sold out as well. The word seems to be spreading. The guys from our new label over here are San Fran people so it felt like a family affair. Afterwards, we went back to a place we'd found the night before called the 3 Crowns. UK DJ Greg Wilson was on the turntables. It's the only time I've heard "Walk LIke An Eygptian" in a nightclub. At 1.58 a bouncer came and shone his torch on my drink until I finished it. It seemed like they take the 2am licensing law quite seriously. But afterwards there were little speak easy places everywhere for the determined.
------------------------
Early morning call for the flight to LA. It's amazing what you can buy on an American Airlines flight.
Incredible to think that everyday thousands of people must look at this stuff and think "that's just what I've been looking for".
The W hotel in LA is the new place to be in town. This means that for girls to get in, 70% of your legs must be visible, there must be no blemishes, and you have to bring proof of cosmetic surgery. For blokes, you need a signed certificate to say that you spend 3 hours in the gym each day before breakfast and a white shirt is preferred.
In the middle of all this was the GA squad, fresh from a few beers on the plane. So we saw out the early evening there before heading down to San Bernadino to DJ. It was a long drive, over an hour, so plenty of time to check some tunes out on the way. On arrival it was straight from SUV to golf cart, with a Colombian girl at the wheel. She was "so excited" and was sure it was going to be "awesome".
Tour manager Jamie went off to try and get the lights turned off. We always try get things as dark as we can - let people get lost in it. Having said that there were enough glo-sticks in there to floodlight a football pitch. Nevertheless, it was another big LA DJ set from the Armada.
The drive back was tough. It was 6am by now, another 24 hour day and daylight was on its way. We left the hotel lobby full of glamour. When we got back it was full of hoovers.
The next morning, we woke up as legends. Outside the Henry Fonda theatre - another classic venue - our return to LA was being given the big one....
This made it quite stressful when we went in to find the PA not working, all the stage lights flashing uncontrollably, my bass broken in transit and intermittent loss of power to the whole venue. Sam "the scientist" (soundman), and Jonny (lights), alongside Tec, Tim, Jamie and Jo turned the whole situation around. The PA ended up sounding enormous, the lights were reigned in, the bass fixed with a trip to the hardware store and the main power rerouted. We have the best team in the business.
The scientist and jonny pull off a last minute rewire...
With all that sorted, it freed us up to enjoy Daisy Lee who was backstage.
Backstage in LA
And a mystery rock n roller...
It was one of those gigs when you're always on the brink of trouble. The fixes of the afternoon were fragile, and we lost various things from lasers to monitors during the show. But noone in the audience seemed to mind. LA loved Saint Saviour and MAD.
The Fenech Soler boys who'd supported at our second San Fran gig were in town as well. They played a great set. Ben put on his sparkly jacket and joined us onstage for Paper Romance.
After the gig there was a bit of meeting and greeting to be done. I spent a lot of time talking to people without ever being really sure who was who. After that, it was a stroll across the carpark back to the hotel. Once again it was all going on in there. Lots of people had seen the gig, so a fair few photos were taken. Favourite among the photo-seekers was Carey, who said she'd had a 'religious experience' to Groove Armada, and was giving lots of high 5s. She introduced me to her wife Shirley who was wearing skin tight glitter pants and a cowboy hat. At the time it seemed run of the mill.
A few hours later we had to go and play live on America's finest radio station, KCRW. As members of the band emerged, it was clear that it was a shades-on kind of morning. It was a blow to hear that they were going to be using webcams. The show was "Morning Becomes Eclectic" hosted by the velvet voiced Jason Bentley. The station is on a college campus. Thousands of clean and pristine students walked around holding files and folders. A "spot the band" contest would have been pretty straightforward.
We had a bit of time to soundcheck, then got a 'briefing' from the producer a couple of minutes before going on air. That was when we found out we needed to play one extra song and I had to introduce all the tunes.
You can watch/listen below:
From there we went into town to do a couple of extra radio interviews, including one with the Suicide Girls, who were far more cheerful than you might think. Underneath the radio station were the dons of the spray tan world.
Who runs that competition?
Implant anyone?
That night we'd agreed to throw a party at the W hotel in exchange for a deal on the rooms. It was going to be a low key affair, until word got out and 3,000 people tried to get tickets, jamming the phone lines at KCRW. Jamie, Sam and the team made sure the decks were ready and waiting and the PA was firing. It was clear we had a party on our hands. It was an odd blend in the crowd. LA hipsters, a couple of bemused hotel guests and some hardcore fans who'd spent the whole day trying to get tickets. It began with a circle of people around the turntables staring at me as I put the first few tunes on. It ended with every hand in the air and a fair amount of broken glass.
Next morning it was off to New York. The approach to Manhattan never loses its magic. We walked straight into another W hotel party. Once again, they'd had to tell 3700 people they couldn't come and let 300 in. Another curious crowd combination; this time Korean teenagers and city slickers loosening their ties. After an hour or so the hotel lobby became the Hacienda. The receptionist jumped up on his desk and started punching the air.
Next morning it was soundcheck at the Webster Hall. Everyone's played there. Inside it's got that special shabbiness which only comes with a lot of big nights.
It's a great feeling, doing a sold out gig in New York. It felt like it was going to be a good one from the start. The sound in there is heavy. Standing next to the bass bins was like being in a wind tunnel. Soundcheck was straightforward and we had time to prepare a new version of History for the performance on Jonathan Ross.
The gig didn't disappoint. Like the Forum a month before, it was one of GA's finest moments.
Afterwards we ended up in New York's darkest basement listening to Berlin DJ crew M.A.N.D.Y.
Another wake up call that seemed to come just at the moment when you're getting to sleep, and it was time to leave for Miami and the Winter Music Conference. I'm not sure how they get away with using the word 'conference' to describe the biggest week long party on the west coast of America.
On arrival we went straight off to the legendary Miami OM records party. The DJ booth was a little crowded. We have a 4 deck setup these days, and the only way to get it in was to put Tom's mixer on top of the fridge which meant he had to stand on tip toes to reach the faders. Dawn was breaking as we headed back from that one, which set us up perfectly for the 9am soundcheck that morning. This was for our live gig at the ULTRA festival - a couple of massive stages between the motorway and financial district in Miami's downtown.
Just as well we did the soundcheck given that pretty much every cable onstage was plugged in the wrong place.
The gig was scheduled for 7.50 that night. An hour before, we heard that the set time had been moved earlier. That wasn't an option given that we'd brought the world's finest lasers halfway round the world and needed darkness. So there were a few hardball exchanges with the festival team until we managed to keep the original stage time.
ULTRA is a DJ-led event with the likes of Tiesto and co headlining. So doing Black Light Live there was always going to involve playing music to people who wouldn't have heard anything like it before. But the reaction was fantastic. Which made it all the more annoying when one of the cameramen who'd been wandering around the stage and getting in the way all night, kicked out a crucial power lead halfway through Superstylin. You can imagine our reaction when the same thing happened again a minute later.
That night we hooked up with the Toolroom boys to DJ at their party at Space. It was one of those difficult nights when getting in takes an hour, getting a drink takes two. Getting into the DJ booth was nearly impossible. The set was good, the crowd great, but the attitude of the men guarding the little red ropes took the edge off.
A couple of our team went outside for a second and had no chance of getting back in. So we left and went up to a club called Bed. Starting at 6am it was called a Breakfast In Bed party, but there was no sign of the promised scrambled eggs.
Another day another DJ set, back at ULTRA again. One of the most used phrases in Miami is 'stuck in traffic'. That's what we were told about the vehicle scheduled to take us to the festival. As a result we arrived 10 minutes before we were due to start. Nothing was setup. They quickly threw it together and on we went. Everything was all over the place. No monitors and half the decks not working. So it was a busy combination of keeping the ball rolling whilst rewiring the stage, all in fierce 35 degree sunshine. For about the last 20 minutes everything was in the right place. Around 10,000 people came to listen and despite everything we rocked it. You can't buy experience. We had a pretty lively chat with the people responsible for the technical side as we left the stage.
That night we teamed up with the Swedish House Mafia to do a party in an odd looking club full of helium balloons with sparkly tassels, mirrors and legs. A woman as tall as me gave out shots of an odd looking tequila on the way in. From there, we hooked up with OM Records crew one more time at another party round the corner. They're no strangers to a late night either and after a week in Miami, a couple of them were keeping the sunglasses on at all times.
Getting a taxi out of Miami's South Beach when the clubs close is an artform. After using all the tricks in the book, I finally managed to get out of there just before the sun came up.
Apparently we've got pilots and baggage handlers for cabin crew on the way home tonight as the BA strike kicks in. Let's hope they remember the cold beers. It's been a long couple of weeks.
Big thanks to Chris and the OM Records team for making GA's return to the USA possible. Already plans are being made for a return tour in September so standby.
Tour managers Jamie and Jo have got to stay on for another week. 3 years on and they're still pursuing compensation for when a Miami hotel window fell 7 floors onto Jamie's head and nearly killed him.
So he stepped aboard the airport shuttle to see us off in style....
In 'Big Jo's Beer Hall' - Miami airport. Phil Hartnoll from Orbital has just decided to join GA as MC Philly H.
We'll see if that's still the plan when we land.
Andy Cato
|
|