Spametry

I'm off to play another last minute gig tonight after an invite from my friend Wayne. If anyone is at a loose end, do come down and support us at: HOBGOBLIN (Formerly 'The Jay Cubed') (club & bar), 73 White Lion St, Islington, N1 9PF (Nearest tube Angel) - music kicks off around 8pm.

Tonight is special as I'm planning to perform the world premier of a new poem I've 'written'. Now I don't do a lot of poetry reading, in fact none at all, but this poem is mercifully short and it's origins are very interesting. I was scanning my Junk Mail folder a few weeks ago, checking in case anything had been wrongly filed, and I realised that the headings of the 5 spam mails in there read as a rather beautiful, poignant and, some might even say, profound poem. It has almost Haiku like elegance and a real punch in the pay-off. I've reproduced it below (note I haven't changed the order of the lines), as I'm sure it will whet the appetites of all for my performance tonight.

For those that can't make it, I'll give a full account later (assuming anything interesting happens).

Have fun!

Daren

Don't Wait Any Longer
(D. Callow et al)

Don’t wait any longer,
Have you got a sec?
Looking for a friend?
Timing, important.
Do you want to enlarge your penis?

Humbug!!

As a person who has long suffered from a birthday in the same month as Christmas, although fortunately at the start of the month. I was utterly floored when I noticed that Pizza Express have already launched their Christmas Menu!!!!! It's only September for f**ks sake! I call upon all right thinking people to immediately boycott Pizza Express until they show a bit more respect for tradition lovers, and those with a sense of perspective everywhere. Let's start a No Christmas 'til December campaign or at the very least until after fireworks night. Mid-September indeed... I ask you!!

Five Days, Three Gigs

It's been a busy few days music-wise. Kicking off with a floorspot on Sunday at The Horn in St. Albans. I must confess I certainly wasn't "feeling it" that day, perhaps Dr. Evil had gone back in time and stolen my Mowww-Jowww... or perhaps I was just in a bad mood. I played okay (I think), but the evening was kinda subdued, and to cap it all the train home was 45 minutes late... harumph!



The Castle

Moving swiftly on. Wednesday brought a debut performance at The Castle in Portobello Road. I was amongst friends as the outlaw Robert James and the wonderfully witty Wayne Myers were hosting and performing respectively. The Castle is a lovely pub with a friendly atmosphere. It has plenty of people to play to (as opposed to some open mic nights, where you are only playing to other performers!) but the downside is the high volume of background noise (ie chat), but I don't mind that. I feel it's my job to entertain and get the attention of the audience, and if that fails, at least enjoy yourself and that might rub off on a few people.

Robert James opened and in a worrying omen managed to break a string. I was next on, so after a slight haitus I kicked off. I played I Need Your Love, Minneapolis, Tomorrow, Vulnerable, Lullabies and Do You Want To Dance? And it went down pretty good. I was encouraged by people watching and nodding their heads in time, and I grew in confidence as the set went on. Set done I relaxed at the bar, well for a moment or two anyway. The string breaking maladies continued as Wayne broke one of his. As my guitar was tuned and ready to go, I quickly loaned it to him and he was able to finish off in good form. He's a very good player and it was great to get a chance to hear my guitar from the punter's point of view. I was pleased to hear it sounded great!

Wayne, Frog Morris and myself then had a suitably jolly remainder of the evening, when much alcohol was consumed and we enjoyed all the other acts. Robert James (guitar re-strung) was a rousing finish to the night. I shall be back, and I thoroughly recommend the Wednesday nights there. Great fun and great entertainment. Thanks for coming Frog!

Edwards

Somehow in all the frivolity I managed to sign myself up for a return visit to Edwards! Rob was the host again and a mixture of pre-booked and floorspot acts performed. The standard, I have to say, was very high and all the turns played well. In fact as my spot approached and then was put back I was nervous about playing, and considered sneaking out. In the end I managed to stay sober and performed with gusto. It's a truism that a good performer will encourage the others on the bill and it certainly seemed true that everyone was trying very hard and, for the most part, succeeding. During my performance a chap sitting to my left added some percussion which sounded great. It made Vulnerable slightly challenging as I tend to vary the speed quite a bit, although it works very well with a fixed beat too, I think it was one of my best performances of this song. In fact it was quite a night for percussionists as the worlds saddest percussionist in a red top accompanied a couple of other acts. It's a highlight of Rob's performances that he passes out percussion instruments and encourages the audience and performers to join in. This tends to make for a rousing night, even if occasionally the song finishes only for the percussionist to continue on oblivious to everything!

It was hard work doing two gigs in two days and I came off sweating, but very happy. My guitar's work wasn't finished though, as one act had come without a guitar (who does that!!) so I loaned mine out again. The evening climaxed with more stomping, slapping, strumming and howling (and in Wayne's case self-harm as he preceeded to bash himself all over with a shell covered shaker). You really must check out Robert James some time if you are able, as he's a real performer who can make two hours worth of other (good to very good) acts seem entirely pedestrian. I'm looking forward to the next one already!

Dxxx

P.S. There were way too many other excellent acts to mention here, but if I was to pick one other out then do check out Mike Davies an excellent blues guitarist/singer. He only got one song, but he made the most of it.

P.P.S. The photos are Robert James at The Castle (top) and Wayne Myers at The Castle (playing my guitar, bottom)

Rock 'n' Pop

Couple of chances to see me strum my stuff this week. Tonight I'm off to The Horn in St. Albans, where the music quality is varied, but usually high, and the loos have to be seen to believed! Check the picture.

On Wednesday I venture to a new venue, The Castle, in Notting Hill. (225 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, W11, Nearest tube Ladbroke Grove) I'll be on about 9pm and will be playing for 20 minutes!!

More gigs coming. Plus I've recently jammed with a new bass player who was excellent. Trying to talk my brother into drumming for us on Monday, or at least helping us find a suitable tub-thumper... very excited by this, as it will be a song-led three piece with a lot of improvisation, effects and real impact. I've been dreaming of having a band like this for a long time and it's a good feeling to know I'm close now. BTW, if you are a drummer who likes the sound of a three-piece with some adventure and experimentation thrown in (something between The Police and Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood) then get in touch!!

See you at a gig very soon,

Dxxx

The Police

Where am I? Queensbury in Harrow in a church hall. What am I doing? I'm playing live in front of an audience on electric guitar for the first time ever. It's 1986 and the song my brother and I are playing (badly, I've no doubt) is Wrapped Around Your Finger by The Police. I'm playing a white Stratocaster copy through a Carlsbro amp... I really wanted a Telecaster. I fell in love with The Police when they released Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, and slowly worked my way through the back catalogue. Synchronicity became my soundtrack. By 1986, mind you, The Police were nearly over. They released a remix of Don't Stand So Close to me and then split up. My first gig was a Sting gig, I wished it was The Police.

Where am I? Soho, London. What am I doing? I'm at a gallery looking at pictures taken by Andy Summers in the mid-eighties. I'm not alone, the other guy in the room is another 30-something. I feel rumbled. It's September 7th 2007. I have the Telecaster now. I can play Roxanne and Message In A Bottle. I can even play Every Breath You Take, but it's harder. I've been playing in bands for 21 years... still one thing I haven't done yet... see they guys that started it all play live.

Where am I? Twickenham Stadium. What am I doing? Well you can probably guess. It's September 8th 2007, my friends and brother are all here (somewhere) alongside 55,000 other people. On a stage, somewhere down there, a small figure walks onto a darkened stage and starts to play a gong. It's Stewart Copeland and he's closely followed onstage by Andy Summers and Sting... something I've waited 24 (ish) years for is really happening. I can't actually believe it. The crowd roar as Summers starts to play Message in a Bottle. I panic, I can't hear anything! But the crowd noise abates and I get treated to 2 hours of pop perfection. I cry. Someone buys me a drink. I start to sing along with everything. I'm pleased I know the words to some of the less well known songs. Andy Summers plays some huge guitar solos... why the fuck not. I don't care, I love it. I cry more. Somehow we get home. I don't really remember.

Where am I? The Horn in St. Albans. What am I doing? I'm on stage playing Do You Want To Dance? I improvise some lyrics from Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. It's Sept 9th. I got to do the one thing that I really wanted to do and never thought would happen. I've been through the gamut of emotions and come out singing. I don't cry. I smile and have fun. Life carries on.

Dxxx

I Went To Documenta and All I Got Was This Lousy Mug

Actually I think it's a lovely mug and it's from the 4th Skulptur Projekte in Muenster and not from Documenta at all. But I did go to both last week and had a quite varied time. Documenta is an important (so they say) art exhibition and event which is held every five years in Kassel, Germany. Kassel itself is a very workman-like town in the heart of Germany with very few buildings older than the 50's. I wondered at first if it was a new town, but it turns out in fact that we bombed it flat during the war. Poignant then that the Documenta event is a very political exhibition and, this year at least, quite dark in nature. It didn't help either that the weather was lousy when we were there. After the fun of Berlin and the Kunst-Werke exhibition of Joe Coleman it came as quite a culture shock. We stayed in a business hotel just out of town and got the bus in each day to see the art. We shuffled around all the major galleries and tried to find somewhere to have fun in Kassel, but we failed. I also discovered the the brothers Grimm used to live there, grim was the word alright! So we left as early as we could and went to Muenster.

The Skulptur Projecte in Muenster only happens every ten years, and this is the fourth occurrence, so it's quite a privilege to be there. In contrast to Documenta the only politics seems to be about the interaction between art and public spaces and it's a much more light-hearted affair. I didn't get to see the Bruce Nauman inverted pyramid - Square Depression and the Guillaume Bijl buried church, but we did see some good stuff. Our favourites were the Mike Kelley petting zoo, complete with cow, goats and donkeys!! We also liked a sculpture made from crushed plastic animals, the sort that towns use to promote events. Ironically the hotel we stayed in actually had one of the painted cows in it's lobby!

Muenster is a much more fun place to go out and we managed to find a Mexican bar that served us about 6 cocktails with extra shots along the way and only charged us €28 !! We also found a fun Italian restaurant where everyone in the party gets their own charge card, no arguments about splitting the bill there then!! Now that's my kind of town!

Dxxx

P.S. The Shrinking Violets are reforming, and I'm supporting them at their gig on the 29th Sept at the Trinity in Harrow. Should be a riot!!

P.P.S. The Pet Shop Boys look set to announce more dates in October... hoorah!! I'm not unemployed yet!

Fit and the Conniptions

Well, I've just spent about the last three hours looking at the cartoons of I guy I barely know from about 15 years ago... he once roped in my brother to do drums for him, and I was probably very upset as I was dead jealous of anyone who stole my band members. But he's a totally cool guy (in an entirely un-cool way, if you know what I mean) and a sensational cartoonist. Think Dilbert for music lovers and you've just about got it. The fact that we are both still survivors in the "music world" despite various ups and downs is both a source of encouragement and a damning kick in the teeth, but that's what Wayne seems to be all about. So there you go. Do: a) check out his cartoon series, by clicking "First" in the link that's coming up and going through it day by day, b) go to one of his gigs, 'cos you'll be in the cartoon one way or another, and c) support your local musicians, we are like the High Street, about to be taken over by Tesco or summit.

Worthy posts on Documenta, Skulptur Projeckte and The Police to follow... keeep up if you can! Ha.

Here is Wayne's cartoon about our gig the other night: http://www.conniptions.org/?20070827

Dxx

P.S. Happy birthday to my brother on 3rd Sept just gone... the day war broke out, don't chya'know!

Sunday Night At The Alamo... er I mean Edwards

Well, you missed a treat. It was probably one of the most bizarre and yet strangely entertaining nights I've ever been involved in. First of all, many thanks to Alex, Andy, Kris, Haydn and Carole who made it out through carnival traffic, the maddest disco you've ever been to and, no doubt, some angry redskins to come along and support me.

I must admit I had a nervous feeling about the gig when I arrived to find no one there (load-in is supposed to be 5.30pm, I got there at 6.15). In fact no one appeared until 7pm ish, when I was starting to think I was in the wrong place. The arrivee was the outlaw Robbie James: sound engineer, money collector and, as it turned out, performer. He proceeded to throw chairs and sofas around as if we were barricading up the Alamo in anticipation of the arrival of the cavalry.

Needless to say soundcheck was delayed somewhat, but the other turns started to arrive and I introduced myself. I got chatting to a jovial fellow by the name of Wayne Myers... Don't I know you from somewhere? he asked. We went through a number of acoustic venues we'd been to recently with no matches. Perhaps you saw me in a band? No idea, so we left it...

[Funny aside 1: I guy wanders into the soundcheck looks around and then takes out his mobile phone. He dials. The guy sitting on the sofa just in front of him's phone rings. He takes it out. Hello? Hello? I thought you were playing at Edwards tonight. I am, wait I can't hear you. I can't hear you either... first guy heads to the door. I start to point... eventually he realises he's phoning a guy 3 feet away from him!!]

Soundcheck was completed somewhat hap-hazardly... with much PA popping and microphone placement. The punters began to come in and we looked at each other wondering what order or how long we were playing for... no problem, the outlaw had it all in hand... reverse soundcheck order, two songs each... then the whole thing again, three songs each. Here we go then.

First up is a chap by the name of Red Cesare I believe, who sang some of the most manic and amusing songs I've heard in a while... couldn't catch many of the lyrics due to the PA being a bit hit and miss, but it was fun anyway. Wayne was next up. Again very entertaining, my brother watches interestedly. Then turns to me and says, What was the name of that guy who used to record at 2nd Sense? No idea, I say. But bells are starting to ring. At the end of his set the sound engineer/outlaw is nowhere to be seen. What to do? Play another song? Yeah, why not... so he does.

Next up is me!! Sound engineer re-appeared, I negotiate my way through microphone cables and sofa cushions onto the make-shift stage. I play I Need Your Love and Minneapolis, Hungover, Tired, Awake. It goes well, I think...

After me is something else altogether. A young 19 year old lad called Chris Turpin (see Pic), wearing a BRMC t-shirt, who proceeds to play and sing like an 80 year old american blues player!! It's the most extraordinary thing. The voice appears to be coming from someone else, we all sit and stare in amazement.

Finally it's the turn of Jimmy Chan, a kind of urban protest singer, a bit like an acoustic version of The Streets. Wow, what a mix... and then we do it all over again.

In my second set I play, All I Want Is You, Vulnerable and Do You Want To Dance?, which seems to go down particularly well.

[Funny aside 2: In Wayne's second apperance he is accompanied by a flautist. I assume it's a band member, but it turns out Wayne met him 5 minutes before they played together! So what did you do, just name the key? I ask. Yep, he says. He was pretty good in A, but a bit dodgy in Bb!]

After Wayne plays his second set I sidle up. Did you ever record in Harrow? Yes. At 2nd Sense? Yes. Then you do know me, and more to the point you know my brother (I point) who played drums for you. Jaws drop, Haydn and Wayne haven't seen each other for about 20 years!! Told you it was a bizarre night.

To cap it all Robbie James plays a set of pure Americana blues... told you he was a genuine outlaw! And we swap MySpace details and CDs and wander off into the night slightly reeling from it all... I keep glancing over my shoulder feeling like an extra from Il Mariachi, is the Mexican army following me? Where the heck is my horse!?

Dxx

P.S. Kris photographed the whole evening, here are his pics of me and Chris Turpin.

Wish Me Luck

I've entered a competition in Guitarist magazine, it's good to do these things as it's another outlet for the music and a great motivator to get things done. With the latter in mind it was cool that they needed two tracks to listen to, and this spurred me on to record Home / Lightkeeper (see post) and a new version of Vulnerable.

Please do check them out, and let me know what you think:

Home / Lightkeeper

Vulnerable

The prize is really cool, a chance to gig as support to two more established acoustic artists and a Yamaha guitar!! I find out on the 24th if I've made it to the last six.

Another reason to wish me luck is I have a gig on Sunday (at Edwards in Hammersmith). I haven't done a proper set for a while, so I'm gonna have to practice hard. If you happen to like the tunes, then do consider coming along. Details are here.

Dxx

Are We There Yet?

I hinted in a much earlier Blog that I've been waiting for something for half a lifetime... which in my case is a scary 19 years!! Not long to go now and I'm feeling the excitment grow. Honestly, I haven't felt like this since I was a kid, it's nice when something comes along to make you feel that way. Can't wait!!

Goodbye Old Friend

I've had a companion (well actually, in best Only Fools And Horses tradition I've actually had three of them... the first gave up the ghost after I dropped it in some girl's loo [a whole other story], and the second was stolen or went awol in a Clapham bar) on my travels and adventures over the last two years, that I'm finally saying goodbye to. It's been more than just a companion though, it's been my phone, my mp3 player and, most importantly, my camera. All the pictures (baring one or two) in this Blog were taken by me using my wonderful Sony Ericsson W800.

I have a brand new W880i now, but it can never be quite the same. The very best thing about the W800 was that you just had to turn it on it's side, open the proper camera-style shutter, and press the camera-style big silver button to take a pic. Okay, it wasn't overly compatible with my Mac, but I did manage to get Calender and Address Book info on there (easily), and copy MP3s from iTunes (rather frustratingly hard). The facility to download pictures often failed and recently it took to switching itself off at every opportunity, including mid-phonecall.

But all the same I'll miss it. Take a flick back through earlier posts to see some of the places we've been and the pictures we took.

Dxx

P.S. I've decided to recycle my phone in aid of charity, if you have phones lying around I suggest you do the same.

And So To The End... for now.

Could this be it? Could this be the last time I sell T-Shirts for the Pet Shop Boys? No idea, in theory the last date should be in Barcelona, but that’s not until October so anything could happen before then. I’m in Lokerse in Belgium. The Magic Numbers are playing the light is fading and insects are starting to buzz about. It’s a slow selling day today, these festivals rarely involve much selling, but there are usually a few interesting sights to distract me. Today the Coca-cola girls have all been dressed as nurses, complete with stockings and suspenders, yummy. There are worse views.

The show finishes at about 1am tomorrow morning, it will take an hour and a half to pack my stuff up and then we drive for an hour back to Brussels. Later we will take the Eurostar home and the adventure ends for now. On Tuesday I fly to Ibiza for a few days rest and then the song-writing and playing will begin in earnest.

Here We Go...

Here we go then - the next to last trip with the Pet Shop Boys. Today it’s Malaga in Spain. It’s been a fun day so far, we arrived last night and checked in late, early lobby call, but no sign of the bus. Eventually we overhear the Tour Manager on the phone to the local promoters, “Well I don’t see how you could mistake 8am for 8pm!”. The bus that was due to pick us up at 8.30 in the morning isn’t going to arrive ‘til 20:30… whoops! Mistake rectified they eventually turn up, only for the drivers to not know where they were going. The first bus dumps the crew in the middle of the car park, the second gets lost. In the end our Production Manager spots the gig and manages to direct them there, luckily he speaks Spanish.

At the venue the problems continue, there is no power in the dressing rooms or to the back-line on stage. Much head scratching and shrugging follows, some thing is unplugged and replugged, time passes. Half an hour later the power returns. Time to try and find out where I’m selling from. Only the man I need isn’t here yet, so I wait.

When he does arrive it’s something of an anti-climax, the selling spot is a piece of bare concrete with two crowd barriers. No table, no power, no light, no change. Can I have a table? No. Eventually I negotiate a stage riser… and I pick up another barrier and carry it over. We’re getting there now, just the power and light to fix. I’m having trepidations given the power debacle earlier. No worries, I’m told, you can get power from the bar. Although the bar has no power. Well no real rush, seven hours ‘til doors.

With about 3 hours ‘til doors, I’m still powerless. But I have my trusty light (see earlier Blog), well I did have it. Right up until I dropped it on the floor and broke the bulb. Now my heart is really sinking, how to fix this one in time? My pleas for help are mostly met with shrugs and blank looks, no one has a bulb (not surprising) and no one seems to know what to do (not too surprising either). Eventually I ask a guy who I know speaks good English, and… he can’t help either. Still at least he could point me to someone who could. I ask again and this time (I think ‘cos he was getting fed up with me) he finds someone who can help and explains in Spanish. Result! This guy talks to two other guys and they set off to buy new bulbs.

Just the power and change to go then. They are setting up a generator at the bar, so that’s looking good. I collar another English speaker at the bar and ask about plugging in, no problem, but I have to wait for an electrician as there are no spare sockets. Okay fine, how about some change. Hmmmm, perhaps when they fill the tills. Perhaps never (as it turns out, never, even though he promises to send someone over).

In due course the electricians arrive and I look plaintive with broken light and plug in hand. My saviour turns out to be a very handsome young Spaniard called Pedro. Even though he speaks no English, he plugs me in, puts one of the two new bulbs in and then proceeds to fix it at a good angle high up the wall. He’s a bit of a perfectionist too, much tweaking later he is happy and so am I.

By this time it’s about an hour ‘til doors, but I’m set fair to go. Of course the Pet Shop Boys are not on until 00:30 (which of course means 00:45 as they are scrupulous about being 15 minutes late for every show), so I have to work through the two support acts. In this case they are a rock band, at least one of which thinks he’s in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (he even broke into the riff from Whatever Happened To My Rock’n’Roll in the soundcheck to prove the point). The rest of the band aren’t too sure though and it turns out to be slightly better than average pop rock.

[Okay, slight break here as a guy dressed as a seven foot soft drinks bottle has just walked past!]

The next support band are a female singer (blond, leggy, big… you know) and her four semi-naked and buffed backing dancers (male, in case you haven’t guessed) doing disco classics. Gay icons? I wonder. Well at least they played some stuff I knew, ahem.

Well we’re pretty much up to date now. The Boys are on stage now in the middle of Heartbeat, about 3/4s of an hour to go and then it’s the mass exodus. After this I pack up and load the truck, which drives overnight to Belgium! We fly tomorrow, so I at least get a few hours in bed, I feel like I deserve it!

Dxxx
(in Malaga, Spain)

P.S. Back at the hotel now, it’s 04:10 and I really am (almost) ready for bed. Well I will be when I finish this vodka, and perhaps a beer, and turn the computer off… lobby call is 10:45, so time for some rest. Good night!

Iraq 1-0 Saudi Arabia

Well done to a genuinely cross-community Iraqi football team. A show of how sport conquers aggression and war every day of the week. I hope it has some influence on the hearts of genuine Iraqis, however small a thing it is. And people sometimes wonder why I love football.

Views From The Stall

I've had a few interesting or slightly surreal views from my selling pitches recently. There was the decrepid Italian villa just outside Milan, the glistening wet roads and hotels of Montreux, the plastic Biomes of Eden and this surreal view: the winner's enclosure at Newmarket racecourse. Yup, the Pet Shop Boys were sharing the bill with seven races and my selling spot (in a wooden pagoda) had a cracking view of the horses after they finished the race and made their way to the winners enclosure.

Live in Hammersmith

Hi friends, some very advance notice here, but I'll be doing two sets (one in each half) at this venue (see below).

I need to get 10 people through the door to guarantee a re-booking, so please invite any music loving friends.

I'll confirm stage times a bit nearer the date, but please write in your diary!

See you there,

Dx


DATE: 26TH AUGUST 2007

VENUE: EDWARDS, HAMMERSMITH BROADWAY, W6.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR A MAP

Live

Wow, just spent an hour practising. Old songs, very old songs, new songs. Songs I don't even know yet. Very intense feelings in some of those songs. Cries of anguish and betrayal mixed in with songs about happiness, love and the freedom of life. Bipolar, moi?

Some are quite hard to sing as they are very emotional, some are fun and funky and make me wish I had a band to do them justice. It's quite a hard thing to try and play original music for an hour with just voice and acoustic guitar and make it fun and interesting. I started to tire after about half and hour, I didn't realise how much energy it takes out of you. Mental and physical.

It's weird how many of my songs are about death. Well actually it's not weird at all, considering how my life has played out over the last few years. You'd think I would be sick of life, scared of relationships, scared of friendship... for fear of losing more. But I don't feel that way, if anything I feel more and more glad to be alive and to have some great people in my life right now.

My most recent song is about travel, adventure, war, love and dreams... so perhaps I am moving on creatively too.

Anyway, I have also started actively looking to book up some gigs as my current tour of duty is starting to fade out. It's time to fade up the music.

Dxxxx

I Am The Light-Keeper

You write an email and you get an email back. Someone's dream, thoughts, lyrics, ideas, images. It rings a bell and strikes a chord. So you keep it tucked away. Then you dig it out and re-shape it into a verse, chorus idea. But nothing more, no tune, no notes, no melody.

Time passes...

Capo, third fret, Em shape... slow change to A, then quicker G to A... repeat G to A... hmmm.

I think I have a lyric that might work with this... yup, it does, so you have the seeds of a new song and something a bit different:


I hope that you got home okay,
I had a coffee in Stockholm,
There are riots in Estonia,
Somewhere we are still at war.

I have a fantasy to share with you,
But it’s cold and it’s wet
And I’m in a truck counting boxes
But I can still read your text

I had a dream,
I was the light-keeper
The keeper of the light
I was the light-keeper

I had a dream that you were there,
All the people had no faces,
You were blinded by the light,
And could only feel.

You found me by my energy
The days are long without you
Funny how, when you find it
You can’t live without it.

I had a dream,
I was the light-keeper
The keeper of the light
I was the light-keeper

I hope that you got home okay,
I had a coffee in Stockholm,
There are riots in Estonia,
We are still at war.

(Callow/Staiger)



Thank you, thank you, thank you Alex! Your words and ideas are giving my music and my life something special I never expected.

Dxxx
(in Madrid, Spain)

We All Live In A Big Yellow...

Another hectic few days. Late flight to Sweden (Gothenburg) on Friday night, then out of the airport, turn left... big yellow bus, you can't miss it! Overnight drive to Hultsfred, arrive early on Saturday morning. Pull myself out of big yellow bus at about 9.30 am... load in for the Hultsfred Doom Metal and Euro Pop festival!!

Count my boxes out, talk to 'the man' and arrange to count in the swag. All done by Midday... nothing to do until 2am on Sunday morning! So wander to catering, wander around site. Lunchtime, don't have a meal ticket but it doesn't matter. We are in the performer's catering. The choice is beefburger, cheeseburger, veggie burger, meat skewers, chicken skewers or Swedish plate. Hmmm. I opt for the cheeseburger, it arrives un-cooked with cold chips and no visible cheese. Ah well, fills a hole and all that. Wander around a bit more. Take a nap.

Dinner time. Same menu as lunch, I opt for the chicken skewers, which are mostly skewer and not much chicken. At least the 4 chips I have this time are hot. They run out of chocolate muffins just as I go to get mine. Ginger cake instead, it's okay.

Manic Street Preachers are playing, so I go and check them out. They are pretty good actually and I've always wanted to see them. Nina from The Cardigans joins them for one song. The new stuff sounds good. Head back to bus for another nap.

Rudely awoken by the act before us. The venue is on an old sea bed (apparantly) and the whole bus rocks when people start jumping up and down. It's 11pm. Our turn is on at 1am!? I help out on stage, cable-tying the video screen. Taping arrows on the floor. Tidying things.

Finally it's 1am and the band go on, it's pouring with rain now. I help out with the head-trucks in You Where Always On My Mind and then go and do my real job. Count the t-shirts, take the money. Get a lift back to the truck to avoid getting soaked. Help finish loading the truck. All done by 3am as the sun is coming up. Back in the big yellow bus. Overnight drive to Gothenburg airport. Shower at 11am. Check in at 12.30pm. Eat, check email, doze. Flight leaves at 6pm local time, and arrives at Heathrow at the same time.

Heathrow Express, tube, train, walk, home. Wot no big yellow bus?!


P.S. Just before I left something arrived by post that I've been waiting for for about 27 years or so... any ideas?

One Gig Too Far

Armani, Armani,
Underpants, Underpants,
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam.

Buses, Cars,
Oooh mind your carbon footprint.

What's going on now?!

Don't ask!

Dxxx
(Back in the UK, for a bit)