ok... so, i haven't posted in a month... believe me, i've actually thought about posting. i even wrote down 25 pages of "stuff" while i was over in the UK. that's right, i was in the UK. i left on the 18th of february and didn't get back into the country until the 5th of march. i was thinking "hey, i'll type it all and do a bunch of posts when i get home" HA... yeah... like i have time to type up 25 pages of stuff and like you (the whole probably 2 people that might read this) are going to want to read all that. so here, the abridged version. i was there, the first night i spent at my friend Lori's house in Woolrich Arsenal and then i spent the 19th through the 25th with Brice Woodall and the Positrons. they rock my socks off. i helped them drag their gear through the underground for their four shows.
show one: The Dublin Castle in Camden. the girl running sound there admitted to us that she didn't want to be at work that day, that she hoped she could have an easy in and out day, and then her mood changed the second she started sound checking Brice. she said, "bands like you are the reason i work in this business. you're going to make it some day, and i'm going to be able to say 'back in the day at the dublin castle i ran sound for Brice Woodall and the Positrons' and that makes every night of unknown bands worth my time. thanks for reminding me." pretty cool. however... people at The Dublin Castle can't spell:
show two: Abbey Road Studios. WOAH.
i don't even know how to describe this day. it was so awesome. the session seemingly went on forever, every time we thought they'd gotten to their last song, they'd get asked to play another. they covered the beatles "a day in the life" and i swear... i hadn't heard this cover ever before, and it just absolutely floored me. i was grinning ear to ear and got chills down my arms. i actually stopped taking pictures at that moment... i had to snap out of it to capture Ted's reaction to the song. (Ted is the DJ for U-Pop, the XM station that was doing these sessions)
he was writing stuff down and only listening to one half of his headphones and literally stopped everything he was doing, put the other ear of his headphones on and closed his eyes. he was totally, i don't know how to put it than to quote a line from Garden State, he was totally "in it." if you don't believe that is a quote from Garden State, you can go to IMDB and read it for yourself.
show three: The Cavern Club, Liverpool.
we were all pretty excited to take a train to liverpool and get to the cavern. we stayed at a kickin' little bed and breakfast called the wellington inn. i highly suggest staying there if you ever go to liverpool, cheap, nice owners, and good breakfast. 25 pounds a night.
anyway, the cavern club was awesome. cool cool venue. the people that were at that show (the few of them) loved the set. we hung out with some guys from York who wanted to show us a good time in liverpool that night... at like 3am. it didn't last long. they wanted to go to loud clubs and we... well, we weren't having it. we nicely excused ourselves and headed back for the wellington, where we hung out with the owners until the wee hours of the morning. and by we i mean brice, steve, and mark because i was exhausted. i tried really hard to stay awake... i tried so hard that i was falling asleep sitting up... and they were all laughing at me i'm sure.
we got up the next morning and had breakfast downstairs, we filled out orders the day before and gave it to the lady who was cooking for us, so we all got exactly what we ordered and it was delicious. coffee... tea... orange juice... pretty much anything you wanted. and a good time.
the very next day the guys were off to the airport, and i headed for Euston Station (again) to take the train (again) but this time i was off to Manchester to see Gareth! (yes, that's me and G... we were at the lomo world congress back in september, this was from the dance party the very last night) G rocks my socks, it's not very often you meet someone as cool as G.
... this journey is to be continued at a later date... because i'm starting to fall asleep sitting upright...
show one: The Dublin Castle in Camden. the girl running sound there admitted to us that she didn't want to be at work that day, that she hoped she could have an easy in and out day, and then her mood changed the second she started sound checking Brice. she said, "bands like you are the reason i work in this business. you're going to make it some day, and i'm going to be able to say 'back in the day at the dublin castle i ran sound for Brice Woodall and the Positrons' and that makes every night of unknown bands worth my time. thanks for reminding me." pretty cool. however... people at The Dublin Castle can't spell:
show two: Abbey Road Studios. WOAH.
show three: The Cavern Club, Liverpool.
anyway, the cavern club was awesome. cool cool venue. the people that were at that show (the few of them) loved the set. we hung out with some guys from York who wanted to show us a good time in liverpool that night... at like 3am. it didn't last long. they wanted to go to loud clubs and we... well, we weren't having it. we nicely excused ourselves and headed back for the wellington, where we hung out with the owners until the wee hours of the morning. and by we i mean brice, steve, and mark because i was exhausted. i tried really hard to stay awake... i tried so hard that i was falling asleep sitting up... and they were all laughing at me i'm sure.
we got up the next morning and had breakfast downstairs, we filled out orders the day before and gave it to the lady who was cooking for us, so we all got exactly what we ordered and it was delicious. coffee... tea... orange juice... pretty much anything you wanted. and a good time.
unfortunately just after breakfast we had to head back to lime street station and go back to london. steve passed out on the train...
and i went through photos (big surprise). we had the day off and steve and i wandered around south bank and made our way to chalk farm so that he could see the banksy i knew was there
unfortunately she's been buffed quite a lot, when i was there in september she was practically untouched except for by the elements, like the moss growing over her shoes. i was very bummed to see how destroyed she'd gotten.
the next day was another day of wandering, i don't remember exactly where to, but we wandered and saw stuff, and then went to the queen boadicea where brice was doing an open mic nite. with only 3 songs, he still managed to put on one hell of a show
the next day was another day of wandering, i don't remember exactly where to, but we wandered and saw stuff, and then went to the queen boadicea where brice was doing an open mic nite. with only 3 songs, he still managed to put on one hell of a show
... this journey is to be continued at a later date... because i'm starting to fall asleep sitting upright...
