Ahh, rest. It's been a few days since we finished our Irish tour, which could not have ended better. A half hour playing to 3000 faces at the Oxegen festival. Knees wobbling all over the stage, look up and raawk, or settle for closing your eyes and pretending its Whelan's. We had to rock! A dozen 500 capacity venues, beginning in Sligo and ending twelve days later in Cork at midnight, only to get 3 hours kip and drive to Punchestown for 10.00 to soundcheck. It was Time. Time to see could a crowd mosh to 'Starlight Drive'. A pinch of angst and amps up to eleven, they did just that.
What a super two weeks. Our manager Ger reminds us to be happy with the fact we thought it was so enjoyable. He says sooner or later we'll be complaining about touring. Never! Well, there are some apparent downfalls of touring. Every venue kept us back after closing and filled us with so much drink we'd stumble to our Hotel at 5 in the morning kicking Conals football only to be kicked ourselves, that is..out, by 10.00 and then have to hit the road for the next place hell bent on trying to sleep, heads rested on rattling windows. Stil, the pain is worth it. We've met some great people and had a number of very memorable 'sessions'. Apart from meeting one girl working for 'The Corkman' who managed to succeed at being the biggest B**CH we have ever met. "your band are crap and not worth listening to" she says during a surreal verbal round of abuse that lasted close to an hour. Then she was upset we didn't share a Taxi with her?
None as good a time though as the day we spent in Punches-town. The Diary entry I wrote a while ago 'Radio Tour' where I spoke about travelling to about 20 interviews over the course of 2 weeks, well at Oxegen we did them all again, in one day. Plus a nice spot on the Telly with the GORGEOUS Lorraine Keane and a live track on the Dave Fanning 'Planet Rocks' sofa. Played weightless for Dave, he liked it. We smiled. Walked passed the Black eyed peas dressing room much to their annoyance "Who the hell are these guys, what are they doing here!!". Well, we're sorry Peas, but aren't dressing rooms for staying inside of? So next time ask yourself "where is the love?" and ignore whoever is walking outside your room, even if they do see you rolling a joint. In my best sarcastic Chandler Bing impression, I say "Try closing the curtain?". Pink was ordering her dinner at the canteen in the cue just two people down from me "What the hell do you mean you don't know what a Vegan is!" Well, the whole place found that amusing, Pink explaining Vegan to a stressed and tearfull waitress (who I'm sure set fire to her Pink records later that day). After our set at 1.30, interviews stretched on 'till 8.00. Then our PR supremo Stevo Berurbe decided we had done enough and carried us in a tired stupor to the hospitality tent, which could best be described as an orgy of one way conversations, sniffy noses and dilated pupils. Although not everyone was off their tits. There were the odd few faces we were glad to see. The Devlins (nice blokes), Ollie(Turn) and Danielle, Elton Mullally, the legend himself Sinister Pete and Conals highlight of the day, mister Jimmy Cliff! But it wasn't long before we scarperred. Work was over, the tour was finished.
