Greetings and salutations from chez LaFaro. As of this morning (January 27) we are two weeks into this touring malarkey and about to set off from Nottingham to the fair city of Lincoln. It is a beautiful and historic cathedral city in the East Midlands with narrow and winding cobbled streets and a bustling and brimming marketplace.
But we don’t give a fuck about that. We are going there to make a filthy, joyful mess of a noise and bring a measure of Northern Ireland candour to the place. We are just four of the many ambassadors that believe our little country can swim with the sharks. Catching a ferry is just the first step in trying to force a ripple to become a wave. And you know what? It’s working. Everywhere we’ve been so far on this tour, we keep getting asked the same questions: do we know the Panama Kings? Do we know Two Door Cinema Club? Do we know Fighting With Wire? Do we know And So I Watch You From Afar? Do we know Feargal Sharkey (president of music)? Our collective music is starting to get out there into the wider public consciousness and from what we are told, people not only know about it – they fuckin’ LOVE IT! Then they tell their mates, and their mates’ mates and their mates’ mates’ mates, blah blah… I digress.
My shoes smell fresh and surprisingly so do the ‘oul pits; there’s a pot of tea brewing and the bacon’s in the grill. Our friend Noush kindly put us up at her place last night and forced enough premium red wine into us to make speech foreign and difficult, yet no ill effects linger past the morning. We are all up in good time and in good spirits. For the most part, home has been ‘big red van’, which has been customised to modestly accommodate four Irish fellas. It has two 32” flat-screen plasma TVs, four Xboxes – that’s one each – 12 plug sockets, two kettles, two sinks, a Jacuzzi, a juicer, two ejector seats, a frenchie machine just for Tony [Wright, ASIWYFA and LaFaro BFF], laser-quest, a spare room for the dancing girls and a pool table. I’m just kidding around, obviously. In actual fact it has a dirty carpet, a single mattress and a cigarette lighter. But sure, it’s home.
We usually start a tour like rabid greyhounds, but not this time. It’s probably due to old age and cynicism but I suspect there were other reasons for this. You see, this is the longest tour we’ve done together; six weeks in total, but it’s also the first time we have booked it ourselves and gone out alone. This adds gravitas to the whole thing, which in turn has made us more considerate of the work that needs to be done. We have always loved touring, and we have been fortunate to be asked to tour with some great bands and with some great friends, but it was important to us that this tour was done on our own. Alan [Lynn, drums] and Herb [Magee, bass] did a fantastic job in booking, splicing and piecing this thing together.
Two weeks in and all the gigs so far have been great. The promoters, who have mostly been friends of ours from previous tours, have done us proud. It’s clear that they have been working their sexy wee socks off to get people listening, interested and down to the shows. The first show was in Bannerman’s in Edinburgh. They gave us somewhere to stay, eat and wash, and even found it in their hearts to get us shit-faced. There just isn’t a better way to start a tour. Then the next night was the 13th Note in Glasgow. Low ceiling, no stage; an absolute sweat-box of a gig with a fantastically vocal and appreciative audience. We loved it. On the third night we travelled to Newcastle to play a show with our friends’ band Knuckledragger in their practice room. A proper stripped down, DIY, guerrilla gig; no promoters, no bouncers, no bar, not even a sound man. Just carry-outs, getting stupid and loud-as-fuck rock. Incidentally, a rare opportunity to drink, smoke fags and watch live music at the same time. Ahhh… the good old days.
Then it was south to London for a show with our old friends Let Our Enemies Beware in the Bull and Gate. All credit to Mike the promoter for pushing the gig so hard. It was entirely unexpected to play in London to a packed room including a few familiar faces from back home. I could go on like this for every gig but that would be a bit fookin’ tedious, wouldn’t it now? So I won’t. Instead, I’ll just say that we’re having a ball, playing hard, and giving it to the English tight. Job done. Up the hoods.
I guess we’ll be seeing yous all in a couple of months, so until then take care ya wee rats,
Jonny. X
Posted on: March 11, 2010
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