Every time that I go to Europe, I realize how I’d miss being there and how much I enjoy it. I just returned from a whirlwind trip, arriving on Thursday morning and flying back on Sunday. I met up with Unwed Sailor and Toboggan at the Brighton Train station, the location of the first stop of their joint tour. I was surprised to meet Fig from Gentlemen Records who happened to be driving the van for the day, helping Toboggan arrive from Switzerland and meeting Unwed Sailor. Later on, Fig played a soundtrack that Honey for Petzi had recorded which was simply incredible.
Brighton is a coastal town and is also providing the subject matter for the Unwed Sailor split 7″ on Johnathon Whiskey records. There is an older pier, a more classical and old fashioned pier, that has been closed and is deteriorating. Nearby, a newer pier with amusement rides and arcades has been built. We spent time on the rocky beach and visiting the pier before getting to the club. The crowd was a bit small, but the sound was amazing.
Friday, we went on to Margate, another coastal town, about a 2 hour drive from Brighton. Johnathon needed to record some samples for the split 7″, so we were recording various sound in the beach front arcade. Apparently, the manager thought we were up to no good with the minidisc and microphone held up to one of his machines and kicked us out. It probably didn’t help that we
initially ignored him and had no respect for his authority. This show was packed with mostly high school aged students with nothing better to do on a Friday night. So, basically, the bands were playing a high school dance, with the crowd attempting to drink as much beer as possible and pick up members of the opposite sex. There were a few interested people, especially the people who set up the show and gave us a place to stay. The person who hosted us that night made us vegan pasta with homemade sauce. It was pretty amazing. He was an old school skater, into the classic punk and hardcore back in the day. He played his instrumental band, North by Northwest, which existed for a brief time and recorded two incredible songs.
On Saturday, we made it into London after some navigation problems. We decided to head to Camden High Street and go shopping for a bit before the show. On the way to the tube, I noticed that I was slipping and falling, only to look down and see that I had slipped on a banana peel. It was pretty funny in an ironic sort of way. The odds of such ridiculousness are incredible to fathom, so I was a good sport about falling.
Camden was swarming with people looking to buy, buy, buy. I was excited to find a few Yellow6 records that I was looking for Willis, so that made the experience more interesting. There was some vintage clothing shopping, where we tried to convince each other that we would look good in old hats.
The show at The Arts Cafe was definitely the best of the three. The venue was an amazing space and also a pizza shop. Some of the best pizza I’ve ever had was at this club. Maybe it was because I was so hungry, but I don’t think so. Plus, pizza with a nice pint of English bitter is always amazing. There were quite a few people that we knew at the show, so that was also very good. I managed to meet my good friend Ben’s sister, Heidi, who happened to be at the show. After the show, we attempted to make the tube and end the night at the Crowbar, but got their late because the tube stopped running and we had to hire a black cab. We got their about 30 min before closing and there was a 3 pound entry fee. It just wasn’t worth it, though when I heard that Jason Spaceman was drinking at the bar, I was seriously reconsidering.
My flight was leaving much too early in the morning, and we had to jet to Nic’s house and pick up some Unwed Sailor cds for me to take back to the US. So, Johnathon, Matt, and I are navigating buses and trains in order to make it happen. I arrived to the airport just before they closed the flight and made the plane about 5 minutes before they closed the gate. It was all worth it. I wish the very best tour to Nic, Johnathon, Matt, Val