TOUR DIARY

Wednesday 12th March 2008

Hopefully elsewhere on this site there is a story about us playing with Buffalo Tom in Sydney last night. It was rather special. If you have read that though, you will know that I was really sick the week of these important shows. I had a throat infection, which isn't too flash for someone that sings songs in public. The short version is that somehow, I sang pretty ok for the extended hour's set of tunes we played. In a lot of ways, by the time I got home last night around 2:30am I was so relieved that the show had gone well that I kinda thought "Well, we have Brisbane tonight ... flights are booked ... we're going no matter how bad my throat is ... we're playing half the amount of time we did last night ... how bad could it be?". I kept that attitude up until show time, though I must admit around 4:30pm I started to worry as I was coughing and spluttering a lot once again.

I got to Mascot airport around 11:45am for our 1pm flight. T-Bone and Tessa were flying with me; Anthony and Bruno were flying up later in the afternoon. I wait around for quite a while and eventually call T-Bone to see where they're at. Tessa picked him up late, hence they're running late. They eventually arrive with about five minutes to spare and both looking a little flustered. We check in all our gear and bags. I have borrowed my brother's new video camera and start bugging my band mates almost immediately with it (hopefully some of it will be online here or there sometime soon). We talk about last night's show, and how psyched we are to be playing again tonight with the wonderful Buffalo Tom as well as local faves Screamfeeder. Once on board, we all sit in a row together. Bone gets the window, Tess is in the middle and I'm on the aisle to stretch my restless legs. As we take off, I grab Tess' arm in slight fear. She has experienced this before with me, and is just my super sweet friend so she reassures me everything is fine even though we are heading skyward in a large capsule. We share her Ipod and try to bug T-Bone, although he is as per usual smitten with the in-flight magazine.

We land about 1pm local time (there is an hour's difference between Sydney and Brisbane). T-Bone disappears for 15 minutes and isn't answering his phone. Tessa and I are at a loss. Eventually he calls; he was picking up the hire car outside. I must say, and I have said this before and I will say it again, T-Bone is an awesome help when traveling. He drives us to the hotel in Kangaroo Point which is a suburb I seem to always be in when up here. The apartment we have booked is pretty cool, with a view of the Storey Bridge and plenty of room for all five of us. Tessa goes down the road to get us some food whilst T-Bone and I relax in front of the TV (which has some pay TV channels, including Fox Sports). Tess comes back with some snacks and drinks, whilst T-Bone does another great act by picking up Bruno and Anthony.

We all sit about for a while, then start to get ready to load in for soundcheck. I shower, change and am told I am going on the first trip with T-Bone and Bruno. We park at the back of the Zoo, and see Tim from Screamfeeder
unloading his car. He and Bruno catch up, and then he gives me a hug. I'd met Tim maybe twice before, and emailed a bit ... especially in the last month or so about tonight. I always knew he was nice, but he very well may be the nicest human on planet earth! The Buffalo Tom boys and their two crew are roaming about and greet us in their friendly manner. Bill and I compare flight details in which I confess that I'm not the best of flyers. They have finished sound-checking and head out to dinner as we set up for soundcheck. We get quite a substantial amount of time to do so, which is always a big help to getting as good a sound onstage as possible. Tonight's room is way more of pub/beer barn than last night's Metro, and I think it was just as suitable a venue in all honesty. For me, Buffalo Tom can be that majestic, sweeping anthemic band which did suit The Metro ... and they also can be a foot to the floor, sweaty rock band which will suit The Zoo.

We warm up with 'Scotty Come Home' and there is a story to it because last night we played it, and it was the one song where we all kind of looked at each other onstage in that secret way bands do wondering what the heck is wrong with what you're playing! Bruno and T-Bone initially thought it was me out of tune, but I had my money on it being T-Bone because he really drives the song. After we play it again in soundcheck it reveals itself (from memory an innocent T-Bone thing but let me double check that). Anyway, it is fixed by show time. We also go over ‘Today We Lost A Great One’. It all feels really great. Tessa took some great photos and film of this so hopefully we get that online for you to see.

Tim suggests a few places for dinner, and we head towards the mall. We choose to eat at Ric's, which is a venue in itself. Across the path is the awesome Troubadour venue too. I have a Margharita pizza and some lemon tea. Bizarre mix, but my throat was still very tender. A guy starts doing trivia near us as we finish up, and I think between us all we had it nailed. Nevermind, we have a show to go play.

When we get back the BT boys are hanging about backstage. Tonight, backstage is side of stage. Communal. We all sorta just sit around and chat. It's a nice feeling, chatting with these guys who really have influenced the music I play. It's surreal for about ten seconds, then you just realise they're normal, sweet fellas doing what they do. It's just they do it really, really well.

Pretty soon, we find ourselves walking to the stage to play. The crowd is small to begin with, but there are some folks down early to see us and it builds up nicely throughout our set. Compared to last night, we play a shorter and sharper bunch of songs. We play them just as well though, with Bruno suggesting afterwards it was actually better and our best performance. I'm not so sure, but I know I was very satisfied with it and I left nothing in the tank.

The set was:
Until Sunrise
Blue-Belle
Please Don't Let Me Forget
Lil' Wandering Soul
Game Over
Scotty Come Home
Today We Lost A Great One
Something Great Must Come From This

I see the BT boys watching us which got me doing something very briefly that I don't like to do, and that is thinking about something else whilst I'm singing a song. I always try and think about what I'm singing, or what I wrote it about or just anything that will get me into the zone and point of view that I'm singing from. For about half one of the first songs I stood there thinking something along the lines of "These guys who musically influenced me so greatly are watching me play". Maybe it wasn't that profound. The feeling I had though was it could be one of the best musical moments of my life, or the worst ... depending on their reaction. But from the stage I could see they seemed into it, or maybe I just wanted to see that! Either way, I knew I had to get back to concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing. My throat was pretty sore but we got through it fine.

We got our stuff offstage pretty quick so the mighty Screamfeeder could get up there and get ready to play their first show in ages. Tim was so complimentary with his thoughts on us; he really is a true music fan ... he is so positive and energised by it; you can hear it when he speaks and see it when he plays.

We grab some beers and unwind backstage a while. The BT lads are really kind with their words. Bill asked me about the history of us all playing, which I explained in the only messy way I can. I'd sent him 'Stories ...' a few years back which at the time he said he liked via email to me, and tonight he said the band fleshed the sound out much more than on record. We chat a while and Bruno and Tess sit down with us. We talk about the tour, Australia, work and life.

T-Bone and I head to the bar where I grab some whiskey. We watch Screamfeeder begin their set and from start to finish they are on the money. I grab the video camera and film some songs from side of stage. I head backstage and leave the door open to watch them from there for a while. I have a great long chat with Chris, and Tessa also joins us. Chris is a really funny guy; kind of dry sense of humour and bookish smart if that makes sense? He tells us about his job for the booking company he has worked at since the band started, his kids, and again ... we just all chat. Anth is on the steps deep in conversation with Bill. I didn't spend much time with Tom but he was super nice when he was around. I know I keep using the word 'nice' but hey, I think that's a great word. I talk up Screamfeeder big time to Chris, especially when they play two songs off 'Burn Out Your Name'. For T-Bone and I in our youth, that album was as important to us as Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and I'm not talking down 'Nevermind' by any means at all; I am very much talking up 'Burn Out Your Name'. It is timeless. It is heavy. It is melodic. I remember going two nights in a row to see them play at the Annandale for either the launch of that album or a few months later. T-Bone was under age and I was a tiny bit of age. It was mayhem, and it was amazing. That album should have made them famous worldwide. Chris then tells us a bit about Taang! Records who were supposed to make Sceamfeeder popular overseas.

Bruno heads back to the apartment as he has a 6am flight, and Anthony heads over to the Troubadour for a while before coming back to the Zoo. We tell BT to have a great show then give them some alone time before they play. The crowd is pretty good by now, and we position ourselves to the side about halfway
back. Within the hour, I separately meet two members of Halfway. Great band, great guys.

BT play a wonderful set, perhaps the best of the tour. They even change a few of the songs around, throwing in 'Darl', 'Frozen Lake' and 'Crutch' as well 'Birdbrain'. It's a very receptive crowd. Around 10:30pm T-Bone drives Tessa to the apartment as she isn't feeling well. They just miss Chris giving us a shout out inbetween songs which was really sweet, and then a while later just as T-Bone gets back Bill also thanks us for playing and even goes into more detail about us. That was probably the moment where it really sunk in. Don't get me wrong, I loved every moment of the two shows we did with Buffalo Tom. Every moment. But at that point, I was pretty content.

I went side of stage with the video camera and took some pretty amazing footage. I had very little battery left and no recharger with me. I was waiting to get my favourite song 'Larry' but you know what? They never played it! Which is weird because I think every time I have seen them they have played; it's like their signature. But like I said, they did a different set so I respect that. Plus, I saw them do it only just last night. They finish with some ‘Let Me Come Over’ magic and leave to wonderful applause.

T-Bone and I sit around a little side of stage, both pretty tired but musically content. He has packed most of our gear which is a nice surprise; he so didn't have to do that on his own. We say goodbye to everyone. I was hoping to have a few quiet drinks with the bands but they each have to be up way too early for that. The BT boys have something like a 24 hour journey back to Boston ... poor buggers! I thank Bill for having us and we shake on it. Tom too. Chris tells us to look him up if we get to Boston. I thank Tim again for all his help.

As I was walking out I introduce myself to Kelly from Screamfeeder. You know, I can be kind of shy sometimes and we hadn't really had that chance to introduce ourselves but she lent us her bass gear and I'm a longtime fan of the band so it felt only right to do so, even as I was leaving. I regret not doing so earlier because we had a nice chat about the night and the 'feeder.

T-Bone drives us back to the apartment. I left out something comical. Tessa and Bruno had texted me during BT about sleeping arrangements. There is a double bed in a room, two singles in another and a fold out. Basically no one wants to be any trouble, or a headswell and hog the double. So we figure two of us can share it. Bruno takes a single as he is leaving early; T-Bone takes the other so they can wake one another as he generously drives him to the airport at some ungodly hour (T-Bone rarely sleeps in). Anthony doesn't want to share with one us so he takes the lounge. Tessa takes the double. I end up on the fold out, which is more than fine. I sneak into bed around 12:30am which seems kind of early. Anthony cracks me up as he is watching the Sopranos under the covers on his laptop with headphones on.

Thursday 13th March 2008

I am the last to wake and shower. Bruno left hours ago. We encounter some traffic which surprises us. The plan is for Anth, Tess and I to fly back whilst T-Bone drives north to see his Mum. He drops us off at the airport and we hurry through to check in our gear with about ten minutes to spare. I have visions of using Anth's Qantas Lounge benefits but that falls through when we find out they won't take Tess' keyboard onto the flight as it's too heavy! We tell them it made it up alright, but they insist we have to freight it. Tess rightly so stands her ground but there is no way they're going to change their mind. Anth quickly calls T-Bone to tell him to come back to the airport (again our savior) and he takes the keyboard out to meet him. Meanwhile, Tess and I check in. As we go aboard we explain our story and tell them our buddy Anthony is a frequent Qantas passenger and he will be joining us and that they must wait for him. He turns up before we need to test them. The flight is half full, so I sit with Tess and Anth sits across from us. We keep looking at him and laughing; he has his sunnies on and his reading one of those recording mags. He is such a rockstar! Tess and I talk up a storm like we used to on the phone. Deeply personal and trusting. I cherish these times. We each go our seperate ways. I think about how much fun we've had the last 48 hours, how much stress I felt due to my voice feeling so sore and how happy I was when it didn't give in.

To play music we love, even just rehearsing it ... is really enjoyable. To be in a band with some of your closest friends and sharing with them an occasion such as these last two shows ... playing with a band that influenced me so greatly, is just incredibly cool. It's something I won't forget. Thank you to Tom Johnston Management for getting us onto the shows and to Andy at Love Police for agreeing to it. Thanks to Screamfeeder for lending us so much gear and being so nice, and of course a big thanks to Chris, Tom and Bill for not only coming back down here to play but letting us open for you as well.

Sam
April 2008