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Cereal to Metallica in 5 Easy Steps
Written Tuesday August 19, 2008 by David Monks
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We’re on the homestretch again – Dublin, Manchester, London and then
back home for a bit. Hurrah! First thing I’ll do when I get home – eat
some cereal. Its the kind of thing you never get on tour, I guess
because it’s pretty impractical to keep spoons, bowls, a selection of
cereals wide enough to suit any mood, and cold milk in a van (I just
don’t know how the milkman does it). Next, I’ll sit at the piano, bowl
and spoon in hand, and try to conjure up our next smash-hit
club-anthem genre-defying single. But I will, as usual, stop when I
realize I lack the necessary appendages to play and eat
simultaniously, and settle for singing between spoonfuls and cereal
that gets soggy by the end. Such are the creative beginnings of most
of our songs.
I’ve started taking pictures of our audiences from stage, which has
been really awesome. The first one was at Splendour in the Grass, an
Australian festival. One of the strangest feelings is being on stage
somewhere you’ve never ever been and seeing huge tent full of people
that know your songs. I’m no good at judging crowd sizes but there
were at least several people there. Possibly a bunch or even a
multitude. Anyway, so this first picture suffered from my photography
skills but the moment is there.
Our Australian tour turned out to be one of the most enjoyable tours
ever: sold out shows, great lattes, Yves Klein Blue, nice weather (you
call that winter?), got to see Sigur Ros and Koalas (both put on great
shows). Check.
Next was Summer Sonic and our return to Japan which was fantastic.
The organization level is always stellar in Japan. Shows are always
preceded by “The Production Meeting” which is a useful time allotted
to going over the plan. Things like set lists and whether or not there
will be towels on stage are all examined by a team of event
professionals. It was evident from the notes on the white board when
we entered the production office that the sheer scale and overwhelming
complexity of the event was intense:
And so, as always, Japan was a blast and the crowd was awesome. We
ended off with Kareoke one night, the pictures from which I feel
compelled not to include in this blog.
And then came the flight to London. The whole trip I knew this
beastly commute would rear its ugly head sooner or later. I had held
onto the hope that perhaps, moments before boarding, someone would
invent teleportation, or the world would shrink, or I would just
crumble to dust at the departure gate and reappear in Heathrow with a
stamp on my passport. Such was not the case, but we all made it. A day
to recover and Pukkelpop made it all worth while. We got to the
Flemish festival late and missed out a bit on what looked like one of
those really special events. When we arrived we found out we were
pitted in the same time slot as, dun dun duuuun… Metallica. Now,
Metallica and us – we aren’t that different really. We both were
massively popular acts with mainstream crossover appeal during the
1980’s, we both developed new guitar styles which influenced a
generation of bands to follow, and we both have SEVERE RAGE ISSUES!
Whatever the case, our tent was full and the show was as successful as
the catering was delicious.
A few more shows now and we’ll all be back home. For a
week. And then we’ll be back on tour in Canada and the US, for some
headlining shows and a tour with Weezer! So read next time to find out
who is better at hacky sack.
See you soon!
Dave