Ace Bushy Striptease

February 2009

Saturday 7th February

17pm (ish)

We are in the room of practice.

Bas and Emma are singing.

Simon hit my ride cymbal.

I feel like a toilet.

WE ARE IN THE ROOM OF PRACTICE

19:16

We are in the Sunflower Lounge folding zines. Hari and Aino are about to sound check. They seem lovely SO FAR.

I am not happy. I should be happy. We are on tour. That should be happiness. But I am not happy because of a few things:

  1. I still feel like a toilet
  2. Last night seems to have been 'it' where my brain cells are concerned. I can now not do anything at all. I cannot fold zines. I am a toilet. I am a vegetable. A piece of broccoli.
  3. Coventry beat us 2-1 and we missed a last minute penalty.
  4. Feeling like a toilet makes everything terrible.
    5. Hari and Aino are playing some synth. I need to be happy. I am going to make a concerted effort to be happy from ..... >>> NOW. We are on tour. We're about to play The Autumn Store. It's going to be mega fun. I am going to drink a bit and hit things. It will be great.

I am not a piece of broccoli. Nope.

Hari and Aino sound pretty and amazing.

FOLDING ZINES

Sunday 8th February

2:29

I am in bed. The show was possibly the most fun ever! This is going to be total gush but the Autumn Store team (who I won't embarrasingly name but suffice to say their first name initials spell quite a large bra size) are the nicest/best promoters EVER - this is how it should be done NO DOUBT! (In my patronising wisdom) I've played a lot of gigs and have NEVER been looked after so well!

People danced and nodded appreciatively. I didn't fuck up our Belle and Seb cover intro like I did all afternoon. We screamed a bit. The sound man fell in love with Emma as is customary for someone to at our gigs. Smigs and Cheese drank some beer. A cute girl spoke to Simon.

And I AM happy now! Because it was so fun.
David Leach and Hari and Aino were top. We all discussed TV and Norwich and yep.

I am going to sleep. I have drunk 1 cider and 1 guinness only. I will not be a toilet tommorow

DAVID LEACH AND HARI AND AINO WERE TOP

12:21

We are in the room of practice again. Emma and Simon are trying to learn Romantic Rights by DFA1979 and I am sipping a Pepsi waiting for Bas.

Emma is feeling husky, she says, which is quite petrifying.

I am resting this book on a snare. There is blood on the snare. It is not my blood. It is not my snare.

I hope we write some new songs today. Or at least work on the ones we made last week. Maybe that's 'cause I wrote some. Yep, me, a drummer! I HOPE they're not humouring me. One is about bands who come to watch you just so you go to their shows through some kind of masochistic guilt trip. The other isn't mine really but I contributed a bit. We shout This Is NO WAY to CONTINUE and I like to think it's about life and no hope and stuff but Bas said it was actually about a lull in writing songs. When I shout it though it means the no hope thing. What a morbid **nt..!

BASITH IS HERE :D

WHICH IS QUITE PETRIFYING

BASITH IS HERE :D

17:51

We are in the Wheatsheaf really early! Emma and I drove down because Simon and Basith couldn't fit in my bass drum and my car is small. We listened and chatted and listened to:

... the latter, to my surprise and admiration, Emma LOVED, and indeed I'd forgotten how actually brilliant My Own Summer and Be Quiet And Drive et al are. (Note to self, listen to Deftones discography at home tommorow).

It was snowing but it's OK! Don't worry about us.

I like the Wheatsheaf. It's got a heart. Simon is blowing up balloons. Now he is sitting on stage changing "MinJe" from the front of our bass drum to something. The Bumblebees have just arrived. They seem friendly. Bas is brooding. I think he wants to kick someone in the face perhaps. It's OK, though, we've been discussing it!

I am running out of things to say. My cousin will come tonight to fil me in on some gossip.

I am going to take a photograph.

It has changed to "Mine?"

"minJe"

23:42

The tour is over! This is very sad. Tommorow I go back to being unemployed again and I spend all that money on petrol and I owe lots of people now and it's terrible.

BUT don't let this self absorbed arselick self pity take away from the fact that tonight was AMAZING and LOVELY again! Maybe not QUITE as amazing and lovely as last night, but pretty close and well, yep, we played some songs and maybe weren't as 'tight' (shoot me, I hate 'tight') as at the Autumn Store but actually Bas said maybe we were and that he felt 'free' and I only think I know what he meant. Some gigs feel 'free' I think in that you don't have to think and maybe that's what he meant.

I am at my dear cousin's house and we are talking about snoring and girls and limited experience.

Anyway yeah an amazing thing happened after we played! Simon and I were at the bar feeling sheepish and awkward and this man was like "you were absolutely amazing! Let me buy you a drink." I think all he got in return were two dumbstruck gapes at how anyone could like it, before mumbling a thousand thankyous at him and giving him a badge. I never know what to say when this happens. (I write like it always happens. It's happened like, twice).

They let me play the aforementioned song I wrote ("yrinaband") today but I don't think they really like it. I think they are humouring me. We didn't play the CONTINUE FUCK YOU NO WAY :o one which was sad.

I'm tired now. I am going to sum everything else up in some kind of staccato:

Mountain Parade = fun lovely Ric Wade interesting percussion piece awesome
The Paraffins = Scottish E Smith J Cocker Of Montreal man pops balloons brilliantly with TUNES
The Bumblebees = Top pop awesome lovely again dance yeah!

Bas and I massively fancied a girl we saw because we are objectifying pigs. I won't be detailed but suffice to say she was a physical contradiction. I gave Bas a hug. It's never to any avail, this fancying pretty girls lark.

Emma went home to Wheatley to her brother's house. Bas and Simon disapeared down an alley. We drove to Botley. It was a bit like that end scene in Oceans 11 but not really very much.

And now it's now.
And I'm going to sleep.
B Y E

THE MOUNTAIN PARADE

THE PARRAFINS

THE BUMBLEBEES

In other news there's an interview with some of us here by one cup of the aforementioned bra.

More tour diaries.