day five thru 13.

ok, so i've been back from england for a month and i've only managed to document days 1-4. for some reason i'm seriously lacking pictures from days 5-12. i think this was right about the time skully hijacked the van and pete d was taken hostage. along with my camera. here's what i vaguely remember....

day 5 was chelmsford where we played the bassment club. bad news was the newspaper mis-advertised the show as being on wednesday not sunday which it was currently. promoter did a lovely job of drumming up people. it was an intimate crowd but still fun.

day 6 was back to london to play the 639 hostel. wild, wild times. great crowds. made lots of friends. drank sambuca. gringos inducted swedish groupies.

day 7 drove to lincoln. visited a gigantic church and made friends with the vicor's huge cat.

day 8 drove to hornscastle. did some serious shopping at a junk store that went on and on into another realm. fed ducks from my hand. played that night at old nick's tavern. the boys fell in love with the tavern owner's daughters.

day 9, ipswich. played the railway. strange little man who drinks bottles of amyl nitrate spoke of being sprayed with "the percy" from secret military aircraft in the hills. it made his skin smell of oranges and changed his sexuality. oh the horror. i'm never going back to ipswich.

day 10 was stepneys in newcastle. great club. unfortunately, the music venue section was soon to close. this was no fault of our fantastic promoter, spen. i'm sure he's working at another venue by now. he has great ideas and a big heart.

back to london on day 11. it was the last show of our tour. and what a send off it was. we played "what's cooking". steve, the show's promotor, hosts shows on wednesdays and saturdays upstairs at the sheepwalk. he personally goes into pub on those days and transforms the upstairs into a cosmic vintage ballroom. with gold lame curtains, paper lanterns, rows and rows of framed photos of musical legends, strings of plastic flowers and lights, and candlit tables. i really can't describe in words how gorgeous this room was. we played to a standing room only. after the show, the club was generous enough to let us stay there that night. we had the ball room all to ourselves. at midnight, we celebrated jason's birthday. kept celebrating til the break of day.

day 12 took equipment back to shrimpton & rental agency. returned big red to his rightful owner. wrestled some serious hangover demons. returned to wence we came.. hostel 639. rested up. said goodbye to gringos. tears fell. took tube to picadilly square for one last pint and a bite of dinner. returned to hostel. slept like kings.

day 13, said goodbye to skully. more tears fell. jason and sam took him to a secluded resting area. we will hopefully see him next year when we return. when the saga continues....

pete d sleeps this way by choice (or so skully would have you believe).

what's cookin decor.

after the show.

jason's antique birthday stein.
backstage in london.

the party's over.