EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND: BEFORE & AFTER
We left dreary Ireland and Northern Ireland via a short ferry ride (no sickness, mellow candle) and arrived in Scotland where the air flowed briskly and the sun was out, but not too hot. Seasonal depression is a very real thing, especially in my experience whilst living in the northwest of the United States. I wonder how different the collective UK vibe would be if the weather was bright and sunny a lot of the time (or at least in the summer). I'm mostly talking about Ireland and Northern Ireland here.
We met up with Espers in Edinburgh for our first of 8 shows in the UK with them. They seem really familiar to me even though we just met. It's nice to be around people like this. Chris, especially.. he's my new buddy! I'd heard about these guys through Adam and later on from the nicer-than-hell Wrists + Pistols boys. Here are some Espers sound-checking.
I was in Edinburgh last year with Lucky Dragons, Bobby Birdman, and Wrists + Pistols and we didn't have the best experience ever, and I guess that tinged my memory of Edinburgh, because this time I was blown away with the beauty of this city. I was expecting to see my friend Emily, whom I met last year in Dundee, but she wasn't there. Where are you Emily?
Vashti Bunyan came to the show and I was nervous and shy around her. She was so sweet and modest when I told her how much I like her singing on the Animal Collective EP. Her first and only album came out in 1970 and now she has a new record coming out soon. Be on the lookout! Sorry for the lack of photo, I was too shy to ask for one with her.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: BEFORE & AFTER
We played at a comedy club. A COMEDY CLUB! There weren't any other bands on the monthly club schedule, only comedians. I don't know how this happened but it was really entertaining and out of the ordinary for us. There were "inspirational" words scrawled on the walls for comedians to share and pass down to other comedians via other walls in other comedy clubs across the world. Here's a bit of "David & Kevin," the two comedians that Noah and I transformed into in Manchester:
Live at The Comedy Store
(9 MB - VIDEO MP4)
We got to the faux fancy hotel where Noah and Devendra found something very odd about their rooms.. well, first off, we had checked in about 3 hours earlier and left our stuff at the hotel before returning to the club for the show. Both Noah and Devendra had left their suitcases and laptop bags (with laptops in them) in their room. When we returned to the hotel after the show the laptop bags were missing.. they searched everywhere in the room and then in the van... nothing. The laptop bags were stolen out of their EFFING locked room! The laptops weren't the most important thing in the bags, either. Noah and Devendra had been keeping their passports in these bags and they were now stolen.
The next morning while Devendra and Noah were on a train to the American Embassy in London, we stopped at the Earth Cafe and I ordered a vegan sausage roll. Holy smokes it was good.
LEEDS, ENGLAND: BEFORE & AFTER
City Varieties, what a beautiful venue, even with the rumors of it being haunted... ya-ya-ya-ya-yikes! Maybe one of you can spot some kind of hidden phenomenon in one of those photos? We arrived in Leeds pretty early in the afternoon without Devendra or Noah. I walked around a little bit, bought some books and felt a little lonely and homesick in a deserted shopping district with faint signs of hustle and bustle maybe only minutes before my walk.
As the day faded into the evening we started to worry that the guys wouldn't make it back in time from their expedition to expedite new passports from the embassy in London. Our tour manager, Johan, received an email from the Manchester police in the early evening.. they had recovered the passports! Someone had dropped a bag full of random papers and their passports on the front steps of the police station early in the morning. Johan's email was delayed or something, because the police email was date-stamped at something like 7 am. They emailed Johan because there was a printed out email from Devendra to Johan or vice-versa and that was the only document that had any form of contact linked to Devendra. Unfortunately Devendra and Noah were traveling without any means of communication and weren't calling to check-in or anything. So Kelly ended up driving to Manchester (about 1 hour from Leeds), picking up the passports, and returning just in time to help us load our stuff out of the club.
It was getting later and later... Sir Richard Bishop had already played and the Espers were just finishing their last song. We had some idea of when Devendra and Noah could be arriving based on train time-tables, but we didn't have any idea if they had made the train, received new passports, or anything. The promoter started to sweat and asked what we should do. We ran over the options.. A Vetiver show? A long jam? (this option was only in my head) An extended Espers set? The promoter decided to signal the Espers to play one more song and then she would take the stage and announce the situation. Literally right as the Espers played the last note of their encore Devendra and Noah came bursting into the green room with big smiles on their faces. They got new passports and had a pretty awesome day in London!
Meanwhile Kelly was on a bunk-mission to Manchester only to pick up now-invalid passports.. but it turns out the bag of random papers contained the most sentimental and special items the boys had lost. If they want to reveal what they were, I invite them to comment here.
All of this hubbub caused the show-times to get all screwy and we were only allotted something like 30 minutes to play due to a strict venue curfew. The crowd wasn't having that. The cheered and cheered and finally I got on the mic and asked them to TAKE IT OUTSIDE.
Leeds "Afterparty"
(11.6 MB - VIDEO MP4)
We got outside and there were about 100 people waiting for us.. then it turned into 200.. then 300.. then the crowd was massive. We played them two songs with random percussion, a couple acoustic guitars and a big sing-a-long. It was really nice and reminded me of how shows can be magical and personal.. shows like Little Wings, The Microphones, and Bobby Birdman. I've seen these guys take it outside a bunch of times.. man, it's nice. The next show you go to.. ask them to take it outside.
Truly,
Jona
HOLY SHIT!!! I was wondering about you guys! Thanks to Jona for having his lil' bloggy...please email me! I love you! I will come to Vancouver and you can cut my hair!
www.mittenmaker.blogspot.com
Jona Jona, take care of the Mellow Legend and Meg for me! Keep up the good fight! We miss you! Hello from all the Danes in Philly and distant forests! Love, Brendan!
this is where all the hubbub is, eh? man, leedS was a blast and i'm sorta drun k in brighton this espers sabbath fantasy camp thing (and beeeer). loads of sesh. um... jona IS OFFICIALLY MY DAWG. HE WRites for gigbag magazine, i write for monitor mix.
alissa, andy, dev! try to picture little maxwell head banging his way through "long haired child", he knows all the words and sings along every time, he always talks about you guys coming back for another visit, it's so great to read, see and hear of your travelling carnival show! say "hi" to sir richard, he just played here and melted what's left of my brain.....xo, uncle
i think its pretty amazing that the thief must have looked through the bags and felt totally guilty about stealing their passports and personal effects to the point where he returned them... like an "oh shit! i just wanted the computers, i didnt mean to steal their passports or hurt their feelings"
Joel, I miss Portland as well! We only have three shows left and I'm really excited to come home and feel the Portland summer.
Sarah, sadly I think that the theif must have felt the weight of a deeper crime (passport theft is DEEP), rather than the emotional content of the items stolen.
Now, dear readers.. I want you to figure out how the theif entered the room! Was it an employee? Isn't that too obvious? This was a hotel where you drop off your room key and ask for it later without ANY identification varification or anything.. weird, right? There are lots of hotels like this in Europe.
PUT ON YOUR CRIME HATS! Help us solve this crime.
jona i just wanted to say that although i don't know the details of the theft it wasn't me, hopefully that narrrows the hunt down for you.
i've heard of this belgian guy called poirot he's a bit cocky but he's the best so if you can get him on the case you;re on to a winner.
thanks so much for the tickets at brighton hopefully andy, noah or devendra thanked you from me on the night asked them too. did wait around for you but like the yeti you were elusive man.
til next our paths cross
jf
JONA!!
i was thinking about how you are a wonderful person today and i was like oh! blog! so here i am.
weird stuff: i was in paris all summer and at one point you were there as well
golden: donovan encounter
MUCH LOVE
//anne
(chicago visit soon? nomaybeYES)
JONA.
This is Cole. I have a question about the internet. Do you even read these comments?
You know how you have popup images that automatically have fitted windows for the image? You also have it with movies. Do you know how to do it with just a general webpage?
Thank you.
Love,
Cole
Anne,
Why didn't you write me sooner! You should have been at the show in Paris, it was one of the best ofthe entire tour. Chicago w/ The Blow, YACHT, and Anna Oxygen in October! I'LL SEE YOU THERE.
Cole,
This is something you should E-MAIL me about. Ding-dong.
awwwwwww this is awesome, except the fact that i am visible in one of those clips! ahahah. awww jona gives the best hugs even if he is a meanie. haha x
lucky!
could i ask what make and model video camera you used to make the clips (like the one from the leeds aftershow gig outside). thanks, hy
hello jona!
i wanted to be there, but the plane was being so slow getting home. i was flying back from pdx! i had a beautiful time in anacortes again this summer (thank you!) and in san francisco too. i'm glad you enjoyed edinburgh because it is where i'm living now and i suspect i'm falling in love with it.
you'll be back again soon, won't you?
best,
emily
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Dear Jona :::
Please say hello to Alissa from Jonathan & Nicole from vancouver. We met her and Andy and Joanna at the Crocidile Cafe there last fall. I know this is perhpas not the best way to be remembered but when we met Joanna and Noah at the Green Man Festival in Wales last summer she informed us that a prticular expression of Nicole's had become popular on the tour and this was " Holy Shit From A Dog's Ass !!!!! ". Anyway please say hello for us and in the meanitme i leave you with a story the 11 year old nephew of a friend of mine wrote for a school assignment. I think dev could make a pretty great song of it !
The Leprafurger preferably eats pickled staplers through the blue stars on his feet. He is a singular species, and can be found prosperous in Southern Arabia. When in hibernation, the Leprafurger unconsciously eats nuns through a straw. All the black lines and dots on the Leprafurger are used to scare away the farmer that is constantly trying to baptise him. Lemon is his favourite word, though he hates limes. There is no animal that doesn’t fear him, and he lives in a tree. The only thing the Leprafurger is afraid of is mustard. He uses his giant brown thumbs to hear. He is in constant solitude when not being chased by the farmer and his holy water. He uses that time to tell his only friend, Fred the worm, that he feels the inner machinations of his mind are an enigma, and that when he changes color for no reason, he says it’s because he must obey the inscrutable exhortations of his soul. Since he uses his thumbs as ears, he uses his ears as thumbs. The symbols on his body, as in the hourglasses and oddly drawn ‘4’s’, are graffiti as a result of sucking nuns through a straw. He has an average life span of 300 years.
http://mrbojingles.blogspot.com