Superlambanana
UK tour update #3:
Day 9: On the train journey to Liverpool I saw a fox in a field, which would turn out to be the only fox we saw on the entire trip. The cross-country trains are fast, efficient and smooth. It feels like you're riding on air. I had never been to Liverpool and other than the knowledge I picked up from hundreds of hours of Beatle documentaries, I didn't really know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that the majority of the downtown area is a super-modern outdoor shopping mall that looks like it was build in the last 10 years; comparable to our Metreon & Yerba Beuna Center. Nicely designed, but not very charming. The Cavern district is still pretty much the way it looks in Beatle movies; little windy streets, brick buildings, and music everywhere. You can wander into almost any pub for free and see a great band or singer. KC ran into David Bash at the hotel when we were checking in and he offered us a 2nd show that night because one of the other acts had canceled. Fab. We would now go on at 7:45pm as The Corner Laughers & 10pm as Agony Aunts. We briefly considered changing clothes and putting on glam make-up between shows but decided it was too much trouble. Charlie & Tracy got a room at The Hard Day's Night; a fancy Beatles-themed hotel right next to the Cavern district. The lobby is tastefully decorated in old black & white photos from the 60s and we were looking forward to seeing what room they would get. Charlie could never have guessed that he would be sleeping under a giant portrait of Yoko Ono dressed as the Mona Lisa. Make of that what you will. We met up with our Facebook friend Maxi, a talented musician in her own right, and she showed us around town for a while. They have the best accents here. Both of the sets went really well. The crowd seemed enthusiastic and it was a thrill just to be playing at the Cavern in Liverpool. After the IPO, KC, Charlie, Tracy & Maxi went to sing at an open mic at the Lennon Bar at 1am. Karla & I were too tired, but I hear it was a crazy time.
Day 10: Visited Liverpool Cathedral, the largest cathedral in England, then met up with Maxi and the others at The Hard Day's Night for a Beatle tour. Instead of paying for the 50 pound cab tour or taking the Magical Mystery bus, we thought we'd get the best for our money & time if we flagged a random cab driver and asked him to show us stuff. Surely every cab driver in Liverpool knows the Beatles sites only too well. And it worked, the cab guy charged half the price of the tour and showed us everything we wanted to see in half the time: Penny Lane, Strawberry Field, John & Paul's childhood homes, etc. It's sometimes the case that when you see a place that's been romanticized in a song, especially a really great song, it doesn't live up to it. And that's definitely true of Penny Lane & Strawberry Fields. Two of the greatest songs of all time, two of the most boring places of all time. In the afternoon it got a little rainy so we went to some museums on Albert Dock and learned about slavery & shipping. Our 3rd IPO was across the street at the Cavern Pub, which has better sound and seating than the Cavern Club, but not quite as much mystique although they do have displays of famous guitars & such. Liverpool on a Friday night is kind of insane with hen parties. I guess the American equivalent would be something like a bachelorette party, but those don't usually have matching t-shirts and sashes do they?
Day 11: From Liverpool we took a morning train to Cambridge, which contained an annoying transfer in London. A guy named Daniel in Cambridge saw us at the 12 Bar Club in London and really wanted us to come play in his town. We didn't have anything booked, so he came up with this amazing idea of having us play on a punt on the river, with 10 other punts being the audience. He put out a Facebook announcement and within 2 days he had over 50 participants. We were planning to go there anyway, to hang out with Anton & Lorna, and we had already bought the train tickets, so he was able to plan this all around our schedule. It was as fantastic a time as we could have imagined, and there are already hundreds of photos and some Youtube videos out there so I won't go into too much detail, just that it was probably the most magical thing we've ever taken part in. Of course we were all expecting the world to end that day, so we gathered in the park afterward and sang Pink Floyd & Robyn Hitchcock songs while waiting for the rapture, but unfortunately it didn't happen, so we went to see the Grasshopper Clock and have dinner at our photographer friend Karen's house instead & spent the evening playing Candyland with her daughter. Oh, and we saw a hedgehog in her garden at midnight. That and the boat gig was all the rapture we needed.
Day 9: On the train journey to Liverpool I saw a fox in a field, which would turn out to be the only fox we saw on the entire trip. The cross-country trains are fast, efficient and smooth. It feels like you're riding on air. I had never been to Liverpool and other than the knowledge I picked up from hundreds of hours of Beatle documentaries, I didn't really know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that the majority of the downtown area is a super-modern outdoor shopping mall that looks like it was build in the last 10 years; comparable to our Metreon & Yerba Beuna Center. Nicely designed, but not very charming. The Cavern district is still pretty much the way it looks in Beatle movies; little windy streets, brick buildings, and music everywhere. You can wander into almost any pub for free and see a great band or singer. KC ran into David Bash at the hotel when we were checking in and he offered us a 2nd show that night because one of the other acts had canceled. Fab. We would now go on at 7:45pm as The Corner Laughers & 10pm as Agony Aunts. We briefly considered changing clothes and putting on glam make-up between shows but decided it was too much trouble. Charlie & Tracy got a room at The Hard Day's Night; a fancy Beatles-themed hotel right next to the Cavern district. The lobby is tastefully decorated in old black & white photos from the 60s and we were looking forward to seeing what room they would get. Charlie could never have guessed that he would be sleeping under a giant portrait of Yoko Ono dressed as the Mona Lisa. Make of that what you will. We met up with our Facebook friend Maxi, a talented musician in her own right, and she showed us around town for a while. They have the best accents here. Both of the sets went really well. The crowd seemed enthusiastic and it was a thrill just to be playing at the Cavern in Liverpool. After the IPO, KC, Charlie, Tracy & Maxi went to sing at an open mic at the Lennon Bar at 1am. Karla & I were too tired, but I hear it was a crazy time.
Day 10: Visited Liverpool Cathedral, the largest cathedral in England, then met up with Maxi and the others at The Hard Day's Night for a Beatle tour. Instead of paying for the 50 pound cab tour or taking the Magical Mystery bus, we thought we'd get the best for our money & time if we flagged a random cab driver and asked him to show us stuff. Surely every cab driver in Liverpool knows the Beatles sites only too well. And it worked, the cab guy charged half the price of the tour and showed us everything we wanted to see in half the time: Penny Lane, Strawberry Field, John & Paul's childhood homes, etc. It's sometimes the case that when you see a place that's been romanticized in a song, especially a really great song, it doesn't live up to it. And that's definitely true of Penny Lane & Strawberry Fields. Two of the greatest songs of all time, two of the most boring places of all time. In the afternoon it got a little rainy so we went to some museums on Albert Dock and learned about slavery & shipping. Our 3rd IPO was across the street at the Cavern Pub, which has better sound and seating than the Cavern Club, but not quite as much mystique although they do have displays of famous guitars & such. Liverpool on a Friday night is kind of insane with hen parties. I guess the American equivalent would be something like a bachelorette party, but those don't usually have matching t-shirts and sashes do they?
Day 11: From Liverpool we took a morning train to Cambridge, which contained an annoying transfer in London. A guy named Daniel in Cambridge saw us at the 12 Bar Club in London and really wanted us to come play in his town. We didn't have anything booked, so he came up with this amazing idea of having us play on a punt on the river, with 10 other punts being the audience. He put out a Facebook announcement and within 2 days he had over 50 participants. We were planning to go there anyway, to hang out with Anton & Lorna, and we had already bought the train tickets, so he was able to plan this all around our schedule. It was as fantastic a time as we could have imagined, and there are already hundreds of photos and some Youtube videos out there so I won't go into too much detail, just that it was probably the most magical thing we've ever taken part in. Of course we were all expecting the world to end that day, so we gathered in the park afterward and sang Pink Floyd & Robyn Hitchcock songs while waiting for the rapture, but unfortunately it didn't happen, so we went to see the Grasshopper Clock and have dinner at our photographer friend Karen's house instead & spent the evening playing Candyland with her daughter. Oh, and we saw a hedgehog in her garden at midnight. That and the boat gig was all the rapture we needed.