"The time has come," Adrina said, "to talk of many things."
It's two in the morning but I can't sleep, as I'm still buzzed about the show I did in Leeds five hours ago and even the trip up to here - Edinburgh, home sweet home - hasn't diminished that.
I'm at my parent's house and eating all of the food they have in the house. A tip for any musicians about to be sent on tour. Check with your label before you leave what will and will not be payed for. For example, they may provide a van for you and your two lovely roadie type people (Sasha and David you two are saving my life, I swear) and they may provide a hotel room, but they might not, actually, be providing anything in the way of meals. I probably should have assumed that. As such, a sizable chunk of my pocket money is going into feeding myself which I hadn't planned for.
The first show in London was fantastic, but since then nothing has gone so well. The show itself in Bristol wasn't so bad except for the problems we had in setting up. The venue wasn't really big enough for the tickets they'd sold - which is to say it was a very small bar, and not that I'm a superstar with a stadium-like audience - which meant everyone was sort of squashed in and displeased, but hopefully it was better for them once the show actually got started.
The Cardiff show was awful. We got there late to start with, and then the keyboard kept turning off when I pounded too hard on it. The audience was really good about it but afterwards I was feeling a little sorry for myself and as though I'd let people down and all I wanted to do really was crawl into a nice hotel bed and sleep until I had to get up to do the free show the next afternoon.
We went to the hotel to book in - it was almost midnight now - and we were told that it was too late and they weren't allowed to do it at that hour. After trying (and failing) to sway them with the fact that we were very tired and only got into the city with enough time to set up at the venue, we were basically back on the cold street. We ended up sleeping in the van incredibly uncomfortably.
The free show in the afternoon was really great and after telling the audience my troubles they were all so wonderful and sympathetic, with lots of offers to put me up the next time I'm in the city. I think I'll take them up on that.
Next was to Birmingham and where I found out the show was 18+ even though they'd been selling tickets to under eighteens the whole time. I ended up going there two hours earlier and hanging out with the teenagers outside in the line who'd stuck around in the hopes they'd be able to get in. They weren't allowed under any circumstance so I ended up doing a silly little show for them there with me singing about six songs sans microphone and with David backing me up on an acoustic guitar as we blocked the footpath. Then it was inside to do the actual paid for show and trying to keep up my energy when I was feeling angry and depressed over the whole thing. I hope it didn't show but I was really in such a mood after that.
(I realised after we left that I had lost my spiked septum piercing somewhere during the night, which pissed me off no end because I've had it for years and it was my favourite. So in the morning I had to rush around town trying to find an emergency replacement so the hole wouldn't close over.)
The hotel at Birmingham actually let us book in (as we weren't there too late) and we discovered that while Sasha and David were being specifically sent along by the record company to help us out, all the hotel rooms we were being booked into were doubles. So three people and one double bed. You do the math on that one. I ended up buying a blow-up bed for David while we girls took the bed. And thus it would (and will) be for the rest of tour.
Next was to Sheffield and an amazing show with a completely wonderful audience and nothing went wrong! It's almost enough to get a girl hopeful!
The next morning we drove to Leeds and walked around the city, checking out the not-so-exciting sights. (Sorry, Leeds!) The show that night went well and the audience, I think, was the best one so far. Go Leeds go! I got back to the hotel stinking of sweat and with completely gross hair only to find out that the shower didn't work at all. So instead of us staying the night at the hotel I forced my cohorts to exist in a van with me and we carried on to Edinburgh. Here I was greeted by my loving parents (even though it was late) who immediately told me that I smelled awful (awww, parental love ♥) and sent me off to have a shower while they got the others set up with beds and couches for the two nights we'd be here.
They fed me up with the best midnight snack and listened to me complain. Mum said, in a very mum-like way, that I had wanted to be a 'music star' and not any sort of stable career. And although it was probably supposed to be discouraging me from continuing on down this path, it sort of strengthened my resolve.
Fuck the stable path. I get to make music. I get (sort of) paid to make music and that's a dream that so many people will never get to live and I'm damn lucky. I can sleep in vans and skip showers and meals and spend my hard earned cash on blow up beds for fellow musos when it's needed. I wouldn't trade it in.
Tomorrow I have the whole day and night free and I plan to catch up with some old friends and basically let my parents tell me how much they adore me, because that's always fun. Hopefully the show on Wednesday night will be amazing and I hope you'll all still support me even if it turns out kind of shit. I promise I'm doing the best I can, and I'm doing it because I love to do it. Because believe you me, I'm not making anything out of this tour. This is all for love.
Oh, and there is so very much of that ♥
I'm at my parent's house and eating all of the food they have in the house. A tip for any musicians about to be sent on tour. Check with your label before you leave what will and will not be payed for. For example, they may provide a van for you and your two lovely roadie type people (Sasha and David you two are saving my life, I swear) and they may provide a hotel room, but they might not, actually, be providing anything in the way of meals. I probably should have assumed that. As such, a sizable chunk of my pocket money is going into feeding myself which I hadn't planned for.
The first show in London was fantastic, but since then nothing has gone so well. The show itself in Bristol wasn't so bad except for the problems we had in setting up. The venue wasn't really big enough for the tickets they'd sold - which is to say it was a very small bar, and not that I'm a superstar with a stadium-like audience - which meant everyone was sort of squashed in and displeased, but hopefully it was better for them once the show actually got started.
The Cardiff show was awful. We got there late to start with, and then the keyboard kept turning off when I pounded too hard on it. The audience was really good about it but afterwards I was feeling a little sorry for myself and as though I'd let people down and all I wanted to do really was crawl into a nice hotel bed and sleep until I had to get up to do the free show the next afternoon.
We went to the hotel to book in - it was almost midnight now - and we were told that it was too late and they weren't allowed to do it at that hour. After trying (and failing) to sway them with the fact that we were very tired and only got into the city with enough time to set up at the venue, we were basically back on the cold street. We ended up sleeping in the van incredibly uncomfortably.
The free show in the afternoon was really great and after telling the audience my troubles they were all so wonderful and sympathetic, with lots of offers to put me up the next time I'm in the city. I think I'll take them up on that.
Next was to Birmingham and where I found out the show was 18+ even though they'd been selling tickets to under eighteens the whole time. I ended up going there two hours earlier and hanging out with the teenagers outside in the line who'd stuck around in the hopes they'd be able to get in. They weren't allowed under any circumstance so I ended up doing a silly little show for them there with me singing about six songs sans microphone and with David backing me up on an acoustic guitar as we blocked the footpath. Then it was inside to do the actual paid for show and trying to keep up my energy when I was feeling angry and depressed over the whole thing. I hope it didn't show but I was really in such a mood after that.
(I realised after we left that I had lost my spiked septum piercing somewhere during the night, which pissed me off no end because I've had it for years and it was my favourite. So in the morning I had to rush around town trying to find an emergency replacement so the hole wouldn't close over.)
The hotel at Birmingham actually let us book in (as we weren't there too late) and we discovered that while Sasha and David were being specifically sent along by the record company to help us out, all the hotel rooms we were being booked into were doubles. So three people and one double bed. You do the math on that one. I ended up buying a blow-up bed for David while we girls took the bed. And thus it would (and will) be for the rest of tour.
Next was to Sheffield and an amazing show with a completely wonderful audience and nothing went wrong! It's almost enough to get a girl hopeful!
The next morning we drove to Leeds and walked around the city, checking out the not-so-exciting sights. (Sorry, Leeds!) The show that night went well and the audience, I think, was the best one so far. Go Leeds go! I got back to the hotel stinking of sweat and with completely gross hair only to find out that the shower didn't work at all. So instead of us staying the night at the hotel I forced my cohorts to exist in a van with me and we carried on to Edinburgh. Here I was greeted by my loving parents (even though it was late) who immediately told me that I smelled awful (awww, parental love ♥) and sent me off to have a shower while they got the others set up with beds and couches for the two nights we'd be here.
They fed me up with the best midnight snack and listened to me complain. Mum said, in a very mum-like way, that I had wanted to be a 'music star' and not any sort of stable career. And although it was probably supposed to be discouraging me from continuing on down this path, it sort of strengthened my resolve.
Fuck the stable path. I get to make music. I get (sort of) paid to make music and that's a dream that so many people will never get to live and I'm damn lucky. I can sleep in vans and skip showers and meals and spend my hard earned cash on blow up beds for fellow musos when it's needed. I wouldn't trade it in.
Tomorrow I have the whole day and night free and I plan to catch up with some old friends and basically let my parents tell me how much they adore me, because that's always fun. Hopefully the show on Wednesday night will be amazing and I hope you'll all still support me even if it turns out kind of shit. I promise I'm doing the best I can, and I'm doing it because I love to do it. Because believe you me, I'm not making anything out of this tour. This is all for love.
Oh, and there is so very much of that ♥