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| roman amphitheatres are cool......basic fact.....we played in Arles as the sun set to 4 thousand generous and loving massive attack fans - then came offstage, met massive attack, then watched a KILLER gig, then chilled with them some more, Horace Andy fell asleep on a massage mattress, Stepahnie Dosen, whose version of teardrop was awewsome, wore a corset and knee socks (stop it...) and we had a blast....it was dope, as was Grenoble, a beautiful town, got their early, watched the new and imrproved Tunng do their thing, had a great gig in a tent with some nice hang time with the locals and Son Of Dave who opened his set with "je suis nervous, et vous vervous?, naturellement" before pummelling the crowd into a pulp with his hardcore blues.....we played another great amphitheatre with the INSANE Camille and the super good The Do -.....great days basically.....sunny all day, lovely at night - you know - the south of freance makes a lot of sense.....check the Nokia blog on the myspace for the footage.... BIg Chill was also a delight - slightly different vobe - but very chilling - i did it solo kinda thing - in a little tent - sun was momentarily shining and i think we all had a lovely time, loads of people all chilling sat down in the tent and stretching back outside - just chilling, it was lovely - met up with some great old friends i hadn't seen in ages, then drove home to my own bed - the perfect festy experience..... just completed a remix of Nina Simones "Chilly Winds" for Verve Records. which i think is coming out for xmas - it's gorgeous, so as soon as i can i'll 'space it - a great honour to be asked......and after a few festies this weekend (Lille in Belguium, Haldern pop Germany) we hit the new album hard, we've nailed like 5 demos already......Tim (Drums) had a baby last week - which is seriously the best thing ever, new album, new life, - now i just need some new clothes and everything will be perfect..... kinda hectic....and don;t forget the Future Rock N Roll Show (archive button on the 'space) for the weekly Juice fm radio show..... fin |
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| North Sea Jazz festival is big, and grown up....we rocked up and line checked a pretty fat gig - after our friend Laura Izibor had tore up the tent with a wonderfully heavy gig......the next day i was having a ciggy outside the hotel and who should sit down next to me !! - only Chaka Khan.....such a beautiful woman, so we had a nice ciggy and a chat, it was pretty surreal.....i got pretty buzzed about it actually as i'ma huge fan of her Rufus stuff....Roy Hargrove came up as well (amazing jazz player) to hang.....surreal.....we jammed a load of the set (hey - it is a jazz festival) - so we toook that to this wicked beach cub, timbuktoe, the next day - literally like a surf gig - a beach bar on the beach full of kite surfers and water hippies - it was awesome - had a proper gig there, totally loved it - then we did a festie in nijmegen, and stayed on a big boat moored within walking distance of the tent we were playing in - too easy - Holland has got to be one of our favorite places to gig no question..... still in recovery......we just got word This Is The Thing in on like a new artists Starbucks comp....with Bon Iver and Liam Finn and Fleet Foxes - we're feeling pretty nice about the company we're keeping on this one.....the track list is great too - maybe check it . if you aren;t totally folked out by all the festies.... next stop - supporting Massive Attack in Arles France...we're thinking of trying to do like a cover of their first track "Any Love" if we have time.....see you there.... Fin |
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| Touring is heavy - and much of it is a blur - all the different kinds of gigs, solo, band, full, empty, big, small, important, fun - the whole 9 yards in a three week maelstrom of excess baggage, airmiles, rubbish coffee and occasionally applause ! - i recomend it.....i ran to Paris for a few days off straight after to recover from the jetlag and detox from the road junk food and life on an itinery....all good - thanks to everyone who came down - and to lucky peeps in New York - we reckon as a band that was definitely in the top3 fink gigs of all time - our first, kinda, standing ovation kinda thing (blush...) - it was awesome....philly is great, portland is actually wonderful too - the doug fir is a great venue, great peeps, and the most tattoos i'v ever seen on everyone ! it's nice to be back, but also, a bit weird.....the lack of constant movement and input and stimulus is bizarre.... here's a link of me in LA - for current tv - playing "This Is The Thing" is in dis-used bowling alley that's been turned into a punk venue ! - retro.... http://current.com/items/89048042_fix_ep_music_show_6_24 Just finishing a Nina Simone remix for Verve right now, which is a LCD meets Metro Area delight so far upstairs in the loft....and also - just mastered yesterday the new SIDESHOW album - so i'll post something as soon as it's complete....what a joy - heavy dub - so nice to master.... all good- next stop the infamous North Sea Jazz festival next weekend - i went to this as a punter many many years ago to see The Blackbyrds (they cancelled), but ended up seeing a 17year old Joshua Redman absolutely blow them away, and a yawntastic John McGlaughlin and a stupor inducing Pat Metheny wear suits and play Goatee Guitar - so wrong, so very wrong - we're on after Laura Izabor (who supported us on some uk dates last year) - so it'll be a group hug - if you're in the Hague, join us for extended solo's and jazz faces.... fin |
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