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Man of the match: Damo

1st May 2007

As you may or may not know, we finished our UK tour last night at Kings College, London, and a fine time was had by all. We began way back on the 18th of April in Stoke, which was an alright, if a little quiet, start to proceedings. From there we travelled to Newcastle, where Stuffy/The Fuses (our support for the first English dates, along with Chris T-T) were politely told that they were never booked to play the gig in the first place. Not one to shy away from a challenge, keyboardist Lucy Fuse promptly walked across the road and into the nearest pub (The Dog and Parrot, I think??) and found them another one! All good.

From Newcastle, our travels then took us way up north to Dundee, where we kicked off the Scottish leg. Great shows in Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow, and I have to say what a pleasure it was to have The Hazey Janes (thanks muchly to Liam and Caroline for top notch accomodation in Dundee.) and Le Reno Amps on with us again. Do check Le Reno Amps’ myspace, as they’re out this week on a joint tour with Actress Hands, and shouldn’t be missed.

After Scotland we drove downhill to Sheffield, where I think we did OK in front of a rather discerning club NME crowd, then to Manchester, where we tore it up live in session on Marc Riley’s show, before heading back across town to play at The Roadhouse (thanks again to Kat for great sound.) Shows in Hull, Leeds, Bristol and Southampton followed – all with the Chris T-T band back on board, and all good, especially the Southampton Joiners, which I believe was the best sounding show of the tour for all three bands, no small thanks to the ace soundman, Mike. Sweet.

I shall also skim very briefly over last night, which for me was the pinnacle of the tour, as all last nights should be. Chris T-T played a blinder, and we had a reet good ‘un, too. It was also my 23rd, and of course I got a cheeky surprise: halfway through the set, I’m trying to start the next song and Andy (our Tour Manager) only goes and brings a fuckin’ cake onstage, candles and all! Very sweet of the guys to bother, and like I say, it rounded off an extremely rewarding tour perfectly. As always, there are simply too many people to thank for making this shit happen, but I will try. Without whom: Matthew Twaites, Mathew Priest, Matt Eaton, Andy Winters, Sam Smith, Phyllis Belezos, Amanda Freeman, all at Truck Records, The Chris T-T Band, Actress Hands, The Hazey Janes and Le Reno Amps. Thank you all.

I’m heading to the south of Spain tomorrow for a week in the sun with my lady. I’m thinking Tapas, sunbathing, snorkelling and no small amount of Sangria. Ariba, Grandad!!! Look after the place while I’m gone. And go see Actress Hands.

TW
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