Chromeo Day 3, To LA, then home...

So we got up early, had a quick breakfast at the hotel and hit the road to go back to LA, expecting the worst traffic ever. You'd think Monday morning rush hour in LA would be brutal, but for some unexplicable reason, we didn't hit any. We flew right through. It was shocking.

We dropped a couple guys at the airport for early flights, and then there were 2 of us left. We only had flights at 11pm though, so we had some time to kill. We ran a couple errands, like dropping off rental vehicles, replacing a damaged suitcase and then with nothing left to do, we headed in to town. We ended up in Hollywood with about 4 hours to kill, so I took a walk to a Mexican cantina I like and sat on the patio and watched people walk by. It was nice to have a little bit of relaxation time before hopping on a brutal red eye flight, made worse by a 4 hr stopover in Chicago.

Got back to the airport, everything was fine, got on the plane, it left on time at 11pm. And there was a baby behind me. On a red eye. These two things do not mix. It is now 7:45 am in Chicago and I hardly slept on the plane. We landed 3 hours ago and I've been roaming the airport trying to kill time. We landed here before anything was even open, so that didn't help matters. I was eventually able to get some breakfast and now I only have to kill about an hour before I can hop on the last flight back to Ottawa. At least American Airlines hasn't screwed me yet today, but then there's still time for that... Ah, the joys of travel...

Chromeo Day 2, Coachella

Today is show day. We have a great slot, at 10pm, right before Justice. It'll be an insane crowd for sure. The only thing is we have to be there by 12pm to drop our gear. It's not totally bad, at least we have some time in the afternoon to check out some other bands. I went to see some of Duffy (had a friend working for her), saw some Metric (again, only to say hi to friends), and met a couple friends from the Morcheeba tour I just finished, who are now working with Love & Rockets. Even bumped in to David Hasselhoff, and then got angry because I didn't have a camera with me. Who doesn't want their picture with the Hoff?

Before we knew it, the day had flown by and it was time to head to our stage to set up. It was a little bit of a nightmare getting things together. There was only supposed to be a 10min change over between each act, but each act had an entirely different lighting rig. That's kind of a big deal. It basically means the only thing that stays in place from act to act is the stage itself. It's a massive work load, but fortunately they had a massive amount of people to make it happen. It took more than 10 mins, but whatever, it happened, the show went off, the kids loved it, it was wild.

We didn't stick around too long after the show. We were all pretty beat so we just packed up our stuff and got out as soon as we could. Tomorrow will be early anyways because we have to drive back to LA for flights.

Chromeo Day 1, To California (4/26/08)

It looks like I'll be doing some work with Chromeo for the next little while, and the first show is this weekend. It's just a quick one-off, which is kind of weird to start things. It's more like meeting a couple guys to have a beer. Oh, and it's at Coachella, it's just the largest music festival in the US. No big deal...

Coachella happens every year in the desert just outside Indio, CA. To get there, I had to get up at 4am (after 57 mins of sleep due to work the night before) to catch a 6:15am flight to Chicago, then another to LA, then drive 2 hrs in to the desert. It was not pleasant. I got to the airport early enough, but they don't actually start checking people in and putting them through customs til 5am, so there was a massive lineup of people backed up and waiting. It took forever to get through, and by the time I cleared customs (the whole process usually only takes about 20 mins), I had 5 mins to go til my flight departed. Or so we thought.

I love American Airlines for reasons like this. Apparently, before leaving the night before, the ground crew put in the necessary amount of fuel for the plane. In the morning, the new crew didn't check the levels and put in more fuel. This is not good. We learned that it takes one hour to drain the fuel tanks when such things happen. Eventually, once we were in the air, everything was fine. Got out of Chicago ok, flight was painless, and then I got to LAX.

Another reason I love American Airlines is this: Waiting for the bags to come out in baggage claim. About 6 bags come up from our flight and then everything stops. After about 30 mins, they make an announcement that "there has been a mechanical failure with the baggage system, thank you for your patience." After about an hour, the bags eventually make it out and I'm on my way to the car rental place.

Getting the car was pretty easy, then there was just a matter of a 2 hour drive in to the desert, Palm Springs to be exact. It went surprisingly well, except for the part where we went through a wildfire, and finally, after about 15 hrs of travel, I dropped my bags in the hotel. That didn't last long though. I made contact with a couple of the other guys and we eventually found a Mexican place to grab a bite to eat, after going through an interesting trial and error bar-picking process. But we got to meet Jean, a lifelong video quiz game addict and karaoke enthusiast. She won $20 dollars last week.

After eating, we decided to head over to the festival to check things out. Our show is tomorrow, so this was our only chance to really enjoy it without worrying about anything. It's a pretty amazing package they put together, and I can safely say that it puts to shame every other festival I've been to in the world. It's mindblowing, and if you haven't been, you owe it to yourself to go.

The headliner tonight was Prince. Insane. Wandering around backstage, you could run into people such as Paris Hilton, members of Aerosmith, Meg Ryan, etc... Prince's show was going really well too. Until the lighting rig died and he played in semi-darkness the rest of the night. I'm sure someone's head rolled over that one. I would've loved to be a fly on the wall in the front of house tent for that... The only thing that saved them was a collection of massive searchlights all around the compound that got refocused to the stage. It was a little lame, but it worked...

Right near the end of Prince's set, we made our way out to try and beat the 60,000+ others that were about to make a run for it. We had a long day anyways and it was time to sleep.

Morcheeba Day 24, Flying home...

I made sure to get up early enough today to grab breakfast at 101 Café, a well known little place that's in our hotel. They make a great waffle. I made it with just enough time before we all left to drive to the airport.

We were expecting crazy traffic, but it was actually pretty clear and we made it to LAX with time to spare. We dropped the Brits at their terminal, said our final goodbyes to our newly adopted family, dropped our rental vehicle and headed to our terminal.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, which is always nice when multiple flights are involved. All the bags got to where they needed to go, everyone survived. It feels a little funny to be at home after 6 weeks on the road, but that won't last long. Gone again in 3 days... Just long enough to get a sense of familiarity and have it shaken up again...

Morcheeba Day 23, Los Angeles, CA

This morning hurt. A lot. We were parked at 7am, and had to set up in the KCRW radio station at 8am. At least there was Starbucks in the building, but it really didn't make a difference.

We spent most of the morning in the studio, with a couple breaks here and there. The went off, everyone was happy and as soon as it was done, some of us hopped on the bus to go to the hotel, a few others took a drive out to Malibu. I went to the hotel.

I met a friend for lunch, walked around the neighbourhood (Hollywood) for a bit in the afternoon, and went out for a final crew dinner later on in the evening. We didn't stay out too late because the early morning was still killing us, and there are flights tomorrow that will come faster than we want...

Morcheeba Day 22, Los Angeles, CA

Somehow we defied the laws of traffic physics and ended up in LA a little early today. We had time to walk around a little bit but the heat was deadly. We were told it hit 102°. Wild. We decided we were better off in the bus with the air conditioning.

The day went by fairly normally, business as usual. Today was slightly different though because it's the last night of the tour. After soundcheck, we had to move out of the bus and get all our stuff to the hotel. Always a little weird to leave the place you called home for a few weeks...

The show was pretty solid tonight. The band had definitely come together since the first night in Washington. After it was done we spent a while splitting up the gear between all the shipping companies that came to pick it up (4 different destinations), and then there was a little afterparty type thing on the roof of the venue. Unfortunately, what was the last night was not the last day... We have to be on the bus at 5am to go do a morning radio show in Santa Monica, so we didn't last too long...

Morcheeba Day 21, San Diego, CA

Again, we were foiled by traffic in California and our early arrival was shot. Shocking, I know. We got to 4th & B, which is right downtown and quickly discovered that the whole area was shut down because it was the weekend. Amazing. We eventually ate at Starbucks and went to start the work portion of the day.

What to say about 4th & B. Basically, it's probably the most brutal club I've ever been to. It's ugly, all concrete and sounds like shit. No fun. It took forever to get things working. The people were nice though, so it wasn't all bad, it just made for a really long work day. And the hotel was 5 miles from the venue so we had to blow almost our entire dinner break just to get cleaned up. We did end up having a little time left and found some decent Mexican food though.

The show was quick, sort of painless, but it required some maintenance. Some of the gear got a little sketchy during the show so me and our backline tech were running around trying to fix things for a good portion of the set.

After it was done, it was an early show thank God, we headed back to the Mexican joint where we had dinner to have a couple Corona's with some chips and salsa. There was a really weird dance bar across the street so we had some interesting people watching moments too. After the bar closed, we waited on the bus for the last couple hours before heading to LA.

Morcheeba Day 20, San Francisco, CA

We figured that even though we were in a fairly "dramatic" neighbourhood, it might not be so bad during the day. Right. We got up and went for coffee and the scenery included lots of people drinking from paper bags at 10am, endless lineups at AIDS clinics, general panhandling and a huge loaf of feces, and it wasn't from a dog...

Thankfully the coffee was amazing. Got back to the hotel unscathed and hopped on the bus to head to The Fillmore, one of the most legendary venues in rock history. It's really incredible. It's a beautiful room, top notch gear, great people, and loads of history. They have posters on the walls throughout the venue from all the sold-out shows they've ever had. And it goes way back. The posters in the dressing room are Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Rolling Stones. Insane. Pretty much anyone who's someone in music has played there, it's one of those "rights of passage" type venues. It made for a really great show too; everyone seemed to step it up a notch.

After the show, we went across the street to the Boom Boom Room, and contrary to what it sounds like, it's just a blues bar. The highlight is that there's a booth in the corner known as the John Lee Hooker booth; it's where he always used to hang out. You just had to get over the absolutely horrid stench of vomit in the entire club to actually want to sit down and have a drink.

Didn't stay out and suffer the stench too long though, had an early departure to get to San Diego.

Morcheeba Day 19, San Francisco, CA

Today we finally got our first taste of summer on during our drive down from Seattle. We stopped at a gas station somewhere in California, I think near Redding, but it really doesn't matter. The sun was shining, the grass was green and fresh and there was no rain or snow. It was amazing.

We were scheduled to get in to San Francisco in the early afternoon, but that didn't even come close to happening. A handful of accidents and some rush hour traffic messed up our plans. We barely had time to shower before grabbing cabs to the ball game.

We've been trying to show the Brits as much as possible about local cultural stuff on this tour, and there's nothing more American than baseball, and the Giants happened to be in town. It was really cool for me too because the Giants were my favourite team growing up. And there's no building like an American stadium. It was a really great way to spend a night off. Giants beat St. Louis 5-1, everyone had a dog and a beer (or two...) and a lot of fun.

After the game it was almost impossible to catch a cab, so we started walking back to the hotel. It was ok for a while, but it wasn't too long before we hit some sketchy areas. The first "event" was three realllly big black guys walking towards us on the sidewalk. Our backline tech, Troy, was typing a text message and one of them deliberately ran into him and tried to grab the phone out of his hands. Troy hung on, with a little shoving for good measure. About a block later, we see a police car and an ambulance. We get closer and we see little pools of blood on the sidewalk. The cop was trying to figure out what was going on and an old lady walked out of a convenience store and screamed "I saw that boy try to hit him with a shovel!". There was a bandaged guy in the ambulance, seemingly confirming the story.

We carefully made our way through the last couple blocks and tried to get a drink at the hotel bar, where we were told we couldn't get in because of dress code stuff, even though we were guests. This from a bar in the crappiest part of town. I can't figure out why they put a boutique hotel there, and why all the bands stay there. Panic at the Disco was there too.

So anyways, we got a ride out to a normal area of town to a normal pub. We walk in and there's a 7' tall guy bear-hugging everyone. Eventually he hugged someone the wrong way and got kicked out, but he kept coming back, trying to get in. I'm not sure how he was involved, but one of the guys looked like he was straight out of a mid-80s Poison or Warrant music video. And he was for real. It was absolutely hilarious, bandana, cowboy boots, unbuttoned shirt, jean jacket and all. He had a buddy with a similar look and we couldn't stop laughing at them all night. It was too much, wish I had a camera with me...

A ride back to hotel got us through all the crap without anymore bloody sidewalks or drama, and we sat around and laughed about the Poison dude til we fell asleep.

Morcheeba Day 18, Seattle, WA

Turns out that staying at a pub after hours the night before you have an early flight really sucks. After about 1hr of sleep I made my way to the airport for a short flight to Seattle. Thankfully it was on time, even early, and I was at the hotel sleeping again in no time. And there was great coffee courtesy of Seattle Coffee Works to solve my remaining problems once we got to the club.

Later on in the afternoon, we made our way to the Showbox for the standard work day. Again the crowd was good, only 4 short of a sellout, and it went fairly well.

It was a nice area to walk around because the club is right by the old Public Market. If you've ever seen any commercials for Seattle tourism, that's the market where they throw the fish from stall to stall. And there are lots of fish. Oddly enough, the whole place smells like fish too. You see a lot of weird seafood if you take a few minutes to walk around.

Also in the market area was a little coffee shop of note. It's called Starbucks. But it's not like the others. It's really like an old-school coffee shop, not even any baked goods. Even the logo is different. I ordered my standard, the espresso macchiato. Usually you can tell if it's well-made just by the weight when you pick up the cup. It should be light, like a feather, so when it's heavy, you know it's wrong. That happens when they add too much milk. So when I picked up my little cup and it was heavy, I got scared. Then I had a sip. I don't know how they froth their milk, but it was something else. It was think and creamy and incredible. I couldn't believe it. And I instantly became angry with all the other Starbucks that have taken my money over the last couple years.

I know reading about coffee isn't really all that exciting for most of you, but it's a really important part of my day. And I'm sure you can at least appreciate the need for good coffee first thing in the morning. I'm just a little on the obsessed side of things is all...

Anyways, we didn't stay in Seattle too late. We started the 14hr drive to San Francsico at 2am. Hopefully we won't get in too late tomorrow. We're taking all the Brits to a Giants game. They've never seen baseball before and we don't want to miss the opening pitch.

Morcheeba Day 17, Vancouver, BC

There is nothing quite like waking up at the border and being told to report to customs inside. They had us all lined up, half awake, sort of freaked out, while they sorted through our identities. For the most part it went pretty fast, a couple of the guys were questioned, but nothing more than a scare tactic. Once that was finally out of the way, we headed in to Vancouver.

It was nice to be back in Canada again, but the west coast is a very different vibe. The nieghbourhood the Commodore is in definitely has some sketchy corners. I think I said no to more panhandlers in an hour than I have in the last year combined. And unfortunately the coffee at Blenz just isn't a really good idea.

We didn't have a whole lot of time from the start, but we did get a few extra minutes to wander because the back alley where we had to load in was blocked by cars we were trying to get moved. Once we finally did get in, it was nice to be in a real venue with real gear. The show ended up being really good and it went by really smoothly. The crowd seemed to really enjoy it, but all we were only able to judge that by the massive green cloud hanging over them...

I stuck around at the club after the show to hang out with a friend I hadn't seen in a couple years who is now running the Commodore, then stopped by a pub down the street to meet up with a couple other of our people who were already there, along with guys from K-OS and Bedouin Soundclash. They ended up letting us stay pretty late, well after the place was closed, and told us stories of things like their tattoos, some good, some weird, some scary. Either way, it was nice to hang out in a place other than the bus for the night...

Morcheeba Day 16, Boise, ID

The drive to Vancouver from Aspen is some 20+ hrs long, so we had to break it up along the way. Boise was the only "real" city to stop in, and so we did.

We got in right around lunch time, which was convenient as we were hungry, so we went on a search for food that actually worked out quite well. There was really good coffee too (I know, again with the coffee... You need something to keep you going through the daily monotony sometimes. It's better than a lot of other things...).

After eating we stopped by a record shop, saw an instore performance, and went to crash at the hotel for a bit before heading out. We had plans to watch the NCAA men's basketball championship, so we wanted to make sure we well rested to enjoy it.

It was a really crazy game, with all the last second drama you could hope for. We were distracted only by one of the Brits breaking a tooth (!) and looking for medical help. He sorted himself out eventually and we went back to the place where we had lunch for a couple drinks before making the rest of the trip to Vancouver.

Morcheeba Day 15, Aspen, CO

A day off is good to have here. Nice little town, but unfortunately most of it was closed on Sundays. Either way, we found a good breakfast spot and even better coffee than yesterday. Things were looking up.

Right up the mountain in fact. We found out that it was closing day for one of the biggest resorts and they were having a huge blowout at the base of the mountain. We decided to catch a bus to make the trip for the afternoon and evening. Catching a bus in Aspen has a quirk though: you have to use a paddle to wave down the bus so the driver will stop. They have these funny circular paddles with a letter "t" on them (for transit?) attached to every bus stop post. You see the bus, you wave the paddle. Simple, by why bother?

Anyways, the party was pretty wild. Lots of costumes, music, people... etc... It was pretty fun while it lasted. The downside was that it was all outside, so after a while it started getting a little too cold to party on a mountain.

We headed back in to town for dinner, and that was pretty much it for the day. We had time for a quick shower and then we were back on the bus to start driving to Vancouver.

Morcheeba Day 14, Aspen, CO

It was pretty wild to wake up in the mountains. I kind of forgot it was coming, and the Brits were shocked to say the least. They'd never seen anything like it. Again, we had the bonus of being able to walk around a little before we started and we found 2 really good coffee shops. The first was a little lame - if you talk on your cell phone in line, they refuse to serve you, and they insist that everyone share their tables. In the grand scheme of things, not a terrible thing, but you don't need to be assaulted by people you don't know when trying to wake up...

Anyways, we eventually get in to the club, and it's surprisingly cool. It's the place to play in Aspen and the walls were lined with photos of everyone who played, from Jimmy Buffett to Snoop Dogg. They had really great gear too, which was nice to have. The show was sold out and went really well. The crowd seemed a little weird at times though. There was a section of real fans, down near the stage, but we had the impression that the others just wanted to be there to be seen at the sold out show, a social status thing.

Afterwards we just hung around at the club for a bit before heading back. We have the day off in Aspen tomorrow so we wanted to make sure we were well rested to enjoy it.

Morcheeba Day 13, Denver, CO

Always nice to wake up in the city you're playing. It gives you time to do important things, like get coffee, walk around, maybe shop a little. It's always more relaxing to start the day that way. And we needed to be relaxed to deal with the Gothic Theatre.

The Gothic is actually a nice room, but it's hell to work in. I had to go through the crowd to get to my world, so once the show started, I had no stage access. The band couldn't even see me. The guitar tech was stuck in front of the stage, in the crowd itself. Pretty wild. Again, I braced myself for the worst, but again, the all walked off seeming pretty happy at the end of the night.

Once we were done, we headed a couple doors down to a bowling alley where we finished the night in style. I started slow but mounted an incredible comeback that included 3 straight strikes to win the game. Unfortunately all I won was the opportunity to wait on the bus til it left at 6am...

Morcheeba Day 12, Drive to Denver, CO

Today was long. It's definitely nice in a bus than an RV or a van, but when you hit the 15hr mark, it doesn't matter anymore. You just need to get out. It was really nice when we finally got in to Denver and were able to hop out.

We made plans for dinner based on the fact that one of the guys' friends had a coupon for a Mexican place we wanted to try out. We mobilized everyone, got cabs and were really surprised to pull up beside a restaurant that was only half built. That hurt a little, but our hunger wasn't helped any so we just stopped at another little place down the street, that was surely not as good as what the new restaurant will be.

Afterwards we stopped at a pub on the walk back to the hotel, but we didn't stay out late at all. The last couple days had us pretty worn out.

Morcheeba Day 11, Minneapolis, MN

I was kind of dreading this show since I first saw it on the schedule. I remembered very well from the last time I was through that it has some of the nastiest sounding monitors in the US, and this band is definitely on the audiophile side of things. I was psychologically preparing to get ripped apart.

The good thing about today, however, is that they take pretty good care of you. Good, solid crew guys. At least that makes for an ok day. Somehow, I got through soundcheck with minimal damage.

We had dinner at a pub across the street where they messed up our order so badly that they gave us our drinks for free. Nothing like ordering a steak sandwich and getting served a chicken pot pie. It was a cool little place though, and we gladly accepted the discount. We had all been there before, so we knew that once the food got there, it would be good.

Back for the show, I was ready for the worst. We were told by management that the show might be a bit of a dud; it hat the lowest presales of the tour and was one of only 2 shows that didn't sell out in advance. Nothing like a dismal crowd to put the band out of it and give them an excuse to take out their frustrations on the poor, defenceless monitor guy.

So, we were pretty shocked when we walked back in the room and it was packed. Not sold out, but really full and enthusiastic. Couldn't believe it. The show started, kept going, ended, and I almost needed a defibrillator when they told me it was the best sound on stage of the tour so far. I couldn't believe it. Shocked. I now question why I try so hard with real gear...

After the show, we went back across the street to the pub where we had dinner. It seems like the only place to go in the area. It was also the site of the first show and hangout I did with Sean Lennon over a year ago. We couldn't stay too long though; had to get back in the bus for the drive down to Denver.

Morcheeba Day 10, Chicago, IL

I woke up a little early so I could have a chance to eat before everyone else got in to town today. I hate having to rush to work without having a chance to eat and have a coffee. I found a great place I didn't know about before, enjoyed very much, and made a phone call to find out what the bus' ETA was.

It was with great surprise that I learned they were about 5 hours behind schedule! As soon as they got on I-69, two of the rear tires blew out! That's not supposed to happen on a bus like this, very weird. Given the situation, I relaxed a little and kept walking to Park West, but a little slower... I figured it once they got in we'd be really short on time, so I would still get there on time and just set up as much as possible in advance. Every little bit helps.

I made the occasional call to keep up to date, and once the bus was rolling again they had to stop almost right away because one of the air conditioner covers on top of the bus broke loose. They sent a couple guys up on a ladder with bungee cords to resecure it before continuing on their way.

Eventually, roughly 5 hours late, they showed up at the club and we banged off a soundcheck as quickly as possible. We still ended up with a decent dinner break at least, so I was able to go back to the coffee shop I found earlier. (I really like good coffee).

After the show we didn't hang around too long, maybe only an hour or so. We got right back on the road and headed to Minneapolis.

Morcheeba Day 9, Chicago, IL

I woke up early today to fly to Chicago and got in to town late afternoon. Fortunately I had some time left to enjoy my day off in a city I grew quite familiar with over the last couple years. After settling at the hotel, which felt kind of weird after having an apartment here, I headed out to some of my favourite old shops and eateries and just walked around noticing how things had changed in the last 8 months since I'd last been here.

It was a lot of fun and I totally wore out my feet. I had started to forget how great it is here and how nice the people are. There's a surprising amount of eye contact when walking down the street, which is something you don't really get in New York. There seems to be a refreshing friendliness in the air, dampened only by the fact that the Cubs lost on opening day. I guess some things never change...

Morcheeba Day 8, Toronto, ON

Again, it was nice to wake up in familiar surroundings. I've been to the Opera House a bunch of times, and it's always nice to know your surroundings and to see that your favourite hangouts still exist. Let's hear it for The Real Jerk, best jerk chicken ever.

Another night, another sold out show. That seems to be the theme of this tour. The highlight of tonight happened after the 3rd song, when the band pointed out that it was my birthday and brought me out on stage to the applause of 1000 people. That was cool, I have to admit.

After the show, most of us went out to a place called Sweaty Betty's to kill off the night. It was great except that we got there so late that there was only time for one drink before they called last call. Hate it when work gets in the way of the important things...

Morcheeba Day 7, Montreal, QC

After a great night off, we had to get back to work today. We had time to take a nice leisurely, coffee-filled walk to work at Club Soda, which was a nice change from rolling out a bunk and on to a stage.

After soundcheck, we sent the runner to get us a pile of smoked meat sandwiches from Schwartz's Deli, the best smoked meat in Montreal. Big hit. After dinner, the new NHL fans, more specifically Habs fans, went across the street to learn about the Toronto-Montreal rivalry, and the pain of being on the losing end of it...

Eventually we went back for the show, which was sold out and went quite well. Afterwards, some of us went to meet up with past touring friends. You always have to be careful where you go out, and it's usually a good idea to know what's up in advance. And so, it was with some shock and mild horror that we ended up at a huge bar hosting it's weekly 80's night... We eventually wrapped our heads around the situation and found the humour in it, and let's give credit where credit is due: beer. The night ended with a swing by a friends apartment, and then a rush to get back to the bus before it left town...

Morcheeba Day 6, Montreal, QC

When I woke up this morning and saw the familiar surroundings of Montreal I was pretty happy. It felt amazing to be back after a month in the US. To have a day off here is incredible.

For a lot of the Brits I'm with, it's their first time in North America, so I had to do my duty and show them around a town that was like a 2nd home for me for a lot of the last couple years. A long walk through the old Montreal and down St. Catherine's had them pretty tired, so before going out we went back to the hotel for a bit. For the evening, I worked out some plans with a couple guys from The Stills to initiate the Brits to NHL hockey, so we went over to one of the guys' apartment to watch a game on a big screen projector. Amazing. After that, we took them out to our regular hangout, Pistol, for the rest of the night, where we even got them to try some poutine. The guys seemed really pleased with their introduction to Canada. Tomorrow is smoked meat sandwiches and a show. Really good day off...

Morcheeba Day 5, Somerville, MA

Today was a little bit more fun than we expected, mainly because we got to town a little early. It does wonders for the morale when you have a little bit of time to grab a coffee and food before starting the day, which is not something we often get to do. And we found insane coffee, so this is going to be a good day no matter what.

Somerville is a sort of suburb of Boston, a sleepy college town kind of place. At dinner time though, it was alive because all the places we wanted to eat at were packed, so we ended up at an Indian place that made most of us feel pretty nasty afterwards. That's never a good thing when you have overnight drives...

The show was good, it was in an old theatre, the Somerville Theater in fact, and it was packed. It was actually a really nice looking room, good staff too.

There wasn't a whole lot happening after the show because places closed on the early side, so I went to the hotel to shower so I'd be clean and presentable for my return to Canada in the morning.

Morcheeba Day 4, New York, NY

We pulled in to NYC a little behind schedule today but it wasn't a huge deal. We got everything set up on time, but we had to speed through soundcheck because we also had to do an in-store show at the Apple store in SoHo. So, as soon as we were done in the club, we piled in to a waiting van and sped across town.

We got to the Apple store, set up, soundchecked and did the show, and by the time we were done, we only had 40 mins before the show at Webster Hall started, so we all piled in to a waiting van and sped right back. It was a pretty hectic day, but it all worked out.

After the show we had a chance to grab some food, but we didn't hang out too long because we all had to take cabs out to Secaucus, NJ, because that's the only place where they could park the bus (you can't park buses in Manhattan...). That was a bit lame, but there's nothing you can do about it... It's funny because you always look forward to heading to NYC, but there's always so much happening, you never have a chance to do anything... Oh well, off to Somerville...

Morcheeba Day 3, Philadelphia, PA

We got in to Philly pretty much right on schedule, which left us little time to get food and drinks. That wouldn't be a problem as The Trocadero is in Chinatown, so after stuff was underway, I made a brief disappearing act to get food and coffee (have you noticed the recurring theme...) and continued through soundcheck.

The main excitement today happened right after soundcheck, on our way to dinner. The bus was parked a couple blocks away and our tour manager walked over to grab a couple things for the show. While she was there, there was a big explosion under a manhole cover about 10 feet behind the bus. She called us, a little shaken, so we went right over and by the time we got there the area was taped off, there were fire trucks, ambulances, etc... Fortunately no one was hurt, but the road was scarred significantly...

The show tonight was a little bit better, everyone is still getting used to things, but it is moving along nicely. Things should be in pretty good shape for NYC tomorrow, which is the main one we have to worry about for now. There wasn't really any time to do anything after the show, so we just got on the bus and waited to leave.

Morcheeba Day 2, Washington, DC

Today was the first official show. To get ready, I got up a little early to get coffee. It was good.

We got to the club particularly early so we could sort through all the gear and figure out the setup. It all went pretty well, and it was great to be at 9:30 Club, which is possibly the best venue in the US. With all the extra time to get stuff sorted, it ended up being a really long day, but it all went well and everyone was pretty happy. It was considered a success by all involved.

After the show a couple of us who've toured together in the past went down the street to meet another old tour friend for a bit. We couldn't hang out too long because we had to drive overnight to Philadelphia. Finally, I can sleep while the driving happens...

Morcheeba Day 1, To Washington, DC (3/23/08)

I was up far too early today to get a flight to Washington, DC to start the Morcheeba tour. Thankfully, it all went rather smoothly, and I got in on time and waited to meet up with our tour manager at the airport. While waiting, I had what was quite possibly the worst espresso ever to come out of a coffee machine. Not a good way to shake off the cobwebs...

After meeting the TM, the bus came to pick us up and we headed out to get it stocked with food and drinks. We eventually settled on a Wegman's in northern Virginia which was one of the most impressive grocery stores I've ever been to. Killer wine selection. When we got to the cash, I confused the poor cashier by telling him we didn't need any bags, just to put everything back in the cart because we were going to unload it all in a bus in two minutes anyways. It took him some time to wrap his head around the concept of not bagging everything, and in the process, he forgot to charge us for 2 cases of beer, which were sitting right in front of him the whole time.

After our stocking trip, we went back to the airport to pick up the band. We found them pretty easily courtesy of the keyboard players massive afro. Everyone got on board, we had an introductory drink, and headed in to town to check in to the hotel.

Once at the hotel, we had to find a way to help the band get over their jet lag, so we set them up in the hotel bar to eat and drink to their hearts content. After a little while we went out for dinner, and around 2am we ended up crashing at the hotel.