Kings & Queens

Note: Brenda’s for breakfast. Do it!
The Fillmore. This place does not disappoint. I think its probably the best venue i’ve played. Nice dressing rooms, great stage, unbelievable sound, perfect size room, no barrier, chandeliers!, a zillion posters of Hendrix, Cream, Sabbath, Love, Stereolab, Spiritualized, you name it. Except no Furs poster tonight. Drat. Spent the entire day just hanging round the venue soaking it up. Oh and the people, the people of San Francisco were with us tonight, a even a smattering of Nevada City finest critters managed to wander down from the hills. Thanks to all those good people; this was a special night. In fact i believe this might be the best show i’ve done with the Furs. It Goes On. India.

Got in to SF earlier than expected and got some time to get things in order, check the mail, the youtube, the dread networking sites, watch the football, doze off… Note to YouTube people: why only Pretty in Pink, Ghost in You and Heaven? I know those be the hits but come on! how about some deeper cuts? Andi drove down and we took in some Chinatown with Mars and hit then Dosa for some exquisite Indian food later… zzzzzz. I believe the Brian Jonestown Massacre are next door. Ah, the Phoenix Hotel.

The pacific northwest continued with its regime of damp but its a welcome break from humidity. We’re in Portland and by 10.30 Allie picks me up and I spend the day playing hotwheels, getting a bike ride and generally playing with my nephews Wyatt and Rhodes (3 and 1). A nice little family break in the middle of the tour madness. Barry and Wyatt visit soundcheck and get a mini Furs show to themselves complete with a drum jam afterwards. Nothing like hanging around with kids to make you realize how silly this lifestyle is. And how fun. Wyatt and I got some band photos for our new project, as yet untitled.

This evening I got a full table of Nevada-City-export friends with me; Stacy, Leigha, Alina, Erin, Allie, Barry, Wyatt and Christina; its a good crew to hang out with after so many shows solo style, not to mention a stunning group to be seen with! And they made me wear eyeliner.

The show for both SWR and Furs, is in danger of being eclipsed by this amazing dancer dude in full 80s sports gear with headband and moustache. Really quite something to behold if you like your dance-party served jazzersize style. I tried focussing on SWR but it was tough to not get transfixxed. Bumped into DiP and i believe he agrees. The Portland crowd is great but i do wish they’d reset the position of the stage here – corner stage is so odd and seemingly unfair to half the audience… Anyway, its late and we’re rolling to SF before we know it. Out.

Awoke to the dark grey skies and blurry trees whistling past the bus. A refreshing break from sunny and humid though i’m only going to allow this kind of behaviour in the pacific northwest. Sat up front and took in the scenery for the last 100 miles in to Seattle. Feel completely relaxed and at home in this landscape but kind of divorced from it – usually we’d be stopping somewhere to camp or kayak in this setting. Today we’re just passing through.
The Showbox Sodo is a little out of town next to the baseball stadium. Starbucks is the only coffee i can locate in this er.. location; a little disappointing for the coffee capital of America. I need to walk, the healthy/exercise regime has been woefully woeful so far and i fear i may be heading the way of Syd Barrett due to the constant late night eating and generally unhealthy touring lifestyle. Not that this bus is unhealthy, don’t get me wrong, the Furs are pretty good like that; but if its 3am and you need a Twix, some PF Chang or a cliff bar, i’m your man.

So anyway, the drums, the sax and the guitar walk in to town. The drums buys an umbrella, they all have breakfast and the guitar buys a guitar. Emerald City Guitars is the most unbelievable music store i’ve ever had the misfortune to not be a millionaire while visiting. They have a 350k Les Paul in this place. Not that i like Les Pauls but you know, i’d take the 50k SG thank you very much, or the 17k Jazzmaster. Lovely. The funny thing is i walked out with a $50 Epiphone acoustic with a hole in it. Not that hole, another hole. But seriously, if you’re in the area, visit this store if only to marvel at the museum of vintage equipment. There was a Vox AC30 head and cabinet here that I would’ve given my eyeteeth for. The owner Jay and his son Trevor were great music-loving dudes that know their stuff; i’ll be back for that Jazzmaster sometime.

Sat on the bus and worked on some acoustic Fursions of songs on my new toy. Can’t believe i actually just typed that. Post soundcheck i met up with Christina who took me out to amazing vegetarian restaurant called Cafe Flora for a joint birthday dinner and some good release ideas for ‘Jet in Carina’ (remember that other band I have?).

Tonight’s show was, despite the cavernous appearance of this place, great sounding and absolutely crammed with hungry Furs fans. Easy Street was good tonight. I’m loving this Telecaster more each show – it likes to be abused. Poor thing – i really should stop dropping it at the end of shows…

blah blah blah…

Traveling with ten people in a steel tube for weeks on end means sometimes you need one of those insular days where you to keep yourself to yourself. Admittedly a little overhung from those birthday drinks, in the morning but not bad. Managed breakfast, with the Paul and Mars show, at this amazing place called Goldy’s. Aside from that i was bound to the view from my hotel room and attempting to get all things non-Fur-related, organised. England continued to embarrass in the World Cup and soundcheck was autopilot. Up on the 13th floor, watching the cruisers below.

The Egyptian was a real pleasure to play – the decor really does demand that Iron Maiden come here at some point to save costs on their set pieces. A great ‘All of This and Nothing’ which is always a good thing and met some nice fans afterwards. Boise, you done good for us. Two minute shower back at hotel before we’re off to Seattle.

Another great little theatre, the Gothic. All deco’d out to the hilt with balcony, gold trim, red lighting etc… Tonight was definitely one of the best so far, good playing, no string breaks, amazing crowd featuring a very striking Bowie-alike girl. Good night for She Wants Revenge too; finally got to check out the second half of their set.

Awoke and found coffee round the corner from the Midland. Chatted for a minute with the proprietor and he decided to put the Furs on the coffee shop internet radio. To be honest i didn’t really want Love My Way with my Coffee and egg salad sandwich but there you go.

The Midland is unbelievably beautiful. Really, quite stunning. I wandered up to the top balcony and the view from the crystal-adorned bar was a bit vertigo-inducing. Soundcheck was goood.

Found some great letter-press poster art at the Hammerpress place down the street. Picked up a few choice items and had them shipped back home… Definitely some cool stuff cropping up in that district. Seems like they are putting a huge effort into remodeling the city here, some of it working and some of it not; the corporate sportsbar area near the venue was massively bland but some of the new architecture coming up looked pretty state of the art.

Show was great except i kept breaking strings so i was swapping guitars like a lunatic tonight… Sleepy Sparrow Liana and Tara, who i’ve known online for years, came and hung out too. Good to finally meet you guys!

Warren is driving us all the way to Denver tonight. Heading for my 2×7 foot sanctuary… Exhausted.