SPRING TOUR 2019

Live Performance

Coming somewhere near you in a few weeks.

If, indeed, any of the below are near you.

Come and have a peek.  Some additions pending to the below poster!

 

** Saturday March 16 Saltburn-by-the-sea, Saltburn House, with Bilge Pump / GGAllin Partridge
Saturday March 23 Sheffield, Merlin Theatre, with Neil McSweeny
Friday March 29 Glasgow, The Old Hairdressers, with Sealionwoman
Saturday March 30 Edinburgh, The Waverley, with Bell Lungs
Tuesday April 2 Aberdeen, Upstairs at the Blue Lamp, probably with Adam Ross (Randolph’s Leap)
Thursday April 4 Newcastle, Cobalt Studios – TBC
Friday April 5 Dublin, venue TBC
Monday April 8 Huddersfield, Kwas Wine shop
Tuesday April 9 York, venue TBC
Friday April 12 Otley, Bloomfield Square, with Andrew DR Abbott
Saturday April 13 Todmorden, The Golden Lion, with Alex Rex / Andrew DR Abbott
Sunday April 14 Eaglescliffe, Waiting Room, with Andrew DR Abbott
Monday April 15 Cambridge, The Blue Moon, with Neil Palmer
Tuesday April 16 Norwich, The playhouse Bar
Wednesday April 17 London ,Mirth, Marvel and Maud, with Alison Cotton
Thursday April 18 London, venue and support TBC
Friday April 19 Brighton, The Rose Hill
Sunday April 21 Bentwaters, Suffolk, Asylum Studios (matinee)
Wednesday April 24 Reading, South Street Arts
Thursday April 25 Oxford, Port Mahon, with Alexander Carson (Wooden Arms)
Friday April 26 Bristol, Cube

Part 2 (2017 tour de-brief)

General News

Arrive London Heathrow.

Collect hire car for a 2-month rental. Speed round the M25. Have a night to cuddle my family and have a rest before the first show.

Rose Hill, Brighton

Head to Brighton the following day. Hey, have you heard of the Rose Hill? It’s ever so lovely! This is the first of my efforts to cajole some acquaintances into performing with me – and this night will prove to set the bar very high indeed! Marcus Hamblett was my saviour in rounding up the team. Team DTB tonight is MH himself – on crutches (not playing them – his chosen device is guitar), the dear Tristram Bawtree also on guitar, Alabaster dePlume on saxophonical (he also opened the show with his ascerbic and poignant socialist ranting), the wonderful Emma Gatrill on clarinet (through effects board) and marvellous Tom Heather as drummist. I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter bunch. It sounded like we’d had a week of rehearsals, most of it just worked so perfectly!

So, verily boosted by that, I zoom back in the pitch dark of Sussex for a sleep, narrowly avoiding running down a cyclist who’d chosen, in the middle of the night, a foggy night, to cycle with no lights or reflective clothing.

My band at Paper Dress Vintage

FELL in Hackney

Headed for London the next day – I meet up with Danny Green, who has agreed to jangle his guitar tonight, we have a pizza and discuss the oddness of what we do, prancing about in front of people with daft songs what we writ. But hey, people come to see it so can’t complain getting the opportunity to do something you enjoy so much. Also agreeing to form tonights band is Alabaster DePlume again – he’s residing locally so just a stroll for him to get to Paper Dress Vintage in Hackney, and The brilliant Jonny Bridgwood and Howard Monk – as you may recall they we’re my band back in 2009/10 for the Outbreeding record and surrounding live shows. Wow, this turned out to be a high energy performance to a packed room and thoroughly enjoyable -the band absolutely nailed it! The night was opened by FELL, the brainband of Nicolas Burrows, one of the nicest chaps to sport a moustache.

Billy Mahonie

Seckar

I have a show tomorrow in London and thought the drive back to Sussex where the family is was a bot of a waste if I have to shoot off in the morn – I am kindly housed that night by my old pal from University, Leon, who inadvertently keeps us up chatting until the early hours. The next day I move the car from the soon to expire parking space, and drive up to near Tufnell Park where I pop in to see Beth and Sam, giving them their copy of the record they guest on. And strolling up the Heath for the sunset. The venue is just round the corner. A smaller space and a chance to see creaky old-timers Billy Mahonie show they still have the post-rock grooves and moves! Also playing is electro-northerner Seckar, with synth melodies and smart beats. My show was a little more ramshackle, but fun nonetheless! A sneaky cameo from a hunched-over fiddle player who crept in and crept out (a particularly enigmatic Sam Amidon). Guest guitarring from Billy Mahonie’s Gavin Baker. Plus some vocal noodles from soprano Sarah Dacey and producer, beatboxer, general good egg Matthew Ker (MaJiKer). I night-drive once again back down to Sussex – It’s a nice thing to be able to come back to the most bestest two humans in the world so sweetly sleeping and lie down to sleep soundly with them.

Howie Reeve

The following day is a trip to Hastings. I’m getting to catch up with decent chaps, Greg Butler (director of the film about me) and Chris Broughton (no relation) who have been superb at arranging and promoting a beautiful gig at The Printworks. Friend Howie Reeve happened to be touring the same time with the opportiunity to cross paths here – I invited him to play a set and he opened the show. What a brain pecking delight. You must check out his records – even if ony for the beautiful sleeve artwork! Local Otti and the Voices performed a set. It was a wonderful night even with the bellows of laughter from the chatterers downstairs.

Hubby

Nancy Wallace

Sunday daytime is another London jaunt. A matinee show at the cosy Servant Jazz Quarters with Nancy Wallace, proper english folk, and RM Hubbert, proper Scottish bloke. it all seems too brief. Hubby has to shoot off before I play, but not to worry I will catch him in Scotland as he’s promised to join my band! And Nancy too has something she has to get to, long time ago I used to play a few of the early London shows organised by The Local (Howard Monk) with Nancy. Busy sundays. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this, one of a handful of solo shows on this tour.

Monday is a rest day, but of course I’m in mid-tour head and can’t stop it spinning with thoughts of what’s going to happen and what already happened.

The Waterman Venue

Waterman decor for show

Tuesday we set off as a family up to Cambridge. I don’t think I’ve been here as a performer since I played a show at the Portland Arms as stayed in a Uni College eating breakfast in the dining hall with students and professors and whatnot. We’re staying at The Waterman as well as doing the show in the potting shed attached to the back of it. Dan Carney stepped in to get this show together for me, I’d not seen him since around 2005 or 2006 or something when he was part of the band I Had An Inkling. Anyway – a thoroughly nice chap, as is his pal C Joynes, not-so-fresh from the plane from Bangladesh, who opened the show with his inspiring amped up folk guitar. I learn that Euros Childs and Rosie Smith (who will join me in Cardiff) are playing at that old Portland Arms right across the road so I pop in to say hello before I play. I joked about them having stole the audience but my little 30 person capacity room fills up.

In the morning we had a lovely veggie breakfast included in the accommodation. Have a bot of time to run around Jesus Green with the little rascal, kicking up the autumn leaves, and tickling the posh drunks swigging rosé from the bottle at 10am.

Leicester The cookie

Peter Wyeth

We only have a short drive up to Leicester for the next show. I’ve been put on as a ‘Her Name Is Calla presents…’ by good chap Tom Morris. He’s agreed to have local soundbuilder Peter Wyeth and Adam Weikert (from his band) play a set each to open the show as well as jam with me – as a surprise extra another Calla member, Thom Corah, strolls on with his trombone! Adam bangs some loud keys as well as all the atmospherics he and Peter inject, makes for interesting listening -I think I played a little too long for the small crown that had gathered on this drizzly night. Must mention that The Cookie is a great venue though, and we were staying in the Travelodge just a few steps away, which made for a very convenient night (I was able to have a beer despite promising myself a dry tour!).

Polly Hardy

Giant Head

Although the next show is only in Nottingham I’m driving up to Otley to deposit Katrine and Tomo – She has an thing to go to in Leeds so Grandma is called upon to look after our little tot. Not long after getting up to Otley I set off back down the M1 to the Maze – so I barely skim the edge of Nottingam really. This will be another solo show, Chris doesn’t want to try and play with me and I had totally not been organised enough to ask Katy. They had organised two other acts for the bill, and what lovely treats they were too, Polly Hardy was a great sparse guitar and voice melancholia performance smoky tones. Giant Head wielded a great heavy synth rack and pounded our guts with heavy beats, wild twiddly bits and profound rapping. Actually really great!

It’s a fast ride up a lonely M1 back to Otley for sleeping.

We’ve a day off.

Part 3, soon.

 

And the final installment…

General News

A restful few days off in London, where I mostly didn’t do much. Felt I was getting ill in Cardiff a little so the rest proved of value. So this brings me to Saturday 28th. This was the Brainlove all day event in the Windmill Brixton. I went early intending to be part of some filmed sessions which never happened, I helped decorate the place in its stead.

Musically Brainlobe attracts affable oddballs like Mat Riviere, Pagan Wanderer Lu, Napoleon iiird, Bastardgeist from Chicago, some nuts Estonians he encountered recently in Tallinn Music Week, and myself. It was nice to see Bear Driver and Rob St john too. Recommended.

After the mess and magic of the previous night it was going to be difficult for Norwich to pull anything out of the bag. Well it did. It was a shopping bag from the market, and it was food what was pulled out. Thank you Ros for what I can now officially call best in tour. The show was long and a struggle against some tiredness I had accumulated. I tried to liven or perhaps just change the formula a little for this one time and asked Tawny Owl if they wanted to join in towards the rear of my set and they jumped at it.  Some lovely lads what played a Brainlove, huddled around one amp in the rain, now had their individual amps and some space in the dry. Drone and distortion backing band. Well done.

Onwards, after an outburst at Norwich Train Station where I thought I wouldn’t make it to the Manchester show. I apologise again to the station staff for that. The next train got me there just in time so no worries, silly David. The rail journey up to Manchester is really nice, you go through the lowlands of Norfolk and Cambridgshire which are fine in themselves, I swear I saw a bullfinch on a wire, when I was looking at the collard dove, it was just there. Then you pass through the Peak District a little later, like great cross section of British Countryside or what? Then, for all you brick fans, you go into Manchester via Stockport…

I arrive with just enough time to get off at Oxford Road Station, fly down the steps and cross to the Palace Hotel to sign in and get my pass for ‘Eurocultured’ Festival – I am in the Arch, and it is a stage set up in a massive railway arch (I was just on top of this arriving by train). With genuine stalactites and filth. Oh, and appalling sound and five engineers struggling to find out how to make it work. We all survived it though. I caught the end of Spokes (who I have liked in the past) and watched Kyrie Kristmanson and Bushman’s Revenge. Amazingly the festival had rooms at the Palace Hotel (big rooms – highest ceilings – unnecessarily large windows – history).

The next morning I just make it to my train after a breakfast at the ‘Spoons. And so to Oxford. I arrive in warm sunshine and I don’t need to tell you how much better anywhere looks with this factor at play. I laze around for a bit admiring some old college or church or something. I find out where to go for the gig and go there. This lovely little church where our show was the first of it’s kind in the place. Delightful. Rob and Emma looked after me very well and it was a pleasure to meet them.

It would be hard to beat this high. The show was accompanied by Sebastian from Braindead Collective on the piano. Not to mention a cameo from Rob towards the climax. I enjoyed this one immensely.

It was not beaten by Cambridge the next day. Cambridge, I’m afraid, did not have the pleasant atmosphere of Oxford. They had my last show for a while and it was intense. And having residence for the night in Girton college, not to mention a fry up in the refectory in the morning. I must say that James put a lot of effort into the show and it was a full room so he did well. AND, the Padang Food Tigers were excellent. I guess, over time, I will reassess my opinion of the place. My mind was already on the plane back East.