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New
York City early January sometime |
I
suppose I should have said Happy New Year but let's face it, all
that's changed is the date. Apart from that things are probably
getting worse, but having said that it's good to witness such huge
anti-Bush feeling here in New York. And I suppose I ought to be
talking about what I'm doing here but hadn't I better say something
first about The
Rutles & Wreckless Eric Going Places Christmas Tour ? I don't think there's much to be said really - Neil was very tired after two months touring America. We all got pissed-off with under-powered PA systems and I got personally pissed-off most nights because I had to soundcheck very quickly and go on to do the set half an hour later with no time to eat anything. Sometimes they saved me some dinner but it was usually cold, congealing and inedible. My best night was in Portsmouth where I delivered a set of such power and audacity that it was difficult for The Rutles to follow. (I'm sorry if that sounds big-headed but fuck it - it's just a statement of fact.) My other favourite night was possibly at the Leadmill in Sheffield where I arrived too late for a sound check - the crew were fantastic - I just did a quick line check and it was perfect. The worst night was at the Bloomsbury Theatre which does a great impression of a shit venue run by arseholes and incompetents for the express purpose of ripping-off the public. The PA would have been under-powered even in a small pub venue. The sound engineer was useless, the monitor system was hopelessly inadequate and the general attitude of the staff was either lackadaisical or obstructive. I would advise anybody against going there to see anything. The bar was expensive too. At fifteen quid a ticket I thought it was more than a bit shabby. The PA cut out completely at one point during my set and they did nothing to try and sort it out. If it was up to me I'd have the place demolished to make way for some low cost housing. |
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After
the Rutles I whizzed over to New York to make a surprise appearance
with Yo La Tengo at Maxwells in Hoboken. It was a great night
- Amy Rigby was there with the Shams, reformed for one evening,
they were utterly charming, captivating and loads of other things
like that. I did the encore. They wanted me to do songs by Jewish
songwriters so we settled on Take The Cash, Sunday Girl by Blondie,
Simon & Garfunkel's America, The Boat That I Row by Neil Diamond
(with fab backing vocals from the Shams) and Whole Wide World.
I don't know if I'm Jewish or not. It was fairly scary waiting
to go on because Yo La Tengo were more than a bit good - it was
fucking terrifying but I think I got away with it all right and
America gave everyone a bit of a surprise. That one was my idea
- I hardly dared suggest it in case they cancelled me but being
one of those rare intelligent bands they got the concept and played
it really well. I hope that doesn't sound patronising - it's meant to be a huge compliment. |
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21
January 2005 |
I
escaped the most Christmassy aspects of Christmas by flying back
to New York on Boxing Day. There was a lot of turbulence. The
next day I found out about the tsunami. It looked as though they
were going to try and play it down to start with, which makes
me think the damage is probably worse than anyone's admitting.
I refuse to be drawn into any fundraising events, though nobody's
asked me as yet. It's not that I don't feel charitable, it's
just that it'll probably turn out just the same as Live Aid -
a lot of career enhancement and it's questionable whether any
of the money actually ended up where it was supposed to go. Best
thing is to donate money to the Red Cross and keep quiet about
it. Which is what Mike Reid should have done instead of making
that ghastly record. While I was in New York I did a set at the Knitting Factory, opening for Bonfire Madigan on the first night of her residency. The place was quite full and I went down really well - the word had got around that I was playing in New York for the first time in nearly ten years - and then it was a bit embarrassing because a lot of people left straight after I played. They should have stayed to hear Bonfire Madigan - she does a solo thing, cello, vocal and bits of backing track, and she was really good. I did another set a few days later at the Lakeside Lounge on Avenue B and that was packed out. I really enjoyed that one and so did everybody else (apart from some young miseries who sat at the front and then decided to leave after two numbers). At least I didn't see anyone looking pissed-off, or pissed as they say in America. I didn't see anyone pissed either - it's a very temperate place these days, apart from the climate. The climate in Bushland is even more confused than it is here in Blairtopia. |
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