Dear All,
Well I'm sitting in an airline lounge in Narita and it seems like the first chance I've had to draw breath since we started on this little tour of what is referred to in our business as the Pacific Rim. And I'm starting to lay back and look at the impression I've formed.
(the new blog feature; John and I had the same idea)
New Zealand, Auckland:
as beautiful as ever; a place where a pen is a "pin" and a pin is a "pern"; proper people with a strong set of morals and love their country but who can't wait to go to Europe for 6 months - get a job in a pub in West London etc.; it still seems like the land of innocence to me. For us a shakey show - under rehearsed as usual what with John "storming off stage in a complete tizzy" if you belive the press - honestly the only way he was going to get the technical issue sorted out was by taliking to the relevant crewman - who sits off stage. Still I keep telling myself we got away with it.
Australia, Sydney, Gold Coast, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth:
kicks you're arse; extremely good looking bunch of health nuts who're partial to regular bouts of binge-drinking; spiders big as your hand hanging between trees - and they're not even the poisonous ones; great days out on fabulous boats. Shows which just got better and better; the last V-Fest in Perth was the best one of all. Brilliant crowd- I love Billy Corgan & the rest of Smashing Pumpkins. Can't wait to get back there.
Indonesia, Jakarta:
the pace was picking up. We had a mad police escort ride through Town; machine guns on street corners. Lovely happy kind people; great crowd.
The Phillipines, Manila:
Bonkers show; crowd singing loudest yet. A nice hot sweaty (& somewhat smelly but not in a bad way) town. Kids crossing the road though rush hour traffic; lots of kids; smiling, laughing; everybody loves the kids.
China, Hong Kong & Kowloon:
this place always fills me with the same sense of wonder I had when I first toured the East 28 years ago; it makes me feel permanently 21. The show was amazing; the crowd had a better backdrop than we did - the HK skyline at night. After 5 numbers it started to rain and it brought everyone together, how brilliant was that?
Japan, Tokyo:
Same sense of wonder.
I have to talk about the show: it was one of the best shows we've ever played; everything came together - the beats, the pitching, the lights, the crowd - god what a crowd. It all made it something very special indeed.
The DDparty at Le Baron
Korea, Seoul:
Another great show in front of an amazing crowd. Big, big city being built in a big, big hurry. Loadsa bridges over a very wide river, some very spicey food - ooh I say! and some extremely attractive women ooh lala! always a plus in this band. Not enough time there - which just means we'll have to go back soon - HOORAY!!!
flight's boarding
I'm off
whooosh
s
