15-21/9./01 - The Who's The Daddy Now? TourIThe biggest post-Carter venture yet, a seven day UK tour featuring four bands: IINVIISIIBLES - ABDOUJAPAROV - JIM'S SUPER STEREOWORLD - WHO'S THE DADDY NOW? From the start, we wanted to do this one properly, there was going to be 12 people to transport and accommodate and the best way to do this is by hiring a big fuck-off tour bus. We were all quite excited about getting on a tour bus again as the last time we had one was on the final Carter US Tour back in July '97. I have to say that I love travelling on the bus, it is so Rock 'n' Roll. The beautiful white monster pulled up on Effra Rd on the afternoon of the 15th, we spent about an our loading up our gear, which meant carrying it across a main road and dancing with the traffic. The driver Nick seemed like a top bloke and we all got on with him right from the start. I happily set up in my little Tour Manager position at the font of the bus, got out my new iBook and started to play a few games as we sped towards The Premises rehearsal studio where we were to pick up Dave (ex-Abdou and now Iinviisiible) and the rest of the gear. Harlow - Leeds - Hull - Leicester - Glasgow - Portsmouth - London 15/9/01 HARLOW - THE SQUARE So what would be a better place to start the tour than out old haunting ground, The Square. We were welcomed like the old friends that we are and quickly set up the gear and began sound-checking. Before we continue, I should give you a run down of the bands and crew THE BAND MEMBERS Jim Bob Morrison - JSSW / WTDN? THE CREW Chris Bell - Guitar Tech and general dogsbody OK, back to the gig. The venue filled up from very early on and first band IINVIISIIBLES had a great crowd to play to. For a band that nobody had seen before, they went down incredible well and performed their hearts out. I have said this many times but this band are brilliant, and I reckon that they are gonna be huge. If you like your Rock 'n' Roll loud and dirty, this is the band for you, they take no prisoners. Next on, Abdoujaparov. We played a good set to a very appreciative crowd. I think we had the advantage today as we have played The Square on regular basis and have built up a healthy following in Harlow and the surrounding area. Every time we come back to Harlow the crowd get bigger and better. To play to an almost sold out venue was fantastic. The new songs Emergency Medical Hologram and There's A Monster In My Garden went down really well too. Then: Jim's Super Stereoworld. Jim was a little nervous playing JSSW's classy cheesy pop disco following two rock monsters, but he needn't have worried, the crowd loved it and clapped and sang along to the singles and future hits. Smiles broadened as the set went on. Jim played some great new tunes too. Big Flash Car is my favourite at the moment Finally Van, Jason and I joined Jim and the boys on-stage and we became WHO'S THE DADDY NOW?. We began the set with Surfin' USM and the place went wild. We followed this with the new single The Beeper Song which also went down madly. Then Glasgow Kiss, Bloodsport For All, Sheriff Fatman and GI Blues followed giving the crowd a huge Carter fix and making a lot of 30-40 somethings sweat and pant like never before. I'm talking band and audience. It was lovely to see some old faces that hadn't left their armchair for a while. Roadie Chris Bell was extremely pissed all night but still managed to get the guitars in tune and not get himself in any trouble. Marc had great fun at the t-shirt stall. A special mention for additional crew member Trudi, who did a fantastic job on the lights. Big thanks to everyone at The Square for helping make the first night a big success.. As we didn't have far to travel the next day, we parked overnight in Harlow and had a small party on the bus. Not bad for the first night! 16/9/01 - Leeds - The New Roscoe Day two. The last time that Abdou played in Leeds was at the fables Duchess Of York. It was wild gig which we only turned up at about 10 minutes before we were due on-stage. That great venue is a trendy wine-bar now and it is up to The New Roscoe to fill it's worthy boots. The Roscoe is not quite as central as the Duchess but is a lovely pub with great and friendly staff. We were greeted with cups of tea and shown to our dressing room which was FULL of beer (well it was the pub cellar actually). We were told to respect the cellar, so we bowed down and prayed to it. The P.A. system arrived and it wasn't long before we were sound-checking. After sound-check we had pizza and settled down to wait for the audience to turn up. And turn up they did, a brilliant turn out for a Sunday night. Once again IINVIISIIBLES stunned, ABDOU rocked, and JSSW disco-ed. It all went a bit crazy for the WTDN? portion of the night, the P.A. system toppled, stage-divers fell to the ground as lots of folk danced and jumped like they haven't done for a while. As usual the Leeds audience were as drunk as skunks, how is it you can get that drunk and still be standing. I must say though, that the spectacular drunk of the day award has to go to IINVIISIIBLES and WTDN? drummer VAN who was completely off of his face and ended up walking on the roof of the tour bus and then throwing up all over the place. Nice one Van, you rock n roll animal!. Big thanks to Douglas who brought Jim and myself a couple of bottles of whisky. That went down very well thanks. We stayed at the venue very late and drank too much Irish Whisky and cocktails. Cheers to everyone at The New Roscoe for their wonderful hospitality. 17/9/01 - Hull - The Adelphi After spending the morning at a service station and using the truckers showers, we felt fresh and ready for some more giggy action. As we drove into town, Nick dropped me off in the centre, as I needed to get to a bank to unload some loot at the mysteriously hard to find Royal Bank Of Scotland. I decided to walk to the venue as it wasn't very far. Big mistake, it began to teem down with rain and I got completely soaked. I arrived at the venue where the guys had already set the gear up onstage and were jamming away. For those of you new to these diaries, I should tell you a little about The Adelphi. We first played there in the very early days of Carter. Paul Jackson (who ran and sill runs the venue) took a chance on us after hearing a demo of A Sheltered Life. We played there several times and even included it on the Dave tour. To be honest, we were a bit disappointed with the turn-out for tonights gig, there was only about 70 people there and I think that such a great line-up deserves a lot more. A few people told me that the gig wasn't well advertised and they thought there were a hell of a lot more folk who would have come if they had of heard about the gig. Little gripe over, we had a great gig and the people who were there were treated to a stunning show, all four bands were on top form, but for my money, the night belonged to IINVIISIIBLES, they were awesome. Once again, it was great to see some old friends and Jim and Paul were great as always. I have heard that The Adelphi is in some financial trouble. I hope that they can get through this as it is a great gig and it would be a crime to see it go. 18/9/01 - Leicester - Princess Charlotte We all slept in until really late and woke up in another service station close to Leicester, did the usual expensive afternoon breakfast thing, took showers and welcome dumps (not crapping on the bus is a hard and fast rule). As Nick couldn't park outside the venue he dropped us all off and went to find somewhere else to park. We all roamed the streets of Leicester. I banked some more dosh to make sure that we had enough to pay for the bus. We bought Marc a nice little bum-bag to use when on the Merch Stall. Then we all went for a coffee and watched the girls go by. We got back to the venue in time to meet the returning bus ready unloading the gear and beginning the sound-check. The sound guy at The Charlotte is a bit of a miserable git, that may sound a bit harsh, but he really is! He really acts as if he doesn't want to be there and after the last couple of days of friendly faces, it was a bit of a downer. That apart though we were looked after food and drink-wise. When the crowd started to pour in we were a little relieved as when JSSW played there a couple of years ago, there was hardly anybody there. All, four bands played their hearts out, JSSW were the band of the night tonight for me, the whole band sound is getting bigger and better all of the time and the competition of the other bands is really upping everyone's games. The best thing about these gigs for me is that all of the bands are going down really well. For a lot of the audience this is the first time they have seen the bands and, for me, it's really cool to see people singing along with Abdou songs. Of course the WTDN? set went down a treat, everyone seemed very happy to hear those old classics. It was a good night and the crowd were great and really appreciative. So what's next then? Ahh....Glasgow! 19/9/01 - Glasgow - King Tut's Glasgow town was looking good as we arrived. I got off the bus and went into town to find the bank. I'm sure that if you have been following the careers of Jim and myself, you will know that we are in love with Glasgow and always look forward to returning. Abdou played at King Tut's a while ago and it was a great gig, tonight could only be better. Sound-check without a hitch and the food as always at King Tut's, was gorgeous. The venue began to fill up from a fairly early stage and we knew that we were in for a good night. Marc had set up his stall in the optimum area and the crowds were already flocking to buy WTDN? goodies. There were quite a few familiar faces, most notably ex-Carter roadie and merch man Ramie Coyle (or Mad dog as he was known in those days). We had all been shocked and saddened by the recent sudden death of Ramie's brother Johnny. Johnny was also a Carter roadie and I can't really express how destroyed we all are by his death. This gig was for Johnny, we will never forget him, he was a top fella. Sorry to bring things down there, but it was something that had to be said. IINVIISIIBLES started of this evening's entertainment in their usual uncompromising manner, they get better with each gig and the craziness gets crazier. My fave song tonight is You And The Sound, which quite simply ROCKS! It was truly heartwarming to hear the cheers as Abdou took to the stage, I felt to be in the arms of a warm and cuddly family. I think that we must have played really well too as the reaction from the crowd was most encouraging. Jim and his band of misfits were on next and wound the evening up into an even more delirious pace. Big Flash Car was fantastic tonight and deserves to be a huge hit single. I can't get enough of that JSSW sound man! I couldn't believe that it could get better, but it did. The WTDN? set went off! The crowd went crazy and the band played our little hearts out. I had such a good time that I didn't want it to end. I hung around by the t-shirt stall after the gig and met some great people. Marc had a very busy time of it and seemed very pleased with this evening's take. After the bars had closed and the stragglers were sent on their way home, we bade our farewells and stumbled onto the bus. Marc was very worse for wear after being fed several bottles of Thurstenburg by Mad Dog. He was having extreme difficulty staying upright and I feared for the contents of his stomach. Back on the bus the party continued long into the night. The WTDN? Tour rolls onwards to Portsmouth, what a long drive. Who organised the routing for this tour? Oh yeah, it was me, the boy who got 'unclassified' in his Geography O Level ;-) 20/9/01 - Portsmouth - The Wedgewood Rooms Nick the driver had a terrible time. During the night the bus broke down on the motorway and he had to get a mechanic out to fix fan-belts and other technical bits and bobs. I was asleep in my bunk and got woken up by the bus being rocked violently by passing jugganauts. It was a bit scary! We eventually got underway and got into Portsmouth in good time to head off for breakfast at a seafront cafe. Breakfast was great and was made better by the sea air. It was good to be dahn sarf again ;-) We hung around for a bit in a coach-park before heading towards the venue. Ben was the navigator so we found the venue with great ease. I hadn't been to the Wedgewood Rooms for ages, in fact (15/12/96 on tour with Carter, a brilliant gig I remember) The place had changed a little, but still looked like a proper rock n roll venue. We set up the gear in record time and before long we were soundchecking. That all went very smoothly as usual, We were then told that dinner was ready and were shown to the kitchen where a full-on feast was awaiting. Top nosh without a doubt, everyone stuffed themselves apart from Jim, who decided that he wasn't hungry. All the more for me! The crowd were a little subdued as IINVIISIIBLES took to the stage and hid away at the edges. Maybe they were scared of the sheer power of Dave, Jason and Van, they can be a little intimidating, what with their make-up and rock n rollness. Before long though, the folk edged forward and smiles appeared as if by magic. IINVIISIIBLES had weaved their spell once again. During the IINVIISIIBLES set, ex-Carter man Wez turned up along with old mate Ferret. It was great to see them both and nice to catch up. Next on Rich, Ben, Jase and Les (that's me folks) collectively know as ABDOUJAPAROV. We rocked big time, I like this version of the band, we fit like marigolds, well maybe not quite that tight. JIM'S SUPER STEREOWORLD boogied the crowd into disco heaven next. They danced and sang along, broad grins and Travolta dance moves. I think that the audience was sufficiently warmed up for the WHO'S THE DADDY NOW? set. I must say that my favourite song of the WTDN? set is the new single The Beeper Song, it's great on the CD, but it's much better live. The crowd greeted it tonight with as much enthusiasm as any of the Carter songs. There was a lot of moshing, slam dancing and general drunken tomfoolery going on. Stagedivers littered the stage and floor of the venue, I hope that no-one got hurt. It was a great night only tinged with the sadness that all of this fun was soon to be over. Tomorrow is the last gig of the tour and I was only just getting warmed up! Cheers to Ian and the crew at the Wedgie Rooms for a top night. We decided to park up overnight in Southsea as tomorrow's drive was such a short one. Jase, Van, Dave and I went to the beach to drink beer and talk rubbish. Dave decided to teach us all to play the Harmonica and we discovered that to play the blues you have to SUCK! Dave ranted like a demented gnome, I was a bit worried for our safety, failure to play the Blues could be fatal! 21/9/01 - London - The Mean Fiddler After a hard night's partying on the bus I woke up slightly dazed and confused. We were heading down the A3 and I went downstairs to talk to Nick and to let him know that a Little Chef wasn't too far away. We both needed breakfast. In fact surprisingly, breakfast at the Little Chef was gorgeous and exactly what we both needed. Everyone else was still asleep on the bus, so we took time to have a good old chat. What a great bloke Nick is. Now then...onwards to Brixton first and then the bright lights of London's West End. We stopped off in Brixton to pick up some WTDN? badges and for me to see Crissi and drop off my washing and stuff. It didn't take that long to get to Tottenham Court Rd and the Mean Fiddler. Nick parked the bus as well as he could on the crowded rd and we pulled out the gear and took it down to the venue via the most stinking alleyway ever. The whole place smelt terrible, the alley way is used as a public toilet by crack heads. All I can say is that is was smelly. Anyway, we got all of the stuff down and met up with the lads from the venue. We are very at home at this venue as we have known most of the Mean Fiddler crew for years and it was good to see them again. Tonight we even see the welcome return of Bob Mossey, who used to do Carter's sound and Trudi, the most excellent lampy. It was obvious to everyone that this was going to be one special night, we got the news that we had already sold 800 tickets in advance and we were almost certainly going to sell out! Hoorah for us!! The venue was already heaving when IINVIISIIBLES leapt on the stage. Tonight, the boys really mean business, this is their biggest ever crowd and they were very keen to show everybody that THEY ARE THE DADDY. The set was sheer rock n roll and ended with Jason smashing up his bass and generally trashing the stage. How could we follow that? I decided to start the gig on the offensive and if the stream of four letter words that spilled from my mouth upset anybody I'm very sorry (not really!). I think I can truly say that this was the best reception that Abdou have ever had EVER. It was amazing. Stage diving, the lot. I loved it like a brother. Jim was on next and showed the crowd how a true professional does it. The enormous new sound of JIM'S SUPER STEREOWORLD spread around the venue like a big fluffy ball of candyfloss and it's sweetness spread a big smile across the entire crowd. Of course the crowning glory of tonight just had to be the Who's The Daddy Now bit, from the first sample of Surfin' USM, to the final chords of GI Blues, the atmosphere was magic and the crowd were awesome. Well, what can I say, what a top tour, I haven't had so much fun for ages and what's more it wasn't over yet. After being handed a rather large stash of cash, we left the venue and stepped onto a completely full tour bus. It looked as though half of the audience had decided to come with us back to Brixton. We had intended to have a quiet little party back home but it looked as though we were going to have more company than we expected. We got home to a even more people and..an almost empty fridge. Calamity! Luckily, Crissi took matters into hand an organised a whip-round and a possé set of for the all night offy. Meanwhile we got some music on the stereo and lit a fire in the garden. We bid goodbye to Nick who set off for Bristol. Unfortunately, he had to return in about 20 minutes as I had realise that I had left the cash from the gig in the bus safe. Luckily Nick took it in very good spirit,. Again, I love this fella, he is great. Well... eventually the beer took it's toll and one by one we sauntered off to bed and to whatever corner we could find to lay our heads. The rest is oblivion!! Sweet oblivion!!! Until next time,, Love fruity xxxx |