Ms JR Denitto
Athens in mid-March for Scarlet's Well: 6.30am flights - thank goodness for taxi drivers who show up when they're supposed to. I didn't see much of Athens...except the Parthenon from my hotel balcony, and an amazing ice-cream parlour, but I did play in a cubicle of perspex which was an interesting experience! Makes a big difference to the sound - i.e. you can't hear anything! Especially when there's no drum monitor. But people enjoyed the show, which was the main thing.
(I have to say there was a stray dachshund (!) enjoying our soundcheck, I was very tempted to take him home but he didn't show up for the gig later on...)
Latest New Royal Family gig, also mid-March: There was a stage invasion! That was funny. There'll be another gig in June, I think, so will see if that happens again...
Scarlet's Well also played Germany in mid-April. For the P!O!P! festival, in Hamburg, plus a show in Dresden. I love going to Germany, and the "Teach yourself German" I've been doing on the Tube in the mornings on the way to work has really produced results! Sensible flight time, landed, taxi to venue, soundcheck, 1 band on, then us a 9pm, then watched the other bands, had a dance, then back to hostel for 3 hours sleep. Lots of fun. Good gig, and drummed just fine, although felt slightly under-rehearsed. Other bands were good, especially the Crayon Fields from Australia. Honeyheads were good too.
7am start the next morning. Dresden isn't that far, but the cheapest way to go was to get a "Schones Wochende" ticket - where 5 people can take as many trains in the region in a day as long as they're not the express train. So, 9 hours, 4 local trains, a tram and a replacement bus tram later, we arrived at Ostpol, a very cool "Ostalgie" bar in Dresden.
That was another fun gig, although a tiny bit strange setup because I didn't want to move the headliner's drumkit (the excellent Schwervon). They had it at the front side-ways on, so I had Helena and Sian behind me, and I was at the front of the stage. We went down well, but I discovered I'm much more comfortable at the back!
Then, another 7am start, 2 trains, an airport bus later, and we were flying back to London. (We found out that the Stansted Express wasn't running, nor was the Victoria line, so it was bus replacement services back to London. Adventures in trains, planes and airplanes..)
One more trip to Paris at the start of June, and then that'll be it for a while.
I'll be doing a one-off for the Deptford Beach Babes in May - all girl surf band, should be fun. Beyond that, no public outings booked. I guess I'll have a fairly quiet summer..
One book I'll recommend to you all - been reading Bill Bruford's autobiog and finding it very useful in terms of attitude and practicing. Not even listened to his drumming before, but thanks to the excellent Spotify I can find out all about it.
Upcoming Gigs
Scarlet's Well
June 1st: Le Baron, Paris
June 2nd:
L’International, Paris
Deptford Beach Babes
May 23rd:
The Royal Sovereign, Stoke Newington, London
The time is 21.08pm, 2nd May, 2009.
