The tour is passing in a blur. We played across the bottom of the country, a slow run from Glastonbury to Bath to Bristol to Exeter, a couple of days off in Bideford (pronounced Biddy-fuhd according to the pundits on Tiktok) then rolling through London with a car break-in and a mad-cap run north to Liverpool to stay in an abandoned pub.
Last night we played a venue the Arctic Monkeys played when they were just getting started. Weve also played at the pub where Coldplay had their first gig, and on the same stage as Muse and I briefly had a tinkle on a piano that Elton John played. Each time someone drops a famous name I remind myself that a) these are just names and b) every band has a starting point.
Correlation vs Causation, playing the same stages as wildly famous but fundamentally different bands to us doesnt mean much. I dont see a recording contract with Universal in our future, or Grammy Awards, or private jets. But hey, weve made it to this point. Were touring the UK! Weve played Glastonbury! Weve almost sold out of t-shirts!
Last night I gave a free badge to a guy who said we were the best thing hes seen all year, and maybe thats enough. The little personal connections are the thing that make this music work, that have always made touring work. Ive got friends in country towns in Australia who I met ten years ago through bands that no longer exist. Ive got multiple personas from folk singer-songwriter to banjo player to drummer in an esoteric instrumental dance band, but the personal connections are the bit that remains.
Ive been having a real fun time on tour. Its great to be out of Melbourne, to be somewhere new, to be meeting new people, to get to play music every night. I think its great for the band too.
The band expands on tour. The songs re-arrange themselves. The mid-set banter gets refined. We take more risks. I remind myself every time we tour that we should try and record AFTER we tour because thats when the songs have finally found themselves, but of course we record albums so that we can tour and its a never-ending cycle. Its also great to see different people come in to their own on tour personal relationships evolve, little bits get developed between band members mid-set, the whole band grows in ways I couldnt have predicted when I started booking this tour this time last year.
I love being in a band where the show evolves as we go. I love being in a band where everything is a little bit silly. I love being in a band where instrumental music dreamed up on my Mums old piano in a garage in West Preston resonates with audiences across the world. I love being in a band where we leave it all on the bandstand, no notes left, a sweaty sodden mess.
I love playing music.