Month: March 2013
Postcards from France, March 2013
Wow, I’ve been back in Milan for two days and I’m still on a high from our tour in France. Both completely buzzing, and also about ready to collapse from exhaustion after the long days at work since I got back, so I think I’m going to spend Easter on the sofa eating cake and trying to do as little as possible. Well maybe I will work on a new song that I wrote in my head during the drive back from Chambery on Monday morning.
I think all three of us left a little part of our hearts in France this March. We were received with such enthusiasm and hospitality everywhere we went, the shows were brilliant, and after 3,700 kilometers of driving we left already excited to come back in June for another round. Special thanks to Beast Records, Seb & Alex, Slim Mitch, Franck, Headsucker & Emma, Dimi & Sof, Gui and all the venues and the bands we played with, Head On, Bed Bunker, Tulla Larsen, The Strong Come-ons, The Mythomans, Aurelien Blues Band & the Denyals. Merci à vous !!
Snow?!
Purple Bar
the guys with Michel
Le Baraka, Clermont-Ferrand
Headsucker & Emma, Le Magellan
Headsucker & Emma, Le Magellan with the Queen of self portraits.
in Headsucker’s fabulous bunker
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro
Backstage at Mondo Bizarro. BEAST RECORDS!
Mondo Bizarro. Day 2
Mondo Bizarro. Day 2.
Mondo Bizarro. Slim Mitch
Mondo Bizarro. with HEAD ON
The most famous window mirror in Paris.
Dimi
TULLA LARSEN @ Le Mechanique Ondulatoire
Le Mechanique Ondulatoire.
L’Imposture, Lille
L’Imposture, Lille
THE STRONG COME-ONS @ Infrared, Orleans
Awesome people!
Awesome people!
My new friend, keeping an eye on the car.
With super Gui
Mistral Palace, Valence
Mistral Palace, Valence
Mistral Palace, Valence
552 km of our 3,700 km journey.
Valence
We are beyond tired at this point. Fast food in dire need.
Sound check at Le Brin de Zinc, Chambery.
Welcome to Italy.
Backstage at Brin de Zinc
The troops are pretty tired on day twelve of our tour. We relented and went to McDonalds for lunch, and now we’re waiting to unload the car and set up for the last show at Brin de Zinc in Chambery.
Tired Face #1
Tired Face #2
And Tired Face #3
I’m sure we’ve got just enough juice left in the tank to deliver one more show tonight, perhaps with the help of a mouthful of whisky. Back to Milan tomorrow and this week we’ll announce the dates of our 10-show German/Europe tour which begins on Thursday 11 April in Switzerland.
La Tour Eiffel
It’s very difficult to find time on tour to do anything. The entire day is spent packing the car, finding food, driving, finding the venue, unpacking the car, setting up, sound-checking, eating again (maybe), hanging around, and then actually playing. OK, I missed the number one thing that musicians on tour are always searching for above anything else – the wifi connection. We have to constantly connect to reply to emails, book shows, facebook the next event etc.
Alessio told me as we were driving out of Le Mans two days ago that there is a very big cathedral there, but of course we didn’t go to see it. Any lucky free hours we find ourselves with on tour we generally spend trying to get some sleep if possible, or washing things, but occasionally, just on the off chance that we find ourselves with not far to travel and something on the route, we might do something touristy. Last time we toured in France we took a quick spin around Lourdes. This morning we have a few hours to spare with only a couple of hours to get to Lille this afternoon, and Pete & Alessio have both never been up the eiffel tower.
Well guys it doesn’t look like it’s going to be today. So here is a picture of the tour eiffel that I got on the internet. Maybe next time, alright?
a tour update quickie
We’re almost halfway done with our tour. So far we’ve been battling against snow, rain, sore throats and illness, but the show must go on, as they say. It has been amazing catching up with so many wonderful people along the way. We had a fantastic night at Mondo Bizarro on Saturday with Bed Bunker and Head On. Here are a couple of pics of us with the boss:
And not forgetting the awesome show at Ernee on Friday night, put together by the one and only Headsucker, and his beautiful wife Emma, who made sure that we left their town at least 3 kilos heavier than we arrived. Here’s a video of a song we just recorded at SAE with Ivan Rossi, a cover of the JC classic, Give my love to Rose. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for a new Beast Records release coming out soon in tribute to the man in black. This video is courtesy of Phil LaCleck, (merci Phil).
Pete had an unintentional night off last night to rest his voice, sorry Caen, but we’ll be back next time I promise. He has slept and dosed up on everything under the sun to try and recover for the rest of the tour. Thanks so much to Alex for all the help and honey. Tonight we head to Le Mans, tomorrow Paris. Hope to see you on the road.
Santé!
TOUR DATES :: MARCH
These Boots …
.. are made for walking! Great work Lee Hazlewood on writing this brilliant song. Pete did a cover version what seems like a million years ago, way back in January 2010 in the kitchen studio of Mr Orville Brody in Rennes. At the same time, over a 2 day recording session he put down acoustic guitar and vocal to 10 songs in fact, and it was planned to become the album Midnight Show. When we got back to Milan for various reasons we decided to re-write the album and re-record the whole session with some the new and reworked songs. So this recording got put on the shelf, and Midnight Show as you know it was recorded in an ugly ground-floor apartment in Milan, with me looking out the window to warn Pete when the gate was about to get slammed and ruin the track.
The good news is that we have decided to release this song, along with two others as part of the Devil Inside single, available at present in digital download only. I added some vocals to the track as well, and joined Nancy Sinatra in spirit to Pete’s Lee. The single is online and listenable here:
Now I’m a bit concerned about the weather in France this week as I’m seeing a lot of talk about snow flurries floating around the interweb. I was hoping not to have to pack all my heavy duty winter clothing, but looks like I’ll be taking it, just to be sure. We’ve got just one and a half days left here, and last minute preparations are underway. I think this may be the most well prepared tour we’ve ever undertaken, and I hope it’s going to be the best yet. 12 concerts in 12 days, here we come.
PS My Ampeg Mini (code-named Ms Amy) has grown since the last time you saw her. She’s nearly as tall as me now!
Last Rehearsal
Hello! Here we are at our last rehearsal in the studio just outside Milan this morning. We are sure going to miss our morning coffee at the best coffee machine in the city. It’s more like coffee flavoured water than coffee actually, but for some reason it has become an integral part of our rehearsal routine.
I think we are pretty much ready. We’ve bought some new stuff to make us even louder than before (much), attempted to pack it tetris-style into the car (it fits, just), and written and re-written the set list. We’ve had a run through of the Beasts of Bourbon song that we’re going to play with Head On next Saturday at Mondo Bizarro (that’s the 16th), and run through the song that we think Headsucker is going to ask us to play.
This weekend I’m going to stock up on car snacks and neurofen, get all the merch sorted out and packed up, and decide how many different outfits I can possibly fit into my bag. Writing new songs has taken a back seat for the moment because there just hasn’t been the free time to concentrate on them. Nonetheless, we have a couple already added to the set. We’ll be playing the entire album in our show, all 10 songs. I’m rather pleased about that.
Looking forward to seeing you on the road next week if you are in France! Come and say hello, or bon soir as the case may be.
Bisous from us
Pete Ross & The Sapphire 