Alright, picking up where I left off last time, the show in Brooklyn was awesome fun. Not many peole came out, but it was great to hang out with Steve Shiffman and Mike & Dina from Prewar Yardsale, none of whom I have seen in ages. It was also cool to meet Nan Turner and 'Major' Matt, who I've heard about a lot down the years and Dashan whose web-site I once drew a really crap comic for (http://www.abstractextract.com/luvalotrecords/wavepictures.jpg).
Prewar Yardsale is one of the greatest bands currently in existence. It's not easy to describe how they sound, but this is what they look like:
I went back to Ridgewood after the show to take advantage of Brendon & Linda's good natured hospitality again, then set off for Philadelphia in the morning, feeling a little sad to be leaving New York, but excited to see what happened next.
Philadelphia found me in a foul mood, because the broken wheel on my crappy suitcase went one further than being broken and actually fell off. I dragged and carried the thing for about 15 minutes in the wrong direction in some pretty intense heat and was feeling pretty frustrated, cursing under my breath and occasionally stopping to give the suitcase a kick. Fortune smiled upon me though and I soon followed suit, spotting a Salvation Army shop and picking up a new suitcase for $15. From there things picked up. I had an enormous plate of food for lunch in a cafe which bizarrely had Elastica and the Futureheads playing on the stereo. Then I headed over to meet Nadav Carmel, who is a friend I met last time I was in the US. It was awesome to see him and I was pleased to hear I'm taller than he remembered! Nadav, even more than the Salvation Army, was the real salvation of my trip to Philadelphia because it had become apparent by the early evening that my show in Philadelphia, which I'd confirmed several months ago, had either been cancelled or never existed at all. Which was a massive disappointment obviously, but hanging out with Nadav and his lovely girlfriend, Laura, made it a fun night anyway.
Here's Nadav and me trying to recreate a moment from 7 years ago without the aid of a gilt-framed poster of Freddie Mercury in his pomp...
Here's Nadav and me trying to recreate a moment from 7 years ago without the aid of a gilt-framed poster of Freddie Mercury in his pomp...
Next to Harrisburg! Most of you probably haven't heard of Harrisburg and I certainly hadn't before I booked this tour, but I liked the town a lot. It has some beautiful architecture in it, including the Pennsylvania state capital building, and sits on the banks of a wide river. I walked around in the pouring rain while the sun shone simultaneously, creating some pretty dramatic light. I took a lot of moody photographs, but here's just one:
And here's a, possibly even moodier, photo of the show I played in town:
As you can see, the show was in a church, which I always find a little weird, but all the kids hanging out were really friendly and the other people who played (The Spinning Game [pictured] and Ship Wrecks) were good. I ended up staying in a weird kind of Christian commune house which the residents sort of throw open to anyone in town in need of a place to stay, which is really nice of them. Being massively prejudiced and narrow-minded I harbour weird suspicions about American Christian kids and felt kind of uncomfortable sleeping in the same room as a creepy looking home made shrine, but everyone I met was so kind and friendly and I was made to feel very welcome.
One last photo from Harrisburg, just in case any of you are thinking that this 'America' I'm writing about doesn't seem like America at all:
I thought it would be highly amusing to kill the time I had at Harrisburg Mall before my bus arrived, walking around in this shop looking at the guns and the crossbows and the hunting 'trophies', but actually it just made me feel like I might lose the cinnamon bagel I'd had for breakfast...
Next I took the now familiar megabus across to Pittsburgh through some beautiful countryside. I had a long walk through the town which seems kind of cool, but definitely not a patch on Harrisburg aesthetically. The show was in a place called Garfield Artworks, which is a cool space but was, again, pretty empty. A pair of twins called Rose & Sara played, who were a lot of fun, and Jenn Gooch played some good songs on a weird looking tenor guitar. She offered to drive me up to Youngstown today in her truck so hopefully we can play together tonight as well. She's a Texan which maybe explains both the 'southern chivalry' and the truck-ownership.
So, Youngstown, Ohio next. Everything I know about Youngstown I learned from the below so, obviously, I am expecting to have an amazing time!
Let me know how you're all doing some time please.
Hugh
x
