Plus, Paperbag & The Flying Gambinos at the Cross Kings, 11. May, the evening in pics and video

soundcheck:



Paperbag:


Plus:




















photos by me, Simon and Hebe.

setlist: Plus Today / Double Shine Dustbowl Future / I know I know Colony Collapse / Shades of Green / Tired Eyes / 48 Hours / The Cracks of Language / Steamrise / Lemonade Laminate / Ephedrine Daddy

it was another good night, a bit chaotic but it worked, we were quite busy, and I got to wear my new lederhosen with my beehive wig, a good combo! Hebe the DJ unfortunately couldn't get the data discs she brought along to play over the venue's sound system, and I only had one Cocteau Twins album on my ipod, Milk and Kisses, so we did play a bit of that, but also the great 1 hour DJ set I got from werasagtmussauchbsagen (friends of Joerg's from the Munich scene) a couple of years ago, plus later Anderson had some good stuff in his that we played, so it wasn't a huge problem, just a shame as she spent a lot of time preparing her Cocteaus DJ set. The Flying Gambinos played in a new lineup for the first time, including their cover of our song "Antique Doll" (see video below), Paperbag rocked out power pop style, including a Police cover at the end of their set. And we just did our thing too, I did a bit more falsetto than usual, possibly to let hang out my perceived Cocteaus influence, we played a slightly different set again, some songs we hadn't played for a while, several people came up to me later who I didn't really know and told me they really liked it, so thanks! everybody!

trip down to lovely B'ton to rehearse for the gig tomorrow...

we always rehearse at Monster, in an industrial estate just by Portslade harbour, just outside Brighton. When we arrived on the train there were still a couple of hours before the rehearsal was due to start so I walked through the very busy North Laines (it's the Brighton festival right now as well!) first all the way into Kemptown then back along the beach, got a lift from the others to Monster and then walked back along Hove promenade, so I essentially walked the whole of the Brighton and Hove seafront in total yesterday. Well, it was a lovely day and the air was so good... even though i felt a bit crap, it was a productive rehearsal, some new stuff, and we managed to agree on a fairly varied setlist that has an intriguing mix of old and new...

when i'm pretty presents... Plus, Paperbag & The Flying Gambinos @ the Cross Kings, Monday 11. May

Norfolk Broads

I've just come back last night from three days of walking on the Norfolk Broads (I took the Friday off to make it a super long weekend, a wise move which I can remommend as you can beat the Bank Holiday travel rush - even though the train was delayed badly due to someone under a train in the Romford area, affecting all trains out of Liverpool Street), a flat, old landscape that lies roughly between Norwich and Great Yarmouth on the coast with an extensive system of waterways, rivers, ditches and many old windmills, remote villages and country pubs. There are some good long distance walks, I walked a bit of the Weavers Way from Acle to Great Yarmouth, right across the Broads and then along Breydon Water, and bits of the Wherryman Way that follows the River Yare, on the second day around Reedham, and yesterday from Norwich up to the Ferryhouse Pub near Surlingham village. One problem for walkers in this area is access, it's ok if you have a boat, but as there are only crossings over the Yare in Great Yarmouth, Reedham and Norwich, it's quite difficult to get to the walks and back, and even on a bank holiday there weren't many walkers. I walked as far as the Ferryhouse pub expecting to be able to cross over to get to the train station for a train back to Norwich, only to find it stopped in 1965. So I asked around in the pub and got a lift across the river from some very friendly guys who were having a stag do party on three boats and who were happy to help :-)

Great Yarmouth on first impressions wasn't too good, quite tacky and a bit rough, but on closer inspection I quite liked it, there is a very old part of it that faces away from the sea, the historic South Quay, and the whole are around there is actually quite nice, some good pubs as well, walk north from the pier and you come to some quiet dunes facing the amazing Scroby Sand Wind Farm. Norwich too, some streets around the station on a Saturday night are like a giant hen party from hell, but walk around the corner and you're in some amazing tranquil cobblestoned street, old churches loom everywhere, so you have to explore it a bit. I eventually found a nice big pub, that had a little free party in the basement where some dudes played old ska and dub 45s and a cool, chilled crowd hung out, the complete antidote to the towney pissed up scene just down the road.