Exclusive - Pivot tour diary - Part 1

Posted in MUSIC by Marcus on Sep 03, 11:00AM

Brisbane - Alhambra Lounge 31/07/08

We arrive in Brissie and circle the one way streets of Fortitude Valley a few times to eventually find the place to drop off all our gear. We leave our stuff with our capable sound engineer/tour manager/navy seal and leave for an interview at 4ZZZ community radio. I've been there before and they seem to have a bit more funding for the station this year. We're not talking into drum microphones suspended by sticky tape and wooden rulers this time. The hyperactive host clearly hasn't heard our record. But he is entertaining enough for the drive time afternoon audience by asking questions like 'do you front or back wipe?'.

Later the venue fills up with lost zombie 18 year old haircut scenesters ready to spend their savings on cheap booze while they spend the night checking each other out. We feel like we've been booked into the wrong venue. This all changes when we start playing and everyone stops smoking outside to fill the room for our show. It turns out to be a great gig and my perception of the kids as trashy nihilsitic university drunkards is altered. They actually like music. Special mention needs to go out to the boys who'd driven out from Toowoomba.

Melbourne - Festival Hall w/Sigur Ros 1/08/08

Melbourne, sunny Melbourne. This day it's particularly freezing. It's like a London winter. Festival Hall is the biggest venue in Australia we've played so far, and Sigur Ros the biggest band in the world we've supported. So we're pretty excited. Soundcheck is fun - the room is empty, high-ceilinged and just as cold as outside. I feel like we're in Russia. Or in an Emerson, Lake and Palmer video.

When it comes time to play a stage manager directs us onto stage. We walk on, the lights go down and the audience stands up from waiting on the floor. It must be two thirds full by now and they're all ready to hear some music. We start the first sequence only to find the onstage monitor engineer is not there, and there's no sound coming out of our monitors. We stop playing and leave the stage. The audience has a little clap. But is thankfully understanding. Finally the monitor engineer is found, outside the venue. When ready we tear into one of our best sets in Melbourne so far.

Later, after my first live experience of Sigur Ros, we meet a couple of them in their dressing room. Jonsi the singer, who bounces up to say hi, is friendly and elfish. He then sits back at a table and proceeds to burn a pizza crust over a candle, which seems to be a very serious and intense game.