Live in Edinburgh This Week – 28th June 2010
Ah the cooling touch of sweet, clean porcelain. And it may well be hot in our house, but dammit I have never experienced such an unpleasant sleeping experience as being baked alive inside a tent when the sun comes up as fiercely as it did this weekend at Glastonbury. Dear God almighty that was a nasty way to wake up, especially with a vindictive little bastard of a hangover kicking away at the inside of your head.
We didn’t do too badly for facilities actually – it’s the single greatest advantage of going to festivals with a band – but I am reminded of a daft little toilet story from my old job (no, STOP IT, it’s nothing like that, honestly) which I have intended to mention for a while and always forgotten.
Scotland is a very long way north, a very, very long way north in fact, and this means that during the Winter you arrive and leave work in the dark. It can be lighter in the mornings, but by the time four in the afternoon rolls around, it is generally pitch fucking black outside. Add to that the fact that we used to do most of our work on computers, even when the sun was shining the blinds were generally pulled right down so that people could see their monitors.
So yes, it was quite a dark place to work, with one glorious exception: you guessed it, the men’s toilet. I’m not kidding. That side of the building was south-facing so, you could be sitting in a dingy office with the blinds drawn all day, arrive and depart in the dark, but every once in a while, on one of those beautifully clear sunny days that Scotland has, you would walk into the loo and be confronted by this blaze of sunshine. It was great. It just lifted your spirits.
Now I’ve managed to tell you that little story in total sincerity and with a (largely) straight face, do you think I can trust you to be grown ups about it in the comments? No, probably not.  Honestly, you people…
Thursday 1st July 2010: The Last Battle single launch at the Wee Red Bar, with Meursault and Jonnie Common.
The Last Battle’s new album is due out on 17 Seconds Records, and this is the first single from that record. They play quite traditional folk, with cello and lovely male/female vocals but this song is a bit rockier in that ‘Christ alive, is that an electric guitar?’ sense, and a good, beefy introduction to the band. I have a feeling the Meursault might be solo acoustic, but I am not entirely sure.
The Last Battle – Ward 119
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Thursday 1st July 2010: Born to Be Wide Booking Agent Special at the Electric Circus.
To be brutally frank, my little experience in the music industry has taught me that the following is as close to a cast iron rule as there exists: labels and PR, cannot make you famous, only you can make you famous. You can only do that if you play as often and as well as possible, and in doing so build up enough momentum and buzz around your band that everyone else, be it press, radio, fans, whatever, absolutely has to take notice, or they simply wouldn’t be doing their jobs. There are exceptions of course, there always are, but that is pretty close to a hard and fast rule. Booking tours and getting gigs is far from easy however, I’ve done it myself and it was shit and I was shit at it, so I strongly recommend you come along to this and pick the brains of some professional booking agents.
Thursday 1st July 2010: Stringjammer at the Roxy Room.
This may be a little more related to the likes of blues and traditional folk than most of you are used to, but I think there’s a lot of good stuff going on in Stringjammer’s music. Long Road Home, on their MySpace page, is a case in point, and there is more there like that. There’s a lot of experimental and strange stuff in there, but they obviously started from quite traditional base material before they went and made it all weird, so I think this one should appeal to readers of Toad.
Saturday 3rd July 2010: Kid Canaveral album launch at the Roxy Room, with Come on Gang! and the Scottish Enlightenment.
Tickets for this can be bought from the band here, and I recommend you do so. Kid Canaveral are not exactly a fashionable band – they’re not even close to being arch enough for that – but they have an amazingly consistent talent for writing infectious indie-pop melodies. Â Also, The Scottish Enlightenment – I might finally get a chance to see the bastards play!
Kid Canaveral – Stretching the Line
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i have this strange feeling, can’t quite put my finger on it, can it be that i’m missing you?
Anyway my backslapping friend, thanks for being part of a great weekend!
How fucking great were The National?
“Kid Canaveral are not exactly a fashionable band” —— Surely some mistake, if Peenko and Aye Tunes rate them…………….
Peenko and AyeTunes do not have fertility-threateningly tight trousers and therefore cannot be considered very cool at all. The same, I most certainly confess, applies to my good self.
Chutters – no, that can’t be it. And the National were indeed very much not shit.
I hate trousers.
Come on Matthew – spill some gossip about Glasto!
Ah Matthew.
I’ve often suspected that the sun shines out your arse.
It shone on every other bit of me except my arse this weekend, because it was too damn hot for me to get off it, thus exposing it to the air.
I can confirm that Neil Moorsoo is definitely playing with The Last Battle on thursday – he better bloody be anyway as we’ve had hundreds of nice posters printed up with his name on em!!
Yep, it was only the solo acoustic thing I was unsure about.
this is the case….and yeah it’ll be a solo affair. cannae wait.
i might come along to that. ive not been to a gig in months! is it just pay on the door scott?
I imagine Toad had a number of “solo affairs” in that hot little tent at Glasto.
“Don’t come in! I’m…..getting, um,….’dressed’. Yes. Don’t come in!”
Unfortunately I can’t make it to the Last Battle thing on Thursday, I have an appointment with the doctor.
Madcow – just absolutely no way that would have been possible at all – far, far too hot.
At least the intent was there. And for what it’s worth – I am very proud of you.
MICHAEL: Yup it’s a pay on the door affair. 3quid if you’re a student or in the stormy seas
There’s going to be all sorts of exciting stuff. Barts going to be on electric guitar half the set and we’ve acquired a floor tom which will get a good bashing, so it’s going to be a slightly louder last battle, which from here on in is the way it’s probably going to be.
Seriously though – did you enjoy yourself? You don’t normally like festivals/people. And it’s a big festival with a lot of people.
“not very cool at all” – I was going to argue against this, then swiftly realised that I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Oh and you forgot to mention that I’ll be DJ-ing at the KC album launch along with Cancel the Astronauts. I think Jim ‘Ayetunes’ might even come and be my Bez-like dancer for the evening.
How do you know what my trousers are like? I’m buying myself a pair of skinny jeans for Saturday, it’s not like I ever get laid anyway. Unfortunately the shaved head means I can’t use copious amounts of gel to give myself cool indie hair.
Anyway, as Matthew will tell you, Aye Tunes liking a band doesn’t mean anything
I’m DJing on Thursday night too…now how can you miss that for Dr. John? Oh, hang on…
fertility-threateningly tight trousers are no longer cool. did you not know this?
FUCK – I just bought five pairs. Seemed cheaper than keeping the missus on the pill.
Matthew and chums;
http://www.latfh.com/post/588663086/you-guys-are-you-worried-that-we-might-get-too
You sir, are a cunt.
Relax Matthew just keep wearing the lycra undies.
For fuck’s sake, you big baby.
You are getting cuddled on Saturday. Whether you like it or not.
Mmmm, sleeping in a tent. Did you see any shooting stars? Other than Pete Doherty I mean.
It barely gets dark enough to see the moon this time of year, C&B, let alone shooting stars.
I haven’t slept in a week.