Feb
Posted on 2nd February 2011
Today I write to you from aboard a ferry taking me and the rest of the Walter Schreifels Band (and some other people too) from England to France, where we will get back in our rock vehicle and continue on to Germany for some unfinished business on the rock front. We’ve had a lovely time this past week rocking the people of England, Scotland, and Wales and then drinking stuff before finally stumbling off to a “chippy,” a British word meaning “brightly lit place serving fried stuff to drunk people, some of whom are inexplicably wearing costumes even though there is no costume-based holiday on the calendar that I am aware of.” Usually I tell myself I am not going to get anything at the chippy and then end up getting some steaming pile of meat covered in whatever the guy behind the counter feels like putting on it. Then I wake up with regret and the distinct possibility of soiled trousers. I love show business. Last night, we rocked London at a club called the Borderline. It was the best show of the tour so far even though for the second show in a row there was salsa in our dressing room with no chips (In York, there were chips but no salsa. The English are mocking us), leaving us with no recourse other than to just stare at the salsa for a few minutes before giving up entirely. Anyway, the London show was packed and we rocked it with authority. I had a few unforced errors on my axe (i.e. guitar- I will not explain this again), something I always want to cut myself for, but generally I would like to think I brought the heat in a respectable capacity. After the show we went to some rock-based bar and continued living the rock-n-roll lifestyle until it was time to go to sleep for two hours and then got on this boat I am totally on right now.
Before the London show, we walked around town for a bit and contemplated buying stuff but came up empty aside from a few guitar picks. We did end up eating at a vegetarian restaurant where we all ended up shovelling down a big plate of vegetables and stuff to combat all the stuff we’ve been eating at the chippies mentioned earlier. I’m the only guy in the band who’s not a vegetarian, but sometimes I just roll with it and realize that vegetables aren’t so bad after all. Arthur, the excellent bass player in the band, is a vegan, which is a level I probably couldn’t handle given my affinity for eating a pint of ice cream every night whether I need it or not. Speaking of Arthur, that’s him on the right above eating some fried stuff with Drew, our drummer who is also a bastard person I am going to fight. Backing things up a bit, the night before London we rocked Cambridge, home of my safety school, Cambridge University. Our show was at the Haymakers and was largely a sausage party, but still a fun time with a fun crowd who weren’t exactly opposed to the idea of good times all the time. Before the show, the club folks cooked us a vegan curry-based dish that was surprisingly delicious even though no animals had been wrestled to the ground to make it possible, something I usually require in a meal. After the show, we ate more fried food. I got a gyro to make up for all the vegetables I had eaten earlier. Then we headed for a our last night at a Travelodge, the hotel of champions. Generally speaking, the Travelodge pretty much blows as far as hotels go, but after a while it becomes sort of like an itch you don’t mind scratching. Also, their mascot appears to be a gay, leather-clad bear (the animal, not the large, hairy subset of the homosexual community), which is generally a recipe for instant good times and pretty much makes up for the fact that they don’t provide shampoo in the rooms and whoever is staying next to you will most likely be listening to dance music at full volume until about five o’clock in the morning. The night before Cambridge, we rocked the Cavern in Exeter. Some rock trivia: Walter played the very first show ever held at the club way back in the ‘90s with his band Quicksand. Anyway, it was another fun show during which we played all the hits for the first time in the UK since they weren’t having a disco in the club the second we finished and, as a result, we could play a bit longer. During one of our last songs of the night, Walter fell backwards over his amp and onto the stage yet still managed to come away unscathed and fully rock capable. It was impressive. The morning after our Exeter show, I went for a run around town and happened upon these swans pictured at the top of this entry. At first, I thought they were geese, which I later learned is crazy. They’re clearly swans. What was I thinking? Anyway, it’s fun to run around the town the morning after a show, high-fiving people and whatnot. It lets me see a few things and also work off the gyro or whatever else I might have eaten too late the night before. The morning after our York show, I went for a long run and happened upon a footpath through the woods. There was a sign warning people to be on their guard against thieves. It seemed sort of Medieval to me, the idea of thieves hiding out in the woods and setting upon an unsuspecting villager. For a moment, I was a bit scared to go on the footpath because of the possibility of running into these bad men. But then I thought the thief could be me. Sometimes it’s all about perspective.
Dave Hill
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