Do you know the way to San Jose??

ME AND MARK AT THE HOTEL.


A few months ago while following The Wedding Present to San Francisco we stayed overnight in San Jose.
I said to Mark that perhaps we could return when our adopted American footy team the LA Galaxy played the San Jose Earthquakes. It really didn't take much arm twisting and a weekend away was hastily planned.
I use the term "planned" loosely because of course Mark and I are both English. The planning consisted of checking when the weekend was, making sure it wasn't a weekend of me hosting my kids (it wasn't) and buying tickets for the match.
We bought our tickets via the lovely Edwards' (Steve and Karen) through the LA Riot Squad, then two weeks prior to the trip Mark booked a hotel room.
A done deal, if ever there was one.

The day of the trip came, we left Simi Valley at 4am (Yeah I know), and after a fairly uneventful trip, unless you count the hideous bogs at the gas station on the way up, we arrived at our hotel at about 9am.
Once there we discovered we couldn't check in until 1pm which was when the game kicked off.
"Oh well" I said, "we'll just drink our cooler dry and check in after the match"

We found a proper dive of a bar around the corner, but they sold Stella for $3.50 a pint so we decided to stay for a couple. I still needed a poo, but the bogs in here were no better than the one on the way up, so I abstained.




"I THINK WE'RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER COOLER"


Back at the hotel we opened the cooler and were onto our 4th or 5th Bitburger when a cab full of Galaxy fans showed up. We greeted them and shared our beer.
Obviously our stash was meant for just me and Mark and didn't last much longer, so we sent out for more.


OUR NEW GALAXY SUPPORTING FRIENDS.


Stella, Sam Adams and a bottle of Jack Daniels appeared. The hotel manager let us check in early, I took a dump and before we knew it, we were well oiled and ready to leave for the match.

The Buck Shaw "Stadium" was pretty much a high school stadium. Well technically it was a college stadium, but I've been to high school American football games in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley and they were both bigger than this place.



BUCK SHAW HIGH SCHOOL STADIUM.


Outside the "stadium" we congregated with the other Galaxy fans and engaged in a bit of chanting and banter directed at our opposing numbers. Plus I made the fatal error of high fiveing Galaxy fans as they disembarked from their bus.
The local plod (or at least one of them) took exception to this heinous crime and I was collared by the fattest cop I have ever laid my eyes on who also had the worst grasp of the English language ever.
"Step this way sir" He said "Show me your ID"
I gave him my drivers license.
"Do you know why I am talking to you?"
"No idea" I said
"Because you're the most loudest and most drunkest fan in the crowd"
I thought about asking him how exactly he could prove this, but decided against it.
He looked over my ID and then announced'
"Well Andrew, guess what? If I have to talk to you again I will arrest you"
"Sure" I answered, "but what exactly did I do that was wrong?"
"You have an open container" In fairness I did, but almost every other adult in the car park did.
"You were causing and obstruction and you made me notice you"
I felt like retorting that "It wasn't my fault that I was soooo handsome" but once again decided against it.
Football hooliganism has certainly come a long way since I followed Manchester City home and away in the 80's.

Anyway after having my collar felt, we entered the stadium.
We had been warned about wandering off by ourselves and stick in groups as the San Jose Ultras would be looking to pick us off.
Yeah I know, I nearly split my sides laughing at that one as well. Fuck me I've been to every rough arse shit hole ground in England with City and I'm expected to be on guard in San Jose.
The game was a bit shit, we lost 1-0, but we had a great laugh.



THE AWAY END.


FACE IN THE CROWD.

I chatted with a couple of Latino guys from the Galaxian group who had taken a shine to our "Simi Valley Galaxian on the piss" St George's flag.
"We won't disrespect your flag my friend I will put it on my wall, can we have it please?"
"No problem mate, it's yours. Just don't wash it or the writing will run as I did it with a felt tip"
They were well chuffed.
In the meantime Mark had buggered off with the flag and decided to put it up in the home end.
He got turfed out but somehow made it back with the flag and a San Jose Earthquakes badge.


THOSE LOCO GALAXIANS CHAPS WITH THEIR NEWLY ACQUIRED BANNER.


After the match the security decided to keep the Galaxy fans penned in, it felt like being back at home for an away game.
Of course I was having none of it and decided to leave anyway saying I lived locally.
The security downstairs didn't want me to leave though.
"You can't go out that way sir"
"Why?"
"You don't have the right credentials"
"What credentials do I need? Here's my ticket, it says I came in that gate, which means I'm going out that gate"
"Well the police don't want Galaxy fans going out that way because of the Ultras"
At this point I grabbed the nearest Earthquakes fan to me, hugged him and said,
"Look we lost, they won, I don't care, we all get along and I'm not really arsed by the San Jose Ultras"
"Okay then sir" he said "You can go, but it's at your own risk"
"Cheers" I shook his hand and walked through.

Of course even though the Ultras did sound a bit pathetic, I was alone and noticed a couple of stereotypical American skinhead types with Earthquake scarfs eyeing me up.
I just smiled, waved at them and carried on walking back to the hotel.
I noticed a few solo Galaxy fans looking nervous en route, so I gave them the thumbs up and said "Go LA" or something like that. The type of thing you say and gesture in order to reassure somebody that if it does kick off, you'll be their able and willing back up.
Of course I didn't want it to kick off, I had an enjoyable day and my shady footy past is well behind me, but if it did, I'd certainly be up for it.

Nothing happened, the most trouble I had was trying to decide what to order from the Jack in the Box next to the hotel. I settled for the mini sirloin burgers and the chicken sandwich. The chicken sandwich was shite, but the mini sirloin burgers were surprisingly good. I'll try them again sometime.

Mark and the rest of our group showed up at the hotel with a few extras in tow.
We made plans to go downtown for another piss up, but Mark was pretty wrecked so in the end I stayed in the hotel while he slept it off.
As much as I wanted a few more pints I really couldn't leave Mark on his own as he's a mate and you never know what could happen.
The next morning I woke up early, had a jacuzzi, went for a walk, ate some brekkie and then made Mark put the footy on. Entertaining enough match, United chucked it away by missing an undeserved penalty kick and letting in a late goal.
On the trip home I discovered that my voice had gone, it didn't return until three days later. I guess that was Kellie's reward for allowing me a weekend away.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend, can't wait to it again next season with possibly Seattle, Salt Lake and Portland thrown in.

The Wedding Present - Deer Caught in the Headlights (Live on KEXP)

The Wedding Present - You're Dead (Live on KEXP)

The Wedding Present - Kennedy (Live on KEXP)

The Wedding Present - Bewitched (Live on KEXP)

Kennedy from the Independent. San Francisco 24th April 2010.

THE BARMY ARMY GOING DAFT IN SAN FRANCISCO

The Wedding Present's Bizarro Barmy Army 2010 US Tour. San Francisco.

FERGAL'S SIGNED POSTER FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO GIG.

We had originally planned to set off for SF at 6am Saturday morning, but due to last minute notification of a Mark Burgess gig in Eagle Rock in L.A. we hastily rescheduled for 8am instead.
The Mark Burgess gig was awesome, it was at some tiny loft in L.A., full of goths and he performed with his usual gusto and pretty much played a Chameleons greatest hits set.
At the end of the show he asked if the audience could take a couple of more songs, naturally we all screamed "Yeah".
Then he looked at me and said "Unfortunately I'm not as cool as David Gedge, I do encores"
The comment may have been lost on most of his audience, but it certainly gave me, Kellie and Mark a chuckle.


MARK BURGESS @ THE SHOWCAVE IN EAGLE ROCK, LOS ANGELES.



So with our late 8am start we set off up the 101 freeway heading north, we could have taken Interstate 5 but we didn't want to be too cliched.
For the trip the car rental company had given us a VW Beetle (It wasn't green, thankfully) I drove and Mark took the passenger seat while Kellie and Lori squeezed into the back. I still had to move my seat way forward as well so my knees were touching the bottom of the steering wheel.
"F**k" I thought, "this is going to be one hell of a trip"
I wasn't wrong, we finally arrived in Sunnyvale at 1pm after a couple of pit stops for gas, McDonald's and an iced coffee.
We checked in and I had a quick shower then it was off to Frisco in search of the venue so I could drop a bag of merchandise off for the band.
I had my Man City shirt on and intended to wear it for the gig, but like a twat I spilt Thai curry down the front of it at dinner so had to change into my ManU barmy army shirt.
I chatted to David in the dressing room and informed him that I had bumped into three Indian Wedding Present fans outside the venue and one of them was really keen and very, very excited.


GIG FLYER AT THE VENUE.



This chap turned out to be sUKy (That's how he likes it to be written), he was certainly a character, and them some.
He informed us of how he has been a fan since 1987 and seeing he is a bit of a lad, his mum would give him a bit of stick asking him
"Why can't you be more like your friends?"
"Why can't you like proper music?"
"Why do you drink" You should be a good boy like your friends"
I should tell you at this point that sUKy was raised as a Sikh, but obviously a beer swilling, gig going, Derby County loving Sikh is not the norm.
That aside he was certainly a top lad and had us roaring with laughter with his tales of following The Wedding Present over the years and his quest to befriend fellow fans.
His two mates, while happy to be there, weren't quite as enthusiastic, but then again, who was?






THE LADS IN THE NOC NOC BAR. (cool place actually)


We had a few drinks in the Mad Dog in the Fog on Haight Street, before moving on to the Noc Noc bar across the street. This palce could best be described as "cave chic".
I felt like I had just stumbled onto the set of Stig of the Dump.



UGLY SHIRT FROM THE BAR, BUT I LIKE IT.

A great place though, I was so moved that I actually bought a dodgy t-shirt from the bar. Day-glo yellow is making a come back apparently.


TWP ONSTAGE @ THE INDEPENDENT

The gig was brilliant, probably the best I had seen outside of New York. They did make a couple of mistakes, David fluffed a line in Granadaland and actually forgot the words during Bewitched. He eventually remembered and even managed to squeeze an apology into the next verse.
Despite malicious and false rumours circulated among the east coast barmy army by my "beloved" Kellie, I managed to pogo, mosh and generally jump around for every song of the gig.
My calf's are paying for it today mind, but last night was f**king immense.
A great time was had by all up front, with me, Kia, Fergal, Jason, sUKy and his brother in-law setting the tones for the rest of the audience.
There was one couple who got a bit stroppy with us, but we generally ignored the twats. Stick to f**king Coldplay gigs in future people!!!!!
I managed to get sUKy a setlist and he offered for me to "Name my price" for barmy army shirt. I got his e-mail address and said I'd send him one for now't.
After the show, Charlie invited us to stay and have a few drinks with them in the dressing rooms, but the girls were knackered, it was past 2am so Mark and I reluctantly declined. (We were f**king gutted to be honest)
Thanks anyway Charlie.
So we said our goodbyes and "Thanks" to the band, Jessica, Andrew and the lovely Melinda who saved me from a fate on the merch table. As much as I enjoy doing it, I'd rather be down front jumping up and down like a lunatic with like minded individuals.




MARK EARNS HIS FRONT SEAT STATUS.

We got up the next morning, has some brekkie and set off for L.A. at 10.30am.
Thanks to me, speed racer, we made really good time and even made it for a late lunch at Andersen's Pea Soup. I love that place, all you can eat for $8.95.
The girls could only manage 2 bowls while me and Mark only ate 3 each.
I asked the waiter if they knew what the record was and he replied that it
"Was 17 bowls"
"F**k me" I said "was it a really great big fat person then?"
"No" he assured us "a normal sized person, just really tall"
"Hollow legs" quipped Mark.



"NO SOUP FOR YOU"

We got back into Simi Valley at about 4pm, which was bloody good going, so a pat on the back for myself.
Another great weekend only soured by the fact that we have no gigs to look forward to for a while.
Oh well, goodbye April 2010, you were a great month and will be missed.

Bizarro 21 Barmy Army shirts.

The original idea for this year's Barmy Army shirts came from Ian of Ian and Steph fame.
I spoke to him via transatlantic phone conversations and he came up with the idea of a shirt based on the Man United jersey with a Bizarro splodge for a badge, DLG instead of the AIG United shirt sponsor and the player's name and number GEDGE 50 on the back.
Despite being a staunch Man City fan I am always on board for anything based around football and music as I am obviously obsessed with both.


WP gig poster from the Casbah in San Diego in February 2006.



While I loved Ian's original idea, I offered to improve on it with my expert opinion, nothing too drastic, just a bit of tweaking here and there.
"How about we base the badge on the United/WP logo from the Casbah gig?"
"Sounds good" said Ian

"How about instead of DLG we put TWP for the sponsor logo and add something about the Barmy Army underneath the box?"
"Great"
Easy peasy.
The above conversation may or may not have gone quite down like that word for word and Ian may well have thought I was a cheeky twat for improving on his brilliant idea, but I digress.



Casbah gig inspired badge on Barmy Army shirt.



Two weeks before the tour was about to start I sent Ian a pm on scopitones as I knew he had been out of town of business and I hadn't heard anything from him for a while
"How are the shirts coming along?" I asked
"The design is there (I'll send you the mock ups) but time and cost are prohibitive. Steph is looking to see if there are any options with any of her clients. Unfortunately Alan, who prints the scopi calendars for us, no longer does t-shirts. It's not looking good."
"Oh bugger" I thought.


Front of Barmy Army "ManU" shirt.



I suppose I could have just left it there and nobody would have been any wiser as the shirts were supposed to be a surprise, but I desperately wanted to keep the tradition of the Barmy Army shirts going.
The guy I used last time took ages to make the last batch, so I didn't think he'd be any use to us this time around.
So knowing that Derek was in the media based business I figured that there was a slim chance he'd be able to help.




Front and back of Barmy Army shirt.



So I put in an emergency call and asked if he could do it.
I think we only had 10 days left before the Hoboken gig, so it was real tall order.
"I'll see what I can do" said Derek, "I know a couple of people but there might not be enough time to do it"
Once Derek confirmed it was on, I became a constant thorn in his side regarding the finer details.
Derek said the badge might hold up the process, I then informed instead of just making the shirts in red and black, that we should make more colours specific for the teams the Barmy Army travellers support back home.
So we had maroon for Kirk and Gav (Hearts and Northampton) green for Harry (Celtic), navy blue for Phil and Ian (Everton and Leicester City), sky blue for me (Man City) and despite Swindon Town wearing red Mark declined a red one because it was too ManU.


Other colour choices on Barmy Army shirt.



Derek wisely contacted me and asked if he could change the GEDGE 50 to BIZARRO 21
as it wouldn't be good PR for the band and would probably offend David.
In a split second I agreed with him, David probably wouldn't be too chuffed with his age plastered on the back of the shirt (This was later confirmed by Jessica)
And in fairness I wouldn't be too pleased if someone made a shirt with GILLESPIE 35 on the back of it, would I?




Barmy Army shirt as worn by our four stunning Barmy Army models.



So the details were finalised and it was touch and go as to whether they'd be done on time or not. Derek called me on Thursday and said they'd be done by the end of the business day and he'd be able to pick them up Friday afternoon.
After being designated to carry 3 boxes of Bizarro shirts from Boston to NYC for the band, Mark and I volunteered to get the bus from NJ to meet up and help him carry them back.
Of course the first thing we did was grab a box each, find and Irish bar and open up Derek's bag in order to see the Barmy Army shirts.
The first one out of the bag was a red one.
"F**k me, they're good" I said "too f**king good really"
And they were, it was like looking at a real United shirt.
I was excited to see the new shirts, but a bit gutted that they looked so good and so realistic.
But seeing a lot of the details were my idea I obviously had to swallow my pride and take one for the team.
David even sent me a text taunting me that "It must have killed me to wear those shirts"
Well I wouldn't go that far but after breaking out in a rash after wearing it to the Hoboken gig, I had to wear my City shirt for the Bowery.
Jokes aside, the shirts were brilliant and worthy successors to the original Barmy Army shirts of 2008.
So congratulations to Ian for the original idea, obviously me for improving it and especially Derek for enthusuiastically coming through under extreme pressure and saving the day for the Barmy Army.
Everyone in the gang loved them despite a strong dislike of Man United.
Now we'll really have to come up with something extra special to top them for the Seamonsters tour.

The Wedding Present's Bizarro Barmy Army 2010 Tour (Part Four)

GETTING READY TO LEAVE NEW JERSEY.

So came the last gig day of our east coast jaunt.
Harry, Kirk, Mark, Derek, Kellie and myself checked out of the hotel, rented the van and then drove back to Hoboken in order to pick up Ian and Steph from Ian and Steph.
I don't normally offer such exclusive services but I'll make an exception for this pair.
We had a quick lunch and then hit the road for the long drive to Boston.
The drive was a bit shit to be honest, we couldn't hook up the i-pod and radio reception was dire. Just how many times does one need to hear Billy f**king Joel over a three day span?
At one point Derek found the Red Sox game on AM Radio.
Now Derek is a lovely fellow and I actually don't mind watching baseball, but a van load of Brit's listening to the Red Sox isn't the ideal combination.
I finally broke down and put my i-pod on for myself (selfish twat) while the others read the "action" on www.scopitones.co.uk via their phones.
Cait said "Tell gk he's a twat"
We finally got to our motel and despite what "certain" people said about it looking like something out of Pulp Fiction, I thought it was actually quite nice.
We went to the liquor store next door, bought some booze and consumed it while we got ready.
Then we then moved on to Boston and sat outside the hotel with the engine running like fugitives while Kirk and Ian and Steph from Ian and Steph checked in.




THE BARMY ARMY EATING AND DRINKING AGAIN, THIS TIME IN BOSTON.

We went to an Irish bar that Derek had recommended and had a couple of drinks and dinner, it was probably the nicest meal we had the entire weekend.
Seeing I only had fish and chips, that tells you a lot about some of the crap we ate on the east coast.
It was good fish and chips though, Mark and Kirk had the same while Harry opted for some posh burger, mind you he is posh, he eats his chips with a knife and fork.




THE FOUR AMIGO'S.

During the meal we were joined by EdA from the forum and Brad a friend of Derek's.
Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to chat as they were at the opposite end of the banquet table.
We finally moved on for the gig, the venue was pretty grungy and rock 'n roll, I liked it but Harry had a run in with the people on the door which tainted the experience a bit.
The security were knobs really, they seemed a bit heavy handed with the punters when it came to booze patrol.
The main tosser was a bloke who could best be described as a giant sized 13 year old boy with a blonde hairstyle right out of the 70's.
He seemed to be texting the entire time, would do this for 10 minutes or so then look up and scan the crowd for somebody to harass.
Needless to say, it made my night when the fat f**ker fell off his seat.






THE MIDDLE EAST, LAST VENUE FOR THE REMAINING BARMY ARMY.

The gig was very good, the support band Girl in a Coma were most excellent and the lead singer was as fit as a butchers dog.
Yeah, she'd "get it"
Unfortunately the barmy army were well knackered from the rest of the weekend and quite subdued. We tried to get a decent mosh going a couple of times, but to no avail.
Graeme finally broke a string on his guitar, David was so shocked that he announced it to the crowd.
Not to be outdone he broke two himself in quick succession.
Final score: Ramsey Rovers 1 - Gedge United 2.
David tried out a few new jokes in between songs which didn't really go down to well, I think anal retentive Cambridge man stole his thunder.




ME AND THE LOVELY MELINDA.
FELLOW WP MERCHANDISER AND MOZ OBSESSIVE.

After the gig, we hung out and chatted while Jessica gave us some WP/Dirty Harry posters from the Atlanta gig and I hounded the band and got them signed.
David was worried that the gig might have been a bad one as we didn't seem very enthusiastic from the stage, "It was great" I assured him "we were just a bit knackered"
We said our goodbyes to the band and dropped Kirk and the "other two" off at their hotel before driving back to our motel in Derek's hometown.
It was a bloody long drive and once again we didn't get back until after 2am.
We still found time to chat and have a couple of beers while waiting for Derek to show up and drop off the directions back to the van rental in New Jersey.
Good work fella, there is no way we would have found our way back otherwise






FINAL FAREWELL BY THE TOUR VAN.


OKAY, THIS IS THE FINAL FAREWELL BY THE TOUR VAN.


The next morning we got up early and said a sad/dour farewell to to our favourite Glaswegian.
I'll not bore you with a long drawn out description of our travel high jinks back to NJ/NY/JFK but we saw a green beetle (hmm fear), I had pizza for breakfast and we got lost in the Bronx.
Overall we all had a great time, despite a few setbacks of getting lost, not being able to find a liquor store in the hell hole that is known as North Bergen and not getting hardly any sleep.
So I would like to take this opportunity to thank David and Jessica, the rest of the band, Graeme, Terry and Charlie, with a special mention to the lovely ladies Tigi and Melinda.
I'd also like to say thanks to the barmy army, Ian and Steph from Ian and Steph, Kirk, Harry, Phil, Jen, Sally, Gav, Derek (the t-shirts were brilliant) and my good friend Mark, glad you came along mate.
Most of all I'd like to thank Kellie for being my main travel companion. Nice having somebody to cuddle up to after a long and tiring day.
Also a big "Hello" to everyone we met along the way, it just confirms that Wedding Present fans are nice no matter where you are.
Hopefully we'll get to do this all over again for the next tour be it a new album or (gasp) for Seamonsters.
Who knows, maybe 2010 will be the year I finally see The Wedding Present do a gig in the UK?
Thank you, love from Andy and Kellie, roll on San Francisco on the 24th.


and finally........


GREEN BEETLE ON THE DRIVE OUT OF BOSTON.
RUNAWAY!!!!!!

The Wedding Present's Bizarro Barmy Army 2010 US Tour (Part Three)

THE BOWERY, NYC.



SUBWAY.

So we decided to do the tourist bit on Saturday, hang out in NYC all day looking at the various sights and then head off straight to the gig.
The original plan included getting up early and finding a pub to watch the Man City match in, but after a late and fairly sleepless night we decided to watch it in our room on Mark's computer.
Harry and Kirk gave the game a miss and went off in search of photo opportunities.
As for the match, it was a corker as City stuffed Birmingham 5-1 with Tevez and Adebayor looking like scoring every time they got the ball.




STATUE OF LIBERTY.

We finally got to Manhattan in the afternoon and took the free ferry across the Hudson River to get a good view of the Statue of Liberty.
I have been here in the US for 22 years and to be honest seeing the grand lady of New York was an honour and fulfilled an ambition I have had since I was small child.
I would have liked to have got up close, but it wasn't feasible.
Oh well, next time.
Our group consisting of Derek, Mark, Kirk, Harry, Kellie and myself wandered to streets for hours, taking in Beaver Street, Wall Street, the famous bull and it's balls and many others.
One of the most exciting things for me was spotting a skateboarding teenager wearing a Buzzcocks t-shirt.




THE BOYS DRINKING AT IGGY'S BAR NEAR THE BOWERY.

We finally headed off to the Bowery and once found, we decided to look for a bar.
We were going around in circles like headless chickens and tensions were running high until some Russian geezer directed us to a place called Iggy's Bar just around the corner.
It turned out to be a good call as the Ramones were blasting through the P.A. when we walked through the door.
Turns out that they were having an extended happy hour and all draught beers including Boddingtons were $4 a pint.
We ended up staying for a couple of hours, which was the perfect way of unwinding before the gig after our exhausting day of sight seeing.
Right on cue the rest of the barmy army joined us as we were leaving the bar and heading to the Bowery.
We got to the Bowery and despite it looking like a dump from the outside, inside was a different story.
You entered the venue through the bar and the place was packed, full of fans young and old.
Various classic shirts were spotted, Seamonsters and original Bizarro and a Mini one.
The place was buzzing and people seemed pretty excited.
While in the bar a guy approached me and introduced himself as "Brian", someone who had commented on my previous barmy army blog. We exchanged greetings and then he announced that he could get a Bizarro t-shirt as he wore XXL and they had sold out.
"Hang on" I said and ran over to the coat check girl and grabbed my backpack.
I pulled out my favourite blue stripey 2008 barmy army shirt and gave it to Brian as it was pretty baggy on me these days.
Brian's face lit up and I thought he might even cry, keep that a secret people, I don't want my reputation to be ruined and word getting out that I might actually be a nice guy.
After the support band finished we moved into the concert hall and found Ian and Steph from Ian and Steph up front and centre, we muscled our way up to them and nobody seemed to object.



GRAEME WEARING HIS BARMY ARMY SHIRT DURING THE SOUNDCHECK.



BIZARRO KEG????


The floor was full and David later confirmed that the gig eventually sold out.
We were quite pleased to spot Graeme wear his barmy army shirt for the sound check.
The gig started and it was obvious from the first couple of songs that this was going to be a special show, the place was rocking and with the barmy army bouncing up and down like it was 1989, most people around us joined in.
There was a dodgy Brix Smith look-a-like near Steph from Ian and Steph doing some vintage 80's dance moves and just behind us I was shocked to spot the forum's very own Keg. On closer inspection it wasn't really him, but it certainly gave us lot a chuckle or two or more.
The crowd was already into the set and leaping about, but things kicked into overdrive when the Bizarro songs started.
Despite everyone jumping around and people getting knocked over from time to time, not one person objected, this wouldn't have been the way in L.A. I can assure you of that.
Down the front were a few small young women and they rolled their sleeves up and were moshing with the rest of us, it was fucking brilliant to be honest.
Unfortunately all good things come to an end and before we knew it the final bars of Be Honest sounded and the show was over.



US WITH GAV AND SALLY AT THE BOWERY.

So it was back down to the bar where we chatted amongst ourselves, with members of Jet Age who bought me a pint, result.
Sally even got chatted up by two members of Girl in a Coma, unfortunately (for the lads) it wasn't the gorgeous lead singer.
We chatted with TWP and David reckoned it was one of the best shows he had ever played, not one of us disagreed.




DLG & ME AFTER THE GIG.

After leaving the venue we said our farewells to Gav and Sally and Phil and Jen who wouldn't be joining us in Cambridge for the next gig.
Then the real fun began.
We struggled to find our way back to the hotel in a scene straight out of 70's cult movie The Warriors.
It was 1am and the subway station was shut so we once again had to wander the mean streets of New York and an effort to find the right train.
Hilarity followed as Harry and Kirk's Scottish rivalries came out and they sniped at each other like an old married couple.



We eventually got back to the hotel at 2.30am and it would have been a lot worse had it not been for the helpful people we met along the way. In spite of New York's horrible reputation, everyone we met was nice, polite, very courteous and extremely patient despite one of two of us being a bit crabby due to tiredness and the stress of not thinking we'd ever see our hotel room again.

To be continued......

Martin P. Smurf on tour with The Wedding Present.

While on the east coast we bumped into this guy following the tour.
Apparently he is the smurferator on smurfitones.co.uk.
What an adorable little chap, unlike the other one we all know and "love"


AT THE EDGE OF THE SMURF.



LOST PANDA??





EVERYONE SMURFS HE LOOKS DAFT.



PERFECT BLUE SKIN


DON'T SMURF ME HOME UNTIL I'M DRUNK.



BESMURFED


MY FAVOURITE SMURF
Blog fan Brian poses with Martin P. Smurf while sporting old school barmy army shirt.
I'll miss that shirt, but it goes to a good home.


GIVE MY SMURF TO GAVIN.







THIS SMURF CAN WAIT.



NOT FROM WHERE I'M SMURFING.



NOBODY'S SMURFING YOUR ARM



DON'T SMURF, JUST KISS.



DON'T SMURF THAT DIAL.