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!!!!!!
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