Fergal, Mark, Kellie and myself drove to SD and we were meeting fellow barmy army member Kia at the hotel later on in the early evening. The hotel was decent and literally a five minute walk to the venue, so it looks like we have a new permanent place to stay for all future shows at the Casbah. We settled in, then went to find somewhere to eat.
We agreed upon a small Mexican take away just a block down the street, it was very good by the way. On the walk back to the hotel we stopped and grabbed a few beers from the 7 eleven around the corner and also bought a few tickets for the Mega Millions lottery.
The jackpot was up to $600 million, so it was worth a shot. We speculated on how we would spend the cash if we won and came up with an idea to follow TWP all over the world and finance the next studio album.
We of course would call it "Club 5" in honour of the five barmy army members who made it all possible. but unlike "Club 8" we would have special tee shirts and badges made. Sadly though we didn't win, but the notion was a good laugh until we realised we weren't multi millionaires, but we certainly got our money's worth.
Just prior to setting off we were joined by our friends Dolly and Paul, we drank a few more beers and then made our way to the venue. Wedding Present shows in San Diego aren't usually well attended and the audience can be quite unenthusiastic at times. But this Seamonsters gig was a bit of a surprise, the venue was packed and the crowd were really into the performance. I think they even took more than the normal $78 on the merchandise table.
I could hardly believe it myself. The show was great, the band had got tighter since we had seen them at SXSW and were visibly having a good time onstage. Kellie's daughter Caitlin came to her first ever Wedding Present show, she said she had a good time.
I personally think that Kellie was more excited to see her after months away at UCSD, that the actual gig, but that's completely understandable.
I had tequila shots with Pepe, Charlie, Patrick and Sebastian after the gig. They were fiddling about with salt and lime in between drinking it, while I just knocked it back. Can't be bothered with drinking ceremonies, "just get it necked", that's my motto.
Back at the hotel, we had a bad case of the munchies, so it was back to our neighbourhood Mexican take away where we bought even more tacos and burritos.
What is it about being drunk and wanting a really heavy late night supper?
Either way, it was really good once again.
The next day we all went to Old Town and ate a fabulous Mexican breakfast and Fergal picked himself up a couple of house warming gifts from the museum across the road.
March 31st 2012 The Troubadour, Los Angeles.
I had announced that I would make a big curry in honour of our guests and the fact that our friends Steve and Brandi were coming along to the show.
I made a chicken vindaloo and an aloo ghobi of sorts with added lentils and mushrooms.
I also made my famous spicy onions and raita with poppodums. Everyone loved it, or at least nobody got ill.
Before the show I chatted with ex-WP bassist Terry De Castro and she seemed pretty excited to see Seamonsters performed live.
She later admitted to me that she was gutted that she never got to play the entire album and "maybe" she quit two years too early.
She owned up to being a bit sad about being an audience member at a WP gig, but she certainly enjoyed the show anyway.
It seemed that we pretty much knew approximately third of the entire audience.
At every turn there seemed to be an old friend to chat to.
As ever the show was excellent.
One of the highlights for me was when DLG pulled out an LA Galaxy towel in between song to wipe his sweaty brow. He announced that they were his American team (He's been to a few games with us) and added that it was football and not soccer because "it is a game that you use your foot to kick a ball".
Little did he know that the Galaxy were losing 3-1 to New England as he spoke, I think we made the right decision to go to the gig rather than watch the G's lose at home and in the rain.
Kellie's other daughter Deirdre came to this gig, which means that all of our kids have been to Wedding Present shows. I think Owen is the biggest fan as he is quite proud of his bedroom/band storage area. Plus he probably knows David and Jessica better than the other three and vice versa.
It was kind of sad knowing that this was to be our last Wedding Present show for some time, but it had been a very enjoyable month.
I made "another" big curry for the band when they returned to Simi Valley a week later to drop some stuff off. It was another enjoyable evening and the chance to say our "goodbyes" to friends new and old before they set off for Australia, Japan and Hong Kong.
Your blog is awesome. I like the work you put into it, especially with the pics. But, come on. Theres no better way to say this. Period!
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