UK TRIP - Post 1 (The utterly complete journal)
Thu Aug 14, 2003 3:00 am
Thursday Morning - August 14, 2003, 3:50 am Starting Eisley UK journal.
Crazy day. Last minute shopping; making sure passports and intinerary
are all together (Kim), updates to website and making sure all
communications are dealt with; the band was set to practice tonight like
last night, but Sherri had a root canal and couldn't smile or sing so we
just packed and tinkered and lugged around. Finally around midnight, we
went back up to the V to break down all gear, pack into anvil, load up,
drive home, finish packing, stuff T-shirts (merch) in our bags, quantify
and plan for carry on/ checking to insure we can bring all guitars and a
key board, etc. Went to Walmart to find Thom on cover of Blender...(and
eisley inside...see page 48 or scan on this forum)
Brain dead, I skither in my cerebelliosis.
Not enough computer battery to make it to London...or even Chicago...
so, I won't get much work done. On the other hand, Wes, Stac and Sherri
have ipods so they can sorta work... forever.... you know, keep listening
and learning. We should all be sleeping anyway. We leave O'hare around
6:30 or so and arrive around 8:15 or so. The day off to catch up to the 7
hour time difference and have a look around.
My dehydrated brain is sticking to the inner skull and limiting my
creativity and my dorsal protrusion. (rostrum. see crayfish. see crawfish
in Louisiana).
I have to go now. I'll edit this tomorrow. I....bd
Friday August 19th - 55 minutes from touchdown in London
The small monitor directly in front of my face, imbedded into the seat in
front of me tells me that we're only 609 miles away from London -
scratch that, 605...603... we're traveling 555 mph and flying at an altitude
of 39,000 ft.; It's 1:30am in Tyler - none of us would be asleep, but in
this time-skewed world, it's 5:14am - we took sleeping pills at 8:00pm TT
(Texas time) and slept till 12:30am TT. If you combine the 2 hours of
sleep we had the night before, we've had 6 hrs in two days. whatever.
Stacy just took a photo of Weston - who looked like a leaning scarecrow
draped in maroon...
Goodmorning and welcome to the Eisley journal. Wherever we go, you
go... Now I think I'll go back and record the events of yesterday - acting
as if I were still in it; yes. I'll not lie about the events, but will certainly lie
about my time/GPS/vantage point.
It's Thursday morning - 8:00am. We're packing, we're loading, Kim is
driving us to DFW, I'm drinking Costa Rican Terazu, the band is sleeping,
Kim and I are reflecting about our strange new world; only a few months
ago, I was working full time and staying up til 3 and 4am doing Eisley's
stuff; now I'm staying up til 3 and 4am doing Eisley's stuff. (strange how
that happend)
Kim has it hard. Stuck home doing the boring, routine. We all have the
hope that one day she and the others can go out with the band way more
often. That all depends on how many CD's people buy - which depends on
how much people like Eisley's music - which depends on their suck
factor; if their suck factor is 0-2, maybe someday the label will think they
need a tour bus. If their suck factor reaches a median average of 5, I
think the van is all that will ever be used to transport. Such suckiness
would not demand the massivity and scale of a bus. Based on my ability
to project and using the suck scale method, I believe there will be a tour
bus someday and the others can jump in frequently while on strategic US
tours.
We're getting shakey...nosing down...pointed toward London Heathrow
Airport. They're saying I have to turn this electronic device onto the off
position.
---------------------------
More on Friday:
Disclaimer: I mispelled David Grohl as GROWL. Will fix later. sorry.
Words are like art to my brain..not like math. Had I seen his name in
print, I might have remembered it. cheers.
We touched down on schedule - around 8:40 am - Got through
immigrations/customs - walked all our gear through some kind of old
world train station - the kind with the semi-circle coverings with wooden
ribs and ornate stuff on each end. Anyway, then we loaded all our gear
into 2 taxi's; you'll see from the images that they look like hold-over's
from the 1940's - but they're new. We were dropped off in front of our
hotel - the Sherlock Holmes.
After sprucing ourselves up, we walked down - zombified...(found out
that Weston and Jon didn't sleep at all on the plane) and ate lunch. After,
we came back to the hotel and crashed for a few hours before meeting
downstairs at 4:00pm. This is so boring. I'll make it fast...
btw. I can't upload any graphics. I'm having to use Rock's Titanium. I
can't get on line with mine. (ip address first read his and internet access
only allows his online. It's pay-cable modem.
So we went back out with Rock and a friend of his - Chris, who's an
Aussie, but lives here; she pretty much showed us around. First stop, of
course, was coffee - to wake our heads up. Then we rode "The London
Underground" - the double decker buses and saw everything from The
Parliment, to Westminster Abbey to the Picadilly Circus...ate Chinese in
China Town...(?) and were so worn out, we...werre worn out. (so there)
London is amazing. I studied some of this architecture in art school years
ago but only saw slides. (later I journal what places we actually saw)
Chauntelle accidently left her purse with Texas ID, $20 and her ATM card
along with a vintage dress she'd just purchased on the top deck of a bus.
That wasn't fun. We had to use a pay phone to call home to get Kim to
cancel the card... we just tried not to let us get us down. Stuff happens.
Frustrated that I can't work on getting photo's up. We have to get up at
6:30am to eat at 7:00am to leave by 7:30am for Chelmsford where the
V-Festival is. Tomorrow we'll be out there all day long. I'll see what the
dial up situation is tomorrow; Adapters from North American plugs to the
UK are required to even get power. And phone jacks are different. I feel
like a goose out of fish water.
Sorry no images. Eventually I'll get them up.
Take care. Miss us. It's not even 6:00pm back home. goodnight.
----------------------------------
Saturday, August 16th - Chelmsford V Fest 2003
I'm writing about Saturday morn - actually on Sunday morn., but don't let
that mess with your head; I'm also typing in the dark and have no cable
or modem whatsoever... so there's no chance of uploading. This UK
thing totally bit me. (power adapter and phone jack) Anyway....let's start
off where I left off...
The day broke Saturday morning early for most everyone...by that I
mean, our sleep patterns were so screwed up, we woke up at 3:00 am
(Wes/Jon), 4:00 am (the girls) and 5:00 am (me) after only a few more
hours of sleep. Breakfast in the lobby at 7:00am, loaded all gear and
climbed in the van/bus/thing after meeting Paul, the driver, at 7:30 am to
pick up Dave Holmes (wait a minute...son of Sherlock? something is
screwy....we're staying at the Sherlock hotel) at his hotel London and
headed out of the city to arrive at Chelmsford by 9:30am. Upon arrival,
we unloaded, stopped by the artist area to scope things out and...
I have all this detail in my head, but I don't know if it's merited or
wanted. Well....ok, since I don't have visuals, I'll go on with my
hackneyed word pictures and talk-through's:
We walked into the artist area... it's sorta like a little community with tiny,
crappy mobile homes; flanking just to our left was the standard signage:
"To Coldplay dressing room, to Coldplay/Derek Fudge Production offices".
It all seemed too familiar; but the next few steps revealed the next little
building's sign: "Foo Fighters". On and on - Ash, The Hives, Echo and the
Bunnyman/Eisley. yikes. It's not like anyone freaked out, but....well, we
are Foo fans...and, you know.....Dave Growl, Taylor Hawkins. sheesh. All
of these bands are established and some have had really long music
careers.
After throwing our junk down in the room and inspecting the strange UK
"nibbles", we walked maybe 25 yrds to the main stage to set up as quick
as possible. Derek Fudge, Coldplay's Production Manager would be
running front of house for Eisley and he wanted time to "play with it".
btw. If any of you followed the virtual Coldplay tour (right here below on
this very forum), you heard us drone on and on about Derek and
probably also Dan, Coldplay's front of house...and even Brian, who ran
FOH for Eisley that entire tour. Anyway, Derek has become a special guy
to the band, as well as so many of them so it was cool to work closely
with him...and he did a great job mixing.
[other British phrases: rubbish bins, lift (elevator), mind the gap, cheers
mate, pudding (all deserts), etc]
The typical set up and line check ensued - it was heartwarming to re
unite with the various C.P. crew - like Matt, (Johnny Buckley's guitar tech)
who would be teching for Eisley in K-Thor's absence, and Hoppie, and
Miller and others... there were hugs....and in the UK, they kiss your
cheek. (well, not me, they didn't, it's a guy to girl thing....or sometimes,
they'll kiss your hand - not me, or I'd pulverize them, mind yah. no
cheers. 
So it was great the way it worked out because Eisley was only supposed
to get a line check; Instead Derek gave them slack..."Stacy, sing a bit
while playing", "Ok, Sherri, you please....", "Chauntelle....." etc. Derek
said, "play me about half a song to get a check".....and they did; and
there were monitor issues and stops and starts...and then he said, "ok,
play a little more if you don't mind".....and they did: half of "Over the
Mountains"... stops, start again....the line check turned into a full sound
check because Derek loves them, wanted to do a good job and because
they're the opener and have the luxury of commanding the stage; There
were more stopping and issues; more verbal from Derek - Play
something else, we've got a bit of time."
On another wavelength, we've been talking and making predictions about
how many will show up, right? Actually, we'd been joking for some time
about Eisley having 3 fans in the UK... and that we expected to look over
the sea of this sea of people) probably over a dozen, and just take it all
in; In fact...at this moment, there were maybe two dozen bystanders
looking up at the mammoth stage as Eisley first graced the park with
their musical sounds.
So they started the new song (whatever it is - musical things, memories,
musical seeds - I dunno); I was smiling from face to head; I love this
song...anyway, and of course, I video taped all of this; Once again,
Derek say's, "ok a bit more and we'll be done", so they brushed up on
the second verse through the bridge to the end of the song; nice. very
nice.... I kept wondering if maybe 1,500 might show up....or 2,000. It
didn't really matter, mind you, but it would be nice to spend all the
money that it took WB to roll for us to get to go - what a shame to play
for 12. Sound check over, Matt takes guitars off stage out of the sun,
Weston looks for replacement hi-hat clutch and tambourine, we head
back to the dressing room to vegetate. By now, it's 10:45 or 11:00am.
At 12:00 noon, the doors open. At 12:20pm, they come get us...Rock
says there's already 2,000 out there already. Wow... The band heads up
the metal alloy, slip preventive plank and I head to the pit to inquire
about video taping... when I get the runnaround and the, "I don't know,
you'll have to ask....um...I don't see him...." and hear the synth lead in to
"Over the Mountains", I just said, "never mind, I can't miss this" and
hopped the front fence so I could get out in the crowd to videotape. No
one hassled me the entire time.
They sounded strong from the start...the mix was great, I was dealing
with the bright sun, so I frequently shot the giant flanking monitors baring
close ups and pans from at least 5 cameras. It was huge....ominous....the
stage is behemoth. The songs were sounding amazing. Here's the set list:
1. Over the Mountains We go
2. Mr. Pine
3. Marvelous Things
4. Sea King
5. They All Surrounded Me
6. Beautiful Things
7. Tree Tops
About 3 or 4 songs into their set, I was filming when I caught a glimpse
of the giant venue monitor - filming from in back of Weston out toward
the audience. I remember blinking and thinking..."what the...!!? I saw this
sea of people. It confused me - because...like I'm in this audience and it
feels like there's about 2 thousand people in front of me and I wasn't
aware there was anyone in back of me. Just the other 10,000. That's
what we were told from the experts....about 12,000 watching Eisley.
Needless to say, that seems like a lot for the opening band. I guess we'll
have to rely on the words of these British V-Fest patrons to know how
they felt about the band...but from where I was standing, it seemed like
Eisely really did have an impact. The applause and cheers were just like
the ones we experienced at Red Rocks in Denver.
Sunday, August 17th - Stafford - Weston Park, V-Fest
Hey guys. Again, I'm having to recreate these events on Sunday, now.
Don't let it mess with your head but as i'm writing, Saturday's show is
over and we're driving back to London from Stafford where the second
Festival was held. It's dark, a bit bumpy...everyone is asleep except for
Jon who's in the front talking to Paul - the driver, who is a very nice guy
from Wales; he's in a band signed to an indie and will be touring the US
in October-November and dated a girl who's name is in every
Radiohead's thankyou list. But...back to Saturday.
Sunday - Weston Park:
After the show, we rolled off the drum riser and guitar amps/rhodes, etc.
broke down all the gear, packed it up, slammed it back into the van
and...I can't remember what next. It's always confusing after shows...
but that's ok. I'm micro detailing and want to pull out this tailspin.
Basically, we ate lunch with Dave and Rock and Paul - Hamburger and
chips. ( that's like our French fries - but their chips are called "crisps") We
mostly hung out in the artist area that afternoon with Dave - venturing
out some to see shows...like, we went to find Damien Rice's show but got
lost and distracted and missed it. Also, just a lot of hanging out in the
small dressing room on the floor... falling asleep on the floor...etc. Sherri
and Stacy and I walked out side stage to the pit to watch the Hives while
Dave, Weston, Jon were fast asleep on the thinly carpeted floor using
arms for pillows. Wait, Chauntelle was also asleep in there. All like
Zombies.
The Hives lead singer - Pelle' (pelly?) oh my gosh...what a crowd worker.
He's like a rock and roll preacher. Every show is different; he say's the
most random things and has this laugh that cracks us up. The crowd was
jam packed and there were kids crowd surfing to the front and being
dumped over the fence into security guard's arms. Some were just rebel
16 year olds wanting to be seen escorted out by police, but many were
over-exhausted; several were completely listless, passed out; they'd
carry them into a make shift hospital and treat them.
Weaving events into discourse on Social studies; a classless society?
Anyway, the Hives show was great. We've always have sorta dug the
modern dirt rock - especially the White Stripes, but I think these guys
won most of us over. Maybe it helps that we've been seeing them
everywhere, I dunno. Remember, at Coachella, Eisley's dressing rooms
were joined to those Hives guys...and our tour manager (then) wanted to
throw stuff at the Hives because he thought they sucked....and Sherri told
him, "IF you DO....you're SO fired..." (because it would have been rude
and disrespectful and misrepresented the bands feelings) then here we
were again being around them and watching them eat, drink, laugh, etc.
(not to say he wasn't a good guy and very respected and loved by all. he
is. it's just a funny story.)
As the evening grew, we kept having close encounters with Dave Growl...
seeing all those guys just hanging out in the Artist area; It's
funny...there's all these "stars", but of course, they don't act like stars - it
almost seemed like the bands were kind of shy. They often just huddle
together in their own world and will occasionally knod, or say, "cheers".
We weren't really familiar with Echo and the Bunnymen - and they
certainly didn't know who Eisley was, so we didn't really talk to them, just
said good morning and hello and stuff. We feel stupid for this. But nobody
was really warming up. We should have broken the ice.
Anyway, it's a strange environment; a little community of rock stars or
whatever. Dave Holmes kept joking about "networking"....like it was
some covert secret power the band should implement...so we'd ventured
out of our safety zone (cabin) and sat out in the open on a picnic table,
even though it was so freakin' cold, just so we wouldn't seem like band
snobs; We had light jackets and were freezing; He'd come back an hour
later and say "still networking?"....or, "ok..i see, doing some more
networking, right? Good job...stick with the plan...networking is
everything... go up to every band and say, "good job, you rock, I loved
your set"...and if they say, "but we didn't play yet..", just say, "I know...I
just mean you're all about the rock and we totally get it...." Eventually
our table livened up and we became inspired by the bizarreness and
humor of our predicament.
Breaking ice; eisely ice?
Basically, most of you know, but Eisley is pretty shy. Plus they're the
baby band in this world of giants, so it's a bit intimidating. Nobody in the
band wants to meet other "rock stars" so they can be "known".... they
just wanted to get over some fear and not be so weird; Anyway, when
the Coldplay guys came out, they were a sight for sore eyes. Everyone
felt safe enough to go do some hanging out. So we ended up talking to
Will for a good while about all kinds of things...met his fiancé' who is very
sweet, spoke with Guy and Johnny for a bit, said hello's various people...
and scampered back to our picnic table.
Ongoing Gwyneth episodes
So, nobody would come over to OUR table....until Gwyneth came by
and graced us with her kindness; Hugs and greetings, etc...she was like,
"guys! hi! I didn't know you were here. Did you play? (yes.yes.) ahww... I
wish I could have been here, I didn't know...(blah, blah) and there was
some joking about the tabloid photo (the one in this forum) and she was
like, "yeah, I wear it and I'll keep wearing it"; and we told her sort of
aplogetically about the Blender headline: "...rock out Gwyneth Paltrow"
and she thought it was great... "yeah, I HOPE they said that because it's
true"...other stuff...but anyway, she is so sweet; very humble; she just
reassured the band that she was their biggest fan and said she would tell
anyone everyone...and that she wears their T shirt everywhere, etc. I'm
not trying to exploit the Gwyneth thing. It's not a big deal really. We met
her on the Coldplay tour, watched Coldplay with her from sidestage...she
watched many of Eisley's show sidestage and there were frequent
conversations and mutual admiration. I think it's pretty natural. What's
cool about her is she's so normal... but, aren't most people pretty
normal? whatever. The episode was worth mentioning because it happened.
Will said he wore his T-shirt too...to which Weston replied: "yeah, you
wear it when you're doing laundry..." (Will: "yeah, because everything I
have is always dirty") Anyway, It's so nice when scary people have the
kind of humility that makes everyone seem normal - and, after all...what
is normal....what is abnormal...it's all mind games and foolishness. As
I've said before...no one is famous really. Only in everyone elses mind.
More cultural introspection:
Anyway, I bring this stuff up just because I try to write about topics that
would interest me if I were you. Mostly I'm intrigued with the socio-
cultural aspects of this journey... there's this dynamic in the band
because of what's happening that sorta wigs people out...it's a mental
thing; The class structure crap can mess with your head. You feel like a
nobody and can best identify with other nobody's, right? ...but
you're suddenly hanging out with the alleged somebody's - who are
really nobody's - some of which act like nobody's and
some act like big shots; You want to meet them; who wouldn't...
but there's this battle in your mind...."they'll just think I'm sucking up; or,
what do I really have to offer him/her? Introducing myself would really
be all about ME....they're certainly not going to get anything out of it; It's
hard to really know whether or not they're jerks or not. What if people
think Eisley are jerks because they're shy; you see how weird it is? All of
this weirdness is a battle that takes place in the mind; But we all agree
and Rock put it perfectly, "once it's not important that you meet anyone,
it becomes easy". Our deal is more about getting over fears so that
nobody thinks we're unsocial.
Deeply felt - Eisley philosophy:
After we met the Hives (later in this episode), Sherri said, in this cute
aggrivated voice, "uhhh (growl)...I never want to be a scary rock
star!!....I hate it!"
I've been on-line in our Sherlock hotel back in London for over an hour
editing this text. We're 6 hrs. ahead of you guys. It's still bad and there
are misspelled words. I can't hold my eyes open. I just haven't had
time...no days off and we haven't had connection. I feel guilty. I told
everyone I'd keep them up to date and now I've failed. oh well.... will
finish the journal on the plane and post images when we get back. Tight
schedule guys. We leave for Austin 1 day after we get back. bd
----------------------
More about Saturday. It's 7:15am in London on a Monday morning. August 18, 03
Soon we'll all wake up, drag all of our guitars, pedals, cymbals, baggage,
carry-ons etc downstairs, eat some amazing free food (oh Lord, do I
need coffee), load it all into some cabs and drive an hour toward the
airport. (I know, we could take the tube...but, it's just hard lugging all
that stuff from the road to the station...we did it once already and Rock
thinks this is the best. (1/2 longer, but...easier on everyone). We'll jump
on a plane at 12:30 and head back to the past; cheating time is
amazing... no. it's time travel. We're traveling backwards through time.
yes. Time travelers, we are.
Backtothefestival; Saturday continued:
Late afternoon/eve of Saturday the 16th: Foo Fighters. I have to
say...(something profound) but what do I say? It was excruciatingly
amazing. Brain ripping, foot stomping, hair raising, wonderful. The first 5
or 6 songs were all hits....at least in my mind, they were. We watched
from the pit. The crowd was fierce. The applause was monsterous. I'm
not use to hearing the combined chortles and unified, self-expressions of
utter rockness blasting out of the faces of 60 - 80,000. It was a great
show... we didn't stay for all but certainly they gave those englishmen
women their money's worth. It was a first for us and we loved it. (them)
All I remember is we went back to the artist area, hung out some
more...did whatever, went to see 4 Coldplay songs that night before
heading back to the compound. (Texans don't really use the word
compound much because of what happened in Waco years ago, but i
think it's a funny word.)
Coldplay, of course headlined....surely the 80,000 or close to it were out
for it.....we couldn't even get close to seeing from where we were. I'm
guessing we were 100 yards to the left...or stage left rather, under some
trees, trying to peer through the branches. It's pitch black, the stars are
out, it's freezing cold. The crowd was packed around forever on all sides.
With smiles on our faces, we watched Chris jump around in his
leprochanic ballet (I know, I've used that description before, but it's a
good one) and held the summers memories close as the day's event
came to a close, ran back all the way to the compound, loaded up and
drove away from the first night at V-Fest.
August 17th
I'll have to write this on the plane and upload when we arrive back to our
home sweet home. 7 hours just from London to Chicgo...that should give
me enough time to write a novel. When you read this....remember one
thing; I shouldh't have to say it but...."THIS.....is my xanga...." (for
newcomers, you have to imagine Kahn from "the wrath of Kahn" saying it
to Captain Kurk on the deck of the Enterprise when he thought he had
conquered him) Pics are next. Pray for our safe journey. cheers.
-----------------
In the Air...but more on Saturday backtracking -
We stayed in a Holiday Inn only 20 minutes away from the venue; since I
couldn't get on line Sat. night, I just added an entry for the day until
whenever oclock.
Up at 7:30 - continental B-fast at 8:30am: I guess the options spelled a
traditional English breakfast - some strange kind of sausage with not a lot
of flavor, a small grillled tomato cut in half, something I couldn't identify
that looked like potatoes but was actually scrambled eggs, blood sausage
woah...I almost ate it thinking it was like owens sausage), toast wi/ a
variety of jelly's and some spread called...Marmite? (sorry, might be
wrong) - it's like yeast extract; dark brown, like molassas but tastes very
salty. Paul wanted me to try it so I did... he said it was delicious but it
was just brown salty goo. (sorry)
After breakfast, we drove maybe half an hour to Weston Park, unloaded
right on the lower doc back stage and headed off to check out the artist
area - since we were told that it was more communal...more like an
atrium where everyone would be unable to avoid one another... which
sounded good, since we were guilty of doing just that. Actually, it wasn't
as described; the collective buildings surely did create a sort of
enclosure...and there was a small covered white tent with a fooseball and
air hockey table to be enjoyed...but our little cove was actually in a
corner; hidden as it were. There was no carpet, however, so there
wouldn't be any sleeping, which could impair social progress; and the
nibbles were somewhat inadequate: crisps, lolly's and some fruit. (lolly's
are suckers...when we told Paul, he said you mean like, "I'll GET you
sucker.." and we laughed hard)
Within minutes, we were back on stage setting up and sound checking.
(I'm boring myself again, but we're only 2 hours into the flight back to
Chicago and I'm wide awake after watching some movie about early
South Africa and the end of "Anger Management" which was a frustrating
movie, but pretty funny.
Being nobody has it's advantages:
Reflections: We were all thinking actually how good it was (and
conversing about it) that Eisley was in the opening position. No
doubt - they would be...but, think about the advantage: you get an
enviable "sound check" that not even Coldplay gets (no sound checks for
anyone); you get to warm up vocally, on your instruments, sort of
experience the environment, the stage...and look out over the venue in
wonderment before it's filled; also...since you're nobody or virtually
unknown, you don't have as much to prove? (more pressure on the
bigger bands, right?) You don't have to outdo your last show because
there was none, and as you're warming up, your songs are echoing
through the campus (compound) giving thousands of curious onlookers a
small earfull - a little sneaky preview. Of course, that could be very bad if
you suck to high heaven...it could warn them of your damaging musical
sounds - and result in chasing angry festivites to other nearby stages -
scorning and cursing your very existance - raising their fists at you and
chanting in gregarious blasts: GO HOME EISLEY, GO HOME EISLEY, GO
HOME EISLEY!!!.... well, I don't think it was like that; I cheated...I was
viewing the people lying in wait along the fence though my telephoto
digizoom well before the starting gun sounded....and I didn't see any
evidenced of such angst on faces.
We went back to the dressing rooms and yacked with Rock and Paul
about nothing I can remember. We sampled all the crisps and drank
apple juice from a wax carton with no cups... I was complaining and
Sherii said, "Dad...you can drink after me...I don't have cooties". But
there was lipstick. oh well... we're not very germophobic at our
house...quite the opposite)
12:15: the girl comes to fetch Eisley... the band walks the alloy plank and
I jettisoned over the guard rail to gain frontal access where people were
gathering...they'd told me I couldn't videotape outside the pit but I just
had to. Stacy's Korg is already chirping it's magical spell ("Over the
Mountains") before I got the video camera on - I knew after the first
song that it was going to be good. But that's not for me to decide.
I do think the show went well... there were a few boggles - not as tight as
I've seen them, but overall...what you saw was a snap shot of a young
band with a scary opportunity - playing one of the most important shows
of their lives. It's not about energy...it's about imagination, emotion,
love... mystery, memories...loss, a magical journey through the simple
outlet of song.
Appeal to the British:
What did you guys think.? (I'm talking to the British folk - not you
Americans....not you Texans (yee- haw). If any of you who saw them
cared to comment or post on the forum, it would be lovely. I might even
create a thread for you. (woo, scary...brave) For those that do, I'll
certainly package up comments and email them to Warner Brothers and
Nettwerk. (btw. we have branches of both in your country).
But seriously, it's a strange thing for us ( Eisley, of course but I'm
commenting about marketing, so I include my own thoughts - as we've
discussed this topic much) anyway... like I said, a strange thing -
venturing into England and playing for a completely new audience; What
did people think? What will happen? What does it all mean? What effect
will it have? It feels so insignificant, you know? I don't know why...
perhaps because there's nothing tangible...no indicators other than a bit
of applause. It's like there were these two test markets where there will
be no research gathering; the band simply plays, followed by some
clapping and the next day you're on a plane heading home across the
ocean and...I dunno.. did anyone get it? There's no radio support, no
press, no CD, no litmus test, no indicator... it's like...this hot air balloon
called Eisley simply passed over....and then vanished into the eastern
sky; That's ok. I guess it's just leaving us wondering, feeling reflective...
First Nervousness ever:
Eisley is nervous about what the reaction will be like in England. Not
because they want to be "big" or become rock stars - nobody cares about
that. It's just - of course, The British are known for being very quality
oriented when it comes to rock... very exacting, tasteful. Music is a
personal expression; you start out creating it in your bedroom and think
that's where it'll stay; suddenly a record label is embracing it and wants
to expand and broadcast your music (no complaints) and before long,
they put you on a plane and you're playing in front of a huge audience of
serious music lovers...(these aren't sell-out, pop patrons, mind you) It is
scary. Apparently more than I realized. I learned, for example, for the
first time that Sherri was nervous before and during a show. I swear, not
at the Hollywood Bowl or at Red Rocks or at Madison Square Garden was
there even the slightest flutter of fear. No butterflies... Anyway, I asked
her why on this stage... " Because this is the first time we've ever played
in this country - and, what if they don't like us? all our favorite bands are
from here...it's just scary; we don't know what they'll think."
Eisley is young, of course...and doesn't have a huge live show or
whatever. There aren't any charismatic icons dressed in black shouting:
"WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE LEAD SINGER!?" and no former
member of Nervana staring for 2 minutes before 10's of thousands
without saying a word...while herds and covey's and throngs of flocks of
people cheered frantically. Both the Hives and The Foo Fighters fought
courageously - like a well tuned marketing machine. These were
veterans - all. Eisley, in contrast is inexperienced; reclusive. Quiet...
more shy; not very showy. I don't think they'll ever be. But it seemed
like everyone was ok with that.
btw. I do grow uneasy about this xanga-esque journal as I see more and
more are reading it. I feel vulnerable and at risk...but am compelled by
some inner sence that this is the right thing to do. I really do wish the
band had more time to do this....to be ME; but, I guess it's ok: as "simul"
as our thoughts and ideals about their music, other's music, what's going
on in the band, etc has become over th years, I guess it's better to have
the Chronicles of Eisley be penned by a not-so-Ghost writer than an
outsider who might misrepresent the bands completely...
OK. enough introspection!...getting all emo is making me sick. I do
actually have more goopy, scoop to slammer on you... I will spew it on
you with a sloggering spoon...soon. We're passing just under the
Southern tip of Iceland...heading to North America. I just wasted have
my battery life on this. We're traveling at 545 miles per hour and our
altitude is 38,000 ft. Time to Chicago is 3:26. We're passing through
time zones like cows pass through butter. It's 1678 miles to Chicago. I'm
going to time out.
Ok. air-potty break. woah, that toilet flushed with a sound that scared the
daylight out of me; not a swoosh, but like a "bamph!!" dang...
Encounters:
After the show, we packed up back stage, loaded the van. (gave a crew
member a cd) and decided to venture out beyond the iron wall into
"normal land". (ref. to my ramblings from yesterday on cultural walls
Echo and his amazing bunnymen were already playing their set;
Note: During the Coldplay shows, the band would announce from stage
that they'd be out to meet people and hang out - I guess it seemed
overwhelming to do that here...so many people; and maybe it would be
arrogant to assume people would want to do so; but it was kinda cool to
let it happen naturally - without any hype. I guess they were detained
about 45 minutes while talking to various little covey's of people who
would come up, talk, take photos and stuff. It was nice... And that's when
we met Stephen (a.k.a - Juan from the board) who walked up sporting an
Eisley T and introduced himself. It was great to put a name with a face.
Soon he vanished into the throngs to join his tribe of tent people. And we
kept looking for Lisa, but alas - our paths never met again. Sorry Lisa...
Some time in the afternoon, we went to Damion Rice's show...probably
don't know who he is, but he's big in Ireland and is growing fast. We met
him on the Coldplay tour and became good acquaintances. He's a super
nice guy. Since they came to Eisley's show, we certainly wanted to go to
his...and would have anyway. Very cool singer/songwriter w/ female
vocalist and cello accompaniment. He had a big crowd - real big -
gathered around the NME stage.
We walked around for hours...and stood in line for even longer in hopes
of procuring the right merchandise to commemorate the event. I scored
for Kim and I, but Chauntelle could find nothing. All the sizes were
gone...shirts were selling out. We spend way too long going from booth to
booth looking for merch that was already gone. We waited too long. tsk.
tsk.
There were lots of small connections/encounters with people and groups
of people while we were out roaming around. I can't remember many
specifics because they're all blending together now, but one guy walked
up...I think he said his name was David...and pulled out his i-pod to show
Weston he'd downloaded all the songs off the website; he got a photo
with the band and thanked them for the great set, etc...Many people
would just stop the band and say, "hey, great set...awesome"... Several
groups of girls literally freaked out. I'll spare you the story, but they were
all very sweet - well, except for this one group who were really funny;
They were talking to Stacy and Chauntelle and inquiring as to whether
they'd met Gwyneth...and when Chauntelle said, "well...yes", they looked
at each other and whipered, "oh my god...they met Gwyneth"... and then
screamed..and she yelled, "AHhhhH!! YOU COWS!!!".I understand that's
sort of an insult in the UK...(at home it would just mean, you're fat) but I
don't think she ment it bad... totally joking and perhaps delightfully
jealous. We were amused. These girls were funny.
Some of us apparently wanted to revisit the Hives show because...well,
they were good and they made us laugh. We'd finally walked by their
clan (on the way to Eisley's show) and reluctantly shook hands and said
embarrassing stuff like, we like your band and, just wanted to say hello
and stuff. ANYWAY.....Sherri, Stacy and Jon went out into the thick abyss
to watch the show - they were mere dots in a sea of thousands of dots...I
know because Chauntelle and Rock and I decided to use our mainstage
passes to boldly walk up and crouch in the corner behind the monitor
board where a small group of V-Fest artists were watching their show.
AHHH! the view is crazy from up there...pretty freaky - the dots
are....even littler and thicker from up there. But it was fun.
The Kindness of Dave Growl:
We were bobbing our heads to the raw rockers when Dave Growl and his
new wife walked in right beside us. You can tell by watching his
mannerisms that he's a very humble, sensitive guy. If t was further
confirmed when, after a few minutes, an apparent acquaintance of his -
perhaps a sound guy or crew guy with a pony tail walked up and stood
with his mentally challenged little girl who must certainly have been a
huge fan of the foo's. He introduced her to Dave and she latched onto
him with a big hug... I was teary eyed as he hugged her with an
unconditional affection... this happened several times before she pulled
out a blue envelope and handed it to him. He accepted with thanks, she
hugged him time and time again. Here's the clencher - after a few
moments, his apparent mother-in-law walked back stage also and he
(dave) introduced the little girl to her...he said, "I'd like to introduce you
to my friend - Amy". I was very moved. So, now I'm even more of a Foo
Fan than I was before.
After the show, (we watched the entire thing) we walked back into the
compound where the sweaty, red-faced Hives were recovering... this
time, we were a little bolder - "good show...." and "good set".... and,
"that was awesome...we were side stage"....as we walked by demanding
nothing. They said thanks...and kept wiping themselves with towels.
Networking continues on full scale:
Back in our mobil unit, we decided we shouldn't stay for the duration...
that the 3 hour trip (or whatever it was) would put us in super late... and
we were tired and had already seen bits of the headliners the day before.
What was there to gain in staying? Rock had the idea to pass out CD's to
any of the artists that wanted any and say goodbyes; everyone thought it
was a great idea. So we first went out to say goodbye:
Lot's of socializing ensued as a result... warm salutations between us and
the Coldplay guys... Will reached out his hand to shake Weston's and
Weston gave him a big man hug...laughing, Will said, "good man, good
man". People were laughing, but perhaps it's because Weston was
wearing a bag over his head with sunglasses on the outside. He looked
like a dorky alien. Anyway, there was light conversation about Dan - their
young, brilliant sound engineer possibly producing an Eisley ep for the UK
market, chit-chat about our visit to London, our hopes as well as theirs
about coming back soon, etc... We had a brief visit with the Nettwerk
guys - Dan Fraizier, president of the management side of the business
and Dave...reflections about the trip, the experience the opportunity and
more opportunities which are far too soon to mention here...
Kanga people:
And what was with that Kangaroo couple? This guy and girl dressed up in
very custom Kangaroo suites w/ extended spring legs came hoping into
the compound. Crazy. I videotaped them and we even talked to them,
but I still don't understand what they were trying to promote.They said
they were wanting to colonize this area because in Australia, where
they're from, people are shooting them. I told them to move to Texas...
and they said, people carry guns there don't they? And I said, "yeah, but
they don't shoot Kangaroo's - just people".
Foo Folly:
These cheezy headlines are fun to write. I'm a cheeze whiz factory.
Oh, and we braved a trip over to the Foo-Fighter's dressing room where
we fearfully summoned Taylor Hawkins outside to sign a Foo-Fighter's hat
for Collin. He was nice but looked suprised...almost as if we had been
fans who jumped the fence to get in the compound. Then he recognized
Chauntelle who he'd been introduced to..."oh, wait...you guys are in a
band, right?...what band? ahh, Eisley...yes....cool. what kind of music do
ya'll play?" I think the band collectively chimed in: " ohh, we like bands
like Radiohead, Pink Floyd...Coldplay...The Beatles....and you guys".
AHH...I was gonna say, "Cool, until you threw our name in there... that
messed it up" (giggle, chuckles,) "nah...you guys are amazing...." (said
Eisley as they waved their wooden legs) Anyway, then Sherri gave him a
cd and said, "here....it's our ep...you can listen to it..or throw it away,
honestly..." And he was like, "no...no way...sure I'll listen to it...thanks".
But we all know he'll probably toss it into a rubbish bin with the hundreds
of cd's he probably gets per day from bands. It doesn't matter. It was the
idea of pressing through and not being socially reclusive that mattered.
And, of course, the signature for Collin's hat.
Meeting Queen B of the Hive:
About then, Paul walked up after talking to the Hives. He presented word
from their camp, "The Hives say, don't be afraid of us...and we want
CD's". We laughed so hard...it so perfectly aligned with their image...their
demeanor; they'd picked up that Eisley was nervous around them, and
probably Paul told them...so they sent word...it's hilarious. So, laughing,
we walked over to their little mobil cave and Sherri said, Hi....ok, here's
some CD's...you can keep em or throw em away!... (chortles, thanks and
grunts came forth) We walked away laughing at the moment and looked
for the next victims) Remember, this was a strategy...all part of Dave's
"Networking plan"...a sort of run on joke.
Jon and Paul and Rock and Dan Frazier played a quick game of Fooseball
where Jon and Dan cleaned up. We just hung out as it got darker... the
evening was turning out nice. One more brace act:
With a no-fear attitude, it was time to press further... out popped Dave
Growl. "hey, could you sign this hat for our little brother?" "Sure...no
problem"....a few words and introductions..and we were thanking him and
walking off feeling good about not being scared.
Eisley exit...last goodbyes:
More goodbyes and hugs to many - Derek Fudge who expressed interest
in seeing Eisley on his off season.... what a guy. His little curly blonde
headed 3 year old stole our hearts away as he swung her in circles and
played games with her. She was adorable. Last goodbye's between
Gwyneth (sp?) and the girls... she's so nice; kept saying what a big fan
she was and hoped for their return to England. We headed for the exit
and felt that sence of euphoria - sad and glad all at once; wanting to
stay, needing to go... The V-Fest was coming to a close. The experiences
of a lifetime were being wrapped up; we climbed into the van. "WAIT, we
didn't say goodbye to MATT and he said he'd be upset if we left without
saying goodbye!", said Sherri as she jockeyed her ora into a conclusory
outburst! He was nowhere to be found, so I suggested the sappy note
plan - which seemed to pacify everyone. Sherri/Stacy scribbled out a
cute, affectionate little note and I dashed back into the compound bearing
6 CD's. I found Derek and asked him to give Matt (Johnny Buckley's
guitar tech) the note. He said, "no problem, I understand". I asked him if
he had gotten a CD...to which he replied, "yes, I did actually, but many of
the other guys expressed interest in getting one"... So, I handed him the
lot and dashed off.
We pulled out, drove the distance back to the Sherlock Hotel, said
goodbye to Paul as he promised that RadioHead would each get a copy of
the Laughing City ep, we loaded in, ventured out once for food, they slept
while i journaled...and that's about it. A mini-van picked us up and we
headed to the airport and we are now closing in on Chicago. Thanks for
reading though I'm sure very few are bored enough to go the distance.
Just look at the pictures and avoid my lengthy blabbling. If my Apple
Airport will pick up an airport signal and I chance to get on-line, I'll
upload this to the forum. Again, I apologize for the length. I'm bored.
And, well, it's my xanga.... I can do what I want. Thanks.
August 18. The Long Trip Home
Well, the airport didn't have airport and besides, we just barely caught
our flight in time. People need to lighten up in airports, don't you think? I
mean...airports need some comic relief; pressure releases... Ever ride
those long conveyor belt things that speeds you along faster? Well, I
can't explain why this happened, but for some reason we started waving
at on-coming traffic (walkers on the other side of the glass wall
separating us...) This pleased us so we started waving at everyone; We
were so amused at ourselves and by the variety of responses we were
getting that we increased the drama....and started yelling "bye!" to
them... Keep in mind - we're walking full blast, carrying all our gear and
are in a hurry at this point. Then Rock started tapping on the window if
they didn't see us...and when they'd turn around to look, we'd all yell bye
and started laughing so hard we couldn't stop...this went on for hundreds
of yards... We were laughing so hard. I don't know why it was so funny. I
think because you aren't supposed to do this kind of thing..and people
don't expect it. We got the funniest looks.
Anyway, hugs and goodbyes at the gate with Rock - the best tour
manager in the world pretty much sealed the trip. All that was left was
the long flight back to the US, US customs, immigrations, connecting
flights, and the stress of getting on board this plane that we're now on. It
was a little close. OH, and a guy named Nathan, whom I've had a few e
mails with and apparently Sherri, drove all the way up to the airport just
to be able to meet the band and hang out for what ended up being
maybe 5 minutes - the lapse of time it took us to leave customs and get
to our gate to check personals. Anyway, Thanks Nathan... you're swell.
Now I'm in the van and am about to get home so I can upload this pile.
(of crap...I just read it; too long, boring. sorry) When we got to the
airport, a friend - Daniel Kraft - was waiting for us...and ran up
screaming, "it's Eisley, it's Eisley!" and started acting like a poperatzi
(sp?) flashing pictures and acting like a nut. What a guy. He really just
came to help us get our gear to the van. Thanks Dan.
Even though it's 11:25 pm here, in our brains, it's 5:30am...in London.
We've been up way too long.
I think this is then end. Pics soon. We leave for Austin Wed...Thanks for
tuning in. boydout
And please - All UK residents make comments about your reaction to
Eisley on this very thread. I really need to know what you think... I'll
send them off to everyone on our support team so they can get a sense
of the reaction. Thanks.
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