BritBus Stops in D.C.

It's not every day that British bands come to D.C. in a red doubledecker bus. The BritBus tour stopped downtown yesterday, bringing three new groups — Jyrojets from Scotland, The Crave from Brighton, and Julia Jones from London via Wales — around the country at a top speed of 45 miles per hour.

According to bassist Tom Swann from The Crave, it took four days to get from Denver to St. Louis, and although the bus is outfitted nicely with padded benches, flat screen TVs, and a couple of beer taps (turned off when traveling), it has no air conditioning, which Jyrojets noted was terrible in Phoenix. It was pretty warm just during the brief trip from the National Press building to Fado in Chinatown, a journey of about six blocks. Luckily for the artists, they're accompanied by some Land Rovers when the bus gets to be too much. And along with the bands, the tour, sponsored by BBC America, Bass Ale, Gibson Guitars and other companies, brought a Scottish vicar and an assortment of promotional doodads.

We hadn't heard of any of the bands before the tour, though Jyrojets have been getting some buzz since their stop at SXSW earlier this year. The bands played two acoustic sets each, one for the press and one at Fado, and they'll play at Madam's Organ Thursday night. Ian Alexander, the Edinburgh-based vicar, said the tour played at a Fado in almost every city. Just what they've always dreamed of — traveling from the U.K. to play in a chain of fake Irish bars. Alexander noted that they all go out drinking together afterwards, which we hope gives them a better idea of American drinking establishments as a whole.