Editors Note: We enjoyed the tour diaries J. Tom Hnatow wrote for us as part of These United States’ last tour, so we asked him if he wouldn’t mind doing it again as the band embark on their first ever intercontinental tour of the UK and Europe. He graciously agreed. Look for his dispatches from the road abroad over the next few weeks.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
We walk (and walk and walk) from Baker Street to Victoria station — this tour is like combining backpacking with…the longest load-in ever. On the positive side, the hike is our longest of the tour. Once we finally disembark in Brighton, though, the tiredness fades and we immediately fall in love –- with the town, the people, the weather, everything. The venue is unbelievably kind to us. We’re fed, beered, and have an amazing soundcheck. Miraculously, halfway through the show, the venue fills up, and so we have our second good show of the tour.
Post show, we have an informal jam session with the staff downstairs, drinking beer and passing the guitar around. It’s as much, if not more fun than the actual show. Then a quick nighttime walking tour of Brighton, passing churches and Banksy graffiti in equal measures. Our host (and soundperson) Rhys, proves to be as good a tourguide as he is a soundperson. We end at his flat –- a huge, 6 bedroom house –- and pass out for the evening.
Wednesday October 17, 2007
We wake up to the sun shining through the windows and start out back to the club, who were kind enough to let us leave our gear there last night. Rhys takes us on the full (quick) walking tour of Brighton. We pass the shops, the Royal Pavilion, and head down to the beach. We’ve only got a few minutes, but we bask in the sun, staring across the ocean. I think we’re all still amazed to be here, doing this tour. Then, back to the club where we’re fed/coffeed/beered once again. The hospitality we’ve had on this tour so far, only 3 days in, has been unbelievable. Good guarantees, food, places to crash…why do we tour the States?
Back on the train, then a bus, then on the train to Newcastle. Planes, Tubes, Buses, Trains…touring this way is completely different. When we usually tour, our van/car is our “home,” the place we leave things, the place that stays the same the whole time. This time, we have nothing of the sort. When we move, everything comes with us, and we’re constantly surrounded by people. There are no moments where it’s just us, the band, alone. At the moment, its exhilarating. We’ll see how it feels come day 15.
