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Los Angeles
- 10/4/01
We all get
up late in San Francisco, partying is becoming more regular and
as we are sharing a hotel with the YFF, we'd need a reason NOT
to. Sorry. We don't get to do this often. And as we are starting
to get used to the idea that the US leg of the tour is ending
now, we're starting to linger on the moments a bit more. It has
been an amazing few weeks. The leaving behind is hard. I never
want to leave any of it behind. Washington, New York, Toronto,
Chicago, Minneapolis, Vancouver, Seattle, SF....
 Leaving
the hotel this morning, Dewitt says thanks for the photos (I did
a little session with him at soundcheck yesterday - this is the
sexiest and we set off down the coast road to Los Angeles. Robyn
and Michèle are going separately with Ryan. We chat about
stuff - ex-girlfriends' editorial control over future relationships,
are mp3's the "transistor radios" of the 2000's and the UK tour
- Norwich, Cambridge, Bristol, Radio 2 etc. With the coast road
pretty empty, seaspray and a sunny day, it's a gentle good mood
we're in.  Kim's
still sleeping off the voice and Morris is talking about music
and how Harry took UM to a sleepover at his friend's house.
 
Me, I'm taking
pictures of the scenery which is not unlike the UK (Cornwall,
etc) on the early section of the drive. 
 Halfway
down the road we stop at a roadside cafe and catch Robyn, Ryan
and Michèle having a light snack. I confront Robyn wth
the fact that I haven't got enough pictures of him for the site
and he agrees to do a session if I can catch him drunk, at night
with his shades on. It's a deal, so we'll see ..... I get into
some arty tree shots and we leave. It's 2 in the morning when
we get into LA and we've got a radio session with an 8 am start.
 
The radio
the next morning's with a college radio out in Santa Monica -
KCRW - and it goes well, maybe we're a bit scruffy at that time
in the morning, but the spirit's there which is all that really
matters (to us). We did KoL, Perv, Mind and Destroy You first,
then Robyn spoke a bit (interesting point about radio stations
all turning into TV stations with webcams etc) and then we did
Sudden Town, Moonlight (Robyn and I have completely abandoned
notes in the middle section now), FoD and Pulse then Kim decided
to walk home which is quite a long way but as Morris said, he's
always been an "extreme walker". Nice version of Face too, I thought.
Day ends with
discovering a great review online of us/YFF in the SF Chronicle
which my pal Katherine sends me and what with "Soft Boys soar
at the Fillmore" (big thankyou to Neva Chonin for that) and that
glitterball, it's all a bit surreally opposite to 7 people at
the Hope & Anchor in Islington, two of whom worked there. Then
back to Scott's room 108 at the hotel and the YFF to carry on
mourning the end of the tour. This is a pool-side room too, and
Robyn says after seeing Titanic he swam a width of it (the pool,
not the room) to see what Leonardo de Caprio felt like. Meanwhile,
Morris has agreed to do bits of the diary tomorrow, whilst Michèle
on the spot, with some help from Ryan maybe, prepares and renders
her Seattle poetry diary, which is a Haiku.
This reminds
me of John Cooper-Clark's haiku which is "To express yourself
in seventeen sylables is very diffic-". And whilst we're spinning
off the track here into things people have said, Bono's recent
"Some things have to be believed to be seen" should get a mention
because as well as being very good that is also sort of what has
happened here with the Soft Boys.
 Right,
then at bedtime, I find some other astounding functions on the
camera to assist in capturing the party spirit including a remarkable
performance of the "how many different faces can you make in 16
seconds" test by Kurt, plus a nice blurry one of Robyn. So another
good day. Gig tomorrow. G'night. Zonk.
  Today
(which is a new day) was me getting up, going out to Venice to
see my friend Chrissie who is PR for Machine
Head studios which my other friend Steve Dewey runs
...and then
being molested by a dog called Willy who only stopped when I took
her picture (that is LA dogs for you)
 ...and
then finding myself accidentally recording something on a Britney
Spearsless Pepsi commercial whilst waiting for the taxi although
I didn't notice at the time that the writer was crossing his fingers
as I left ......
Then soundchecking and working out Hots and Car She Used to Drive
and some new song that Robyn is writing with a really nice guitar
riff .....
I personally
think LA is a more interesting place than it was in the 80's,
dunno why.....everyone seems a bit more serious and less "wow",
which suits them....As minutes tick away to soundcheck, I 'review'
my CD pile. I don't think I have it in me to be rude about these,
sorry:
The
Novellas: "Marietta's Coming" (track 2) is great. The band
works so much around the singer and the keyboards but they have
an excellent drummer. "Laura's gone to London" which they have
on free download at their site isn't one of the strongest tracks
but has got great rhythm section. Brilliant keyboards by Laura
at the beginning of "There goes Betty again" and that was my favourite
until I heard "Caterpillar Man" which was my favourite until I
heard "Self Immolation Row" but I don't know what immolation means
so I can't tell if that's a good title or not. Laura is obviously
a stupendous keyboardist.
Peppermint:
I can't believe how good it is. What can I say? I really enjoyed
it. It's all fun and games and nearly brilliant and nearly terrible
on occasions. Some spirits like us, except without the heavy guitars.
Track 7 is an Eno-esque instrumental that ripples with brilliance.
I thought it was called "This planet will never land" but unfortunately
it's not. It's called "This plane will never land" which is different.
Plane, Planet, Plant. A letter can make such a lot of difference.
Track 8 is a great track too. This lot are tainted with genius.
But at the moment it is a "genius but ...." kind of genius. I
would prefer it a bit heavier ...
Stephen
Malkmus: Wow. This is good. Some great fuzz bass on the first
track, could be keyboard, which might also be said of the bass
on track 2. You can buy this. It is not a waste of money. Love
"Phantasies". Nice production. Now its track 3 and this just keeps
getting better. Sounds like he's using toy instruments now, and
the playroom sound pictures remind me of the Cure. But he says
"I'm not sweet at all". Track 4's slow. I don't like slow songs,
so move on. Track 7 is an artist at work, like it. Track 8's slow
too,but better. Like it, but don't listen to it. Same for 9. And
10. But 10's good. Very good. Still don't listen. "Jenny and the
Ess-Dog" (track 11) is luscious - I like his toy-boy vocals. Last
track, Deado, is totally beautiful too and marks Stephen out as
a guy of pretty major talent. This is his Hunky Dory, not his
Ziggy. Watch this space.
Anton
Barbeau: Will listen when I've got more time, but thanks for
the CD. I totally loved the last one. However, minus 10 points
for giving me another CD. So Anton comes last!
Job done,
although Stephen Malkmus is clearly the best I perversely declare
Peppermint the winners and decide to wear their t-shirt for the
gig, which breaks Boy George's rule of not wearing something with
someone else's name on .....
This is Morris's
tour diary. Could I just add that it was going great until just
before we went on stage when Dewitt came in and said Winona Rider
was in the audience and it kind of threw me cos, I dunno - well
....... anyway apparently the gig was great and I said to Robyn
afterwards "Hmmmm, the worse I play the better the gig is" and
he said "Yeah, me too .... it's good, let's investigate that."
So we're off to jam at LARGO tonight
.....
Morris has
still had a hangover when he did the tour diary and these are
the extracts:
So this is
the end, my .... friend ... the end. Our ramshackle train comes
rattling out of the tunnel into the light that seemed so far away
for so long - like that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(or was it Jabberwocky? ) where the knights advancing on the castle
appear to the guards to be making no progress then all of a sudden
they're right on top of them - touring always seems a bit like
that. Apologies if I seem a bit incoherent - it's a combination
of elation at finishing the tour on such a high, the feeling of
weightlessness you get when you realise its all behind you, but
perhaps most crucially that special feeling you get after at least
half a dozen beers abd an unquantifiable amount of Jim Beam all
nicely washed down with champagne kindly provided by the Agency
with which we toasted ourselves in the dressing room last night.
Uncharacteristically I was moved to utter a few words to the assembled
cast, to the effect that this had been the most fun tour I'd ever
been on ...... the Knitting Factory was the best gig of the whole
tour - for me personally even better than my previous high, Minneapolis.
The drums and the set just seemed to play themselves, Robyn's
intros, if any, were short and to the point (but in a good way!),
we did a great, juddering version of "I've got the Hots for you"
for the first time (ever?) and basically the whiole thing rocked
...... It was nice to see some old faces after the show like Karen
Glauber, Ian O'Higgins and especially Richard Bishop, the man
without whom Moonlight might not have been unleashed, looking
disgustingy healthy and prosperous and very happy to be there
...... all I'd like to say after all that is thanx to everybody
who came to see us .... I'm off to breakfast and then shopping
for the kids who are having a 3-day party at home, Sheila having
gone to India on Tuesday and I won't be back till Friday. When
I rang home yesterday conversation was seriously hampered by the
din of 9 16-year old girls attempting to arrange mattresses on
the living room floor .... what devastation awaits me! Will that
do, Matthew?
Rick Gershen's
got a couple of things he wants to say (stay tuned! - ed.) And
this is my P.S. I stagger out of my room
this morning to find a pile of 6 different YFF CD's and a 'bye
'bye note from Scott. "We had the best time ever". Mmmmmmm ....
us too, totally. See you all soon if the world is kind .....
— Matthew
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