(Click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized pictures.)

Vancouver - 3/4/01

Before the gig is two days off, which I won't bore you with too much. Beginning with a seminal experience discovering the "Sit 'n Spin" laundromat/club/bar/restaurant experience near the hotel in Seattle where you can drink beer, talk and do laundry and where incidentally I see, "Bleach" (those thrash metallurgist darlings from Japan) played just over a week ago, soon after that Austin gig I mentioned. That was a night to remember. I hope we've done that for people. Back in England Hiromi has found a house next door to a mosque which she might want to buy, but which will destroy my excuse for having to emigrate there (with an "uh sorry darling, but we just don't seem to have a house in England anymore"). Oh, perhaps if I convert to Islam and start going to the mosque she will change her mind .....

the grey series

Morning of the day before the gig and the sights are still unseen and the sky is still grey.

I'm reduced to photographing my laptop which is also grey like Gotham City.

Like the road from New York to Toronto (via Montreal)

.... and like my laundry bill in Boston

.... yes, that is $98.25 if you look carefully, which would be about 8 visits to Sit 'n Spin here in Seattle including the laundry, beer and pizza ..... Morris and Rick ring up and are off to the EMP building in Seattle but I'm too bored to do anything so I think I'll stay back catching up on my mp3's and site stuff .... as Charlie Watts said, the music is free, it is the waiting we are paid for ......

..... tonight, Robyn, Morris and Scott from the YFF and some others are doing an acoustic set at the 2 Bells not far frm the hotel so I think I'll go along in cub reporter mode and try and photo/bootleg it ..... Kurt's there and Scott arrives soon afterwards. I start recording the set when it happens (a couple of hours later) but I'm falling asleep and almost topple off my chair although Rick (who is on this leg of the tour) sees it and stops me. All I can remember from the set is Scott doing a pretty song and Robyn playing harmonica on it. When it's time to go, I'm too tired to walk so I experiment with standing there and letting the earth rotate under me - it works and I'm back to the hotel in a few minutes.

No hassle through the border and we get to the hotel, gig, set up, sound check (a familiar sequence now). We try new ones, or rather new old ones - "Sleeping with Your Devil Mask" is one - and decide we'll do Paul's set-list tonight. Between gig and soundcheck is very nice as we go to the Japanese restaurant over the road from Richards on Richards. It is great, there is water smurgling and glossopping (forgive me, it's late) in the hallway and paper cubicles where you have your food after taking off your shoes. The mother and daughter who work there stroke our hearts with food and give us little paper birds, it is the Mum's origami and it's a crane, when we leave - it is weird and wonderful (the paper bird), and will bring us good luck. And it is no less photogenic than the plastic duck from Toronto. We have to say thankyou. Back at the gig Eddie Tews was there and he thinks things are going well. I don't think there's a gig he's missed, and he's recorded them all too!

I remembered (about 19 times) to put them on the guest list and so my family - Bruce, Darleen, Dana, Dillon - all came to the show.

Great .... the whole room's pretty well lit so you can swap glances with people in audience and I took a pic of them to show you what I mean (flash helped here, but it gives a pretty good idea).

We did Paul's set list with a couple of adjustments (like ending with Face of Death instead of beginning with it). Kim soldiers on through and plays great - but his voice is not back, no not at all, so Morris is filling in where he can but it leaves Robyn a bit on his own up front. Fuzz bass being a much underrated sound, incidenatlly, I tried some on Devil Mask for the encore. Then Train Round the Bend pelted the audience with something wonderful, we did the Face and left and the lights came up.

Sleep is such a waste of time anyway.

— Matthew