Stranglers Winter 2004 Tour
My British 04 winter tour started at 8am in
the pouring Brighton rain! On to my train
for - ooh the best part of six and a half
hours all told!
Newcastle Arena
How weird is this, we played here in
December to 12,000 people and tonight we
play in 'the Bar' in front of 1200 nutty
Geordies and Makems - all North-Easterners
to you and me! The usual first night nerves
but as we are all on a high things went very
smoothly indeed and there was plenty of time
to party before the following days exercises!
At least no-one was walking around with
popcorn tonight! Ha Ha. [?]
Wolverhampton
Always a rocking night, this sell-out show
was possibly one of the best two shows on
the tour. Many thanks - nuff said. Oh a
sell-out too. [wants to make sure you didn't
miss that]
Manchester
I have a great affection for the people and
the gig - we were away too long. I always
remember this show as the one before
Glasgow, one awesome gig to another. Well
tonight was no exception, loud, sweaty, hot
and absolutely fab. The best night of all
for me. Sell-out.
Sheffield
The last time we were here - my first - was
fantastic and tonight was just the same. Who
needs the Arena when you've the Leadmills.
An extremely loud night in which Dave had
THE MOST VOLUME I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED.
Sell-out.
Glasgow
Very interesting, no balcony - erm 30 feet
from the audience, very frustrating but how
much do I enjoy Glaswegian audiences. A
sell-out but the fans were too far away. The
band is sounding so tight now and the set is
tweaked and seamless.
The next 24 hours get very interesting. We
have to empty all our stuff into holdalls
and get out of bed at 6am [say aah] to get
on a private plane down to Cannes in the
South of France. We have been asked to play
for an extremely small but extremely wealthy
company. What an odd night. Our stage was at
the back of a bar/restaurant in The Majestic
Hotel along the famous 'Croisette' where
many expos and business events are held. A
lot of fun but no sleep and we have to get
on an airliner the following morning to hook
up with the tour and our suitcases! We could
only take 10 kilos of luggage each! Phew -
day off and sleep.
London
Well apparently this was an awesome show but
the sound wasn't great and some w**ker spat
on me! Not impressed. Blinding review tho'.
Audience in full voice as usual and very
strange for me to have to stay in our hotel.
Sell-out.
A fabulous week for us as BIG THING COMING
HIT 31 IN THE POPCHARTS. Woooo! We celebrate
well into the next day. Retail therapy too
today and a visit from my girlfriend.
Cambridge
We haven't played here for some time but we
managed to sell the show out. Unusual
audience who insisted that someone is a fat
b*****d - don't know who they mean, I'm sure!?
But I hope some of our fantastic Norwich
fans turned up. Great night though and I
managed to run to our hotel unnoticed!!
Nottingham
Well all too soon it is over - a normal
nutty Notts night - like it, but extra fun
was in the shape of Dorian 'nobby' West,
England and Leicester Tigers rugby star and
the captain of said teams, Martin Johnson,
pogoing away in the mosh pit. I'm surprised
Martin didn't think it was a match and head
to the stage with a rolling maul! Needless
to say we celebrated all night and all
agreed it had been the best UK tour for
years. The new material slipped in perfectly
and the fans were awesome. We had a sell-out
tour and a hit - what could be better.....another
tour and another hit - well you will just
have to wait. In the meantime there is
always the Euro tour!
Thank you all again and see you soon.
Paul xx
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