Monday, October 23, 2006

BALTIMORE V FESTIVAL...


Great news blogger's, I will be joining Rachel and the Attic gang for the duration of the second leg of the American tour, I can't wait. Hope to meet loads of you on the road, I hope you have all bought my CD, if you have, please tell me what you think of it, also it would also make a great Christmas present for a loved one, ok that's enough of that. Looking forward to meeting you all.
Now back to the story so far...
We left New York and drove to Baltimore, for the V festival there. We set up in a large motorhome, which was similar to the size of the silver airstream which we performed the show's around Europe. The flamming Lip's and The Raconteurs joined Rachel, Pete and I, and they performed some amazing covers of Who song's, it was extremely hot in the motorhome, but the show was awesome. Rachel performed amazingly and I played Tourist and Misery with Rachel. I had a great time, it was lovely to see the Lip's again, and the Raconteurs were a great bunch of lad's. After the show, I was speaking with the Lip's manager and asked if me and Rene could dress up in santa's costumes and dance on stage with the band, now if you haven't seen the Lip's perform, you won't know what I'm talking about, and think that's a little bizarre, but anyway, he spoke to the band, and they agreed.
We had a brilliant time dancing around on stage, and they performed beautifully, and even gave us some t-shirts to remember the evening. We returned to the Who enclosure, which was next to The Chilli Pepper's, and we had some drinks in the hospitality area.
Rene and I had a wonderful evening, then got back on the bus and travelled to Chicago driving through the night...
Hope everyone is good, in answer to shout's on the previous post, I don't know where I will be at the moment, but when I find out, I'll let you know. Please give me a shout and let me know your still about. My post on Chigago will come very soon, so come back soon, take care all.
Also, it was my brother Shaun's and my newest nephew Jed's (1st)birthday the other day, they had a party and it was a wonderful day, Jed is amazing, I'm very proud.
mikey

Saturday, October 14, 2006

NEW YORK CITY...








I had always dreamt of visiting New York city, and with only a few hours to pack, Rene drove me to the airport. I said goodbye, but knew that Rene was following me out within a few days, which was brilliant. I passed through the security checks, being stopped and searched several times and eventually made it on to the plane, I must look a bit suspect. The journey was smooth and comfortable, and I was met at JFK airport by a driver who took me to my hotel in New York.
Whilst checking into the hotel, I noticed my friend Darren (Pete's studio engineer) at the hotel's internet access. It was great to see a friendly face, and he directed me to Justin. I put my bags in my room and Justin treated me to dinner, because I didn't have any dollars. Pete was working in the room next door, and came in and said hello. The next day I went for a walk with Darren, where he showed me some great places to eat and cash machines that I could use.
That night, I helped transport the equipment for the ITA show to the Who gig at Madison square garden. We set up in Pete's dressing room, where we had more space than we were used to. It was great to see Rachel, and after a few teething problems with the sound, we started filming. Which was pretty weird because we usually work live. William Snyder took some great pictures of me and Rachel together, and one of me having a fag in the toilet.
It was great to be with the team again, Rachel had a chest infection but played and sung beautifully, Pete was in great form, Simon played some great new stuff, and I played Plasticine and You with Rachel. David Bowie walked in mid-show, but only stayed for a short time. It was a great show, which if you haven't already, you should go over to the 'intheattic.TV' website and watch it.
After the show, I went back to the hotel and joined Andy and Justin in the bar, where I met the Third of Never guy's, who asked me to help them with the video that Justin was shooting for them the next day, I sat and chatted to William Snyder and the other guy's, and before we knew it, the bar had closed and we were all asked to leave.
The next day, I met Justin and the actors, and we all headed for Central Park to start shooting. The Third of Never guy's (who are lovely) were running late, but when they arrived, there had been a problem and the bass player couldn't make it, so quick as a flash, I became the newest member of the band, for the video anyway, but it was great fun and I really enjoyed the day.
I left Justin, the actors and the guy's to go and eat, as I waited for Rene to arrive. Rene arrived very tired from her journey, so I went out and got some food which we ate in the room. During the next couple of day's me and Rene went to the zoo, went boating in Central Park, did some shopping and generally ate well and took in the sites and sounds of Manhattan island. We both really enjoyed our stay, then with the ITA crew, travelled to Baltimore for the V festival in the very plush tour bus...

Thanks for all the great shout's here, sorry this took so long, hopefully the next installment will come sooner, hope everyone is doing well and being happy, take care you lot and GMaS...
mikey

Sunday, October 08, 2006

CHECKING IN...


Got back from America last week, but I've been completely exhausted, and have had trouble sleeping since returning. I've felt more sorry for Rene having to return to her nine to five, even though she has been as tired as me. Anyway, enough of the excuses, I appologize for my slack blogging, but thank's for your patience and great shout's.
Since returning from the US, I have been mostly sleeping, working on music and catching up with my family, but also going over my time spent in America, so much to take in, I can't wait to see more.
Well, this is only a short blog, soon I'll post in detail about my journey to America, but this is just a head's up, thankyou for all the great shout's on my blog, and to say that I really enjoyed my time in the US. Thanks to Rachel and Pete for arranging my journey and making it possible for Rene to join me, it was great to be with the gang again.
Hope everyone is doing good, and enjoying the ITA's, take care and be happy all, I shall return to update the blog very soon I promise, thanks all. GMaS
mikey