Author ArchiveMy name’s Marty and I’m a recovering blogger. It’s been nearly six months since my last post… So… how have you been? Very excited to be playing in Glasgow tonight for the first time in a long while. The kicker is, we’re playing twice, sort of. The Moose and I are singing backing vocals for legendary Scots punks The Skids in a gig at the ABC then hotfooting it across to Bar Cosmopole for a Gecko 3 set at 11pm. Must go now, that green mohican won’t take care of itself. Gecko 3 are terrified to announce we will be onstage this Saturday (31st) 9-9.45pm as part of the Trouble Live ‘Party for the Undead’ in the Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street, Edinburgh. (0131 556 7060) www.thevoodoorooms.com The Halloween vault-doors will be open at 8pm with a set from Melvitronica, and after a spine-tingling 45mins from Gecko 3 the stage will be the haunt of Asazi Funk Explosion until the frightful hour of 1am. There will also be DJ sets from Hobbes and the monstrously good Erik da Viking. More information on all the acts at www.getintotrouble.com Tickets on the door are £5, or if you dress up/buy in advance £4. www.ticketweb.co.uk Hope to see you there… mwha, mwhoohaha, mwhahahahahaha….. Had a great time speaking at the Edinburgh Schools Creative Writing workshop – along with Douglas Kay (.com) on Thursday. I was talking about and performing a couple of songs; so in case you are interested, here are the lyrics: Donkeys and Elephants Who the hell would want to be the President when the world can go wrong? Who would want to be the major resident of a big white house at the centre of a target-shaped lawn? And everybody knows your name, makes you easier to blame – I guess I’ve fallen out with fame. Donkeys and elephants are ruling this world,
Who would want to be a major Hollywood star when your new film just bombed? And who would want to ride in a long white car (with blacked out windows) and have your private life combed? And everybody knows your name, some scream it out as they take aim – I guess I’ve fallen out with fame. Donkeys and elephants are ruling this world.
(Hello hello hello, tell me are you OK, now? Did the heat get too much? Did you get a little headrush? Animals are sitting in the Capital, passing laws that are domestically tactical, then the whole world waits for the newsflush – doesn’t matter whose badge you’re wearing and I’m past caring now.)
Who will look after all the refugees when the last wave’s in charge? Who would leave a home sweet family, and cross the white-tipped ocean to where it’s cheap to grow large? And everybody knows your name, ’cause silver smells of cockle shells like a stain – I guess I’ve fallen out with fame. Donkeys and elephants are ruling this world.
Oh, elephants and donkeys, elephants and donkeys, elephants and donkeys, elephants and donkeys…
So if nobody knows my name I won’t get upset, I won’t feel ashamed, just ’cause I’ve fallen outwith fame, donkeys and elephants are ruling this world.
Get Back in the Van Did I ever equip you with the story of our trip to see the wonderful, sunderful euro-babble of the happy rabble? We planned long and she worked hard to match date to date in somewhere other than our own backyard – ah, and come to think of it, this is your postcard. But it almost didn’t happen right before it began, ’cos I was working too hard and then a tyre outlived its life span: a ragged hole right where the rubber should be, and then a jack like a toothpick compared to a tree. So with the trouble and the traffic and the orange light in front of me, on more than one occasion it resembled a conspiracy of sabotage – to keep me and the boys away from La Plage. Would you just get back in the van…
C. Get back in the van… Get back in the van… Get back in the van… Get back in the van…
Morning Holland! We packed it up and got in, but when I turned the key well all I heard was eninininininin. I thought the little light could surely be denied but when they towed me off the boat, man, we were stranded on the quayside. Ten ‘k’ to the pump for which I prayed – there were no taxis and buses, it was a windmill-driven travesty. (Made me wonder ’bout the wisdom of the whole Dutch transport strategy.) Suddenly up pulled Henk with a car and with a can and then he drove me to the diesel pump ’cos he’s a very nice man. Filled it up and with a little difficulty, prodded and pounded until the engine sounded healthy. Then we all set off to find ourselves a tyre – and that’s a whole other story about machines we couldn’t hire. But in the end we’re ready for the road to Amsterdam and the first gig, man – just get back in the van… C. Get back in the van… Get back in the van… Get back in the van Get back in the van… Well we strode into the Waterhole like we were John Wayne, and by half way through the second set we’re rumbling like a wagontrain; I’m riding high out front like nothing could harm me, just like Frank says: ‘Relax Bro, this isn’t the army…’ Noyelles-sur-mer, what can I say? Pete and Pippa poached a poisson that just blew us all away. Relais de la Baie was stunning but the engine soon was running and we’re back in the van, barrelling ’cross the campagne to Paris – precipitately, ’cos we nearly missed the sound-check slot that should have been before three. We hit the gas, shifted ass and made it to the Fleche D’Or really fast. The gig was a blast, we got ourselves a big hand for our bigger band: on the stand that night was Steve the Ear, L’Oreille, the daddy on the tenor, and Jean-Baptiste was playing radical piano, but like all good things it came to an end with au revoir to our friends and a jazz head taxi driving me round the bend to the Formule Un. Enfin? We were back in the van… L’Olympic one week later (picking the sand out of the radiator), Lionel and Rera taking care-a us; with dancing on the tables from the start, while D.K. blew the harp, then the gendarmerie came to see so quick as a flash we’re playing cool jazz… We packed up for the last leg and headed off to sample kegs of Leffe – for the life of me I can’t explain the night we had in Hu-y! (Felt like I’d gone ten rounds having the shit kicked out of me by Hong Kong Fooey.) But the gig came so shakily I had to reawaken me, a little wine and sunshine, suddenly we’re happy to see the smiles, it’s the finish; but the miles did not diminish so by seven am – the opposite of heaven… C.x2 Get back in the van… Heading off this weekend to headline the music festival at Le Brevedent (near Lisieux) in Normandy. We played a gig in the chateau there last year but couldn’t take up the invitation to return for the September Festival due to gigging commitments. This year, however, we’re right there! France, Gecko 3 and Calvados – what could possibly go wrong? Really looking forward to a great weekend. We’ve just had our appearance at this year’s Knockengorroch World Ceilidh confirmed for the Saturday (May 23rd) so clearly we’re pretty excited about that. You can get more details and buy tickets from www.knockengorroch.org.uk When we know our stage time we’ll pass it on here.
Just a quick update: as predicited, the official website is now functioning: http://www.kelburngardenparty.com It’s the only place you can get yourself one of the limited number of early bird tickets. It has a great line up, and the icing on the castle-shaped cake is that we will be playing at 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon, just ahead of James Yorkston and the Athletes. Lazy June afternoon and a little groove to go with your beer…? Ah, the summer, even the thought makes you forget the months of darkness and cold and wind and misery and… okay, maybe not forget, but certainly set to one side for a moment. We’re excited to announce that we’re playing the Kelburn Garden Party this June (19th-21st). This is a new festival but we’ve played over there on many occasions in the past and always had a blast. Last year’s festival had to be cancelled due to a last minute policing demand but this year looks set to go ahead. The Kelburn Garden Party has a fantastic line up and with such a brilliant venue looks set to be a great weekend. No doubt the formal website will be up and running soon, but in the meantime, you can secure early bird tickets at: http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/kelburngardenparty/2009/ We are also really hopeful of sorting out a spot at the Knockengorroch World Ceilidh www.knockengorroch.org.uk but we’re a little tight for time that weekend (May 22-25)due to other commitments so we’ll keep you posted. In other news the Moose is nearly home after his jaunt round Australia so we hope to get cracking on that elusive album for the summer. We are also currently organising a tour in Northern France for mid September, but more on that when we have confirmations. Happy New Year! Thanks to everyone who brought in the New Year with us at the Departure Lounge – it was a great night. I particularly enjoyed the hundreds of people bawling out the words and jumping around manically to the ska choruses at the end of Auld Lang Syne. It was a great way to start off the year of Rabbie Burn’s 250th birthday. It’s almost as if everyone had been drinking heavily… I realise that the heading alone is sufficient, really, but as I always say, why use four words when fifty will do? The concept of this has disturbed me since I was forced to buy some because that was all that the shop had left. In what parallel realm do the designers of that product exist where wiping your backside on a child’s drawing of a snowman and a pine tree makes you feel more festive? I mean, quite aside from the fact that our cave-dwelling ancestors knew not to wipe with the branches of a %8&+$! pine tree, seeing the childish doodling on each perforated sheet has reduced the subsequent action performed to some kind of moral equivalence with stealing the bobble-hat of a four year old out playing in the snow and using the pom-pom instead! Novelty Christmas Toilet paper! Sometimes I worry about people… Wow. Those of you who made it to the gig last night will know what I’m talking about. Thanks to Ewan of the Voodoo Rooms for booking us and to Tom for producing one of the best onstage sound balances we’ve had in a wee while. We had a ball in our support slot and that was really enjoyable but, my God, what a band the Five Corners are! Effortlessly cool grooves and soaring horns! (’Cool cries from the high blue’, as Virginia Woolf might have said, had she been into a bit of jazz.) The evening was a real joy. Nice guys, too. No doubt Hugh will want to post on this, once he stops dribbling, so I’ll leave it at that.  Roy, Mr. Wibble, Bullwinkle, Dave and Dennis - live at the Voodoo Rooms... |
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