1 Celebrating the fact that they gave us champagne! Left to right at the back Tom, Ollie, Me, Joe, Harriet, Neil, and Avel. Todge is seated on Gareth's lap.
Ellen Campesinos!
Ellen Campesinos! Tour Diary, Part 4
Homesick, weary, and a little leery, the Los Campesinos! bassist arrives in the land of casinos and German beer halls
By Ellen Campesinos
Published: February 15th, 2009 | 1:35pm
I am the bassist for the seven-member Cardiff, United Kingdom, band Los Campesinos! and we are on a four-month excursion around North America starting with a 24-date tour around the East Coast. We will be performing in various college towns — supported by the mighty Titus Andronicus — as well as eating lots of Twinkies, waffles, and pickles in bags.
Tuesday February 3, 2009 — Kansas
This hotel room in Kansas feels like home, mainly because the floor is a layer of my clothes.
I had a bit of a family problem at home, and I found out today that it was more hopeful then bad, which was a relief. But that, combined with the fact that it was my boyfriend’s birthday, made me feel guilty and detached from my home life.
Being absent when people you love need you most is really, really rubbish. I blame these odd emotions on why I was so drunk during the gig and forgot the verse for the first song.
I need to get it together or at least have a cry. Three weeks and counting now — my eyes are a drought.
Wednesday February 4, 2009 — St. Louis
We woke up at stupid o’clock to go to an in-store in St. Louis, leaving Kansas and my temporary home. It seems fairly inane to do an in-store at 2 in the afternoon when all the indie kids are working their shifts at American Apparel, unless of course the recent recession means they got fired and could turn up.
They didn’t, so we don’t get much of what you might call an “audience.” Gareth puts on his “moody” persona, and tells everyone not to clap between songs, because he doesn’t like the sound of “smattering.” People aren’t sure how serious he is being and exchange nervous smiles. He decides he is much like David Bowie with his alternate personalities: he had Ziggy Stardust, and we have “Moody Dave.”
The gig is in a university [Washington University], so they get us everything on our rider and more … enough to make them surprised when we show up and are not obese alcoholics. They even give us champagne. I feel special.
Thursday February 5, 2009 — Rock Island, Illinois
We do the Daytrotter, a recorded session for the Internet, in the middle of nowhere. This day holds no excitement for me, so I am mostly sullen and bored during the session. Forrest Gump is watched in the van by everyone else. I am still on the Battlestar Galatica.
Friday February 6, 2009 — Madison
We are in Madison, playing at the university [University of Wisconsin-Madison]. Tonight is a free show, and the venue [Rathskeller] looks like a German beer hall / canteen, which has a 250-people capacity, but no one to check how many people are actually coming into the venue.
This means that when Titus is on and 600 people show up, it seems like the promoter may have underestimated our ability to sucker in those college kids. He also did not count on the fact that it is a Friday, and we are in the only union in the country to serve beer ... just not to us. We get towels and water. When we go on, these things happen in this order:
1. It is so hot that sweat is dripping off everyone in the venue, and Gareth has a mild asthma attack mid-set.
2. The people at the front keep falling into the equipment on stage as they try to hold back the hordes.
3. Gareth gets hit in the teeth by this own microphone.
4. My bass strap falls off.
5. My bass strap falls off again. It hits Gareth in the back of the head as he tries to recover from everything else.
6. I am out of tune for two songs, I don’t notice until Tom shouts “tune up!” I immediately turn myself down.
7. I am so out of tune I realize that I am probably tone deaf.
Post-gig, we go to an Irish bar for a quick beverage and promptly get kicked out by a very angry, Irish bouncer, who shouts at us, “You’re not in England!” to which Tom “Welsh sound tech” Rogers retorts, “I’m not English!”
Saturday February 7, 2009 — Chicago
This show is sold out in Chicago; how did that happen? The venue [Logan Square Auditorium] is a converted school hall and reminds me of my days of being taught by nuns. I have relatives in Chicago and meet up with my uncle, aunty, and cousin. It is so comforting to see their friendly faces and makes me homesick. My cousin recommends all things Japanese film and stays for the concert, but I warn him about the volume. Afterward, he says it was fun but also painful, probably like being spanked whilst eating a cookie.
The gig goes swimmingly well, and it is easily the largest amount of people we have played to on this tour. But we hear news that both the Bowery shows in New York are sold out: Ace.
Monday February 9, 2009 — Michigan
We are the laziest rock stars in the world. It is, in fact, another day off, and this time we get to spend it in Michigan, where we try to fill in our social-security details. Yes, us rock stars have to pay our taxes too. Except it turns out we don’t currently have the right paperwork, so we leave … and go to the casino!
We are staying in a hotel/casino, and it’s the most depressing place in the world: Chain-smoking, old women pumping dollar after dollar into slot machines, confused blond idiots losing 45 cents of their hard-earned cash on gambling games they don’t understand — wait, that was me. I’m never getting that money back.
Joe, tour-manager man, lives a 10-minute walk from the hotel, so we went to his abode and had a feast. It was so refreshing to have a home-cooked meal of epic proportions, and I got to discuss Monkey Island 3 strategies with Tom, because it is now my tour activity of choice. Oh Guybrush Threepwood [the main character of the video game series], I would never leave you.
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For more information about Los Campesinos!, check out their MySpace.
Los Campesinos! will be on tour throughout winter 2009. For a handy-dandy list of dates, check their tour calendar.
Their new album, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts), can be found at fine music retailers near you.
Issue #35
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