First Leg of the “Weight of the World Tour” is Over.

Here we are in Brighton, UK. Where it is raining buckets, everyone is nice, lots of people are gay, and the record shops are lovely. I’m playing the last show of this leg tonight at the Concorde2. Across the street is the English Channel. By now I have lost all sense of orientation in the world, and am for all practical purposes in space.

I’ve been writing a lot. A song or poem about the first dog shot into orbit. The last song that will ever be written about George Bush, and a snappy tune called ‘Murderlicious.’

I’m also reading a lot. Finished ‘UBIK’ by Philip K. Dick, which I don’t recommend, and this biography of David Bowie, which I do.

I’ve been lucky enough to be brought along on this first leg by dan le sac vs. scroobius pip, SFR’s militant UK electro brethren, who’ve just released their sophomore lp “The Logic of Chance” and are touring in support of it. The crowds have been rabid, the shows have been sweaty and ‘rammed,’ as they say, and the highlights have been many. Here are a few:

1. Norwich

All of these shows have been full of excited, smart, rowdy audiences… the perfect combination really.  Able to listen and wile out at the same time.  Norwich was the first venue that stood out, however… due I think mostly to the stage setup.  It was a small room.  Low ceiling.  Audience close enough to the stage to reach out and fuck wit.  They exploded after the first beat dropped, and provided tons of energy with which to perform one of my favorite sets of the tour.  Big up!

2. Liverpool

“To be honest, being American… I only know one thing about Liverpool……..which is that…..the women are very loose.  Huh? Wha? The Beatles are from here?  Well now I know TWO things about Liverpool!”

Every single surface in the club was wet by the time this show was over.  Walls. Ceilings. Handrails backstage.  Wet.

3. Pompey Pyros

Heading to do our Portsmouth gig, I tweeted about my set times and was responded to by a number of folks who told me not to mention that city’s struggling football club.  Apparently, the Portsmouth team had recently suffered a number of epic defeats, and it had just been found out that the entire franchise was in debt and about to go under.

Sooooo….

That night onstage, I introduced ‘Economy of Words’ with a dedication to the Portsmouth team who “like me, are broke, and like me, are not very good at Soccer.”  (I knew they’d enjoy my calling it ‘soccer.’)

The crowd responded just as I thought they would, and I got to have a fun bad-guy-wrestler interaction with them.  They started doing their team chant at me, which I mimicked by saying “Wait…wait…I think I’ve learned this song.  Does it go “RAAWWWRRR RARRR RARRRrrrrrRRRRRAAAA RRAAAAAA”

Big laughs.  Good times.  I press play on the beat and start performing the song.  When the chorus hits, I throw a whole bunch of fake American money into the crowd (as I’ve done every night…) and a few of the rowdier fans in the crowd start picking up the fake money and LIGHTING IT ON FIRE.

So now I’m trying to rap the song while communicating with my body language “Woah! What the fuck! Don’t do that!  Put that out!”

Luckily a riot/club fire was narrowly avoided, and what followed was another monster of a set.  Pompey don’t play.  Lesson learned.

4. Koko in London

High water mark, right here.  For starters, the most beautiful venue I’ve ever performed in, full of 1400 screaming British kids.

Secondly, I met Buddy Peace for the first time, 20 minutes before hopping onstage as he DJ’d my set.  Buddy played that night in between sets as well, and it was beyond dope to walk around this beautiful venue and hear Sage Francis, Prolyphic, and Buck 65 tunes bouncing off the walls, being mixed seamlessly and freaked mercilessly.  Even before stepping onstage, Buddy’s mix was repping SFR in a way that me feel proud and excited to be part of this show.

The night before the Koko show we’d played in Manchester and, for the first time in my life, I had managed to leave my Evel Knievel costume behind.  The hand-made costume, made by my grandmother.  The one of a kind, irreplaceable, pivotal to the set, Evel motherfucking Knievel costume.  I was gutted.  I was backstage punching myself repeatedly in the dick.

However, you know.  The show must go on, and what would Evel do?

Apparently, Evel would strip off his clothes to Eye of the Tiger anyway.  Instead of an Evel Knievel costume, he would wear only a white t-shirt on which he’d written the words ‘Evel Knievel.’  Instead of a cape? A red hand towel from backstage.  Instead of pants?  Drawers.  Death would be defied, one way or another.

What Would Evel Do after that? Well, he’d probably shave his beard off live onstage, to make sure he never committed such a lapse again.

As I write this, Sound of Rum is doing their final soundcheck of the tour, having smashed each and every one of these shows as well. The Evel Knievel costume returned to me via the Royal Mail this morning, looking like it’d had some adventures on it’s own since we last met. We’ll be reunited onstage tonight, and then I’ll leave my friends Dan and Pip for the next few weeks as we tour Europe separately.

www.FallenHouse.com has all tour updates, including new shows that have been added. I’ll be reuniting w/ Dan and Pip from April 20-27th for a string of shows in Ireland as well. Thanks to everyone that’s come out to these UK shows, and of course to the boys, Becca Lewis, Steve & James for having me out.

I’ll be back before long, Britain. Stay soggy and sarcastic.
Luv,
b

UPCOMING SHOWS:
April 3 – “L’Astrolabe” w/ Antipop Consortium – Orleans, France
April 6 – “The Underground Cafe” – Middelburg, Netherlands
April 8 – “Klub 007” – Praha, CZ
April 10 – “Palace” – St Gallen, SWITZ
April 13 – Domino Festival @ “Ancienne Belgique” – Brussels, Belgium
April 14 – “New Morning” – Paris, France
April 15 – “Colmar” – Grillen, France
April 16 – “Dachstock Reithalle” – Bern, SWITZ
April 17 – “Case à Chocs” – Neuchatel, SWITZ
April 20 – “Barfly Club” w/ Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Wales, UK
April 21 – “The Pavilion” w/ Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Cork, Ireland
April 22 – “Rosin Dubh” w/ Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Galway, Ireland
April 23 – “Trinity Rooms” w/ Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Limerick, Ireland
April 24 – “Whelans” w/ Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Dublin, Ireland
April 26 – “Nerve Centre” w/ Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Derry, N. Ireland
April 27 – “Mandela Hall” w/ Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Belfast, Ireland