On tour with the Gin Bowlers, being Drummer, Driver and part of the TM team…
This is from earlier this summer, with a gig ‘up North with Almatic, and then the European tour with The Gin Bowlers!
I’m writing this installment from the back of the Almatic van- we’re headed up the M6 in a long drive to Beathearder festival. I have the sound of an intriguing episode of the podcast
by the same producers of the infamous ‘This American life’ in my ear. It is amazing, check it out. Ahead of me the traffic is (finally) moving forward. We’re meeting the others there, including our new keys Player, Pete Turner. He’s a great guys to work with and has a solid outlook and work drive.
I still have the taste of the McDonalds coffee I bought, feeling guilty as hell for investing but reasoning that £3.50 for a coffee from anywhere else at that service stop was ridiculous and actually the bean they use for their coffee is comparatively delicious.
I love coffee. I just got back from a European tour with a swing band
‘The Gin Bowlers’
that saw us drive just about 2,900 miles pretty much bang on the head. We did the drive down from Dieppe after the ferry crossing over through Newhaven, South West through Rouen, Niort, Bordeaux, then South West through Perpignan and nearby Prades. Beautiful locations. Collioure on the coast with its perfect waters and endless terraces. Then after a gig there on summer solstice, over the mountains into Spain and south west again all the way to Madrid. That stint was ten and a half hours including only 3 or 4 short breaks.
I could talk about the amazing hospitality of those on the road, or the music we played and how many sign posts, bins, floorboards, lampshades and musical instruments I played percussion on. But really, the incredible thing was the energy we spread.
Swing music is incredible for pooling energy. Other music nearly without exception, makes people smile or look or stop; but swing catches the hearts of generations. Old men 3 times my age (I’m 31) asking for specific songs – that we know – and causing absolute joy when we can play them. Toddlers dance, couples sway, teenagers joke and wave. It’s incredible.
The driving began to take its toll after a week to be honest. The first part of the trip was relaxed but after we left Bordeaux it got intense. I was sunburnt after a stressful cloudy hot day fixing a puncture with everyone’s help in bug country (near Prades and Perpignan) near the Pyrenees, and it was 38 degrees on bright empty roads.
I didn’t really think a Western Europe Tour could offer such an extreme experience. We drove past a jack-knifed truck after the gig in Madrid, just before the Portuguese border. There was half of the fast lane left unblocked, where the underneath of trailer and cab were fully on view complemented morosely by the kicked out windscreen. A somber Guardia waved us past as I checked and double-checked my wing mirrors to slip our big van through the gap in the road.
After driving up through Portugal, with all but 1 of the fortnights shows done, I was nearly falling asleep at the wheel. Not having a second driver available to volunteer to take the wheel was not a wise move. I embraced the challenge but in hindsight it was unnecessarily tough! I loved every minute of the performances. As we headed back to Bristol on the 24 hour ferry from Santander we drank lager, played cards lazily and swam in the on ship pool. It was a celebratory voyage. Every one of us had met our challenges on the road. Leaving people on the road at different places, playing with guest musicians in Bordeaux, FR, and Portonovo, ES, (Spain’s most under-rated town in my experience) had pushed us all musically. Take a trip with some risky steps and it pushes you personally, musically, and socially. If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much room right?