Back to Civilization

Getting home after being on tour is always a strange feeling as you have months building up to it and then the excitement of going away and then you get home and everything is always more boring than before and plus for some reason when ever I have been on tour I always get ill when I come home and this time wasn't any different but feel better now so everything is good.

So for the last few weeks my life has been took up by a certain band called Doll and the Kicks and a certain city called Vienna, its something that I'm really excited about doing as I fell in love with the city when I went over earlier in the year and to be able to put a night on over there will be great. The plan is to make it like my night is the UK where there not really your regular gig, there still organized like one but have more of a party feel, there are going to be 3 bands supporting which I don't think happens very often in Vienna so hope everyone will come along and enjoy there-self, Its going to be in March next year when there on the European leg of there tour so there is still plenty of time to do all the promotion, also a good friend of mine who is helping me out there has offered me a DJ Set so that will be great to do a few days before.

Next month is going to be the return of my Asylum Sessions in my home town of Swindon which is great to do as there is always lots of friendly faces, haven't done one for a few months as ive been busy, then went on tour, but on Dec 10th its my Xmas special and have a band from London who I really like called Bleech playing and some amazing support, there is going to be 4 support bands so its going to be a really busy night, its going to be really tough to choose the running order as I love each band for a different reason and they all mean quite alot to me, may even let the crowd decide....

Ive been also lucky enough to confirm Doll and the Kicks to play for me in Swindon (as well as Vienna), it going to be the first gig of there European tour, its on the 29th Jan and I'm really looking forward to it as there a band that I have been a fan of for a while and have mentioned them on here a few months ago, but promotion for that will really kick in after the 10th, but tickets are on sale already and for a fiver you cant go wrong, plus I've got some very special friends coming down from London.....

What else have I been doing ummmm trying to get some press for my nights and myself as I really need to start to push things forward and I feel there is alot more potential in the situations I create and also the ones I find myself in, I did a podcast the other day just having a chat about my nights which I will post when I get it back, I also did an interview in Glasgow which was great I will post the final version when I get it back as think there is going to be some music added to it and so on.

But next year is already looking really exciting, Adam has a Paris date in Jan so going to go out for that and Im also trying to co arrange with another promoter for a night in Paris in Feb so that will be great if we can put something together. There is also something very very exciting happening in the Summer but cant speak about that at the moment.

Anyway I leave you with a video of Doll and the Kicks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV_aYN4PImk

Roses Kings Castles Tour Part II

Ok so left the hotel had missed breakfast due to writing the last blog but nevermind, had to wait a bit for the bus to pick me up, my own fault because I went to a different hotel in the middle of no where.

We had also gained a new member of the band called Ross who comes from Glasgow, he was a really nice bloke and glad to have met him. He had what some would say as the most important role in the tour, even more so than maybe Adam's and that was to be on "Og Watch" which is no easy task.

So got on the bus and on we went to Edinburgh which is a really beautiful place, its amazing how it is built on all the different levels, we was playing at the Cabaret Voltaire which I still cant say, we met the promoter called Dan (who did a great job) and then unloaded the equipment and did a soundcheck, while they was doing that I took the bus back to the hotel and Og roamed the streets with a bottle of Jack.

So met up with them all for a meal a few hours later and everyone was in good form, Og was singing and dancing round the poles in the restaurant, the band then went over and Me, Og, Adam and Ross stayed for pudding which had plastic in it so we all got extra free..... Now this is where the night begins, I gave everyone a wrist band to get in to the venue, Og decided he was going to be kind to some lads he insulted a few minutes before by giving them his wrist band, when we go to get in Og wasnt allowed which was a simple situation to solve until Og tryed to shake the bouncers hand and he wouldn't, so Og called him a dickhead and then it all kicked off, so after a shouting match Og was in and everything was ok, went to the dressing room everything was good and we had a good laugh while Ross was getting an "African Kiss".

Me and Og went down and watched a support band called The Ok Social Club which were great, think they was the best of the tour, after Og got on stage to introduce Roses Kings Castles but maybe the words "Now listen up you little Scottish pricks" didn't help but it got there attention of the crowd and also the bouncers.....

So Og was pulled of stage and given a final warning, Roses came on and sounded really good there is a video below, Og had made friends with a few people by this point and was dancing away with them, the floor was quite slippery and Og and this bloke feel over and landed on top of each other, the bouncers came running over grabbed Og and dragged him out.

I carried on watching the gig until Ok Social Manger came running over to me and said you need to go outside straight away Tayo is about to be arrested so off me and Ross go (a bit like Batman and Robin from the Only Fools and Horses episode)

Now Im not to sure of how much I can put about what happened next but Im guessing if you was outside at the same time as us you would know so lets pretend you are... Og and the bouncer was arguing and another was trying to calm it down and Og said they was beeing racist, then a riot van turns up and starts asking us questions, Og had been drinking for days by now but he can come across as being so sober it was amazing to watch but then he came out with a brilliant line, one of the Police officers was black, so Og goes "I think it is because I am black" the officer goes "I am black too tho Sir" "Yeah but I iz blacker than you" Dont think there was an answer in the Officers handbook to deal with that point, butt all you could do is laugh. So after a quick chat and by showing them the hotel check in receipt "We was going back to" of we went to the pub.

Next morning it was the drive back down to London so we set off about 10, it was Me Mark, Ad, Sam, Toryn and Og the rest of the band made there own way back down, but coming home it was a real good laugh with Og singing all the way through Scotland "Grandad touched me and made me cry, I said grandad thats not fair" over and over again and better not mention what happened at the service station....

We got back to London about 5ish then I drove on home, the next night was Hoxton which I didnt go to as I had some work to catch up on, but from what I have heard it was a great night and really busy.

Thursday night was Birmingham at the Hound and Hares which was a great venue and I think the band sounded the best they did all tour. After went back and stayed at Adam's, we had a good chat in the morning and I feel really lucky to have Adam to chat to about advice with music and where I want to go to things, last night was Tunbridge Wells and it was a great turn out of people and sold quite a few copies of the new album, but we managed to get pulled over twice on the way home by Police which never helps a situation.

Also never sit in the back of a car with Sam Ficek.... His wondering hands go everywhere.

So think thats it really I know I have missed loads out but its been a great tour and the band have been fun to be with, and also Lee the booking agent has done a great job and made my part in this tour a lot easier.

Og in action -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXX9FpM6VcY

Roses Kings Castles Tour Part 1

Thought id give everyone a quick update as the maid in the hotel kindly decided she would walk in at 8.30 this morning and woke me up then starts hoovering next door.

So where to begin, left London on Friday morning got a really nice splitter with tv, xbox and other things and drove up to Stockton on Tees to a venue called the KU Bar, the drive was going ok until i had a go, its only me which can take us off a motorway to a huge residential estate but once the sat nav had sorted itself out it was ok.

Think now is a good time to tell you who is with us, we have a full band, Adam and Tayo who if you have meet him before you will know what this could mean but he is a diamond and great fun to have on tour.

So yeah we got to Stockton about 19.30 and did our soundcheck and then got some food, we had abit of time to kill as we wasnt on till 11.30, but after bottle of gin, 2 creates of drink and 12 bottles of wine we was good to go. Then we had to check in to the hotel which sounds an easy task.... We stayed a premier inn and we was all paying for rooms and Og's (tayo) room was £10 more than everyone else as it was booked at a different time, so the receptionist was explaining this to him and he goes "Right thats it im going to get my cousin on the phone, im not paying this" and she said "who is that" then he comes out with the best answer ever "Lenny Henry hahahahahahahaha (Og Laugh) at that point i thought he was going to be homeless for the night but all was ok.

Oh yeah forgot the most horrific thing ive seen in a while, we was at a service station next to a motorway and a big husky dog ran across the motorway from nowhere and got ran over it was horrible and you want to go and get it but it was to late, but horrible thing to see, thought id share that story with you.

So gig went well went back to the hotel to sleep and the rest followed shortly, I was woke up about 2hrs later by Og and Adam laughing in the room next to me and Og shouting this went on for a bit but i fell back to sleep, only to find out security had to come to Og and Adam twice in the night due to the noise and complaints and i think his famous cousin came in to play again and Adam decided it was a good idea to start tweeting that Og had been arrested (Thanks for all your kind words for him tho)

Next day on the road again about a 3hr drive to Glasgow, Og was quite proud that he had left nothing behind in the hotel room, 10 minutes later phone call from premier inn, "Mr Baker who was in the room 42" "Tayo Ogidan" "Seems like he has left in a hurry and left alot of things behind, Shirts, chargers, toiletry's" so i pass the phone over to "Can you arrange next day delivery on these things"

So got to Glasgow its sooooo cold up here there like superhuman, did the soundcheck, Adam and the band went to do an instore while i did an interview about young people and music and my experiences which ill post in a few weeks or so the had a meal and then the gig which went great. Its really great to come back after last year, so many friendly faces which we all havent seen for a while, So that takes me up to about now sitting in a hotel room waiting to go to Edinburgh and the maid has just walked in again...... Anyway post again in a day or so, make sure you get Adam's new album which is available now