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6.13.2005

Amsterdam

Here I am in Amsterdam getting my germy fingers all over a public computer keyboard! I got a bad cold on tour (thanks, KEV!) but now I have a few days in Amsterdam to get over it.
The last 3 shows of the Vetiver tour - Manchester, Birmingham, and Reading - were fabulous. The venue we played in Manchester was called Academy 3 (at the University) and was basically a rock club, but the vibes were good and there were tons of people there. I met Chris Corsano, who just moved there to live with his girlfriend. He's friends with Andy, Kev, Otto, and Dev and is a really nice dude and an amazing drummer. We let Micah headline because he lives in Manchester and 3 extra people played with him: a guitarist, the harmonica player,and this rad girl who plays cello standing up and whose brother is in Ladytron. We went to a party at her house after the show, which turned out to be directly across the street from Chris' place!
On the way to Birmingham the next day we ate at this amazing vegatarian restaurant called Earth Cafe. Kev bought a vegetarian guide to the UK and it has led us to some great (and not so great) places. Birmingham was INSANE! Home to Black Sabbath! We played a small room of this enormous, corporate, Clear Channel-run rock club. But the folks who came out were great. Right after we played a whole bunch of girls swarmed around Dev, it was pretty funny. Not unusual, but funny. The hotel we stayed at was right in the middle of what was apparently party central. All these wasted, scantily clad people stumbling around and dancing to bad techno until the wee hours. Totally weird and unexpected...Birmingham?! We played the Dave Chapelle show for Jason and Nathan in Micah's band and they loved it. Those guys rule.
We stopped in Oxford for lunch the next day. Oxford was a really nice university town, but the restaurant we ate at was terrible. The Reading show was great, except for the rude sound guy. The promoter was the best and treated us to awesome Indian food down the street for dinner. We played well and people were dancing up front. It was very bittersweet and a nice last show. Nathan even sat in with Currituck Co. for the Charlie Daniels cover!
Wedrove back to London, dropped off everyone at the hotel, and I tried to sleep in the back of the van as Kelly drove to Amsterdam. It was pretty nice, actually, crossing the English Channel on the ferry at dawn. It was even so clear you could see France!
Now I'm in Amsterdam, where I'll be for the next week and a half or so. I'm glad to be in one place for a while. I'll miss Kev and Otto so much! I'll see Otto in August, at least, when Espers come over to play some shows with Dev.

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