THE ZIGGURAT

Currently listening to Ocean Loader 2 by Six Leaves Left and new Muse tracks

It was a hot one last night in the Craufurd Arms. Sweat trailing the walls and haze obstructing our view but man it felt good. 

Before the show, I had to perform some routine surgery on one of my basses (well technically my friend Matts bass,) as there is a loose connection in the battery compartment which needed some attention. During the latter half of sound check, the volume started to dull when playing So You Know. I quickly switched to my backup and completed sound checking with that, so as to keep things moving.  

Unfortunately when I Came back from checking in at the hotel and a stop off at Tesco to purchase a set of Duracell 9 volt batteries, St Agnes sound check was complete and my gear was totally obstructed. I had to perform some Mission Impossible style acrobatics to navigate the stage and retrieve my basses and was also aided by one of the technical staff of the venue to grab my bag containing tools. 

The operation was a success and the gig went flawlessly. The lads wireless batteries held out the full gig and I remembered to tune my bass correctly into C# for our latest single Prove Myself, which I had neglected to do the night before. Oops.

We’re currently on route to Oxford for the last official date of the tour, with only Takedown Festival in Portsmouth left for tomorrow. We do have a couple of random festivals over the next few weeks and then will start planning for the latter half of the year and eventual Demons release. It’s a great time to be in InMe.

Currently listening to True (Special Edition) by Spandau Ballet

We are on the road to Milton Keynes, I have a Greggs tea.

We had a nice day off in Bristol and managed to actually take some band shots, something we have neglected to do on pretty much every gig I have ever played with the band. Our photographer TJ is great at organising this stuff. Band members individually can get stuff done but as a collective, we can be hard to orchestrate. 

Gold by Spandau Ballet has just come on the headphones. Like many songs of this popularity, I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it in detail. It’s one of those songs that’s so overplayed, the default response can be to groan. However, it’s fantastic. Clear production, catchy, sax (or similar blowy instrument) and great vocals. 

Anyway, back to Bristol. We played the gig on a boat called Thekla, which has a very interesting history, I would recommend you look it up. The most surprising part was hearing the whole ship sat at the bottom of the sea, dormant for years!

We didn’t have our regular soundman with us for this one but the in house guy Sam was chirpy and accommodating, taking good care of us. 

Following the gig, we went to Bristols own NQ64 for some hang times and games. I especially enjoyed the 80s section again and in particular Track and Field with a track ball instead of buttons, which I had not played before. I think I faired marginally better than the button basher one in Nottingham. 
Dance Dance Revolution was also on the agenda. I somehow won this, forcing me to stay on against another contestant. This was far more knackering than the gig and despite winning again, I bowed out on top, undefeated. Mental note - I really need to get back in the gym. 



 

Curren listing to Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (50th anniversary)

It’s our day off and we are currently on the road to Bristol, where we will stay the next two nights. Tomorrow we play Thekla, another one I did on my first tour with InMe, co headlining with Jäegermeister enthusiasts Raging Speedhorn. It’s actually a static boat, host to many bands on the touring circuit.

Last nights gig at the Rescue Rooms was again plagued by a couple of tech issues. This time, poor quality batteries I had purchased from the local convenience store rendered Gazzs wireless unit almost lifeless after less than an hour of use. Luckily he discovered this before taking the stage of the packed out venue. 

The gig overall went well and once again the crowd were incredible. Getting to witness the moshing and singing from the stage is something I’m truly thankful for. 

After the gig we wandered to the hotel to sort ourselves out and then it was onwards to NQ 64 arcade bar. I have found my happy place. Well, another one outside of the stage. ;) We hung out with some friends and played some arcade machines over a few beers. I liked having a range of things to play as well. From Sega Rally to Track and Field. House of the Dead to the Terminator 2 arcade game. Crazy Taxi, Guitar Hero and physical games like basketball, which a few of the folks got quite competitive over.

The old old ones are where my heart is, late 80s to early 90s seems to be my sweet spot.

I feel this blog getting a bit thin, so I’m not sure if there will be many more updates. I’ve adjusted to life on the road at the moment and don’t feel like I have much more to chat about. We’ll see what happens. Our day off today will be spent on the road, making content and conducting a photo shoot, something the band ALWAYS forgets to do when we get together for shows. Luckily we have our photographer TJ on the road with us to help get this stuff actioned. 

Hopefully some good pics incoming at least.

Photos by @tjx_photos

Butterfly Demons Tour diary night 3

Currently listening to Secret Life - Fred Again and Brian Eno

SOLD OUT

Well that’s always a nice situation to be in, play an awesome gig to a sell out crowd in Manchester, meet some lovely people, sell some merch and rock out with your mates.

The Breadshed was an interesting venue. The stage was an awkward shape meaning I was pushed to the side for a lot of the gig. Usually this is where Johnno would be standing but I didn’t want him hidden away in the corner so I took to the edge instead. In front at the barrier was a small section of the crowd that must have had the worst sound, because there were no speakers in front of them, they were literally next to the main PA speaker. Why it was designed like this, I’m not totally sure but it became a club night after so maybe it helps to have a more central PA system. We felt the vibrations of the bass lines echoing through our souls as we cleared out the dressing room before the club night started. 

We had a bit of an awkward sound check at this one, where it became apparent that something was affecting the volume levels. Long story short but due to the venues nature as a club night, the sound runs through a limiter, squashing the sound and making sure it doesn’t go too loud. It couldn’t be turned off so we persevered with sub optimal monitor levels throughout but being the 3rd night of the tour we were all locked in enough for it not to matter too much. 

A great night overall. There were some more issues with the hotel when we got there but everyone got to bed in the end. 

Just a short blog post today, nearly in Nottingham to play the Rescue Rooms tonight.

Current music Duke - Genesis

We are currently on route to Manchester and I’ve had my first cup of the tea of the day *ooo fascinating stuff Mike, tell me more.* This was from a Costa machine in a petrol station, something I’ve always avoided due to unwarranted paranoia about milk serving size and cleanliness. I broke the seal yesterday and am now totally there for a machine based hot beverage, (if there are no cafes or roadside service stations where one could be made by hand.) The lads all went to McDonalds and I am reminded that I could have got a much cheaper tea there and also avoided the tablet ordering system, so that I could use my touring cash at the counter. Next time. 

Despite a couple of technical issues, night 2 of the tour went a lot smoother. The room was deep as opposed to Norwich, which I personally prefer. Overall there is not a lot of difference in stage width, but having a tiny bit more depth between the mic and drum kit makes a big difference to me. That’s how it feels anyway. Not taking anything away from Norwich though, it was still a great venue. Having a deeper venue condenses all the wonderful faces into the view, when not obstructed by the mist of the fog machine.

Last night we played The Grove in Byker. Unfortunately not the one from the TV show that shaped part of my youth “MY FUCKING EYES LAD I CANNEE SEEE” but this was a large U shaped venue with a courtyard and massive TV screen. The bar was separate to the venue which the merch was set up alongside of. There was a free play Mortal Kombat arcade machine which excited me greatly when we arrived but of course when it became apparent I might have some time to have a game, the bar was packed and I needed a bit of quiet before taking the stage.

We managed to catch some more of St Agnes (and not St Anger as Davey G had to point out to me during a mispronunciation) set and I couldn’t be happier with what they bring to the stage and hope to catch the rest of the set over the remaining days. Absolute pros.
 

Sidequest - This Duke album by Genesis is good. 

I’ve been feeling recently that due to all the new fangled production methods and possibility of AI in current music, I’m tempted to use 2025 as a soft cut off and just work backwards through music. Of course not exclusively, there will be lots of good much to come in the future, including our very own Demons album! But as music gets more and more commodified for content, I find it comforting that there already exists more than enough music I’ll ever be able to hear that was made by humans, with feeling, thoughts and purpose. 

Sidequest complete.

A Quick shout out to Seth and Nadia whom I bumped into on my way to the venue, after a quick stop off at Morrisons and Weatherspoons. They helped me navigate my way back to The Grove after a couple of wrong turns and were lovely. It was quite an amusing situation I had not been in before. They asked if I was going to the gig, I said yes and left it a couple of seconds before mentioning I was in the band.There never feels like an unegotistical way to say that. It’s certainly not meant like that, but I guess we are conditioned through the media etc that it’s always some sort of flex (a word the kids use for ‘showing off’) but no, just a fact. 

Hmm, I’ve gone a bit Partridge.

Not much more to report. Got back to the hotel, ate some crisps and fruit and went to bed around 1am. No hardcore partying for me at the moment, no alcohol for me at all for now, actually. I’m enjoying the clear head in the morning but more importantly, not feeling like death on 4-6 hour drives is a game changer for my enjoyment of touring. Long rides coupled with an unhappy head and digestive system is… uncomfortable to say the least. I wouldn’t have managed this a year or two ago and have been desperately trying to rewrite my brain chemistry to not rely on alcohol so much. Work to do but getting there.

I think we get a 12pm check out time tomorrow so the beers may flow tonight, albeit after the show, because I can’t be needing a piss every three minutes during an hour and a half set. 
Challenge absolutely not accepted.

Photos by @tjx_photos