Matthew's Tour Memories

Another one came today. I think he was from Mojo. Or maybe it was Uncut. Hell, it might have been NME for all I know. The procedure is always the same. I’m wheeled out into the Day Room, and they wipe the drool from my mouth before showing in some young guy with a precision-constructed bed-head hairstyle and an mp3 audio recorder. The questions are always the same too.

“How are you doing?”

“How do you think I’m doing?”

“Is there any news on when you’ll be allowed to leave?”

“Leave?”

“Yeah.”

“Kid, listen. Even if you get out, this is the kind of place you NEVER leave. Just like the Six String Theory Tour. I presume that’s what you want to hear about.”

“Well… yeah. If it’s not too painful a subject.”

“Would it make a difference if I said it was?”

“Um… I – “

“Doesn’t matter. I can tell you anyway. That’s all I ever get asked about. You know how they discovered those Japanese soldiers, decades later?  Still fighting the Second World War?  That’s the Six String Theory Tour for me. All the other sides have given up and gone home. But I’m still fighting. Still playing.”

“Do you still keep up with the other guys?  Do any of them come and visit you?”

“Martin was here last week. At least I THINK it was last week. Time ain’t what it used to be, here. But yeah – since he became a Buddhist he’s been a lot more concerned about my… spiritual well-being.”

“Does he still play?”

“Some kind of sitar stuff, ragas. Not my bag.”

“Did you see any of the footage of The Phil Sky Experience playing the first ever gig on the Moon?”

“Oh man… I thought I DREAMED that!  That was real?”

“Uh… yeah. Sponsored by Virgin Spaceways.”

“Far out!  Man… they made it!  Seems a long way from Buckingham. Did Phil get the name right?  Or did he shout “good evening, Ganymede?” (laughs so much it becomes a rasping cough)

“Sorry, would you like some water?”

“I’m not allowed liquids.”

“That must suck.”

“Maybe you can help me with this other dream. If it IS a dream, I dunno. Did I really see that Olie is now a judge on the X Factor?”

“Uh… yes, he is. He replaced Cher Lloyd for the new series.”

“Oh man… that’s hilarious!”  (laughs again into the same rasping cough)

“The viewers have really taken to him.”

“Hahaha!  Stop it!”

“What is your most vivid memory of the tour?”

“I have pictures in my head. I guess they’re probably real. I hope so. Endless hours on the tour bus. The women – always the women, waiting outside the venues to grab at us. Sometimes you take ‘em home. It’s never a good idea, but y’know man. What IS, right?  I think one night I punched a panda in the face. And I know I drove a penny farthing over a cliff. Phil and me, waking up in the Penthouse Suite of the Jury’s Inn in the Hub, knee deep in murky water and with all sorts of stuff projecting on the walls. It was the furthest out I’ve ever travelled. I’ll tell you this, kid – don’t ever snort Resolve.”

“And the actual gigs themselves?”

“Aw, man. I wish I knew. The Watershed? Drum kit. Cranfield? Rick Stein. MADCAP? Light show. Bedford? Christmas dinner. Buckingham? Sleazy dude. Silsoe? Hotel lobby. Does that help?”

“Kind of. You know the others have all contributed to the new eight-part BBC documentary series on the tour?”

“No. No, I didn’t know that. I don’t think. I saw Scott the other day on TV. He was collecting a Brit Award?”

“An Ivor Novello.”

“Far out.”

“What’s your biggest regret?”

“No one ever bought me one of those pint glass holders that screw on to your mic stand.”

Nurse Peg always jumps in at this point. Their five minutes is up, or something. Or it’s time for my medication. I can’t take any more than this. I don’t know how many times I’ve had this conversation, answered these questions. Or maybe this was the first time. I dunno. It doesn’t matter.

When I DO sleep – and that’s not often – I see stuff. Images of guitar cases, of PA speakers, burned into my mind. A tambourine flying through the air. That darn panda, dizzy. The sound of whirring helicopter blades. The millions of adoring faces. I wake up screaming “CRUSH ON YOU”. I don't know what it means.

The tour never ends. It never ends.

YC Olie - Full Tour Roundup

I did some calculations. If you start off at the Watershed and drive to each venue in the order they are in on the tour, and finish up in Silsoe, you would drive a touch over 100 miles. So this could now be called 'The 100 Mile tour that no-one saw'.

Although, I feel I have to start dropping that name because it turns out more people came to the shows after I penned that little rhyme!

Wednesday, 6th December, The Watershed, Newport Pagnell

Running order: Vodka Boy -> YC Olie -> Seeking Salvation -> The Phil Sky Experience

I have to say, I think the Watershed was my favourite of all the venues we visited. The interior decor of the place was just unique. The stage area was upstairs, at the top of a winding staircase which curled around a grand chandelier. The walls were lined with local artwork for sale. There was a disco ball hanging from the ceiling!!!
And downstairs, with an old beat up piano and guitar sat in the corner, there was a TV screen hooked up to an upstairs camera so you could enjoy the music from downstairs.
There were 2 memorable highlights for me, firstly the fact that the gig received live on-air radio publicity. We had the MK Music show on MKFM hooked up between the acts and as all the acts support the show they gave us a shout out which was pretty kick ass.
Secondly, there was a drum kit on stage, which I happened to pound for the entire of the Phil Sky set, swapping bass guitar for sticks and skins. I don’t want to sound big-headed but it went better than I expected and the songs came alive like never before!

Saturday, 10th December, The Carpenters Arms, Cranfield

Running order: Seeking Salvation -> The Phil Sky Experience -> Vodka Boy -> YC Olie

I think the Carps is one of my favourite venues to play. Not only does it have the perfect village-local feel, the Carps benefits from having a landlord who is firmly on the side of supporting local music with an enthusiasm which is rarely seen around the inner-city bars.
The Phil Sky Experience were joined by Mikey, so for the 2nd night running, Phil had company on stage. At the watershed he decided to up the reverb to crazy heights and leave the guitar lying on stage to feedback in a Nirvana-esque ending. This night, he resorted to rapid strumming so fast and frantic that he fell over and was playing guitar whilst lying on the floor.
Another notable point was the self-made posters by the landlord which pretty much billed everybody wrong. The tour itself was named the 'Saving Salvation' tour; Phil Sky was now affectionately known as 'Rick Sky'.
And I think it speaks volumes to the acts on tour that instead of kicking off and demanding to be treated like rock stars, pretty much all of us immediately whipped our phones and cameras out and took photos ^_^

Friday, December 16th, Madcap Theatre, Wolverton

Running Order: YC Olie -> Phil Sky -> Seeking Salvation -> Vodka Boy

Walking into the Madcap theatre and seeking the spot-lit stage was such a pleasant suprise. The theatre itself houses a number of various rooms which could have been utilised, but the choice was perfect. The stage was outlined with Christmas tube-lights, the tables were adorned with mince pies for all to share, and a small pile of the Monkey Kettle Christmas CD was ready to be sold to the masses.
I feel this was one of my weaker nights however it felt good to play to those who were there. To be able to play my Christmas song, which was track #1 on the CD, on the opening night was a pleasure.
My personal highlight of the night was Vodka Boy playing 'Drink More Water' (at least that’s what I'm calling it, I’m unsure of the credited title). It’s a song which I have heard maybe twice before, but it’s a song which never fails to capture my imagination and inspiration. I hope to hear this song in the future!

Saturday, December 17th, The White Horse, Bedford

Running Order: Vodka Boy -> Phil Sky -> The Darcy Da Silva Band -> YC Olie -> Seeking Salvation

Bedford provided us with the largest audience of the tour at that point. Fair enough we were in a side room with a number of Christmas parties who would have been pre-booked to be there long before we were, but they were still our audience.
We were joined by a local duo who are part of the Darcy Da Silva band. Once the initial sound problems were ironed out, Singer/Guitarist Darcy and violinist Philip played a set of classic folk tunes which may not have been in keeping with the genre of the tour, but certainly impressed all in attendance. The violin swirling in and out of softly picked and strummed guitar was a perfect combination
If anything, Bedford felt like the "routine" night on the tour where we kinda new what was going to happen, nothing unexpected happened, but we still had an awesome night anyway. Once I realised this was the last night of the tour for the year and it was a few weeks till we started the final run, it did kinda make me a little sad that we were two thirds of the way through already yet it had passed in a blink of an eye. Sharing a ride back with Mr. Phil Sky provided a real chance to reflect on the tour up to that point and already we were talking about our memories of the tour so far!

Friday, January 6th, The Kings Head, Buckingham

Running order: YC Olie -> Bine The Peg -> Vodka Boy -> The Phil Sky Experience

Unfortunately due to a double-booking, Scott was unable to join us for the first gig of 2012. So he called upon the aid of Bine the Peg. It’s always a pleasure to hear Bine play as she has one of the most instantly recognisable voices on the local scene. She is humble yet superbly talented, and it was a joy to hear songs such as 'Sylvester' and local uber-single 'Movie Star'.
As Christmas had been and gone, I had a hole in my set list, and I somehow managed to write a new song over the festive break (anyone who knows about me and songwriting knows I don’t find it the easiest of tasks...). I managed to pen a song entirely dedicated to the tour, called '6 String Theory' (DUH! lol). It went down better than I could have expected and I've received numerous requests to record it... watch this space is all I will say to that
I know it’s been said before, but the highlight of my night was being part of, and watching the Phil Sky Experience. Mikey was able to join us for this headline slot. I don’t know if it was the weather, excess Christmas cheer, or alcohol but he was fired up and ready for that gig! He was animated whilst sat on the cajon, finding numerous ways to tap/hit/thump it. And then at the final moments of the set, and a pure rock n roll moment, decided to launch a tambourine across the room to put the exclamation point at the end of the set.
It was a genuine pleasure to see Mikey come out of his shell for the night; I for one think he did a blinding job!!!

Friday, January 20th, The Star & Garter, Silsoe

Running order: Phil Sky -> Vodka Boy -> Seeking Salvation -> YC Olie

And so, the final night of the tour was upon us. It was fitting that this was the busiest venue we'd played to on the entire tour, and the locals really seemed to appreciate what we brought to their quaint village pub.
For the first time on the tour, Phil Sky opened (how on earth did he avoid that lol) and it was universally agreed that he played, not just the best on the tour, but the best anyone had ever heard him play EVER. The songs all shone with their true character and it was a set to remember for sure.
Vodka Boys set was of its usually high standard, yet I could sense a sombre mood in the air. Potentially I was picking up the mood that Matthew and Martin were sharing a stage for the last time for the next 5 months or so, but nevertheless, they played another classic set which may have lacked my favourite VB song - but I wasn’t left feeling let down. It will be a long and lonely few months without their Further Adventures on stage and I'm already counting down to Waterside Festival 2012 when I can hear them again.
Scott also played one of his best sets on the tour (possibly second to Bedford), and as this was his home-show he certainly looked more relaxed than usual. His parents were attending their second night of the tour (also second to Bedford) so maybe that’s where his secret lies... I couldn’t help but notice looking over to his parents and seeing the look of sheer proudness on both their faces, to be watching their son play some genuinely brilliant songs. Scott puts a lot into his material and it certainly pays off.
I was a little bit shocked to be given the honour of closing out the night - and the tour - especially as it was Scotts home show, but I would be mad to pass up the opportunity. The tour itself has been one of the best experiences of my life, certainly the highlight of the past few years! I was holding back a tear as the set drew to a close. I said my thanks to the acts and tried not to waffle on too much, and when Scott reads this, please pass on my apologies to anyone you know who was offended by my accidental use of the F word

SONG OF THE TOUR

The Further Adventures of Vodka Boy - Drunk Poet Blues

Tied with

Seeking Salvation Through Love - Crush

SPIRIT OF ROCK & ROLL AWARD

Phil Sky & Michael Wooley for their show-stealing set-closing antics

----------

I've probably said this too much, but from the bottom of my heart I would like to say a massive THANK YOU to:
Vodka Boy, Seeking Salvation & Phil Sky for making the tour possible, all their hard work to organise the nights and their support throughout.
To the Darcy Da Silver Band and to Bine the Peg for joining us as special guests and helping to share the experience
To everyone who came out to any of the shows, I don’t want to list names incase I forget anyone who made it, but if you saw any of the above shows, your support is always appreciated - without the fans we would all be nobodies.
Lastly, thanks to you for reading! I know my posts aren't often quite notes, but I hope my words did the experience justice.

(blog taken from http://ycolie.blog.co.uk/)

Phil Sky - Buckingham

The single most rock n roll moment on the tour so far happened when, during the closing moments of The Phil Sky Experience’s headline set, Olie and me wringing as much noise as possible out of our instruments while Michael pounded the cajon from all sides like a demented hornet, all of a sudden Michael clutched his tambourine and hurled it wildly across the audience to thud on the floor somewhere at the back of the pub as I fell to my knees and dropped my guitar on the floor. Friday night was just that kind of gig.

And so we’re back on the long, long road of the tour and it felt good to be back out there - The Kings Head in the heart of the our county town of Buckingham being our next port of call. As the tour bus pulled up, people where already mingling in the cold air outside the venue and with Christmas now out of the way, a fist full of regular fans from Milton Keynes had made it out with us and it was good to see some friendly faces out there in the audience.

Olie opened the evening with a great set of tunes and while his excellent Christmas song Snow Came Down may not have been in tonight’s set, his equally excellent new song and Six String Theory Tour tribute was and it was a genuine treat to start of the evening. Next up, covering for Scott who was sadly unable to make it tonight, was the effortlessly fantastic Bine The Peg. For her first song, the pub actually fell silent as people took notice of her classy, intelligent blues and smooth, casual styling. It was really great to get her onto the tour bill and songs like I Wanna Be A Movie Star and Sylvester just get better with every play. Then on third, The Further Adventures Of Vodka Boy plowed through their set and genuinely rocked, mixing lively versions of Iridium Layer and Lady Gaga covers and finishing with fan favorite Drunk Poet Blues. Catch these guys at Silsoe or you won’t get another chance to see them again till the summer!

And with that we made it back to where we started, a righteous headline set from The Phil Sky Experience. Every time I play with these guys it feels like something magical happens. It’s a slightly ramshackle magic, like a billycart rolling down a bumpy hill, but that makes it no less exciting. I’m not sure now if the Experience element of our band name applies to the audience or the band members but I certainly dig the experience a lot of being inside The Phil Sky Experience. There I am, kneeling on the floor of the stage, thrashing my guitar, while our percussionist hurls a tambourine out into the audience. If being on board with the band is like rolling down a bumpy hill backwards in a billycart then the end of the set feels like the cart colliding with a tree at the bottom of the hill - you might end up bruised and a little confused, but speaking for myself all I can really think of the chance to do it again. Awesome! ;-)

YC Olie - My Six-String Theory

Believe me when I say I am not bragging...

But the tour itself was a name I offered to the guys, and was deeply rooted in an idea I had for a song.
Except all my "ideas" are usually two lines that are a little bit catchy, a very rough harmony, and a general idea surrounding the possible structure of the song.

It started as just two line:

"Can anybody hear me?
"This is my six string theory

And in the time between the New Years Eve gathering (which 4/6ths of the tour member spent together) and now, I have been inspired enough to write the song.

Except this song is more of a hommage to the tour itself.

here, for you to enjoy, are the lyrics. You have 2 opportunities to hear it live... Tonight, January 6th at the Kings Head in Buckingham; and January 20th at the Star & Garter in Silsoe...

It was a cold December night
When history was made
And 5 quite handsome guys
Walked through the old arcade
The watershed was rocked
From the ceiling to the floor
This will go down in history
As the tour that no-one saw

Can anybody hear me? This is my 6 string theory
This is my beating heart played out on my guitar
For everyone to see
Can anybody hear me? This is my 6 string theory
This my heart and sole played out for the world
And everyone to see

Can anybody hear me? This is my 6 string theory

Not even cranfield was safe
From the glory of the sound
Just go and ask Rick Sky
While he's rolling on the ground
At madcap things looked up
Cos vodka boy can rock
And those parking tickets guys
Well they can go and suck my...

[Chorus]

The seeking salvation tour; another gig that no-one saw
but we'll always remember it...

YC Olie - TBWTHSS

Wow, I can't believe that musically, 2011 is over! We had Madcap on Friday, The White Horse in Bedford on Saturday, and I went to the open mic at SnoBar last night (Sunday) and that is it for the year. In a way I'm glad to have a break and soak up all my other interests in life, but there's a part of me which is sad at the concept of the year thats been and gone.

In relation to the tour, the gigs were fun as always, but nothing out of the ordinary. No rollocking drum solo at the end of Phils set, no mis-printed tour posters. It was everything we'd come to expect after the previous few nights on the tour. I think Scott was the stand-out act in Bedford, playing his best set of the tour; and I think MadCap should have been busier...

But thats not what I want to reflect on in this post. I could repeat myself and mention Seeking Salvation Through Love's 'pop balladry', or talk about the newly claimed 'Phil-Sky-Vision' about how no matter where Phil is, he will always see a stadium full of screaming fans in his head whenever he takes the stage...

About a year ago, I had a self-realisation and wrote a song, and subsequent EP called 'The Boy With The Heart Shaped Sleeve' (TBWTHSS...). As far as I'm concerned, that boy is me. Anyone who's listened to the song enough times to figure out the lyrics will know, the song was written at the end of 2010, which for me was quite a rough year. The most significant line(s), with relevence to this blog post at least, are:

Now 2010 [or, 'the year'] has been and gone
And another chapter can end
I nearly lost my sanity
Along with all my friends

Now when I was singing this song at this time last year, it was a very relevent topic. The year had thrown many distractions at me, and through no fault but my own, I had lost touch with many people I consider to be my nearest and dearest.

It struck me whilst singing this song at the White Horse, that 2011 has been a far better year. Far from perfect, but in comparison I am ending it stronger, happier and better off than when it started. And looking round the bar at the acts on tour, made me realise that this year, instead of risking loosing all my friends, I have spent the vast majority of it surrounded by some amazing people, whether it be at the Slug & Lettuce, the OU, at Phil's house for various celebrations, or on the Six String Theory Tour.

And although it makes me happy to know that the next few weekends can be spent with my feet up not worrying about set lists or directions to new venues...

It makes me a little sad to think that I won't be spending my weekends with Vodka Boy, Phil Sky and Seeking Salvation. It makes me a little sad that although there will be music in my house, it won't be the live versions of 'Drunk Poet Blues', 'Hey Dude', or 'It Was Always You'.

So, to all those reading this, whether you're on the tour or not, I wish you all the happiest of Christmases, and I thank you all for giving me some amazing memories throughout 2011 which have helped erase all the crap from the year before.

Rick (Stein) Sky - Fish On Tour

As the tour bus rumbled quietly through the darkness after the Bedford gig, all tired and on our way home for Christmas before heading back on the road in January, I sat with my girlfriend and we asked the ever important question, if each of the acts on tour where fish dishes, which ones would they be? We concluded after much debate that YC Olie is a tasty battered cod from a proper fish & chip shop, Seeking Salvation Through Love is Scampi of the bar menu in a nice pub, Vodka Boy are a nice fish pie, the sort that’s topped with mashed potato, and Phil Sky is anchovies. I’ll leave our blog readers to decide why we came to these conclusions…. Merry Christmas dudes!!! ;-)

Phil Sky - Bedford

Bedford is a baffling place to try to drive a tour bus around. It’s got a road system known locally as a “one way system” but as a Milton Keynesian, it made no sense at all though somehow Olie managed to direct us through the maze of tangled streets and houses all the way to the White Horse and the third stop on the Six String Theory Tour. This is closer to home turf for Scott AKA Seeking Salvation Through Love, but for the rest of us Kansas has never seemed so far away.

Last night’s headliners The Further Adventures Of Vodka Boy opened the evening with a dependable set of originals and covers that would hopefully help ease us into the hearts of the local Bedford pub goers - I’m sure the covers went down well enough but for me the set was all about their performance of Humanist Love Song from the new album. I played second again for another solo performance without the band and it seemed to go down well enough with the guys and girls on the front row. Then third up was our first special guest on tour - Bedford local Darcy (though she’s actually from Scotland confusingly) who performed a lovely set of ethereal folk songs on guitar and vocals while a guy from Newcastle played the fiddle. Their set was full of songs named after birds, jigs and Celtic vibes and I really enjoyed her original song Shetland Boy.

YC Olie was fourth on stage with a genuinely rocking set that finished with an epic performance of new song Wake Up from the forthcoming CD currently entitled Flying High when it comes out next year. I’d recommend for everyone to look out for it. Then Scott AKA Seeking Salvation Through Love headlined with one of his strongest performances to date. Opening with Destined To Fail and featuring such highlights as It Was Always You, Take Me Away, The Finger Song and Crush On You, it was just awesome.

And now we’re all heading home for Christmas and a well earned break before heading to Buckingham in January to continue the tour. Outside the pub, the tour bus was thick in ice and winter had definitely set in and as the lights of Bedford faded behind us and thoughts of home began to creep in, I found I was already looking forward to the cold, dark days of January when the tour would begin again….