The last date of the tour is a benefit show organised by EES’s long time & somewhat awesome mechanic Autodan in his local pub The Royal Oak in Bordon which is is Sussex or Hampshire or somewhere like that.

Fortunately we can make a late start so we have a lie in before Kazuto goes out shopping for souvenirs...he’s learning!!

We go the long way round to pick up Jake & Aki from Bob’s to make up for them having to get the tube back to mine yesterday after my clamping faux pas.

The drive down through Clapham & SW London is always a bit of a pain but it’s not too bad today so we don’t arrive too late.

Often these sort of gigs in out of the way places can be great as they are not used to seeing ‘name’ bands but to be honest the atmosphere in the Oak tonight is a bit rubbish so it is a slightly disappointing end to the tour. (Oh dear, I’m gonna get told off for being negative again!)

Still it was nice to do something for ‘charidee’ & for Autodan who has done so much to keep Eel Shock on the road over the last 8 years. The van actually completed the tour in one piece this time!

We pack up quickly & are back in London shortly after 1. After a bit of accountancy during which James 2 & I get (generously) paid...(hurrah, that’s what we’re here for!)...we crash out.

 

Up Early the next morning & on the road for 9 to ensure Aki & Kazuto catch their flight back to Osaka. For a change I will be home before them but I expect they will still be asleep before me as I have an all night Dub Reggae night to work...The Horror!!! Last night I worked for Mt Desolation a band featuring 2 members of Keane!! I really liked them...don’t tell anyone will you.

 

It’s now Tuesday & I finally have a day off work for the first time this month...tho’ I have a lot of chores to do cleaning the flat (I thought Japanese were supposed to be tidy!!??) & setting up a new online shop for EES (to be fair Kazuto is doing the hard work on that one).

 

Anyway, it has been a great tour, certainly the most successful that I have been (professionally) involved with. There were a couple of iffy days but generally attendances were up on previous tours which is great as we were touring at a traditionally pretty bad time...end of summer, before students go back.

 

It was great to go back to er ‘intimate’ (read small!) venues & independent promoters who on the whole did a really good job for us. Well done to Bob Slayer for some excellent booking agentage methinks.

 

As I type EES are probably on stage at their first Japanese show. It’s gonna be a little while til we meet up again, we’re looking at late spring/ early summer 2011 for the next visit to Europe I think. In the meantime we’ll try to keep you posted on what’s happening in Japan...there is talk of writing the next album so keep checking back.

 

Thanks to Aki & Kazuto for letting me be involved again, it’s been a great experience & I can’t wait ‘til next time.

 

Also, hi to my Japanese readers Aki tells me that you comment about my blog on his blog! Feel free to comment in Japanese, it is always fun to read the translation software’s attempts to translate & then try to work out what you were saying.

 

‘Til next time...

 

Dan

 

 

明日、いよいよ帰国なので、要約だけね。
昨晩の興奮で、なんとパーキングチケットを貼り忘れしまい。家の前で駐禁切られた！
アキとジェイクに地下鉄で家まで来てもらい、２時間遅れで出発。幸いながら道も混んでなかったから、遅れる事なく本日のベニュー、ブリストルのルイジアナに到着。リハが終わるとアキは早速向かいの川で釣り始めた。なんでも2003年に初めてイギリスで魚を釣り上げたのがここだったらしい。なんと釣り始めて息つく間もなく魚をゲット。正直アキが魚を釣り上げるのを初めて見たから感心しちゃった。
ライブは結構熱心なファンが詰めかけてくれて盛り上がったけど、ぼかあ昨日の興奮の為か、ちょっと物足りなかったな。勿論バンドは相変わらずのパフォーマンスで盛り上げてくれたけど。あ、また愚痴っぽくなってる、俺。歳だなあ。でも今度はちゃんとパーキングチケット忘れないように貼っておいたよ。

Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit Shit.

In all the excitement/ exhaustion of last night I forgot to put the parking ticket on the van & even when I got up this morning & paid the congestion charge the penny didn’t drop...BASTARD!

2 hours & £110 later we finally get released but Aki & Jake have to get the tube back from Bob’s as we are getting close to running late.

Fortunately the roads are clear & we make good time to Bristol where we will be playing an odd little N’Awlins style place called the Louisiana.

Eel shock have been here several times before & the canal that runs alongside is actually the site of Aki’s first UK catch back in 2003 (ish).

He repeats the feat before the show but no amount of arm stretching is going to make this catch impressive.

There’s a good turnout again tonight & the crowd are well up for it but after last night it is difficult to get all that excited. Fortunately Eel Shock are a bit more professional than I am & put on their usual top class performance.

After the show we pack up quickly & head back to London a trip that goes very smoothly until they decide to close the M4 just before London adding the best part of an hour to the trip as we divert through Ealing & Shepherd’s Bush...just what I needed!

Drop Aki & Jake off at Bob’s & we return to Pye Towers where I remember to put the ticket on the van this time.

Wow, that has to be one of the best days of my life!! I have just mixed my favourite band at my favourite London venue & the house guy liked my work & may have me back there! I’ve been day dreaming about that happening since this gig was announced but never thought I could get that lucky!!

いや、マジで人生最高の日が訪れました！今日、俺の一番好きなバンドと一番好きなベニューで仕事が出来、しかもその仕事ぶりをハウスエンジニアに気に入られ、またやってくれないかと頼まれるなんて！このショーが決まってから、そうなったらいいなと思ってた事が現実に訪れるなんて何てラッキーなんだろう！

 

We left Liverpool pretty well when I said we should which is pretty rare if you know musicians! & despite a bit of traffic & a pit stop to pick up a fishing license we arrived at the 100 Club pretty well right on time.
 リバプールを時間通りに出発して、なんやかんやあっても順調に100クラブに到着。
We were greeted by their house guy Raye who I’d heard good reports about & he absolutely lived up to expectations .  I was really nervous about this gig because it meant so much to me to work in such a legendary venue but Raye was so helpful that it was one of the most relaxed shows I’ve ever worked.
 ハウスエンジニアのレイはものすごいいい奴で、すごくリラックスして仕事出来た。
We had a lot of friends in tonight as well, Karen’s worse half Quayley who helped with merch, Kaori...our showbiz pal from the Go Team, Captain Hair Metal, Sludgefeast Uber Fan Woking Tony & numerous others so there was a lot of hugging & bowing going on.
 ショーには昔からの友達が大挙して訪れて来てくれたよ。
The show itself was my favourite of the tour so far & had me punching the air like some twatt at ‘We Will Rock You’...Aki  noticed & gave me the Horns which made my night. I may work for them now but I’m still a pathetic fan boy at heart!  
そして本番もこのツアーでも一番の出来だった。今では彼らと仕事するようになったけど、未だ僕は彼らの熱心なファンなんだ。  

 

I should point out that this pic was taken at sound check...we did actually pull a pretty good crowd.
あ、この写真はリハの時のだからね。本番はかなり入って盛り上がったよ。
After the show we split up James & Kazuto back at Pye Towers & Aki & Jake at Bob’s for easy access to fishing.
そしてメンバーは二手に分かれて帰宅。
I sat up & wrote a couple of blogs as I’m way too excited to sleep...Christ, how old am I?
Eel Shock have complained in the past that my blogs can be a bit too negative...maybe this one redresses the balance!

帰ってからいつものようにお茶飲みながら一気に２つもブログ書いちゃった。どうやら興奮して眠れない。わっかいなあ、おれ。
なんか最近のブログは愚痴ばっかりだと言われてたから、今回ので丁度いいでしょ！

明日、いよいよ帰国。寝る前に要約だけね。

９時にフェリーに乗る為、ダブリンへ出発、と思ったらバッテリーが切れてて、皆で押しながら出発。順調にリバプールへ戻り、お世話になってるカレンさんの家で宿泊。奇麗に掃除してくれてありがたい。何故かiPhoneの「糸通し」というゲームに皆夢中になって、寝るまでやってた。

翌日、メローメローというベジタリアンカフェでライブ。オシャレなとこで場違いかなと思ったら、夜になったらパンクキッズが詰めかけてくれて、やたら盛り上がったよ。新曲「no.9」もヨーロッパデビュー。良い夜だったね。明日はロンドンに戻り100club。待ちきれないよ！

Up & on the road at 9 as we have a ferry to catch from Dublin. Least that was the plan but the battery is flat & we lose 10 minutes trying to bump start the van!

Other than that it all goes to plan & we make the ferry with nearly an hour to spare, we are on the faster boat this time so the crossing takes just two hours & another couple of hours after that we are back at Karen’s house near Liverpool where we will stay for the next couple of nights. Last time we were here the place was a tip because her son Anthony had held a party just before we got there...it seems that in the interim he has had a serious arse kicking as the place is spotless when we arrive.

We order a curry & have a couple of beers before everyone gets obsessed with a game on Kazuto’s iPhone that involves threading needles...each to their own...I get me book out, anything to avoid us actually having to speak to each other.

Next day Kazuto & I go out for brekky provisions but otherwise we sit around the house til around 4 when we head down to Mello Mello. The venue is a a little hippy (veggie) cafe. I don’t think they are used to having loud rock gigs there. We get told off during sound check for being ‘painfully loud’...in the next room! Sounded alright to me but then I am partially deaf.

I don’t want to damage anyone’s PA so we check one more song at a lower volume making sure the amps aren’t peaking out. I later come down during the support band to find the house engineer has all the amps peaking...now that’s just rude...but it does give me license to turn up again during our set.

Unlike the first leg of the UK tour the students are back & it being the first week of term they think they are rich (just wait three years!!) so there is a pretty good turnout for a Monday night & the crowd is well pissed up & rowdy so the show is way better than I expected (pessimistic bastard that I am).  Fortunately our friend Karen being a mother of grown up children brings a little decorum to the occasion!

 

A new song ‘No. 9’ gets it’s European debut tonight, sounds pretty good at first listen.

We pack up pretty quick after the show & head off to bed. It’s the big one tomorrow at the legendary 100 Club...can’t wait.

Up at nine for a pretty average breakfast, yup, still moaning! I try to go out shopping but can’t find the stores I’m looking for & it starts to rain immediately as I leave the hotel...AAARRRGGGHH.
地獄の一夜が明け、9時に起きごく平凡な朝食の後、買い物しに出かけたんだけど、むー、まだぐだぐだ言うよ。店は全然見つけられないし、雨まで振って来て結局すぐホテルに戻る事に。うぐぐぐぐ。。。
As I’ve said before Dublin has never been my favourite city but on the other hand I do love to have my prejudices confirmed so in a way I’m happy. Clonakilty on the other hand is bloody marvellous but I’m getting ahead of myself.
前にも言ったけど、ダブリンは決してお気に入りという都市ではなかったけど、逆に言えば僕の偏見は正しかったってことかな。ということは今から向かうクロナキルティは素晴らしくいいってことかも。僕自身の頭ん中によると。
We are on the road at mid day & stop off in Mitchellstown where we are tempted by the charmingly named ‘Paki’s Bar’ but end up opting for the aforementioned Supermac’s. Supermac’s is an Irish brand burger bar, imagine if you can a down market MacDonald’s...scarey stuff indeed so I just have a cuppa & leave the others to the eyelids & testicles.
お昼に出発し、ミッチェルズタウンという小さな街で休憩。「パキズバー」といかわいい名前のカフェに引かれたけどお休み。（＊パキってのは本当は中東の人々の事を指す蔑称）結局は噂のスーパーマックへ。スーパーマックってのは前も言ったけどアイルランドのバーガーチェーン。ぼかあ、お茶だけで添加物だらけのバーガーなんて食べるもんか、恐ろしい。

Clonakilty is a small town just south west of Cork & for the last six years they have held a guitar festival there. For three days there are events held all over the town...as we arrive there is a band playing in a butcher’s shop opposite the venue. The whole event looks brilliant with all kinds of musical styles across the three days & Clonakilty itself looks like a great place to spend a couple of days. Just a shame our own visit has to be so brief.
クロナキルティはコークの南西にある小さな街。ここ６年ほど週末３日間に町中の至る所でギターフェスティバルを開催してるんだそうだ。僕らが到着した時は向かいの精肉店でバンドが演奏してたよ。イベント自体素晴らしく、色んな音楽スタイルが3日間ありとあらゆる場所で溢れてる。山間のこの街の風景等も併せて２、３日滞在するには素晴らしい場所だね。残念ながら僕らはすぐ行かなきゃならないけど。
Saturday is set up like a pub crawl with events happening at half hour intervals in six or seven venues across the town. We are booked to finish the night off at 11pm in the De Barra folk bar on the High Street.
土曜日は色んなバンドを見れるように30分ほどのインターバルを明けて６、７つのパブでバンドが演奏するようになってる。僕らは一番最後の11時にDe Barraという老舗のフォークバーに出演することになってた。

We arrive at 5 but Peggy Sue are just setting up for their evening show so we book in to our hotel & go down to the bar for huge steaks for everyone bar me. They knock together an enormous plate of roast veggies for me so we are all set for a good night.
僕らが到着した５時にはイギリスのペギースーが夕方のライブのセッティングを終えた所だったので、ホテルにチェックインし、でっかいステーキディナーを食事。勿論俺以外。僕には素晴らしいローストベジフードを振る舞ってくれた。こりゃ良い夜になるに違いない。
Very quick & easy sound check as the local crew are very helpful & the room sounds great. Then a couple of hours of sitting around before the show at 11. It’s a free show again & as we are the last event of the night the placd is absolutely packed out. A good proportion of the crowd have probably been on the pub trail since 2pm so it is a pretty rowdy night & Eel Shock go down a storm. It’s one of the best shows I have seen them play & James says it is the best concert he has ever done.
サウンドチェックもローカルスタッフが親切だし、部屋も音がいいので、あっさり終了。11時まで飲みながら待つ。今夜は入場無料だし、その日の最後のショーなのでもう満杯になるのが約束されてるようなもん。昼の２時から色んなパブを回って来てる観客はもうすっかり出来上がっていて、そこにイールショックがまさに嵐を呼んだって感じ。僕が見た中でもイールショックのベストショーに数えられるぐらい最高だったし、ジェームズは彼自身の人生最高のショーだって言ってたよ！

 

A woman comes up to me after the show & tells me that “That is the kind of music Irish men need to listen to more often, It would be good for us women!!”
ショーの後、女性が一人僕に向かって「こういう音楽こそ、アイルランドの男どもにもっと聞いてもらいたいわ。私たち女性の為に。」だって。
 Load out & back to the hotel for  a quick drink & some delicious garlic olives which were presented to us as we arrived at De Barra...a bit bizarre but much appreciated.
搬出し、ホテルに戻り、De Barraでもらった美味しいガーリックオリーブを肴に打ち上げ。ちょっとみすぼらしいけどありがたかったね。

Just a one hour hop down to Dublin so we check out of one hotel & pretty well straight in to the next.  We are in the Russell Court Hotel which seems like a really nice old Georgian Hotel with period furniture n shit but well maintained & clean. What we don’t realise until much later is that it has night club in the basement which will keep us awake until 5 am!
たった一時間ほどのドライブでダブリンに到着。そのまま次のホテルにチェックイン。ラッセルコートホテルというクラッシック調の古い家具そのままのホテルだったけどちゃんと行き届いてる感じでいいね。しかしこの時はまさかこのホテルが金曜の夜はクラブと化し、朝５時まで起こされ続けるとは夢にも思わなかったよ！

We chill out for a few hours before heading for the Lower Deck a small pub venue where we will be playing the penultimate ‘Ballroom of Romance’ show. Allen, the promoter has been running these shows for years & has booked Eel Shock several times before. Tonight is his 99th show & tomorrow he will be bowing out with the 100th.
そのまま2～３時間ゆっくりした後、会場のパブ、Lower Deckに向かう。ここしばらくずっとイールショックがお世話になったプロモーター、アラン主催のイベント「Ballroom of Romance」が今日と翌日で最後となるらしい。今日が99回め、明日が100回で最後だそうだ。ちなみにアランのバンドは一昨年、日本のLITEというバンドと日本をツアーし、カズトは大阪に見に行ったそうだ。そのせいかすごい待遇が良かった。

 

Sound check is pretty straight forward & we then drive in to central Dublin to our regular watering hole ‘Yamamori’.  This is a sort of Japanese Restaurant, in fact there are two of them as we find out when they won’t feed us in the first one as we are late for our booking so we have to walk down to the Liffey where there is another outlet.
アキとカズトがインタビューを受けてる間に、機材を搬入、サウンドチェックをさっさと終わらせ、ダブリンの町中へ戻り、いつもイールショックが行く日本食（のような）レストラン、YAMAMORIへ。2軒ある店のアランが予約してくれた近くの方に30分遅れていったら飛ばれていて、川沿いのもう一軒の方に歩いていかなきゃならなかった。その代わりに日本酒を１合サービスしてくれた。こっちが遅れていったのにね。ラッキー。

 

I say ‘sort of Japanese’ because Kazuto’s dish is really Korean & because having been to Japan a couple of times both me & James 2 have become something of a couple of Japanese food snobs! The food is perfectly decent but really expensive for what it is (the portions are hardly mountainous either...see what I did there?). it is a shame that Japanese food is so trendy in Europe & that like with vegetarian restaurants the owners seem to just assume that if you eat that kind of food you are rich & middle class & have money to burn. I’ve been a veggie for 25 years but I would never eat in a veggie restaurant by choice.
僕が日本食、のようなって行ったのが、カズトが頼んだ石焼ビビンパは韓国料理だし、僕もジェームズも日本に行った事があるから本物を知ってるからね。名前の通り、料理は「山盛り」だったけど正直その内容に比べたら、めちゃくちゃ高い（まあアイルランドの物価のせいもあるけどね）。残念ながら今や日本食はヨーロッパの国々ではトレンディで、最近のベジタリアン・レストランと同じく、そこで食事すれば中流階級の仲間入りみたいな風潮があってね。ぼかあ、ベジタリアンになって25年経つけど、一度もそんなレストランに行った事ないぞ。
In Japan I have had plenty of cheap ‘street food’ that has far more taste than what I have had in Europe, it is a real shame that no one has thought to import that kind of food in to the UK. Having whinged about all that, the setting is really nice & it is really good of Allen to treat us to such an expensive meal so I should shut the fuck up or it will be Supermac’s next time!
日本ではいわゆる安い「町中料理？」を沢山食べたけど、ヨーロッパで食べる日本食と全く違う。イギリスにそんな気軽な日本食がないのが残念だよ。そのレストラン自体は立派だし、アランがそんな高価なディナーを奢ってくれたんだから文句言ったら罰が当たるけどね。今度はスーパーマック（＊アイルランドのハンバーガーチェーン）になるな。
The show is great, the venue is pretty well packed & I am really happy with the sound. I am so close to the stage  that it almost feels like I am in the band! I guess that is what it must be like to be a keyboard player.
今夜も狭い会場は満員状態で超盛り上がり、音も凄く良くて安心したよ。異常にPA卓がステージに近くて、なんかバンドの一員になったような感じだったよ。多分キーボードプレイヤーってこんな感じなんだろうな。

After the show it all goes a bit tits up as after dropping the band at the hotel I spend well over an hour following Allen around Dublin trying to find a car park that will accommodate a van. Eventually we give up & park on the street round the corner from the hotel...should have just done that in the first place but it’s always easy to be wise after the event.
ライブ終了後、なんだか大変だった。バンドをホテルに送り、機材車を駐車する為に1時間以上もアランの車を追っかけ、ダブリン中を廻る事に。結局あきらめ、ホテルから角曲がった路上に駐車することに。つまり一番最初に回った所に戻ってくるはめに。大体そんなもんだけどね。
I finally get back to the hotel at about 3 to find the place surrounded by night clubbers. Our room is directly above the entrance so we are kept awake by house music & pissed up clubbers ‘til 5 at which point some idiot sets off the fire alarm! Not the greatest night’s sleep then!
ホテルに戻ったらもう３時で、周りはケバケバしいカッコしたクラバーだらけ。僕らの部屋は丁度その真上だったもんだから朝までずっとハウスミュージックが鳴りっぱなしで、朝の５時にはアホが不注意にドアを開けようとしたもんだから火災報知器までけたたましく鳴る始末。寝れるかっちゅうの！
Hope this blog doesn’t sound too negative.  Allen did a fantastic job on the promotion & we had a great show so thanks Dublin!
なんか文句ばっか言ってるように聞こえるかな？？アランはマジでがんばってくれてライブは最高だった。ありがとう、ダブリン！

Albert has work in the morning so we don’t really see him to say goodbye but we do get to sit around his house for a few hours before heading off at about 1pm for the drive to Dundalk. This is a dry run for our drive to catch the ferry back to the UK on Sunday so we have our stop watches running.
アルバートは翌朝すぐ仕事に言った為、ちゃんと挨拶も出来なかったな。我らはそのまま彼の家に居座り、１時頃にようやくダンドークに向けて出発。この道は日曜日にイギリスに戻るフェリーに乗るのと同じルートだからちゃんと覚えておかなくちゃね。
The routing for this tour is a bit crazy as we are back down near Cork again for the last night in Ireland so we are putting in a fair amount of van time.
このアイルランドツアーはルートが悪くてねえ。ダブリンの後は昨日やったコークに逆戻り。そしてまたダブリンに戻ってフェリー。ずっと車に乗ってばっかりだよ。
Tonight’s venue is the Spirit Store which is right on the Quayside on the outskirts of Dundalk.
今夜のベニュー、スピリット・ストアはダンドークの端っこ、河口に面した川沿いにあった。

It is a nice little venue with a great sound...at least until Aki decides to spend most of the show with his mic in front of the main speakers!
うん、良い感じで音もナイス。。。っと少なくてもアキがステージから降りて客席で歌いだすまではね。
 Not sure about all the stools & tables with candles on though! I think maybe we should have made the effort to clear that stuff away as it makes for a bit of a weird atmosphere  though it is quite funny watching Aki climbing all over the stools to get at the audience.
そらあ、たしかに椅子にテーブル、その上にキャンドルなんてねー。確かにどけてちょっとでも雰囲気変えてみたけど、それにしてもアキがステージから降りて椅子の上で歌ってるのは面白かったな。
Not the greatest crowd we’ve ever played to but the per capita merch count is probably a record which is cool ‘cos as you know we are only in it for the money.
まあ、今までで最高って感じではなかったけど、物販はかなりベストに近く売れたなあ。まあそれはそれで金にがめつい我らにとってはいいこっちゃけどね。
The promoter has booked us into the Crowne Plaza hotel for the night. It is literally the only tower block in Dundalk. At check in I think we make it abundantly clear that we are really not used to this kind of treatment & act like a group of over excited school kids.
そしてこの日はプロモーターがなんとクラウンプラザホテルを予約してくれた。ここいら界隈では唯一のタワー建築。正直、子供相手の有名ロックバンドみたいな扱いってホントに慣れてないね、俺たち。びっくり。

Breakfast is on the 13th floor with spectacular views of the Irish Sea & countryside. Unfortunately they seem to have positioned the hotel so that the best views are on the side that has no windows...Doh!
翌朝は最上階のレストランでご機嫌な朝食。周りに建物ないからはるか海や山の方まで全部見渡せる。しかし一番いい眺めのとこに窓ないし。果たしてこんな田舎にこんなデカイホテルがいるのかいな？

Nice easy travel day (for once) as we are only an hour down the road in Dublin tonight.
今日も12時までゆっくりして、１時間ぐらいでダブリン。今夜はYAMAMORI！

Nice leisurely start to the day as we don’t need to be on the road ‘til about 2pm. Aki goes fishing & slaughters a couple of mackerel for breakfast.
翌日も搬出２時と遅いもんだから、ゆっくりと起床。アキは朝食にサバを釣って来て虐殺。

We pack the van at 1ish & head down to Cork. Since Eel Shock were last here they have built a motorway & put in a bypass at Limerick so it is a pretty easy drive these days.
１時頃に機材を積み込み、コークへ出発。アイルランドはイールショックが前回来た２年前から高速がかなり開通し、リムリックのバイパスが出来ていて、だいぶスムーズに走れるようになってるな。
We break the journey for burgers in a small town whose name I forget or never bother noting in the first place.
名前を忘れたのか、覚える必要ないと思ったぐらいの小さな街でバーガーストップ。
We get to Cork pretty well bang on time & after the customary tour of the one way system we find An Brog just as the PA is being loaded in.
そして一方通行マジックでぐるぐる回りながらも、丁度ライブ会場のAn BrogにPAが搬入されている時に到着。

Albert, the promoter & an old friend of the band is waiting outside to guide us in to the only available parking space.
昔っから面倒見てもらってるアルバートに指示されながらここしかないって所に駐車。
Sound check is a bit of a struggle. EES are of course convinced that they play at no great volume but in an empty brick box with a low ceiling it is feeding back at all sorts of frequencies & Aki’s vocal causes the limiter to cut off the sound on a couple of occasions.
サウンドチェックはかなり大変だった。もちろんバンドはいつも通りの演奏でしかもかなり音量下げてくれてるんだけど、でっかいレンガの空洞になってるステージと低い天井で、どの周波数帯もフィードバック起こす始末。
Eventually with a shitload of compression & an EQ that looks like Shane McGowan’s teeth we get a workable sound & head back to Albert’s for a curry.
とにかくめちゃくちゃ”？？？”の歯のようなコンプとEQかけてなんとか聞ける音にして、アルバート邸に向かいタイカレーを振る舞ってもらった。
It is a free show tonight so when we get back to the venue it is pretty well packed which makes my job a hell of a lot easier & means I can put back some of the EQ...still have to compress the shit out of the vocal though as we are right on the edge to cutting out all night.
さすが入場無料だけあって、僕らがベニューに戻る頃にはかなり満杯状態。お陰で僕の仕事はかなーりやりやすくなったよ。それでもボーカルをかなりコンプかけないかんかったけど、かなり良い感じになったと思うよ。
The show goes really well & we have a record merch day which is slightly surprising. You’d think that at a free show people would have plenty of spare cash for merch but often they have come with the mindset that it will be a cheap night & therefore buy nothing. So thanks Cork for handing over so much of your hard earned!
ライブは本当に良い感じで盛り上がって、物販の売り上げも最高記録でちょっとびっくり。だいたいこの手のフリーショーでは飲みにきてる客相手なので、皆酒代につぎ込んで物販買いにこないんだけどね。この日は酒も安くなってるみたいでショーの途中から皆、物販に買いに来てたよ。ありがとう、コークの皆。
Back to the flat after the show where we learn that Albert owns ‘Out Freakage’, the seminal 1991 opus by fraggle legends ‘drive’. Fortunately we don’t give it a listen but opt for 70’s proto punk band Death who I’ve not heard before but who are really quite awesome. 
アルバート邸に戻ってから、アルバート自身の一番やんちゃだった時、90年代始めのレジェンド「ドライブ」について教わったよ。幸いドライブのレコードはかけず、そのかわり70年代のパンクの原型バンド「デス」を聞かせてくれた。聞いた事なかったけどすげーかっこ良かったな。まあここの読者なら皆知ってるでしょ？ドライブって？

After 11 hours in vans & ferries we finally end our ‘day off’ in Galway. The venue we will play on Tuesday (Roisin Dubh – it means Black Rose) has a really comfortable band flat & they have very kindly allowed us to stay there both before & after the show.

To celebrate Jake smashes a bottle of Becks on the kitchen floor within about 2 minutes of arriving. Young uns just can’t hold their beer it seems.

Dinner is a blinding Indian at the ‘Kashmir’ restaurant down the road, we ate here last time & the food is pretty bloody awesome. Aki had wanted Chinese but was out voted but I think he is happy with the decision in the end.

Back to the flat for some laundry & a couple of drinks before we crash out.

The next day feels like a day off as we have no driving & don’t have to load in until 5ish. Aki gets some fishing in & the rest of us do a bit of sightseeing.

Galway is a really good looking town, it still seems to have lots of small independent shops unlike most small towns in the UK which nowadays all seem to look the same. It also, thankfully seems to be fairly free of what Bill Drummond called the ‘cod mystical Celtic shit’ & general tourist tat that kinda spoils Dublin for me. Not a single bicycle nailed to the ceiling either as far as I can tell.

To be fair that is probably as much the fault of the English who visit there & expect it as it is Dubliners themselves. I guess any capital city is pretty cheesy if you only get to see the tourist areas.

Anyway, I buy some shoes & get rained on & then head back to the flat where the very generous catering has arrived.

The turn out for the show is a little disappointing but I guess it is a Tuesday night. Those that are there are pretty rowdy so the band really enjoy the show & the merch table does good business.

Back to the flat after the show for a drink or two. Tomorrow we head for Cork where the show is free so it should be a pretty crazy night. 

As usual we had a great show in King Tut’s. Last time up here we made the mistake of playing the slightly larger ABC. In fact most of the last tour was in that sort of venue & it didn’t really work. Technically those O2s & ABCs are great but they lack the soul of places like King Tuts & tomorrow’s venue Leeds Well.
いつものようにキングタッツで最高のライブだった。やっぱり前回のグラスゴーでやったベニュー、ABCはやっぱ良くなかったな。前回はアカデミーグループのベニューばっかでやったけどそういうチェーン店はやっぱりバンドに対して愛情が薄い気がするな。今回のキングタッツや明日やるリーズのウェルみたいなとこに比べて。
Check out a review & some great pics by Stuart Westwood here.
昨日のレビューとライブ写真がここに上がってるよ。チェックしてね。
So far this tour has gone as well as any that I have been on & I think a big part of that has been the choice of venues.
ここまで今回のツアーが調子いいのはやっぱりライブ会場の選ぶ方が良いのが主な理由だと思うな。
After the show we pack up quickly & head for the Travelodge at the Airport so I can have a birthday drink though by the time we get there it is of course no longer my birthday. Despite having no sleep last night the old folk are up ‘til 3am drinking Jack and Yamazaki.
ライブ終了後、トラベロッジで宿泊。もう誕生日は過ぎちゃったけど、昨日寝てないにも関わらず、アキとカズトはジャックと山崎ウィスキーで俺の誕生日を祝ってくれた。
Finally on the tour I get a good night’s sleep (maybe I should drink more regularly...nah, maybe not) & we leave at noon for the drive down to Leeds.
ツアー中、ようやくぐっすり寝たぞ。やっぱり酒飲んだ方がええんか？いや違うな。そして正午にリーズへ出発。
The guys at Leeds Well love Eel Shock so we were pretty well guaranteed a good night & they didn’t disappoint. Last time we were up here they were still under construction but now the place is finished & the kitchen is up & running so we have some excellent in house scoff before the show.
ウェルのスタッフも皆イールショック大好きだから、良いライブなのは約束されたようなもんだけど、想像通り良いライブだったな。前回来た時はまだ建設中だったけど、今回はちゃんと厨房もあって、素晴らしい食事を出してくれた。
アキはケーキまで頼んでたよ。

There is a pretty good turnout for a Sunday & a definite improvement on last time we played, I think the promoters have been putting the word out (I know that is their job but you’d be amazed how many promoters don’t seem to realise that!).
日曜にしては良い感じで人も入って、前回よりも良い感じだったな。ちゃんとプロモーターが口コミで宣伝してるからだろうな。重要なことなのにたいていのプロモーターはその事に気づいてないな。
After the show we hang around for a drink with the staff for an hour or so, consensus seems to be that it is the best show they have had at the Well this year. I get the impression that we get booked at The Well as much for the amusement of the staff as for anything else.  It’s a real joy to work with these guys, just a shame that we have a ferry to catch tomorrow so we are breaking the journey in Liverpool & have to head off after a pint & a Jaeger (except you designated driver naturally).
ライブ終了後、一時間ほどバーで飲ませてもらった。ここで今年一番の良いライブだったって皆楽しそうだった。ただ残念ながら明日はフェリーに乗ってアイルランドに向かわなければならないのでイェガーマイスターのショットで乾杯の後、早々にリバプールへ出発。
The road is clear to Liverpool & the van is still running well so we make good time to our friend Karen’s place which is a regular watering hole on EES tours.
リバプールまで道路も空いてて、いつもお世話になってるリバプールのカレンさん宅へ。
Cup of char & off to bed.
お茶だけ飲んですぐ就寝。
On the road next day at 10am for the drive to Holyhead. Breakfast in a portside cafe & then catch the ferry to Dublin.
翌朝10時出発で、アイルランド行きのフェリーに乗る為、ホーリーヘッドへ。
We only have 2 days off on this tour & both will be spent travelling between Liverpool & Ireland.
たった２日しかないツアーのお休みはどっちもアイルランドから往復するフェリーの中ってわけ。
It’s a hard life.
きっついなあ。