tour diary – chickfactor zine

January 2, 2025January 3, 2025

chickfactor 2024 lists: Ladybug Transistor Tour Diary

The Ladybug Transistor at Deep Cuts in Medford MA. Photo by Ben Stas.

Top tour experiences with The Ladybug Transistor: December 2024
by Jennifer Baron (The Ladybug Transistor + The Garment District)
Being a total fan girl while touring with the fantastic Lightheaded and Tony Molina band (and having Mark Robinson on the bill in Medford, MA) and sharing the stage with Ladybug members from all iterations of the band each night was absolutely dreamy—every night was a joy, with beautiful venues and fantastic audiences, and I just wish we could have lived it all in slow motion!

Rest area snowball fight in New Hampshire

Here are some of my top highlights from an abbreviated tour diary of sorts:

On the drive from Keene, New Hampshire to Kingston, New York: Visiting the iconic Hogback Mountain Country Store perched atop scenic Route 9 in Marlboro, Vermont, just after a serene December snowfall. A Vermont fixture since 1936, the cozy shop is located at the Hogback Mountain Scenic Overlook at 2,250 feet. The sweeping views span breathtaking Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, pointing to Mount Holyoke, where I attended college. Perusing the shop and natural history museum, with an incredible section of maple syrup, donuts, libations and apparel—that I could not fit in my suitcase.

Scott McCaughey playing with The Ladybug Transistor at Mississippi Studios in PDX

Having the wonderful Scott McCaughey join us for our cover of Gene Clark’s “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” at the fantastic Mississippi Studios in Portland, and meeting Scott’s adorable dog Gladys during our sound check. And also seeing you there, Gail, along with dear friends from Pittsburgh and college. A beautiful venue throughout.

Sasha Bell, Scott McCaughey, Jennifer Baron at Mississippi Studios

Two sublime, and related, vegan dinners from venues where we performed:
At The Atrium plant-based restaurant inside Public Records in Brooklyn: Hibachi grilled tamarind Jewel yams with tamarind yogurt, salsa macha, pumpkin seed gremolata, coriander and mint. From Checker Hall inside The Lodge Room in Highland Park, Los Angeles: Sticky sweet potato dish with garlic glaze, aji verde, hazelnut and harissa oil. OMG, take me back.

LBT and Tony Molina band in the Mission District

Reuniting with our dearest friend Alicia Vanden Heuvel for the West Coast tour; revisiting Atlas Cafe in the Mission where we used to love going for breakfast when we toured in California with friends such as The Aislers Set, the Lucksmiths and Of Montreal. This visit was WAY TOO BRIEF. Thank you for everything, Alicia and Tony!

The Ladybug Transistor cocktail made for our show by the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco and having it be exactly the kind of cocktail I love: tequila, grapefruit, lime, grenadine and soda. Loved having The Telephone Numbers plus DJs Jessica B, Coleminer and Miller Genuine Daft help to make this night so extra special.

Jacki Walburn from Lightheaded playing with The Ladybug Transistor at Public Records in Brooklyn

Having Jacki from Lightheaded “play” an apple (and tambourine) while joining us for “The Swimmer” (see 1:53) at Public Records in Brooklyn, and likewise, finally getting to “play” an apple myself, after all of these years, along with Ladybug percussionist dynamo Eric Farber, who joined is for our show at The Lodge Room in LA.

LBT at The Lodge Room in LA. Photo by Darian Sahanaja

Seeing the one and only, Joe Belock, aka WFMU’s Three Chord Monte, along with the ever-fabulous Jack Silbert, at our show at Public Records in Brooklyn. Thank you Joe, for spinning The Garment District!
Having original Ladybug drummer Ed Powers join us for “Rushes of Pure Spring” at Nova Arts Block in Keene, New Hampshire, where we had a blissful reunion of so many old friends from NYC and New England.

Spending the night at Gaia Hotel in Anderson CA (thank you Scott McCaughey, for the pro tip!) … but too cold for the hot tub!

Åke Strömer at Love of Fuzz in Troy New York

Visiting the terrific Love of Fuzz music store in Troy, New York, thanks to pedal-making, van-driving and merchandise-selling Swede guru, Åke Strömer.

Random and good-natured practical jokes and snowball fights at the many rest stops we frequented along the way.

IYKYK: Enjoying the best-in-the-game, late-night Smiling Pizza and blowing a kiss to my old apartment on 7th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Reunions of all sorts on this tour, including a mini high school reunion and Frock reunion (Sasha from Ladybug, Annie from Spent and me!) in LA. So good for the soul, heart and spirit.

Receiving gorgeous local flowers grown by Stephen Hunking (who helped us recreate the original packaging for “The Albemarle Sound” reissue), who runs Mooncake Flower Farm in Camas Washington, which graced our stage, and van, for the West Coast shows. Check out his new band, Dew Claw!

Favorite new sparkly vintage necklace scored at a vintage and antique warehouse in Kalama, Washington.

Staying in the house where we used to live (Marlborough Farms) in Brooklyn, while hunkering down in the basement studio for rehearsals and making frequent trips to the Flatbush Food Co-op. Taking breaks to watch “The Making of Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and have Sasha do tarot readings and cook us amazing dinner!

Griffith Observatory full December Moon. Photo by Sam Blehar

Controlling the dome speed at Griffith Observatory in LA

During a few days off in Los Angeles with my cousin Sam after the tour: Being invited to control the speed of the dome at Griffith Observatory; the best pupusa breakfast ever at the Atwater Village Farmers’ Market with dear friends I first met years ago while living in NYC (thank you, Jeff Feuerzeig, Dean Warheam and Matt Chesse!); finding the Ennis House in Los Feliz; revisiting the Laurel Canyon Country Store …

L-R: My dream supergroup! Matt Chessé, Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, Jennifer Baron, Darian Sahanaja, Sasha Bell, Domenic Priore, Jeff Feuerzeig and Becky Ebenkamp after our show at The Lodge Room in LA

It was deeply meaningful to play our music and be able to exist in a bit of an alternate universe bubble for a few weeks on both coasts during this truly multimodal tour! THANK YOU to my Ladybug bandmates and to every single person who attended these shows, listened with enthusiasm and helped us to sell out of our vinyl and T-shirts. Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is currently planning a repress of “The Albemarle Sound” reissue and we hope to see you all again soon!

Best pupusa breakfast ever at the Atwater Village Farmers Market in LA

The Ladybug Transistor and Lightheaded in Brooklyn

November 19, 2024November 21, 2024

Chime School Tour Diary

Earlier this autumn, the Bay Area pop group Chime School flew over the ocean for a tour of the United Kingdom and France and they documented it all for chickfactor and you can read it here.

Buy their latest album, The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel, here.
Andy is also in Seablite, who we interviewed in CF19, 2022.
Copies still in print and for sale.

Bandleader Andy Pastalaniec writes: From the moment “Chime School” transformed from a bedroom-pop solo project to a debut LP on Slumberland Records with a fully formed backing band, it’s been a goal of mine to take the project across the pond to the land where so much of its “formative jangle” originated.

The opportunity arrives on New Year’s Day, 2024, when we’re invited to play the Paris Popfest in September. My sophomore album, “The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel” is slated for release in August on Slumberland. Paris Popfest is exactly the anchor we need to build a tour around.

I’ve always done pretty good booking DIY tours, but I have no idea how to book a tour in the UK. Luckily, I don’t have to, as I’ve convinced Reuben Miles-Tyghe, of UK tour agency Outsider Artists, to add us to his roster. OA have been leading a sort of reverse “British Invasion” of California indie groups to the UK and Europe, booking tours for many of the contemporary indie cognoscenti: Cindy, The Umbrellas, The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Kelley Stoltz, and others. I am a bit nervous that we are not as big as those groups (our second album hasn’t even been announced yet) so this whole thing could flop in a most-embarrassing fashion. But I resolve to do what I can to make it a success.

So, over the next 9 months I’ll spend many hours making videos, posters, flyers and other promo materials for the upcoming album, and what has become an 11-show France/UK tour, beginning September 27 in Paris, and concluding October 7 in the legendary indie pop city of Bristol!

Travel Day: September 25-26 – San Francisco to London to Paris

Andy: We have about 20 hours of travel ahead of us, flying first to London, then lugging our bags and instruments from Heathrow on the tube to St Pancras station where we’ll take the Eurostar to Paris.
Josh: Our travel day starts off with an important victory: we’re able to convince the people at Virgin Atlantic to let us carry on our guitars, so they can be stored in the cabin for our flight instead of having to be checked (and maybe lost). So this puts us at ease for the journey right away.
Andy: Pro-tip, if you’re touring overseas, avoid connecting flights and take your instruments straight to the gate. Play dumb, and be very very polite.

Andy: We arrive in Paris on September 26 in the evening, exhausted, to a Haussman-era flat overlooking Porte Saint-Denis where Emmanuel and Joanny, our gracious hosts from Paris Popfest, have arranged for us to stay. It’s under construction (which is why it’s available) but it’s unlike anyplace we’ve stayed in Paris, so we’re totally energized as we head to night one of the Popfest.

DIY popfests are one of my favorite events to play and attend. Night one doesn’t disappoint, we’d been looking forward to catching Blue Orchids, and they are great. We are tired but the best way to beat jet lag is to stay out as late as possible, and then sleep as long as possible. We succeed on both.

Porte Saint Denis – the view from our balcony

Day 1: Paris Pop Fest
w/ Gentle Spring, Les Freluquets, The Orchids

Andy: We have only one full day in Paris (and we sleep through most of it), but three of us have been before. We spend our limited time wandering around some cafes, eating as many pastries, bread, meats and cheeses as we can before it’s time to head to sound check. The fest is at Le Hasard Ludique, a venue built on a decommissioned Metro station with an outdoor terrace on the former train platform, overlooking the former Metro tracks, which have been transformed into a makeshift park.
Josh: After our soundcheck, the fest’s official photographer asks us to take some photos outside. It’s the platonic ideal of band photo backdrops (the ne plus ultra, even). You literally could not take a bad looking picture back there. So much so that after the photographer is done, we start taking some of our own, which gets him started again.

Official Paris Popfest portrait by Philippe Dufour

Andy: It’s definitely surreal to be on a bill with indie pop legends the Orchids, and The Gentle Spring, they are both great. The Orchids are incredibly friendly and we really hit it off. Les Freluquets are a more obscure French indie pop group from the 1980s who have reunited for the fest, and they are fantastic as well.
Josh: Everyone is great, especially The Orchids. James Hackett’s voice sounds pretty much identical to the records, and the band sounds fantastic. One of the guitars has a “Within Your Reach” level of flange on it for the entire set, which is really working for me. Late in the set they go into “It’s Only Obvious” and the crowd goes as nuts as an indie pop crowd can go, singing along.
Andy: Chatting with organizers Emmanuel and Joanny before our set, they ask if we speak any French. We do not. They kind of goad me into giving an introduction in French when we take the stage. Why not? I write out something very simple on a handbill. At least the most stressful part of the tour will be over fast. I approach the mic, “Bonsoir, nous somme Chime School de San Francisco…” applause and cheers of “ouais!” erupt from the crowd as I continue my little speech, and we are off!

Andy: Our set is supercharged by the excitement of finally starting the tour, and the experience of being an “exotic” group to a foreign audience– something our friends in other California bands had told us about. We make a bunch of new friends, sell all the merch we’ve brought (the rest is waiting for us in the UK) and think, if the rest of the shows are even half as fun as this, we are going to have a great tour.

Live at Paris Popfest – they love the dramatic lighting!

Day 2 – Cambridge, UK at NCI Centre
w/ The Lord Mayor’s Horticultural Society, Garden Centre

Andy: We wake up somewhat early in Paris as we have another long travel day back to the UK on the Eurostar, then on the train from London to Cambridge.
Josh: Gary, Phil and I are waiting downstairs while Andy goes back up for a final idiot check. It’s starting to rain, Phil goes out a bit into the thoroughfare to smoke. With his all black outfit, watchman’s cap and cigarette, Phil seems to fit right into this Parisian street scene. Just as Gary remarks on this, we watch as someone passing by tries to ask Phil for directions.
Andy: Phil definitely looks natural, which makes sense as this is his third or fourth Euro tour. The first he did in his early 20s, in a hardcore band that toured Europe for like a month straight staying in squats and the like. In short he’s a total pro and pretty much goes with the flow the entire time.
Josh: As we finally get on the train to Cambridge I start to relax a bit. I look out the window and watch England going by, looking quite a bit just like it does in movies and teevee. The band is in a state of semi-delirious giddiness. I think we’ve skipped right to being on “tour-time,” where you can’t really tell what time of day or even what day it is, you just keep moving.
We arrive in Cambridge and start looking around for the tour van. We catch sight of a tall and burly dude with a wiry mane of sandy blond hair, wearing a sleeveless cutoff denim jacket over a flannel shirt. That’s our guy, Charlie Fitzgerald, aka “Fitz.” He’s recently driven our friends The Reds, Pinks & Purples, and Kelley Stoltz on their UK tours, and we’ve heard nothing but good things. Fitz leads us to his van, a large Euro-style conversion. In the back there’s four seats arranged around a wooden table, behind which is a loft with a mattress. Below the loft, a secure gear-hold. This will be our second home for the next 10 days.

Andy: The first UK show is at NCI Centre in Cambridge, a historic neighborhood social club/pub that is occasionally transformed into a DIY music space. Setting up on the stage in the back of the well-lit social hall, I’m reminded of famous photos I’ve seen of Shop Assistants, and other legendary indie groups who played similar places in the 1980s. We’re set to play two shows with Garden Centre, one of the many groups with shared members from the prolific London-based “Gob Nation” scene (The Tubs, Ex-Void, Suep, others). I read a profile about them in the Guardian that made me feel a bit intimidated, like they might beat us up and steal our lunch money. Then a small car pulls up to the venue and the band tumble out and introduce themselves. They’re all very nice and honestly, hanging with them we feel totally at home like any DIY show we’d play in SF or Oakland.
Josh: You may have never guessed they all knew each other, it’s only when you notice their interactions have the quality of an endless comedy sketch built on a deep foundation of inside jokes and running bits that this was, in fact, a band. I had done no research whatsoever into any of the bands we’d be playing with, preferring to experience them fresh at the shows. Andy had told me some things about Garden Centre – Owen from The Tubs plays guitar; they’re affiliated with a scene called “Gob Nation,” which sounds not unlike our corner of the current SF music scene, which Gary describes as “13 people playing in 35 bands.” Being in around five bands myself, I’m in no position to argue.
Andy: Opening the show are The Lord Mayor’s Horticultural Society, a gentle acoustic duo composed of a classical guitarist/vocalist and cello player. Their set is beautiful and I can imagine our friends back home loving it.
I’m not sure what to expect from Garden Centre live. Their records are abstract and eccentric, mostly featuring Max, the lead songwriter. They set up and start playing and the live group is a fully formed powerhouse. Seriously one of the best groups any of us had seen in years!
Josh: Their mix of folkish melodies and anthemic indie pop knocked me out right away. Max has a unique voice and uses it to great effect – with great pitch and a convincingly forceful delivery. Great songwriter too, with the kind of lyrics that seamlessly transmute everyday humdrum into high drama. The band is fantastic – a perfect combination of disparate musical personalities and charming stage presence. The between-song banter is a continuation of their off-stage humor. Midway through the set Max starts a bit about how he’s against Horticultural Societies, and he particularly doesn’t like the Lord-Mayor either. Then someone from the audience shouts, “I’ll kill you!” Hecklers don’t fuck around in Cambridge! When we hit the stage and Andy gives his standard introduction: “Hi, we’re Chime School from San Francisco” I have to add “Please don’t kill us.”
Andy: We apologize for being the only non-plant band on the bill.

*Garden Centre at The Victoria in London*

Day 3 – London, UK at The Victoria
w/ Dignan Porch, Garden Centre

Andy: In the van, Gary starts talking about how we need to get a “Sunday Roast,” this English tradition where you go to the pub on Sunday and get a huge plate of meat, potatoes, gravy, etc. It’s a Sunday as we arrive in London and we have a bit of time, let’s give it a shot. We spend about an hour wandering around Dalston, trying to find one, but we fail, every pub is sold out! I guess it’s really a thing?
Instead we head to The Duke of Wellington, a “classic old boozer” where Garden Centre have invited us to have a few pints and watch some footie. Our drummer Phil, is a huge football fan (we refer to him as our “English translator” on tour) so we certainly don’t have to twist his arm.
The show is at The Victoria, a cozy bar with a dark, dank venue hidden behind a secret-passage bookshelf door.
Josh: It’s adorable. Layout, and size-wise it’s comparable to the legendary SF venue The Hemlock Tavern. I amuse myself for the rest of the evening by privately referring to it as the “Harry Potter Hemlock.”
Andy: Opening are Dignan Porch, who are on the Safe Suburban Home label, which we are fans of. They are friendly and their performance mesmerizing. Garden Centre totally rule again, and we are sad that we won’t be playing with them more on the tour.
Josh: Garden Centre play basically the same set as the night before, so I’m prepared and perfectly situated to take a video of my favorite song from their set, “Chicken.” I’m fairly certain it was this video – which I posted later in the night – that led directly to a purchase of a Garden Centre album by Kevin Linn aka “Kevin Paisley” of Paisley Shirt Records, back home.
Andy: That’s right! Garden Center are totally up Kevin’s alley!

Andy: At the show I finally meet Fran Carolyn, music writer and radio show host, a huge supporter of the SF Bay Area groups for the last few years.

Andy: Also in attendance is Peter Momtchiloff of Heavenly/Talulah Gosh, etc. which makes me really nervous as we play, since his playing was so influential when I was learning to write songs on the guitar. He’s a really nice guy and he digs our set so we’re feeling chuffed.
We also meet Beth Arzy who says she loves the painting of the tabby cat on the cover of the new Chime School album. She asks if it’s a portrait of my cat. I tell her it’s not, but that I do have a tabby cat that my partner named Aberdeen!

Day 4 – Nottingham at JT Soar
w/ Plum Jr., AHCB

Andy: It’s cold and rainy when we pull into Nottingham. First stop is “Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem,” recommended by Garden Centre as it’s “thee oldest inn in England.” We spend a couple hours there, eat some steak & ale pies and have a few pints.
Josh: It’s entirely possible the place is a tourist trap but it’s still pretty damn cool. Built into the side of a rock hillside, the walls in some of the rooms are actually walls of caves within the larger rock. As it rained on into the afternoon some of these walls started sweating and dripping with authentic English damp.
Andy: mmm… authentic damp.

Josh, Gary and Phil paying homage to everyone’s favorite proto-marxist redistributor of feudal wealth, Robin Hood.

Andy: We split the pub and head to JT Soar, a DIY space that kind of feels like our practice space back home. They throw tons of shows and we see flyers for some friends’ bands on the wall. The rain is pouring, but it doesn’t stop folks from coming out, and it’s a very welcoming crowd.
Josh: The space is full when we go on. “We went to the oldest pub in England today” Andy says during a mid-set tuning break. “Which one?” a few people in the crowd shout out. “The one named after a Mekons song,” I add.

Day 5 – York at The Fulford Arms
w/ Vehicle, Speedreaders

Andy: We are excited to play York, as it’s home to Safe Suburban Home, a great record label. With our spare time before the show, we head into town and check out The Shambles, a street in the city center that dates back to the medieval period. Someone suggests we try something called a “Yorkie Pud” which is apparently a yorkshire pudding in wrap form. We find the place that sells them, and eventually realize the recommendation may have been sarcastic… but it gives us some fun between-song banter during the show. “Eews” abound as we share what we ate. The show is a great time and Vehicle and Speedreaders are both excellent.
Josh: Between sets I meet Jim Quinn, who aside from helping to promote the show was also the proprietor of Safe Suburban Home records, who co-released the recent R.E. Seraphin record that I played on. Nice guy! We talk a bit and I get a pic with him to send to Ray and the boys back home.
Andy: Perhaps my favorite part of the show is this teenage kid who dances like crazy during our set. After the show he chats me up at the merch table about how he’s getting into indie pop. He’s got no money to buy merch so I just give him a copy of everything we have.

Day 6 – Manchester at Gulliver’s
w/ Autocamper, Severe Girls

Andy: Manchester is one of the shows we’re most looking forward to. We’re playing with Autocamper, one of the more exciting new indie pop groups in the UK (and new SLR labelmates!). I met Jack and Arthur two years ago when seablite and the Umbrellas played Manchester. As we catch up I learn Jack and Arthur met that night as well, and that was the night they started Autocamper!

Andy: Autocamper do not disappoint! Jack’s guitar is trebly and noisy, a great counterpart to Niamh’s gentler organ. The show is great and afterwards, they take us to Peer Hat, a low-key bar near the venue that for some reason feels like the English version of the late Cafe Pergolesi in Santa Cruz.
Josh: The show is great – in my opinion the best crowd of the tour. It’s also the loudest show of the trip – I like the sound guy a lot but by the end of the night he seems almost comically gacked. Autocamper are great though – cool kids through and through, and fun to hang with. There was a cool couple who stayed upfront and danced like mad throughout the entire show – I can’t tell you how much this helps when you’re well into a tour and your energy is always in danger of flagging.

*Chime School at Gullivers in Manchester*

Andy: No tour of the UK is complete without a stop at Bernie’s, a Manchester institution. Part of the music scene for decades, she started hosting bands in the basement of her house about 20 years ago. Gary has stayed there a number of times over the years, and I’ve stayed there once before as well. We are lucky, as Outsider Artists have arranged our tour in such a way that we’ll be staying at Bernie’s on three separate occasions, which probably accounts for the excellent health we remain in for most of the tour. Bernie is very politically active, and it’s comforting to get the hell out of the U.S. and talk with some fellow leftists. We have some great chats and even watch a bit of footie one morning.

Hanging your poster on the wall in Bernie’s basement is a rite of passage.

Josh: We didn’t make it to Syd Barret’s house in Cambridge, and we couldn’t stop by Mark E. Smith’s house in Prestwich (it’s for sale if anyone’s interested), but we did make it to Salford Lads Club and took the obligatory band picture outside the front door. Gary’s been here and done this before, sharing that they never let people inside and generally seemed suspicious of any interest people had in the place. But it’s been a while since his last visit and things have changed. As we’re milling about, a nice older man pops his head out the door, sweeps us up and takes us to see “The Smiths Room” inside the building. Clearly a pet project of his, it’s covered from floor to ceiling in Smiths and other UK punk and indie memorabilia– and lots of pictures that tourists had taken of themselves out front.
Andy: Morrissey is a reprehensible nativist shitheel, but it’s cool the Salford Lads Club is able to sell memorabilia and leverage their Smiths association to fund childrens’ programs. There’s probably a bunch of working class immigrant kids who benefit from them, and I bet that makes Morrissey really mad! So that’s worthy of my support.

Day 7 – Glasgow at Mono
w/ The Cords, U.S. Highball

Andy: The typical motorway stop in the UK is ten times better than most of what you’ll find in the US, with actual nutritious food options that are so incredibly crucial when you’re staying up late, getting very little sleep, and drinking more alcohol than you probably should.
On the drive from Manchester to Glasgow, Gary insists we stop at Tebay, which he says is one of thee top roadside stops in the country. He’s not joking, the place is full of snacks, beers, and all kinds of fun tchotchkies. None of us are vegetarian or vegan, but throughout the trip we’re kind of obsessed with finding the craziest— err, most “authentic” local fare. Tebay has a massive assortment of Scotch Eggs, a hard-boiled egg deep fried in a sausage and breadcrumb casing. In California parlance, gnarly cuisine. We get a few of them for the van, and some meat pies. I’m glad we have plenty of spicy mustard to go along with them.

Andy: We arrive at Mono in Glasgow, load in, and hit up Monorail. Glasgow has always been such a welcoming place every time I’ve visited, Mono especially. We’re all very grateful for the work Monorail puts in to help promote DIY music and culture. It’s nice to catch up with Stephen and Dep at the counter.
The show that night is terrific, one of the best of the tour. I’m nervous because there’s some indie pop icons at that show as well. After our set, friend Kenji introduces us to Katrina Mitchell, and I meet Tim Vass from the Razorcuts, who were supremely influential for Chime School.

Live at Mono in Glasgow – photo by Stuart Reidman

Andy: We’ve been hearing so much about The Cords, and they are indeed great fun. I realize I have a Kitchenettes badge on my tote bag from the last time I saw them in SF. Knowing what fans The Cords are of Morgan (Kitchenettes, Umbrellas), I offer it to them and they are stoked!

Andy: It’s also fantastic meeting James and Calvin from U.S. Highball. They play a beautiful set and I really hope we can see them again someday. James is wearing a jumbo Tiger Trap badge, and I ask him about it, he says he just made it up on a button machine he bought, and offers it to me. Pin badge gifts all around!
Josh: Like Manchester, Glasgow looms large in the music nerd imagination. So it was extremely gratifying to have such great shows in both places.

Impromptu selfie with Tim Vass (Razorcuts) and Vanessa Vass (The Melons).

Day 8 – Halifax at The Grayston Unity

Andy: Halifax is the last of the smaller towns we’re playing on this tour. It’s nestled in a valley, along a river, cold and green, with a bit of a Pacific Northwest feel to it. Marc Dobson, who runs Prefect Records (and was also in the Field Mice and Northern Picture Library) says he’ll be coming out for the show. He doesn’t live in Halifax. I thought we might see him in Manchester, but he says “I’m saving my support for when you really need it.” We might need it tonight. The Grayston Unity is a small venue located in a dank basement beneath a bar. We have no idea what to expect, maybe this will be one of those shows that’s more like band practice?
Josh: The owner of the bar and venue is super friendly and seems genuinely excited to be hosting bands – which is not as common as you’d hope. He’s been holding it down in Halifax for years, his claim to fame having brought Pulp there in the 90s, with several posters to prove it!
Andy: We wander a bit before the show, eat some pizza with Marc and his daughter and head back to the venue to find the opener is already playing, and the show is packed! Where did all the indie pop fans in Halifax come from?
It’s about time for our set to start. I walk backstage to find Gary and Phil sipping from a giant bottle of Buckfast ….uh oh! Everyone in Glasgow warned us not to drink Buckfast, a fortified wine supercharged with caffeine, so obviously Phil bought a huge bottle. We all take a big swig before we hit the stage. After a song or two, I start feeling super loose and chilled out, yet totally energized! This stuff is great! It becomes a bit of a pre-show ritual for the remainder of the tour. Everything in moderation, I guess.
Halifax is a great town, and a sleeper candidate for funnest show of the tour.

Day 9 – Liverpool at The District
w/ Yee Loi, Irene & The Disappointments

Andy: Our time in Liverpool is somewhat limited, but number one on Phil’s list is finding somewhere to watch the Everton F.C. match. Phil is a huge Everton fan. I don’t know anything about football, but everyone we meet seems bewildered that an American has even heard of Everton, let alone is a supporter. We had hopes of catching the match in person, but time won’t allow it. The venue is located near the Mersey river in a former industrial area. There’s a kind of outdoor market, beer garden sort of place nearby, where we can take some goofy pictures at a Beatle-bar, and find a place to watch the match and eat.

Andy: The District is one of the larger venues we’re playing on the tour, and the sound is really good. I think it’s one of our best sets of the tour. It’s good to catch up with Ade Burke who runs Carnival Brewing, a local brewery who have been making signature brews for Glas Goes Pop fest for the last few years, and also booked a seablite/Umbrellas show at the brewery back in 2022.

Andy and Ade from Carnival Brewing, after the show, in the club lighting.

Andy: We also meet Ann Nazario, who does a podcast called “Ask a Drummer” (which is great, as drummers tend to be so underappreciated). She says she recently interviewed Keith from The Umbrellas and asks if I could introduce her to Phil. When I tell her there happen to be three drummers in Chime School, she lights up and we hatch a plan to do an interview with all three, so look out for that in the future.

Day 10 – Coventry at Just Dropped in Records
w/ Lande Hekt

Andy: We’re thrilled to cap off the tour playing two shows with Lande Hekt and her band, and that the first show happens to be at a record shop. For the most part, we’ve been moderating our record buying for fear of spending too much money and having to lug a bunch of records around, with the exception of Josh, who we regularly lose for hours at a time to whatever record shops might be in walking distance.
Josh: It’s certainly true, but I’m pretty certain I spend less money than the rest of the group, since I mainly live in the bargain bins these days – after all what’s the fun of paying today’s prices for a record you already know is going to be good, when you can buy a small stack of weird looking records you’ve never seen before for the same price?
Andy: Fair point, but now that we’re close to the end, we all indulge. The folks at the shop warn us that The Umbrellas recently tore through and cleaned them out, so of course now I’m feeling competitive! We look through just about everything and find lots of really great records. I snag a bunch of Sarah, Creation, and Factory stuff, and lots more. They give us a nice “artist discount” as well, so we’re all very happy.
Lande’s band is even better live than on record and they’re all lovely people, we have a great chat about the Bristol and UK DIY scene and comparisons with the US.

*Lande Hekt having a laugh during soundcheck.*

Andy: Our set is super fun and there’s a great crowd. I really can’t say enough about Just Dropped In and the people there. Super kind, fostering a wonderful DIY music space and also running a top-notch record shop. We are super grateful to play here and hope to come back!
Josh: After the show, Joe, the promoter who runs Sink or Swim Promotions, takes us around the corner and treats us to an incredible Indian feast. I had been wanting to get some Indian food for the entire trip. Lande Hekt told us the Midlands was the best region in England for Indian food, and I don’t doubt it.
Andy: It’s more of a Northern Indian style of cuisine, and the first time any of us try Parotta bread, which is very different than Naan you typically find in the states. Incredible stuff.

Day 11 – Bristol at The Cube Microplex
w/ Lande Hekt, Silk Cuts

Andy: It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the last day of the tour. I’m super excited to visit Bristol, home of the Subway Organization and of course Sarah Records. Our route has us crossing the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and even though it’s pouring rain, I insist we pull off the road and have a look. Whether you’re a Sarah nerd or not, the view from the Clifton Observatory is breathtaking.

Andy: I’m hoping to check out Temple Meads Station, but it’s clear across town, and I’m told it’s also under renovation; the whole thing covered in scaffolding. We’ll have to skip it. I suppose public spending on transit infrastructure is a fitting reason to miss a Sarah Records landmark.
The Cube Microplex is a DIY venue in an old movie theater. Lande and the group were telling us about it in Coventry and we’re all really excited, as it sounds like the Bristol version of the 4-Star Theater back home.

Andy: At this point we all admit to being a bit tired. I’ve done a couple long-ish tours as a drummer, but I’ve never fronted a band playing hour-long sets every night for eleven straight days. It’s a lot of singing! I’m not sure how my voice still works, but I think I’ve got one more show in me.

Silk Cuts and Lande Hekt are both fantastic. Reuben from Outsider Artists (our booking agent), lives near Bristol so he’s come out to the show. It’s great to finally meet him in person, after we both put so much work into the tour. Of course there’s a part of me that thinks “oh shit, I hope he likes the live group.”

*Lande Hekt at The Cube – photo by Wendy @Stardream_Girl*

Live at The Cube in Bristol – photo by Wendy @Stardream_Girl

Andy: Backstage, Phil, Gary, Josh and I pass the bottle of Buckfast around and toast to one final show. I start to get a bit nervous as we begin our set; the venue is nearly full, everyone is politely seated far from us, and the stage is extremely well lit with no dark or dramatic lighting to hide behind.
Josh: It’s always psychologically tricky to play high-energy music to a seated audience, But it’s also nice to look out at a full house, seated or not!
Andy: After our third or fourth song a San Francisco sports heckler makes himself known, trying to ask us about the 49ers or something, but giving us some fun barbs to exchange and break the ice a bit. Our Bristol set goes off without a hitch, and the tour is done!
We’ve done so well on this tour that we basically have nothing left to sell, which is a major relief, as hauling a box of merch home always feels like a sign of defeat. We exchange hugs with Fitz and Reuben, and go our separate ways.
Noah from Lande’s band kindly hosts us for our last night in the UK. Walking to his flat from the venue, with all of our luggage and instruments, the sky completely opens up, and we get completely drenched.
All of our stuff is totally soaked mere hours before a long travel day. We kind of can’t help but laugh but hey it’s ok, things dry really fast in England, right??

Andy: After another 20-hour travel day on a bus from Bristol to London and a flight back to San Francisco we’re finally home.

Thanks so much to everyone who made our first UK tour so memorable: the promoters, bands, venues, all the people who came to see us and walked away with a T-shirt or record, especially the folks who saw us on more than one occasion! We hope to visit you all again someday!

November 8, 2024

WUT West Coast Tour Diary

WUT is fun! We asked the Vancouver, BC riot-twee band WUT, which features members of Knife Pleats, Tough Age, Jock Tears, to document their recent West Coast tour, and we think you’ll agree that reading it makes us want to form a band and go on tour! Listen to their latest album, Mingling with the Thorns, here. Photographs courtesy of WUT

WUT are:
Tracey Vath: bass, vocals, and additional guitar
Kaity McWhinney: guitar and vocals
Lauren Smith: drums and vocals

All 3 members have arrived in the USA for our first show at the Vera Project

Day 1
Seattle, WA – Vera Project
The Nags, Sleeping Bag

Tracey: Whenever I travel from Canada into the states, I always get the border crossing jitters. Even if I am just going across to get a soda and a hotdog. So I wore my fancy border crossing dress and packed two lucky charms away in my backpack. But, a few short hours later, we were eating ice cream sundaes in front of an American flag the size of 17 football fields. Our show was at the Vera Project, which is a superb all ages venue right below the space needle. They run programs that teach folk how to do stage sound and recording. Before we played, we met a really sweet person named Meredith, who was at the show with their dad and they told us all their favorite songs from our two albums! Seattle locals Sleeping Bag were completely our bag, and we were jazzed to play with The Nags, also from seattle. After the show, we stayed with our friend Freddie Lee Toyoda in their rock n roll hall of fame basement. I fell asleep with visions of Frank Zappa and little Debbie treats dancing around in my head.

Tracey basks in all the little debbie products that our host, Freddie Lee Toyota, has provided for us during our stay

Lauren: We made it to America! First stop was feeding my cute band with dumplings dunked in black vinegar in Seattle’s Chinatown near the train station where my Amtrak Bus pulled into. I saw a lady eating a feast of hard boiled eggs while sitting on the exit stairs towards the street and seeing her growing tower of egg shells was getting me really hungry now. There was not a chance we were going to make soundcheck tonight! My google maps promised me that the Dough Zone was dumpling destination numero uno so I made my way there and picked up as many steamy dumplings as I could carry to the Vera Project to surprise Kaity and Tracey with who were already at the venue waiting for me. The show was “lightly attended” but there were sweet folks there. The drummer from the last band said the way I hit the crash cymbal was just like Marky Ramone, filling me with a lot of optimism for what was ahead of us. After the show, we made our way to Lake City where our sweet friend Freddie and their partner, Keegan call their home. Their cute house stood out amongst their neighbors with protest signs taped firmly into their windows. You can’t be neutral on a moving train, right? To not take a stand is to collaborate. Freddie never takes a seat and we love them for it. We left Lake city with three boxes of covid tests, a bass guitar for Tracey, an axe for Kaity, pockets full of twinkies and hearts full!

Our merch setup, including Tracey’s drawing to replace the actual records which we did not have in time

Day 2
Portland, OR- Mississippi Records
Layperson, Lowland Painter

Lauren: We were warned that traffic going south on the I5 was gonna get nutty between Seattle and Portland and our comrades were right! It was a crawl past Tacoma and we decided to take it easy on ourselves and stop to fill our water bottles up with that fine artesian well water on the streets of Olympia-a-a-a! They say if you drink from the well in Olympia, you’ll come back to the city, and given WUT’s total adoration for Thurston County and specifically Olympia I’d say we’re hooked! More to come on our Oly show later…. We made it to Portland nicely hydrated with about an hour to spare, parked our van outside of Mississippi records and had time for a beer in the park before sound check got underway. The portland local rockers were so quick to jump in and help us untangle wires, and get the knobs turnt out in all the right ways, we were feeling so safe and taken care of! We decided to hit the road after the show and get some miles down as the next days drive was one of the biggest!

Tracey signing Scott’s door of musicians that have stayed with him (it’s a LOT)

Tracey: In Portland, the legendary cowboy rockers, Cruise Control, helped us out with our gig at Mississippi records – even going as far as helping me turn my bass pegs while I painfully tried to tune using an unfamiliar (to me) tuner. Sometimes I need all the help I can get. Since our records were late from the printing press, I drew up a picture of what the album looks like, and we put that on the merch table, along with our stickers and baseball cards. We could still sell the album, but we just had to take people’s names and addresses so our label could mail them (thanks again, HHBTM, we love you!) After popping some beta blockers, a magical pill essential to calming the nervous shaky feelings, we were good to play our set with Layperson and Lowland Painter- all class acts.

Scott, Lauren and Kaity stand in front of his house, which is surrounded by a fortress of sunflowers, ready to say goodbye and head out

Day 3
Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club
Papas, French Tips, Color Green

Tracey: Our friend Amanda from Apollo Ghosts recommended that we check out Pendleton, Oregon, on our way to Boise, Idaho. So we stopped off in the “old west” themed city with strange brass animal sculptures on every corner. The three of us went separate ways to find toilets, stamps, water, solitude, etc, but we all ended up at the same thrift store on the end of the street. Most of the store was on sale for $1, so Lauren and I tried on a bunch of stuff- her in the change room and me just outside of the changeroom. I think being on the road for 3 days had already given me a no shame attitude about things like changing (and peeing) in public. The two of us walked away with pretty much a whole new tour wardrobe. Back on the road, we got an insta message from a random person named Scott asking if we wanted to stay at his house after the show that night. We asked if he was going to the show, and he said no. At first we thought it was a bit strange, but after looking at his IG profile, we got the impression that he housed a lot of bands, so we said yes. We arrived at the Shrine Social Club close to door time, where we met Papas and the French Tips, the two Boise bands that we were playing with. Papas are super silly and down-to-earth people who keep track of time by 4/20’s (“it was a few months before last 4/20”..), and the French Tips are so sweet and generous (not to mention total shredders). Big props to the person who kept asking me to flex and kiss my muscles. I really don’t know why that was happening, it was too loud for me to hear what she was saying, but I was stoked on it regardless. Afterwards, I found that she had bought our album and wrote us a note that said “I ❤️ you – always come back. Keep your chins up xoxoxo”. Scott from IG showed up at the end of the show, and our anxieties eased as everyone seemed to know him. He gave us directions to his house, declining our invitation to join us for Mexican food because he “doesn’t do restaurants”. Scott ended up being a total gem. Not only does he not do restaurants- he also doesn’t buy anything, at all. A true dumpster diver, sunflower sower, and great host. We added our signature to his door full of tags from the hundreds of bands he has housed over the last decade.

Lauren: Without fail we forgot about the time change between Portland and Boise adding one more hour to our already huge travel day. We did a good job of balancing “making good time” and “making good memories,” stopping in Pendleton to do some epic thrifting and to Safeway to pick up some fresh foods. We arrived at the Shrine Club with like 10 minutes to spare before sound check and man oh man was this venue COOL! We played in the basement with the coolest local bands, Papas and French Tips. Loved meeting these guys, we traded merch after our sets from behind the merch table and I left Boise with a Papas stickers and pins on like all of my belongings. There is a super special community of weirdos and rockers in Boise and we left feeling like we gotta get back! I hope we apply for Treefort Fest next spring! We made our way to Caldwell Idaho after the show to stay at Scotts rocker mansion where we met his brilliant goats. I got my picture taken feeding the mama goat a baby marijuana plant which I sent back home to my mom on Vancouver Island, who was quite impressed!

Day 4
Salt Lake City, UT- Old Cuss Café
Gonk, Strog, Chalk

Tracey: In Salt Lake City, Utah, we played at a cute cafe/vintage shop called Old Cuss. All the bands that night had weird one syllable names- WUT, gonk, Chalk, and Strog. As soon as we arrived at the venue, a new friend gave me a copy of a Brendan Fraser zine to read, and I spent the next half hour lost in memories of The Mummy and George of the Jungle until we realized that the show had started and we had missed most of the first band. Apologies to gonk, it’s all Brendan Fraser’s fault! This was our first really hot show, where the temperatures felt a bit unbearable. I saw Lauren using her clip-on drum fan and wished that I had bought one to clip on the head of my bass. It isn’t until I am on stage when I remember all the things I have wanted to rig onto my bass or have on stage- a fan, a reading lamp (to see my fingers at dimly lit venues), a tuner, a stand for soda water, etc etc. At night we stayed at Lauren’s sweet friend Stan’s furniture-less apartment and ate burritos on his floor.

Lauren hanging out in Berty, our faithful van!

Lauren: Now that we were off the coast we were really feeling the difference in climate and temperature. Our last nights host, Scott, was so kind in making about a dozen recommendations of rivers and lakes to stop in at on the way to Salt Lake City to cool off in. We ended up finding a little lake outside of Falls City to eat some pasta salad at and take a dip. The band that swims together stays together, and this little pit stop had us in good spirits for our next show at the Old Cuss in SLC. This was sort of a twilight zone show for me where the drummer/singer of the local band was also named Lauren Smith, and my old dear friend, Stanislav emerged like a friendly ghost from Summers past. You know that point of tour where you kind of just give in to living the tourin lifestyle and your work inbox just kind of melts away as you forget all your passwords and you stop checking in cause you’ve gone full rocker? Well for me it happened in SLC! After this show we had a couple days off so it felt particularly timely that we turned full road dogs with Nevada and California coming in hot!

Smiling through the heat, at Circus Circus, Las Vegas, waiting for a cab.

Day 5
Las Vegas – Day off- Excalibur Resort

Tracey: The road from SLC to Vegas was so curvy that we called it the squiggles. Turns out I hate driving the squiggles, Lauren loves driving the squiggles, and Kaity is indifferent to the squiggles. I asked Lauren to put on the Pee Wee’s big adventure soundtrack to help me feel my groove and concentrate while navigating the squigs. And speaking of pee wee, I perfected a way to pee somewhat modestly by sitting on the edge of the vans bumper and keeping the front part of my pants up while the back part was down low enough to stay dry and unassuming.

Lauren: That morning as we were leaving Stan’s apartment he warned us of how easy it is to steal one’s catalytic converter, which gave us all a bit of a complex the rest of the tour. Not only were we ultra conscious about carrying out our borrowed instruments into whatever building we were stopped in at, we were also covering our backpacks and belongings with Tracey’s king sized comforter. Having to consider the ease of which we allowed our van to be crawled under was a whole other worry I never really considered, but things are different in America! I was really looking forward to the drive from Utah into Nevada as it was nearly 10 years since I drove it last with my band Tough Age. The skies are expansive and the beams of light that come through the clouds down to the red earth below is beyond dreamy and reminds you about how far you are from home! We rolled into Las Vegas that afternoon around 5:30pm and wanted to catch a swim at our hotel pool before they shut it down at 7pm. After our dip we headed back to our hotel room and Kaity put on a Frank Sinatra filled Las Vegas playlist on spotify and we gleefully counted out our band fund. Kaity is our band treasurer and she is damn good at it! She doled out $10 each in gambling money to Tracey and I, and we ventured out on the strip. We had a mission: make it to Circus Circus for a triumphant celebration of gymnastics and creepy clowns. A few feet from our hotel I noticed a busker-type covering Shania Twain who I wanted to share my gambling money with, but to my dismay my $10 had turned to $2 and somehow lost my pocket full of ones and fives! I decided to hold on tight and keep my last $2 for the right moment as Tracey reminded us all that what you give to Vegas you get back 10 fold. Onwards and upwards! Vegas is such a tricky maze of smoke and mirrors and without a lot of food in our bellies we were losing steam. We found some pizza and landed at the Paris Casino where I put my $2 to the test….. and …. I won! $45! Woot woot! I excitedly dashed over to the atm to cash in on my winnings and swing my backpack atop of the machine to safely tuck in my winnings into my change purse. It wasn’t until the Bellagio fountains that I realized my backpack was missing from its groove on my shoulder. Looking into Kaity and Traceys weary eyes, I realized my backpack had become a casualty and must be left behind to forge ahead if we were ever going to make it to Circus Circus in one piece. I think it was in the fairy tale gardens inside of the Bellagio reception where we realized getting to Circus Circus on foot was going to be a lot tougher than we first expected and swiftly booked an UBER. The next day Tracey and Kaity drove me in the tour van back to Paris and I met their lost and found team who happily pulled out my backpack from their pile of black backpacks with my belongings still safely inside. Thank you Paris!

Heading towards Palm Springs through the beautiful red rock landscape.

Day 6
Palm Springs -Day off

Kaity: We woke up in our Excalibur hotel room and I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there. Vegas had dug its claws into us and I was desperate to pry them out. My experience of the night before had felt to me like a series of chaotic, strange and ominous events, all taking place in a night time hellscape temperature of 95 degrees. Confusing gambling machines, lost money, lost backpack, expensive food, closed attractions, endless drunk people, and an uber driver who drove with his knees while he zipped through traffic – Vegas was not for me. Tracey and Lauren really wanted to go to a place called the Omelette House for breakfast. I checked the google maps, and saw there was one just outside of Vegas, and one directly back into the eye of it. I pleaded with them that we should get out as soon as possible, but two against one, we headed back into the center of the inferno. We parked, and turned off the van, and within seconds the air became unbearable. We quickly grabbed our guitars and ran straight into the restaurant seeking shelter, this was another 104 degree day. To our relief the restaurant wasn’t that busy and the food was great. Just as we were finishing our delicious breakfasts, we decided to read our horoscopes for the day. Lauren started with Tracey, it said… that she would have to control her emotions in the face of something difficult… hmm, I didn’t like the sound of that. Then to Lauren.. in the face of difficult times that were ahead, she would need to try not to look at things as good or bad… that didn’t sound good. And finally for me.. things will not go according to plan today. I did not like these horoscopes at all, but we were still in Vegas, so I guess I wasn’t that surprised. I knew we had to get out as soon as possible. We piled into the van, me in the driver’s seat. Ready to leave this place behind, I turned the key, and nothing happened. I looked around to see if I was hallucinating in the stifling sauna-like air. Tracey and Lauren were talking about something, not paying attention. I tried again. Nothing. The heat was rising by the second as I yelled out, “The van’s dead!” We all gave a shriek and ran back into the restaurant to regain a normal temperature while we thought of what to do. I was hopeful it was just a dead battery, but Tracey was pretty sure she didn’t have jumper cables. We asked around and no one seemed to be able to help us. Finally I remembered I had BCAA (thanks Dad!) and so I gave them a call and they said they’d be there, but not for 3 hours. Things were not going as planned. Vegas, I thought, you dirty little devil… you just can’t let us leave. Tracey by this time had harnessed her emotions and worked up the courage to brave out into the heat again to search the van for jumper cables. Moments later, she returned triumphant! Lauren had been making the most of the situation, spending these moments shopping for silk shirts, and it turned out the owner of the shop was parked right beside us. He came out and connected up all the cables. We held our breath and closed our eyes as I turned the key. I can not describe to you the joy I felt when I heard the sweet rumble of that engine, and felt that stale cool air blowing out of those dusty old vents. We were on our way, but I wouldn’t be letting my guard down until we were all the way out of town.

Lauren: Once we got that car battery working again we didn’t turn off the van until we made it to California. Palm Springs to be exact. I knew of a cool hotel some friends of mine have played the roof of in pre-covid times called the Ace Hotel. Kaity was able to book a room for us and we spent the evening eating guacamole by the pole and taking underwater cellphone videos doing acrobatics in the luke warm pool until midnight. It felt good to be back in California and I was looking forward to the promise of the coast tomorrow!

Lauren about to descend a very steep cliff down to Blacks Beach by the Torrey Pines Gliderport

Day 7
San Diego – The Brown Building
Flower Animals, Kan Kan, Neutral Shirt

Lauren: We were able to make great time arriving in San Diego with the afternoon open, so we followed a recommendation from a friend back home to check out Torrey Pines Glider port and Blackbeard beach which was a full on nudie beach! We modestly got in some great swims as well as a little hike and felt so dang happy to be back on the coast! All swims aside, the best part of tour (at least the way we tour) is the connections you make with so many cool and kind and politically progressive folks. The DIY network of like minded sweethearts is as strong as ever and meeting Matty in San Diego really solidified this. We gushed over all our shared friends from back home. He’s been organizing at the Brown Building which was cool as hell throwing shows nearly every day of the week and offering harm reduction classes and supplies. We played with Kan Kan, Neutral Shirt (matty) and Flower Animals. We played with Neutral Shirt (Matty), Kan Kan, and Flower Animals. After the show we met up with the dudes in Kan Kan as we all feasted on late night burritos as big as our calves. We slept in Mattys living room that night amongst his impressive cassette tape collection of touring bands up and down the coast, so many friends from the past and present, it really felt like home there.

Flower Animals at Brown Building, San Diego

Tracey: All the bands we played with in San Diego were not full bands. I mean, they usually are full bands, but for various reasons, each band had a member or two that couldn’t make it. Usually, this means that a band drops out of the show completely- but not in San Diego, heck no. I was so very charmed to see that Neutral Shirt, Flower Animals, and Kan Kan, all decided to still play the show despite the lack of band members. And I am so glad they did, because the tunes were just as sweet and charming as the people making them.

Tracey eats a banana on the way to Pasadena

Day 8
Pasadena, CA – the Old Town Pub
Kids on a Crime Spree, Pillow Fight, Sugar World

Lauren: This was a real winning day of tour. We had the best breakfast of the trip, my first plate of chilaquiles and the most tasty cafe de olla. Wish we had more time in San Diego to enjoy the food but that’s tourin life. We were on our way north now from San Diego and making the most of these short drives where we stopped in Rio Del Mar at the dog beach for what I think was the number one swim of tour. The beaches in California really are the most!

WUT playing at the Olde Town Pub, Pasadena, Photo by @nematodeworld

Tracey: At night, we arrived at The Old Town Pub in Pasadena, California. I stayed in the van to take a nap while Lauren and Kaity went in for a drink and a looky loo to see if Kids on a Crime Spree had arrived yet. I spent most of my time on our car rides wearing only my undies, so after I awoke, I put on some jeans and a t- shirt, slammed a soda water, and walked through some streets that smelled like hot piss, and went into the pub which also smelled like hot piss. Not a big deal- most of my favourite places at home in Vancouver smell like piss. California is just a hotter smell of piss. Hot piss. Kids on a Crime Spree were there, so we all said our hellos and introductions. I felt immediately comfortable with them and was already asking to borrow various gear from Mario. We hung out under a lime tree with local treasure, Alice from Pillow Fight, who put the show on for us. My dear friend Lance was there, so we took a series of selfies together to send to his mom. If you haven’t heard Sugar World yet, I suggest you get on it, the dream poppers played a sugar sweet set that had us swooning.

WUT on stage with Riley at Thee Stork Club, Oakland

Day 9
Oakland, CA- Thee Stork Slub
Kids on a Crime Spree, Artsick, Monster Treasure

Kaity: We left early that morning, with a long drive ahead of us. We stopped for $1 frosty’s and Lauren did her first 1 hour shift of driving, she did great! We made good time, so we were able to grab some groceries in Alameda, and take them down to Crab Cove for a picnic. It was perfect weather, sunny with a slight breeze, and we watched the pelicans dive in the bay as we lay in the grass. Lovely. Finally we made our way to Thee Stork Club. After looking around for parking to no avail, we found a spot a few blocks away. We made our way to Telegraph Ave, where we spotted the big red sign and headed in. We walked into the main showroom and there she was, RILEY! My best friend of over 30 years, setting up on stage with her band. Riley and I met in Grade 3 when I moved to her small town in Ontario. We became best friends and spent a few years together riding bikes, climbing trees, and getting up to all sorts of small town mischief. When my family decided to make the move to BC in Grade 7, we didn’t miss a beat. We’ve visited each other almost every year since then, sometimes more than once. Growing up we listened to a lot of music together and were always messing around on instruments. When we got older, we both formed our own projects, Riley started Burnt Palms, and Tracey and I started Love Cuts. Eventually on those yearly visits, we started to write songs together. They were silly and fun and free, and we called it Drownded, a project that continues to this day and will hopefully never end. When WUT originally started, before Tracey and Lauren had officially joined, I had written a bunch of demos and sent them to Riley to play some drum tracks on, not really knowing what kind of project I wanted it to be. Tracey and I had been playing in Knife Pleats, and when that ended, I was feeling like I wanted to take a break from being in a band, and starting getting into home recording and working on songs solo. Eventually, I decided I was ready for a band with members close to home. So first I asked Tracey, and fortunately Lauren was stoked to join us, and that’s how we got to the WUT you know today. All this to say, Riley and I haven’t lived in the same town since 1997, and aside from the Love Cuts playing one show with Burnt Palms back in the day, we don’t really get many opportunities to play together, let alone shows.

Monster Treasure at Thee Stork Club, Oakland

So, I was VERY excited to see Riley and spend the next two days together playing shows and hanging out with her music family. The night was everything I could have hoped for! All of the people in her community are such genuine, down to earth, nice people, who truly have a love for good music! Artsick were up first and they absolutely killed it! Mike from Slumberland joined them in between his top-tier DJing, adding in some fantastic distorted guitar. For our set, we had planned for something extra special. On our new album, Riley recorded an excellent guitar track on the song Feelings, so we asked her to join us to play it, and also if she wanted to learn some of the lead guitar from a few other songs. Of course she said yes! We were able to do 1 quick green room practice before the show, and it was the most breezy, effortless, natural run through, with all 4 of us harmonizing in some kind of perfect angels stars aligned universe. It was truly a dream come true to play together. The night continued, and both Monster Treasure and Kids on a Crime Spree were incredible! I felt so happy to be sharing the stage with these amazing bands. Mike (AKA Kid Frostbite), kept the party going with his DJ set, and everyone was feeling it! So many happy people dancing and enjoying the music, it was a great energy. We danced till late, chatting with lots of people who were stoked on the album, and taking silly photos until it was time to go.

Saying goodbye for the night to Monster Treasure after the show

Snacks by Ilene at Photo Select, Sacramento

Day 10
Sacramento, CA – Phono Select
Kids on a Crime Spree, Artsick, Monster Treasure

Lauren: Reunited with Monster Treasure and it feels so good! Rachel, Briana and RJ have been so incredibly good to me and all my crazy bands over the last like 10 years! Almost every time one of my projects has toured through Cali these guys have showed up huge for us, connecting my bands to the coolest underground venues and local bands… I am so lucky to call them my friends! The show at the stork club was rad!!!! What a lovely venue and kind folks. Waking up at Rachel’s house after the Stork Club show was a big highlight of tour. Here we sipped coffee next to her backyard wading pool, got some laundry done, and got hooked on this TLC show “Love after Lock-up” while stretched out on her huge couch. You really don’t get many days like this on tour and we were lapping it up!

Group photo after Phono Select show, Sacramento. Monster Treasure, Kids on a Crime Spree, Artsick, WUT, plus family members

Kaity: We spent the morning relaxing at Rachel’s lovely home, and when it was finally time to head over to Sacramento, I offered to drive. Riley joined us, sitting shotgun and playing DJ. The drive was beautiful. We took a route that followed the Sacramento River. The trees swayed in the late summer breeze, no doubt a hot breeze, as this was set to be 100 degree day. Thankfully, we remained comfortable in our air conditioned van, enjoying the winding road and quaint landscape. When we finally arrived and stepped outside, the heat immediately overwhelmed us, and we retreated into Phono Select. This is where we finally go to meet the wonderful Ilene, who organized the show. She had prepared a lovely spread of snacks and cold drinks in the back, thinking of every possible thing to make the show comfortable and keep everyone hydrated and fed. It was much appreciated! The show took place outside under cover and thankfully there was a slight breeze, but of course Ilene had fans, and popsicles ready for all! Finally, Riley’s family showed up, and we got to reconnect. Despite the heat, everyone rocked their sets, and it was another incredible show. Riley joined us again for a few songs, and I loved seeing her kids dance and cheer us on with their bubbles and glowsticks. It was again, heart warming and dreamy! We had another big drive ahead of us, so when the show ended, we took one big group photo and said our goodbyes. As we sat quietly in the van entering the hotel into the GPS, Riley ran over to my window, smacking her hands against the glass, for one last surprising farewell! We laughed and hugged one more time and said, “goodbye for now,” as we like to do.

Visiting our friend Scotty in Ferndale, OR

Day 11
Arcata, CA – Outer Space
Blub, Los Perdidos

Tracey: Humboldt county is my new travel vacation destination. The fog, the ocean, the forest, the cherry pie with soft serve from Toni’s, it is all absolutely dreamy. We stayed with our old friend Scotty from the now defunct punk band, B-Lines, and his automobile aficionado partner, Cynthia. It was such joy to see Scotty thriving in a town of artists and fellow weirdos. We drove to our show at Outer Space in Arcata, and I curled up in the back of the van with some crackers and hummus before entering the venue. It’s a fantastic DIY community space that seems to go on forever through back hallways and various rooms. I sat in a rocking chair, my furniture of choice while at any punk show, and drifted into nostalgia listening to locals Blub play their groovy tunes. When we played, I noticed a cuddly couple sitting near the front and felt honoured that we could be the type of music to cuddle to. Los Perididos from Arcata played beloved rock that was raw as it was real. My heart felt rapturous and my mind was racing with ideas as we drove back to Scotty’s.

Kaity at a beach heading up the coast from Arcata

Day 12
Albany – Day off

Tracey: Unfortunately, our show in Eugene, Oregon was canceled (until next time, Who Brought Opie!) but it ended up being a long day of driving anyways, arriving at our hotel in the evening, and feeling too tired to do much other than go for a swim at the pool and order pizza. Speaking of food, my tour diet pretty much consisted of a bag of sweet kale chopped salad by day, and a veggie burrito at night. Oh, and of course, flats of soda water. Last tour I had eaten cereal every day, but had trouble keeping my almond milk cool on this trip. On our drive through the redwoods and along the foggy coast, we recorded a radio blurb for the breakfast show on KAOS. I had to write down my lines, but I’m not sure how well that helped, as I still ended up saying my words all wrong until the 4th or 5th try.

Finally picked up our records from Chris at Jigsaw Records in Portland. Were able to assemble a few before hitting the road again.

Day 13
Olympia – San Francisco Bakery
Trust Fall, Yarrow, Generifus

Tracey: Our show in Olympia was outdoors at San Francisco street bakery. Our friend Markly Morrison from Low Pro podcast helped us book the gig, and we presented him with a theoretical trophy. Before the show, we ate at Quality Burrito and I had an exceptional fried tofu sandwich. I made a big scene about how I always finish my meal and never need to ask for a take-out container- but then I couldn’t finish my meal, and had to ask for a take out container. Whomp whomp. A highlight of the show, for me, was when I was laying on the grass, watching Generifus, and a child came up to me, grabbed my leg, and started dancing with it. After watching Yarrow play, I decided that WUT needs a bongo/tambourine player. I lost my mind a little watching Trust Fall because they are so, so splendid. This was our first show on the tour where we had our records for sale in the flesh, so we were thrilled to touch, hold, kiss, and sell them. Our friends Freddie and Kenny from Your Daily Hour with Me (Thurston county, WA, public access tv super show) were there and Freddie filmed our entire set for a very special future episode of YDHWM. Kenny left early so he could film YDHWM in the studio, so we phoned him from the bakery and then decided to Vin Diesel it to the studio to make it onto the final 5 minutes of the tv show. What a rush. We parted ways after Kenny showed us the incredible multi-colored jumpsuit he is crocheting in his crafting group.

Kenny shows us his beautiful knitted jumpsuit!

Our shirts, ready to be worn for one last show of tour.

Day 14
Tacoma – Cush Hill
Freddie Lee Toyoda, Nester

Tracey: We stayed at a hotel on the outskirts of Olympia, and I cried in front of the staff because I thought I was late to the free breakfast buffet. Turns out the make your own waffle machine was still hot to trot, so my tears, like usual, were in vain. After being told by my friend at Collective Groan that we were going to play a frat house in Tacoma, I was fully prepared to walk into some sort of party straight out of an American Pie movie.To top it off, the house was called Cush hill, and I know I’m a square but I am pretty sure that is a weed reference. However, no beer pong skills were needed, as it was just your regular sweet punk house, but with an ice box full of refreshments- thanks to Freddie Lee Toyoda. We were ecstatic to play a show with Freddie Lee and their full band, fresh haircuts and all. Tacoma locals Nester were a real joy, and we ended the show wanting to come back to Tacoma as soon as possible. But first, we wanted to leave Tacoma- as soon as possible- to get back home into our own beds. We drank Red Bulls and sang along to 90’s alternative for the 3 hour drive back across the border to Vancouver, Canada.

TOUR IS OVER, filling up one last time to head back to Vancouver

Day 15
Vancouver BC- Red Gate
Kerkland Jerks, Muppet boys, the Drink Tickets

Kaity: After spending the day relaxing back at home, it was time for the final show of tour! Lauren picked me up in her little mini cooper, and when we got to Red Gate, I set up shop behind the merch table assembling more records. I had not seen the Drink Tickets or Muppet Boys before, and they both were amazing, putting on a great show. Kirkland Jerks as always, were incredible. It was so nice to see friends and play one last show on this home run of a tour!

Tracey: We arrived home from Tacoma around 2am, and I was greeted by my very confused dog, who probably had assumed that I was just gone forever and life without Tracey was the new normal. I slept the day away and then got ready to go to Red Gate, one of the only all ages venues in Vancouver. Apparently 15 days is long enough for me to have extreme sushi withdrawal- so I got some rolls to bring with me to the show. We are hashtag-blessed here in Vancouver to have so many top notch bands, and new ones seem to emerge every day. Pop sweethearts the Drink Tickets have totally mastered the art of breaking the 4th wall. Muppet Boys are almost as good as Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and Kerkland Jerks always reminds me that I am out of trail mix. Eirinn, who recorded and mixed Mingling with the Thorns, was there with his own WUT jersey that says TECH on the back. Right as we were about to start playing, Adrian Teacher showed up and handed Lauren and Kaity a beer, and when he held a can in my direction, I said “sorry I don’t drink!”, to which he replied “I know, that’s why I got you a SODA WATER”. Dang, it’s good to be home.

Listen to WUT here!

January 4, 2023

Looking back at CF30: Oct. 30 at the Betsey Trotwood, London, featuring the Catenary Wires and Marlody

The Catenary Wires at CF30. Photo: Andrew Bulhak

Our final chickfactor 30 party in London was an afternoon Hangover Lounge affair at the Betsey Trotwood and had kind of a chill vibe that was welcome after two nights at the packed Lexington! Marlody is a new signing on Rob and Amelia’s Skep Wax label and her moody, intimate songs were quiet and poignant at a time when finally coming together after so long was so needed. Her music was a reminder that we all need to share our stories. The Catenary Wires are of course pop legends: Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey, Ian Button and Andy Lewis. They played stellar songs from their latest, Birling Gap, which you should snap up if you haven’t got it, and even thrilled the audience with a Heavenly song, “Cool Guitar Boy,” in advance of their couple of Bush Hall shows next spring, which was so so fun.

London is a place I was lucky to call home for half a decade and I miss it like crazy. chickfactor’s cofounder Pam Berry has lived there since the late ’90s and I love being able to go back and see people at these events in these places that miraculously are still open. I wish we could do it every year! Thanks again to the musicians, bands, venues, Paul Kelly for backline wrangling, the sound people, Hangover Lounge, Tae Won Yu, the folks who put me and others up, the documenters, readers, fans, friends, strangers, and pop lovers who make up this incredible community.

Marlody, an artist on Rob and Amelia’s Skep Wax label, played the show. Photo: Jen Matson

The Catenary Wires. Photo: Morgan Stanley

People with great taste in music. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Pop stars meeting and smiling. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Beer mats from CF20. Photo: Morgan Stanley

Lunchbox at the Betsey. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Legends in our midst. Photo: Morgan Stanley

All the Umbrellas in London (sorry, I’ll stop saying that now). Photo: Morgan Stanley

Hangover Lounge gents Tim and John. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Raz attempting to wrangle the unruly CF revelers. Photo: Gail O’Hara

January 4, 2023June 13, 2023

Looking back at CF30: night 5, Oct. 29, the Lexington in London starring Birdie, The Umbrellas and Seablite

Seablite played their London debut! Photo: Jen Matson

Tonight from the stage, Morgan from the Umbrellas said that her face was hurting from smiling so much and we could all relate! The London CF30 shows were like a big lovefest full of fantastic pop music! The show kicked off tonight with the Bay Area pop group Seablite, making their London debut in the most stylish and melodious way!

Birdie played next and our hearts melted because they are so damn charming and just effortlessly generate classic-sounding pop music that could have come from the 1960s. Their set list is below, but we know how lucky we are to have heard a few Dolly Mixture songs on Friday during Rachel’s set and some on Saturday with Birdie! Unbelievable joy.

The final act tonight was the Bay Area Slumberland band The Umbrellas, who are so young and yet so good at making classic but fresh indie pop in the best possible way. Such energy! Such positivity! If there were any justice in the world, we would take these shows on the road and fill the world with joy and melody! I’m sure these US bands will be back soon, but for now London + California = love.

Just a note: In case you wondered why the shows started so early and they had no real breaks between bands, it’s because the Lexington has another dance party event that starts roughly an hour after our thing ended. We left a time cushion between our show and theirs because our experience at CF25 was a bit difficult to deal with, the Pastels could hardly load out or relax and have a post-show beer before the late-night dance party people rushed the room.

(Personally, I was perched on a bench in the back because I had recently rolled my ankle and couldn’t manage the pain being on my feet all night or I would have been dancing like a dervish right up front as per usual! I was on so much paracetamol that I felt I couldn’t drink much cider, and I was a bit limited in my movements as host! But it was pretty crazy to see three of my former coworkers from SPIN magazine in the house! Daisy and Sarah, shoutouts to you for being so fun. )

Thanks again to all the bands who played and all the fans who came from afar and the Lexington. Special thanks to Gaylord Fields and Rachel Love (to whom I apologize for my grumpiness) for helping me wrangle the right lager and snacks from the local Tesco. The overall vibe this weekend was very much a lovefest, a total all-hands-on-deck, walking around the neighborhood and running into each other funfest with some of the greatest people. MC Gaylord did an amazing job of waxing loudly and lovingly about the bands to get everyone’s attention back to the stage. Many thanks to Paul Kelly and the Betsey Trotwood for wrangling the backline for the whole weekend. Thanks to the Hangover Lounge gents—Tim, John, Ben and Steve—for handling merch and being the generally wonderful humans that they are.

Keith and Nick Umbrellas / Photo: Gail O’Hara

The Umbrellas sparked so much joy it lasted for the rest of the year / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Some Umbrellas after their London debut! Photo: Daisy Wake

January 4, 2023January 4, 2023

Looking back at CF30 night 4: Oct. 28 at London’s Lexington featuring Sacred Paws, Rachel Love and Artsick

chickfactor anniversary parties are sometimes characterized as events where we bring bands back from retirement or as total nostagia-fests. While it is true that they are basically the best kind of friend reunion, this year’s London shows had little to do with nostalgia (though there was a wee Dolly Mixture vibe and a Heavenly song!). Our three-day festival featured five bands that were just interviewed in our latest issue, chickfactor 19 (Sacred Paws, Rachel Love and three Bay Area pop bands mentioned below), and two bands whose members (Paul Kelly and Debsey Wykes and the Catenary Wires) have been interviewed on our site in mostly recent times. The Lexington shows also featured three bands making their London debut: Seablite, Artsick and The Umbrellas flew across the world to play in London!

Tonight I was dead excited to see Sacred Paws for the first time, and they did not disappoint! (They toured the U.S. a while back but only the East Coast and I was West Coast then.) Rachel Aggs’ dance moves are a joy to watch and the whole band generates goodness. Their sound is rooted in the ESG-influenced past, but completely fresh and modern. We are so grateful they came down from Glasgow to play!

Nothing to see here! Just three members of Dolly Mixture. Photo: Gail O’Hara

It was also amazing to see Rachel Love solo for the first time! She brought her kids and their friends to play many of the wonderful songs from her 2021 solo album that deserved more attention. We heard a few Dolly Mixture songs during Rachel’s set (“Down The Line,” “Miss Candy Twist,” “How Come You’re Such a Hit With the Boys, Jane?”), some with Debsey Wykes as a guest! Unbelievable joy. Plus, tonight was the first time Artsick has ever played in London and they were killing it with fizzy pop punk energy!

Rachel Love soundcheck / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Thanks to the bands who played and traveled from afar, MC Gaylord Fields, the fans who came out, the Lexington, the soundpeople and especially the Betsey Trotwood and Paul Kelly for sorting out the backline for the whole weekend. Tonight was epic!

Rachel Love and her fab band / Photo: Jen Matson

A mini Dolly Mixture reunion / Photo: Jen Matson

Debsey and Rachel at soundcheck / Photo: Gail O’Hara

No one puts on a show like the Paws! Sacred Paws / Photo: Andrew Bulhak

Morgan Umbrellas getting an autograph from Rachel Love

Indie legends sign the set list / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Berets for everyone! Rachel Love and Debsey Wykes with Morgan Umbrellas / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Rachel Love set list / Courtesy: Morgan Stanley

Five of the acts on the London shows are in CF19.

January 2, 2023January 5, 2023

Looking back at CF30 night 3, Oct. 8, union pool starring Seablite, Gary Olson, Artsick and Jeanines

Night three at Union Pool was a blast! I was so excited to be seeing ARTSICK for the first time, and it was a NYC/East Coast debut for both them and SEABLITE! Both bands gave it everything and the crowd loved it. NYC’s JEANINES (now more of a Western Mass. combo I believe) and GARY OLSON (with a bit of LADYBUG TRANSISTOR!) brought it too! It was a magical night of old friends, fantastic music and general stardust. Thanks to DJ Sukhdev Sandhu, MC Gaylord Fields, Tae Won Yu for the gorgeous posters and graphics, our wonderful sound person Beck and the folks at Union Pool, along with everyone who played, came out and enjoyed the night! See more of Dean Keim’s photos here.

Indie kids, the next generation! By Gail O’Hara

Jed and Alicia Jeanine / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Mario and Christina Artsick with MC Gaylord Fields / Photo: Gail O’Hara

January 2, 2023January 5, 2023

Looking back at CF30 night 2, Oct. 7, Brooklyn

our second event in New York was at the Chashama space in Brooklyn where Steve Keene was having an exhibition. As the editor of the Steve Keene Art Book, I was sad to miss a number of book launch events earlier in 2022, so I was happy to put on this event with the book’s producer and SK documenter Dan Efram. Many of the pieces on the wall were from his or other private collections, so they were not all for sale (sadly!) Christina Zafiris, who worked in the marketing department at Matador Records when the label did a series of “Pavement Trees” made by SK, wrote about the experience of doing those in the book, and asked me to edit her essay for the book, which led to me editing the whole book. Another contributor to the book, Sam Brumbaugh, interviewed Bridget St. John for chickfactor 12 back in the late ’90s. (Read his essay from the book here!) Our love for Bridget’s music led to us having her play at many of our big festivals over the years in both New York and London. We named one of our festivals at Bush Hall in London “Mon Gala Papillons” (it takes its name from a photograph by Jacques Lartigue), which inspired Bridget to write a song of the same title! We love Bridget. (Photos: Gail O’Hara)

The great Bridget St. John playing our event in Oct. 2022. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Christina Riley from Artsick with her fave Steve Keene / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Tonight’s DJ: CF contributor and wonderful human Sukhdev Sandhu / Photo: Gail O’Hara

I want this one too / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Former Matador marketing lady Christina Zafiris / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Best LP of all time? Perhaps. Photo: Gail O’Hara

Donna McKean from Artsick and Lunchbox with her fave / Photo: Gail O’Hara

The amazing photographer Reuben Radding and Bridget St. John / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Steve Keene documenter Dan Efram / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Chime School / Seablite’s Andy Pastalaniek and Christina Riley out front / Photo: Gail O’Hara

January 2, 2023January 4, 2023

Looking back at CF30 night one, Oct. 6, the Frying Pan, Manhattan

When I arrived in NYC in early October, the remnants of Hurricane Ian were still turning the city into a nasty soupy mess. I visited Eric Fischer at the Frying Pan pier complex a few days before our event there, and the wind and waves were violently shooting up through the dock. But on Oct. 6, the weather and party gods shined on us and gave us a completely perfect NY evening. Luckily Eric, who pretty much built much of the pier complex and has been involved with running and maintaining the ships for decades, is the hardest working person in showbiz and pushed me to try to hammer out every detail before the event. We had special gold wristbands, a fancy ‘chickfactor’ cocktail ready as a special for the event, and even a special vegan menu. Eric’s wife, Christina, procured our giant inflatable CF30 letters. Josh “Other Music” Madell helped me wrangle my least favorite part of setting up shows: PA and backline. Our sound person Mike Yesenosky usually works with the Magnetic Fields, so we were very lucky to have him tonight!

When Beatrix Madell, the 14-year-old who formed a band called Girl Scout Handbook for our CF30 NY party on the Frying Pan, asked her mom (longtime CF contributor Dawn Sutter Madell) what makes a song a chickfactor song, Dawn told her it would have to be a song “Gail likes.” But it’s clear that, between the folks who contribute to, read, support, and sell the zine and the folks who play at and attend our events, there is a community of like-minded folks out there that like similar tunes!

we love NY! fireworks went off as the first band went on. Photo: Dean Keim

Girl Scout Handbook, a group of 12- to 14-year-olds from Brooklyn, took the stage right as fireworks were going off out in the Hudson River. Helicopters were swooping into the pier next to ours as well. GSH’s set was made up of covers chosen specifically for the event: The Zombies, Heavenly, the Spinanes, Lois, B&S and it was amazing! So great! They only practiced four times and already got written up in the New Yorker! Watching their proud parents watch them was so heart-warming. What a way to start the show!

Next up was DUMP, Brooklyn’s James McNew, who slayed the crowd with his solo set of classics from his repertoire and ace covers. The Jim Ruiz Set, as they often do, came all the way from the Twin Cities to make us swoon to their easy listening pop gems. And the Aluminum Group also flew in from Detroit and Chicago to show the world why it needs to listen to their fab new album. DJs Gaylord Fields and Stephin Merritt helped us keep things humming in between. Artist Kevin Alvir was offering quick portraits on demand, and the Aluminum Group brought a boutique’s worth of fun merch and handmade garlands. It was such a great night full of all kinds of people from different generations enjoying the venue, the music and each other’s company. Thanks to everyone who played, came to the event, and helped out (especially Eric and Christina, Josh and Dawn, and Y-Mike!)

Trixie, Ella, Nora & Claude from Girl Scout Handbook’s very first show ever! Photo: Dean Keim

Rose from Girl Scout Handbook Photo: Dean Keim

Girl Scout Handbook drummer Ella / Photo: Dean Keim

Emily Ruiz at soundcheck / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Jim Ruiz Set soundchecking / Photo: Gail O’Hara

Gail tests out the ‘chickfactor’ cocktail pre-show

The Aluminum Group’s Frank and John Navin! Photo: Gail O’Hara

Fireworks on the Hudson / Photo: Dean Keim

December 21, 2012September 29, 2016

london tour diary!

oh london, you know how I adore you.

8 november: arrive at heathrow. terminal 5 reminds me of the buildings in the movie brazil. in a coma most of day. spent quality time in crypal with the girls.

9 november: still sleepy. lunch at domali (some kind of cheese and veggie sausage toastie with loads of mustard was in order). jenn connor showed up! dinner at the berry jones casa: butternut squash risotto (which kicks off a week of what feels like a weight-gain diet!).

10 november: went to planet organic (their food boxes are one of the best tasting food bargains in london; and the crazy selection of outrageously expensive food and tea items is way fun to peruse), met lupe, we sat on a couch in muji and talked, then ate delicious thai food at busaba eatthai (pumpkin curry and pad thai I believe!).

11 november: met one of my many u.k.-based cousins for lunch at ray’s jazz café (chickpea spinach dahl). wow, the entire area surrounding tottenham court road tube station is a huge construction mess! went to the hangover lounge at the lexington for an easy, breezy afternoon with close friends. had my first pub version of a nut roast (not a fan), though it came with butter-drenched veggies, potatoes and yorkshire pudding, which I’d never had and is basically a popover to american palates. not bad.

12 november: headed north to go meet up with peter paphides, said hello to his famous wife and lazy cats, we picked up bob stanley, had a cozy pub lunch (the butternut squash risotto), went record shopping (I got a harry nilsson LP), that was fun. bob and I went to the relocated photographer’s gallery (I was a big fan of the old one). my take: location is fine. there is no natural light inside and the overuse of track lighting is blinding. the photo show we saw by tom wood was excellent but I couldn’t wait to get out of the space. ugh, I hate change. there was also a giant display of a LOLcat in the lobby, which I found disturbing. tonight was a chickfactor dinner party at mildred’s, one of the best vegetarian restaurants in london (on my personal menu: mushroom ale pie with mushy peas and chips).

13 november: I head to bayswater to meet up with jessica would-be-goods. we have delicious mezze at al-waha, where she is treated like royalty. we spend the afternoon with her burmese cats, chatting, eating amazing chocolate and looking at designy stuff. I head to one of my favourite bars, the phoenix theater bar, which is unchanged (and there is a large poster of kirsty maccoll on the wall), where I meet with some of my pals from my london magazine days for some halloumi cheese and drinks. then it’s off to walthamstow to meet with some merge records act, which picks me up at the tube station.

14 november: isn’t walthamstow village lovely? I have lunch with stephen coates at one of london’s private clubs (blacks), where the only veg option sans egg is… butternut squash risotto! later I meet travis and we check out the photographic portrait prize show at the national portrait gallery, which I always go to see and I always complain about. it was very dull this year. most of the photos are unbearably sterile, gimmicky and this year had way too many celebs. after that it was off to the curzon soho, where I attended a screening of lawrence of belgravia followed by a Q&A with director paul kelly and the BFI’s michael hayden, a big indie nerd. it was delightful! except that lupe and al were waiting outside for me and wanted to flipping kill me because they were so hungry (we went to taro for bento!).

15 november: today was a chill morning with pam. I imagine domali was involved, I probably ate some kind of heavy-carbed snack like an HBLT. later we picked up her girls from school and took them to the tate modern. after that I met up with paul kelly and his adorable son donovan at the horseshoe pub, where we are having an event the next night. we ended up having a pint at the betsey trotwood, where we talked about the simpsons a whole lot.

16 november: lunch at the gate islington. I had some kind of enchilada. later I headed over to the horseshoe pub in clerkenwell. gaylord turned up, then paul kelly and donovan, and after a number of bothersome technical issues, we were able to proceed! I had a brie and red pepper panini (too rich for my blood). then various pals began to arrive: the aislers set! the jim ruiz set! pipas! amor de días! the berry joneses! the starfolk! we all settled in to watch take three girls: the dolly mixture story, which is so great; and then gaylord conducted the pop quiz that he and pam and I came up with! good fun was had by all and it was just the way to kick off chickfactor 2012: for the love of pop! weekend in london.

17 november: tonight kicks off the live music portion of the weekend at bush hall! with the lineup that is hard to beat:

the pastels (set list here: listen to “comin’ through” + “baby honey” here) such a dream to have them play! they hadn’t played a chickfactor party since our cmj show at fez in 1995. cannot wait to hear their new LP due out in early 2013.
the aislers set (listen to “been hiding” + “chicago new york” + “the way to market station” + “last match” + “the walk” + “red door” + “mission bells” + “hit the snow” here) wow. wow. wow. wow. wow. yes, they tore the roof off. I may devote the rest of my life to trying to make them play more live shows.
the would-be-goods (listen to “the camera loves me” + “the last of the pin-striped rebels” + “temporary best friend” here) this was kind of emotional night for the WBGs. super-duper set. I liked it when peter talked about heavenly crashing on my floor 20 years ago.
amor de días (dan lee has some great footage, will try to get it here!) these guys really shine in a live setting, I would like to see them more often! set was to die for.

honestly, not much could have ruined this night. if I could change one thing, it would have been to keep the audience quiet during amor de días but as pam would say: it’s impossible to get a roomful of people who haven’t seen each other in 15 years to be quiet. everything else was just flat out marvelous. gaylord was the best MC! here’s a post on la terrasse.

18 november: today’s lineup was just as spectacular! the lexington is a dreamy venue, love it. gaylord & the hangover lounge folks = the best DJs!

tender trap (watch “train from kings cross station” + “do you want a boyfriend?” + “memorabilia” + “leaving christmas day” here) really really stellar set! loved it. just still cannot get over how ace their new album is! amelia talked about the early days of chickfactor, and how it was celebratory instead of angry like riot grrrl. ended the night with everyone dancing like goofballs.
pipas (watch “barbapapa + “bitter club” + “hiding in the park” + “the occasion” + “rock and/or roll” + “wells street” here) pipas won them over, as always, despite no soundcheck, despite knocking over a lovely guitar several times. another band that should not be allowed to be inert. such charm! such songs!
the real tuesday weld, who have a foxy new girl singer that attracted every man with a phone camera in the place! always great to see jacques the clarinetist, who commented that the girls in tender trap looked to be about 20. always so entertaining, these guys!
bridget st john with brian willoughby (strawbs) (watch “ask me no questions” + “hole in my heart” here) bridget is such a lovely presence. it’s always such an honor to have her play our shows! she played “mon gala papillons,” which was inspired by a chickfactor party in london in 2004.
the jim ruiz set featuring the legendary jim ruiz from the legendary jim ruiz group. I only wish tracey thorn and max eider could have been front and center to watch this charming jazz-tinged minneapolis pop group play their london debut.
harvey williams + josh gennet (watch “I don’t suppose I’ll get a second chance” + “her boychart” + “colour me in” here) perhaps you remember josh from the u.s. indie band holiday and harvey from such bands as another sunny day, the field mice and trembling blue stars. they also covered carole king & a girl called eddy — my favorite part of the night was teaching ava berry jones to finger snap.
the starfolk (featuring brian from the hang-ups and allison from the jim ruiz set, typsy panthre, etc) my first time seeing these guys—they were so great! here is a write-up on la terrasse.

see photos from the weekend here from andrew bulhak + marianthi + anneliese + chris stevenson + andy aldridge + natascha unkart.

19 november: it was family time in gerrards cross, buckinghamshire; followed by mellow drinks and snacks at medcalf with travis, josh, sarah, paul, debs & donovan; followed by gentle chilling at lauren’s cozy flat in gipsy hill.

20 november: spitalfields walkabout this morning, checking on how the hood has changed. lunch at mildred’s again, then off to the magma product store. before heading back to SE london to have a low-key night in with the family-friends.

21 november: flew out from terminal 5. they have a wagamama!