Freeheat Alive : Stranded at the Station......
(UK Roadtrip #1)

November 26th. Monday. 2001. 3 weeks after the RETOX ep was due to be released. It wasn't. Management (or lack of it!) put pay to that one.

This was a roadtrip with a difference. There was to be no road involved. I was the sole traveler on the whole UK tour (or so I thought) and I was doing it by train. I can't drive. It makes me feel good. Okay? Hell Yeah. So I set off from London Kings Cross at about 4 O'clock, armed with some beers for the journey. Fatal mistake. Got to Leicester at about 5.30pm - did the hotel thing - was in a nearby pub by about 6.30 pm waiting for my friend Paul to show up. He did. We drank more. At about 8pm we decided to decamp to The Charlotte. The venue for the first of four UK gigs to celebrate the release of nothing at all. But, I was getting more FREEHEAT - so I was as happy as a happything gets.

What can I tell you about the Charlotte, it's a small, friendly dive - Like a hundred other small venues I have seen before. Not glamorous at all. Punk Rock. First up was a local band. Awful shite. No marks for anything at all. Next. I get my first live taste of The Parkinsons. My interest had been mildly piqued by the few tracks I had already heard. I was not 100% sure. But fuck me, do these youngsters RAWK. The singer writhes and twists like an Iggy possessed. The band make the sort of noise that crosses The Stooges with The Cramps with a healthy dose of The Sex Pistols. It's so nearly comic book rock. But somehow, the band, stay just on the right side of pastiche. I stand there with a grin. I think I am gonna enjoy the next few days. This feeling gets me excited. I steadily slip into a drunken state. The night is still young and the main attraction is yet to come. Punk Rock.

Freeheat take the stage. The crowd numbers about 50 or so. Ok for a small town and from I can gather the band did little to promote the show. Saw loads of posters for the gig. Inside the venue, none outside and around the town centre. Freeheat played a solid show and I got more and more drunk and proceeded to get mildly wasted. It was a long day drinking. I was singing and dancing and drunk and it a gets a lot hazy after the 5 or 6 song! I guess II was a little disappointed that the set hadn't evolved. I am a Freeheat junkie and I wanna get more hits.

November 27th. Tuesday. 2001. Glasgow. By hook or by crook I got there. Feeling everso hungover meant it was gonna be a strange one. This was also the only gig on the tour where I had no meet-ups planned. Kings Tuts was near to sold out. The Parkinsons were more rock n roll than last night. I get the feeling I am gonna like this band. The other supports I can't remember. Freeheat played one of the best shows I have seen to date. The crowd was really into and the band looked and sounded as relaxed as I have seen them. Well Alright. I spotted two Japanese girls at the gig and through my hazy memory I seem to remember them from the previous night.

November 28th. Wednesday. 2001. I wake up in my Glasgow B&B and drag myself down for breakfast and comically - the 2 Japanese girls came down as I was eating my food! I was too shocked/hungover/embarrassed to say anything. I made up my mind if they were at the Leeds gig I would introduce myself!

Leeds. I met up with Faz and ApesGrapes from the Some Candy Talking message board for this gig. We got royally drunk and the Japanese girls did show up as we sat drinking and playing pool before the show. The Parkinsons again produced a live wire show. The crowd was fairly small. Freeheat again played another solid show and after the gig, instead of being in my B&B I found myself on the tour bus. How freakin' weird. I just carried on drinking and finally passed out into a bunk.

November 29th. Thursday. 2001. After arriving on the bus, I shot off home to freshen up and get ready for the London show and the meet up that was due to happen. The Mean Fiddler show was far from sold out, which was the only downer. The Parkinsons finally went all the way and ended up bollock naked. Before the gig we met at a small bar. There were all manner of Some Candy Talkers there, including Jen, Dara, w.a.n.e., Niina, Me! and countless others! See the rogues gallery for the full story. Again Freeheat were amazing and it was great to be getting the vibe from so many other Freeheat fans. Somehow, afterwards we ended up backstage and then at some bar and it all gets very hazy. A perfect way to end a 4 day roadtrip. Bring on the next tour.