Strange Signs Of The Southern Hemisphere

Here is a couple of the stranger things i saw in South Africa


Now i know air travel isnt 100% safe but is just silly.
And i thought you could buy this legally in Amsterdam.

And as for this, well im not even sure i want to know what it is but apparently they sell it in Capetown coffee shops.


BIZARRE!!!!!!!

Capetown

So here is a couple of photos of the show day in Capetown. The Show was at an old cycling Velodrome. You know the ones with the high sides everywhere

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Here is the only view of the world famous Table Mountain i had during my time in Capetown,












This is a painting in the Hotel room as the mountain was covered in Fog the whole time i was there...Oh Well!!


Check out this guy though!!!

THE KILLERS!!!!

Well today was the day that The Killers announced the title of the new album thats gonna be out on Oct 2nd app!! Drumroll please for "SAMS TOWN"
Check out a snippet of the new single which will be out in sept!!!


Should be good!!!

Day Off In Capetown

Here i am at Cape point in Capetown on our day off today. This is the most southerly point in Africa as you can see from the Pic. the next strecth of land south of here is the south pole!!
At the top of the hill there is a sign post with the distances to major cities posted on it. check it out!!

We spent a nice day driving around most of the area, the scenery here is amazing.



we also saw some pretty cool animals today. Penguins, Baboons, Ostriches.


Anyway thats enough of that for today. im sitting in a bar called Sauls updating this as its got food, beer and free wireless. Things that our hotel doesnt have too much of.

Check This Out!!

This is brilliant! God bless You Tube!!!!

Joburg

Hello There from Johannesburg, South Africa. Just met up with ny old touring buddys in Kanye West and Crew. Had a long travel day yesterday. 11 hour flight from London to Jobo after a 7 hour bus from T in the Park to Sheffield, Train to Manchester and a flight from Manchester to London, then straight onto a bus to the venue to start work. Here is a vid guide of the stage. Big place, holds about 20,000 people and was a good show. Asides from having spot ops that couldnt hit the stage, which was 60 feet wide.


Was a def challenge to try and remember the show and all the cues having not done this one for over 3 months and with no rehearsal.
Heres a shot of the man himself in action

Festival Madness!!

Well that was a whirlwind weekend at the Oxegen and T in the Park festivals. Always crazy days doing gigs at home. Always so many people to meet up with. Was fun tho. Oxegen on Sat was like being in the trenches in The Battle of The Somme, rained really heavily all day but never dampened the spirits of the crowd. A massive crowd turned up to see the boys in action, making it a perfect 21st birthday for our guitarist Cookie. BTW Nick also turned 21 this week. Weather was a lot better at T and the crowd were the usual great Scot crowd> Same bill at both festivals saw about 70 bands in action with the likes of The Strokes, We are Scientists, Feeder, Kasabian, Milburn, Arctic Monkeys, Hard Fi, Kaiser Chiefs, Red Hot Chilli peppers, James Brown, Franz Ferdinand and The Who amongst the many rocking the masses.




Heres Roger Daltrey in action during "My Generation"











And A trademark Pete Townsend Windmill in full flow!






















Heres the boys on stage at t in the park and i guess you've really made when you have you're own Scottish whiskey!














But my performance of the weekend goes to The Godfather of Soul- Mr James Brown.
So thats it for Arctic Monkeys for a couple of weeks, next up Australia. As for me i will speak to you soon no doubt as im currently in Heathrow airport waiting to fly to South Africa for a couple of shows with Kanye West.

See Ya!!!!

Accelerator Festival

So here goes sweden then. We did two shows as part of the accelerator festival in Gothenborg and Stockholm. Yesterday saw us playing with Death Cab For Cutie, Regina Spektor and Hot Chip. I got to meet Peter Buck from REM which was kinda cool, he was playing with his side project Robin Hitchcock and The Minus 3.
Today in Stockholm saw us take to the stage after sets by The Spinto Band

And The Raconteurs

And Jack White came by the dressing room after the show to speak to the band, seems like a very nice chap!!
Bizarrely we are staying at a hotel inside stockholm airport tonight as you can see from this photo taken through the lobby window, Yes that is a jumbo jet you can see.

Anyway, time to get on the bus to the hotel for a few hours sleep before an early morning flight to Dublin and the Oxegen Festival where we will be joined by The Who, The Strokes, Feeder, We Are Scientists, Editors and about 40 others bands and approx 70,000 of my closest friends. Itll be nice to be home, even if it is only for a day.
G'nite ya"ll

Quart Festival

Well, what a day eh!! The quart festival is without doubt one of the best organised and fun small festivals in the world and in the most amazing setting.
Just check out this quick video of the backstage area behind the main stage.

We had a great day all round, relaxing on the beach in a city where everyone is incredibly good looking and we got a trip on a speedboat

And just look at what we saw!!

Yes, that is a submarine!!
Anyway onto to the bands, today saw Wolfmother

Placebo
Tool

And our good friends in We Are Scientists

And check out this video i forgot to post during the American leg of tour.


He does after a couple days on the bus you know!!
Here is a meassage that was on the wall of the dressing room from a few years back from Foo Fighters to Audioslave

Anyway thats enough for today i reckon.
On to Sweden we go and ill leave you with this pic from the hotel bar. The only place in the world ive ever been where you can win "Pirate Equipment"......Bizarre!!

NEW NEW NEW!!!

Well, hang onto your hats there kiddys. There has a veritable orgy of new posts and photos from the last couple of days.
Also i have posted some video, so check the re edited post from the Hurricanne festival last weekend to see some good stuff!!!

We're now in Kristiansand in Norway after a long travel day today. Left Roskilde last night at midnight. Got on a ferry at 2 this afternoon to Norway across the north sea and got to Hotel at 7pm. Time to hit the town so i leave you with this picture i took as we arrived in beautiful Norway.
Quart festival tomorrow with Placebo, Tool and our good friends We Are Scientists.

Roskilde Festival

Roskilde is one of the most legendary festivals going. It has over 150 bands on 6 stages over 3 days. The site itself is enormous, beisdes the music it has markets, fun fairs and all sorts of other activities to enjoy. Christ, i know a guy who even got married here! But back to the music, over this weekend alone they had major acts such as Bob Dylan, Guns N Roses, Morissey. Today alone saw Arctic Monkeys

The Strokes

Franz Ferdinand

Placebo


Not to mention Roger Waters from Pink Floyd playing an almost 3 hour show.
Including a complete performance of The "Dark Side Of The Moon" album.


Also on site were bizzare things such as a wool maze????

And A Silent Disco!! Everyone listens to the Music through headphones but tis quite amusing when you dont have any headphones on!!

Any way, off to Norway now!! So see ya later

Werchter Festival

Here we are then. Belgiums Rock Werchter fesival. 60,000 people in a field. Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, The Raconteurs, Goldfrapp, Placebo, Deus and Sigur Ros on the bill today. This is one of the most organised and best run festivals in Europe i think. Always love coming here. Heres the boys in action on a huge stage!!
Here is Franz Ferdinand mid-way through "Take Me Out"


Unfortunately it wasnt such a good day all round as England were dumped out of the world cup yet again on penalties and for once even i think they were hard done by!!!
Oh well. Off to Denmark

Eurockennes

Here we go then, Eurockennes Festival in South of France. Great gig, tent was rammed to bursting point and about 30 deep outside trying to get a look in.


Great show despite Nicks pedals deciding not to work during Who The Fuck..??







Just back from watching the Strokes and Daft Punk, Strokes were theyre usual aloof selves and Daft Punk were on at 2.30am so i think suffered from a little of an exhausted crowd, otherwise they played a great show.




So on we go to Rock Werchter in Belgium tomorrow!!
TTYS