12:15pm (20:15 weegie time)
Hi there! We’re all refreshed and raring to go. We went to our beds at 8.30pm last night and slept for 12 hours!!! Now that’s a shift! I woke up this morning and immediately stepped into my trainers and went for a run. I ran up towards the Hollywood sign along the main road but it started to get a bit scary so I had to turn back uncase I got hi-jacked. The hotel is right next to the Hollywood Bowl so I went into the huge car park there and did a few circuits. That means I can have some guilt free beers tonight as we’re off tomorrow! Yay! It’s Thanksgiving Day tomorrow so we’ll try and find somewhere to go for a turkey dinner.
At the moment we’re sitting in our hotel getting ready to leave. We’re so organised it’s strange. I ironed everything in my case and had it hung up by 11am this morning! (Not punk rock but I like to look semi decent on stage even if I look wrecked by the end of a show!) We’re heading off to Disneyland believe it or not. The House of Blues gig is actually on the grounds! We have to head off 4 hours before call time as this is apparently the worst day for travelling in America. Everyone takes a holiday today to be with their friends and family tomorrow. This is the second biggest holiday in America after Christmas. This is good for us since the sales start after tomorrow! As if the clothes weren’t cheap enough! I’ve hardly brought any clothes with me so I can take loads back home.
16:25
We’re sitting in the dressing room at the moment waiting on Social Distortion finishing their sound check. We’re at The House of Blues and it’s right in the middle of Disneyland! Very bizarre. Unfortunately our passes don’t get us into the section with the rides which is probably a good thing as I’m bad enough going round a roundabout in the van. That may just be Frank’s driving though! We’re in the part where all the shops and restaurants are but we won’t be buying anything as it’s grossly overpriced. We’re Scottish and tight, right?!
We’re quite bored hanging around as there is nothing to do and we’re stuck in this dressing room at the top of the venue. It’s dimly lit and freezing. I’m starting to think that this is how Anne Frank felt! Someone has just brought us a jug of coffee, hot water and tea bags (no Tetley in sight!) so that’ll cheer the Sparra up. There’s been a lot of chat about boys that I can’t go into but Frank’s pretending he can’t hear us. His flushed cheeks give the game away every time. He’s been warned that any gossip he hears better not be repeated in the pub with his mates back home when he’s boasting about being out on the road with 4 stunners (that's us nay the way!)
I decided to start doing the blog before I lose my mind. Tippi has just put on the Guilty Pleasures album through her wee speakers so we’re indulging in some cheesy sing song action. My request for a game of charades was shot down in flames. Sigh.
19:30
We’ve just finished our sound check. This venue is amazing! The stage is deeper than wide so we had plenty of room to set up in front of the main band. There’s seating and standing room out front over 2 levels so it’s pretty big. The gig tonight is sold out so 1100 people are expected. We can’t wait! We’re back in the dressing room just now and I’m about to start drawing some handmade signs for the merchandise. We like to do things lo-fi! We’re getting fed tonight which is great. Saves those PDs for important things like beer! I’ve got to go just now and order my dinner. I’ll update you on the gig later.
01:30
We’re back at the hotel and we’re so tired we can hardly function. I wanted to write about the gig though while it’s fresh in my mind. It was definitely in the top 5 shows!
We’ve played a lot of gigs here where we go on stage and we have to stand behind a curtain that is pulled back to reveal the band! It’s a bit cheesy but we’re getting used to it now. Well, this happened tonight except while we were waiting on the curtain being pulled back, we got Frank to play Flower O Scotland through the PA! We knew the Americans would love this because they love “Scatland”! It went down a treat and we had great fun singing along! As soon as the curtain started to open Rosie burst into the intro over the top of Flower of Scotland. It was great fun. Too much fun for Tippi as while she was spinning round and round doing the Sparra dance she fell over! She’d only had 2 beers! It was hilarious and I could hardly find the strength to hit the drums I was laughing so much. For the first 3 songs and every time I caught Gill or Rosie’s eye we would just burst out laughing. We eventually got it together though and played an absolute blinder. Tippi jumped onto the bar and the lampy managed to follow her so she got the spotlight and the people at the back could see her. The place was at capacity when we went on stage and the atmosphere was electric! We definitely gained a lot of fans.
After the show we headed to the merch stand but since people didn’t want to lose their spot for Social Distortion it was a bit quiet. I decided I would have to go to them so I took 10 CDs in hand and made my way into the tightly knit crowd. I said to the girls if I sell the 10 they owed me a gin. They said if you sell 1 we’ll buy you a gin! I came back with none! They sent me out again restocked. It was mental! They were throwing dollars at me and I couldn’t keep track of who wanted one next as there were just hands coming at me clutching dollar bills! I found myself making my accent a little more broad as this seemed to do my sales patter wonders. God love them. I’ve lost count of how many of the punters had a granny from Scotland and how many people thought I was Irish.
We were cleared out of every CD we had and have had to get more shipped from home! We’re in demand and we love it! Roll on Friday’s gig for more of the same!
Night Night
Soup x
