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Date: Thu, 22 Nov 1990 23:19:47 -0500
From: del (de l'abattoir)
Subject: JBC:9
hi all! i iz back: 6000 miles from minneapolis to dallas in 15 days.
following the JBC/blue aeroplanes on tour turned out to be pretty much
what i expected: exciting, tiring, drunken, and fun!
i will try to give some sense of where the JBC are heading as well as
utterly useless tidbits of gossip for those interested. bear with me
as i just got back this morning and my head is still seeing pavement
whizzing by :-)
ignore tense changes and misspellings, please...
the line-up:
pat sings/guitar
the man. 32 years old and approaching a(nother) crisis
in his career. the desire to write/create/perfrom is,
as ever, alive, but the funds are getting tight.
the JBC single _we love you_ might be seen as a means
to reconcile, although pat was seriously discussing
finding a rich eccentric. more later.
laurence bass
the ladies man with a new fretless bass. the burglar
of love got his last one in 1988.
paul drums
not much into touring anymore and he has a girlfriend
in california. laurence and paul really pulled it
together in _cult_. it will be a shame to see them go.
julian guitar
the 20 year old taking a semester off for the tour.
incredibly naive and upper class. pointing his video
camera out the car window and asking stupid questions.
to a hung-over half-asleep laurence: "where are we?"
and not expecting a crew shag. excellent video gamer.
alex sax
for the 1st time ever on US tour! alex is someone i
am glad is not my father. he is a straightfaced
sarcastic intensely observational person who is great
over a drink, but who is never wrong. he finally opened
up about half way through the tour.
martin soundman/engineer/producer
*the* reverend botus whiteblood fleming. martin and
i shared the wheel of the rental car alot. he lives
in chicago with his wife-to-be (they are getting
married in a brewery). devilishly handsome, young
and talented. to-day is his birthday. he is 27.
mark roadie
the lower-class cockney of the lot. julian and he
constantly go at it, julian at the losing end of the
fights, always. (wait... there *was* the time is dallas
that julian successfully nailed mark in the eye with
a yoghurt-covered carrot). the blue aeroplanes have
offered mark a job for their new world tour.
phil (crusher) driver/roadie
this year, phil got on everyones case. he checked the
band into cheap hotels far from the town centers and
was very tight with money. apparently the JBC are
not making money on this tour.
1st avenue 5 minneapolis, mn
this was my 1st stop and where the blue aeroplanes joined the JBC who
had just come across from western canada. both bands were on particularily
good behaviour in front of each other.
metro 6 chicago, il
one of the best turnouts of the tour. except through canada, where the JBC
are better known, the bands will take turns headlining. this pisses off the
BA managers a bit, since they are on a major label (chrysalis). whereas
the JBC tool around in a Dodge van ("note the pedestrian advisory on the
front of the bus" pat quips), the BA have a classic rock-n-roll touring
coach with TV and bar. however, the bands themselves just seem to enjoy
being able to tour together.
peabodys 7 cleveland, oh
the bands drink more beers (93) than people turn out (92). wojtek, the
BA dancer takes the opportunity to jump on the sparcely populated bar at
the edge of the stage and dances above speechless drinkers.
a 6 guitar strong version of _sweet jane_ as the JBC join the blue aeroplanes
on stage for the last song.
the diamond 8 toronto
days on tour work into a simple regime: up around 8, sample the hotels coffee
and on the road by 8h30 for a 5 hour drive. unload the bus, soundcheck for
about an hour, peruse the local eateries and relax until the show begins.
whereas the JBC stay in hotel and drive during the day, the BA drive directly
through the night in the rock-n-roll chicken (the damned thing has huge
flying eagles painted all over it much to the JBC bemusement!) and wake up
in the next town.
the hotel was full of teenagers with black tee-shirts waiting to get a
glimpse of AC/DC who were staying a few floors up. laurence (the stubborn
JBC bass player) managed to sleep in too late and the hotel management
insisted that we pay for another day.
"they check in... but they cant check out!"
the JBC do not particularily like canada.
it takes $23 to fill the car with gas.
*i* do not particularily like canada.
peter clark hall 9 guelph, ontario
a show to live in JBC memory. the venue was in the guelph university union
where, apparently, there was some sort of rule prohibiting alcohol to be in
the hallways. well, a hallway separated the dressing room and the venue.
during the JBC set, the nazi youth door checkers in matching shirts,
haircuts and walky-talkies, mistake the BA drummer for a bum and pummel him
during his cross from the dressing room to the venue. _partytime_ contains
the great line "give em a walkie-talkie and they think theyre adolph hitler".
yet another reason for the JBC to dislike canada.
i watched italian television in canada with a roomfull of englishmen.
go figure.
the diamond 10 montreal, qu
the show is sponsored by a local brewery, st ambroise of which the JBC entire
approve. pat plays _la mer_ for the french as well as david js
_the partys over_. it is generally known that it is not a good idea to fall
asleep in the presence of the JBC. during pack-up, i nod off and awaken to
martin hovering above me with a sharpie (TM). bastards!
paradise 11 boston, ma
the best gig i saw. the room was full of video equipment from rough trade
who tape both shows. i begin filming for the _pineapple tuesday_ video.
pat agrees with my assessment that it is a traffic tune. by now, the JBC/BA
(or JBAC as pat calls it) join each other on stage for their last tunes.
_caroline wheeler_ turns into a giant frenzy with alex lee and angelo from the
BA on guitars and pat dancing around like a las vegas entertainer with his
microphone. this *is* what he lives for.
maxwells 12 hoboken, nj
maxwells, the traditional 1st stop on the JBC tour and the 1st place they
ever played. whatta shithole! (sorry). a dank room with a poor sounding pa
and not enough room for the guitar army. they should have seen it coming.
after two night of intense success, they bomb. the small crowd is apathetic
and most leave after the blue aeroplanes open.
before the show, rich hall of the comedy channel show "the onion world"
has the JBC on to play _conspiracy_ and _mr odd_ to video cameras
in a speaker shop. it seems that this rich hall guy plays JBC material
quite often on his TV show. pat says that when he gets royalty sheets
there are things like "mr odd, 1 play, madrid"; "human jungle, 1 play, chicago";
and then a whole page of stuff from being played on the comedy channel.
has anyone noticed the nintendo commercial on TV with the BA guitar riff
from _and stones_ in the background? gerard says that it was lifted without
permission and that the lawyers will be set loose soon...
marquis 13 nyc
this is the 1st time i ever put any of my stuff
onto the bus so that i can ride into manhattan with them. we go to rough trade
where pat does an interview and we watch a bit of the boston show video.
while martin and i walk around manhattan before the soundcheck, phil drives
around doing errands. the burglar of loves cousin breaks into the van and
offs with my 16mm movie camera and all the _pineapple tuesday_ footage,
and EVERY SINGLE JBC TAPE I EVER HAD. bottom line: i lost my ass. being on
the JBC bus, it was not insured. julians hollow body guitar is taken too.
he has to borrow angelos for the rest of the tour.
the 930 club 14 washington dc
washington consists of big polished mercedes and back alleys of rats.
i slip the new JBC single into the dance mix before the set and only the
band notices! laurence is overheard using the pickup line "its your loss,
not mine". JBC fans from new jersey fill a hotel bathtub with booze and
proceed to feed them to the band. for a group one would image to be total
alcoholics, the JBC were surprisingly sober, i found out. realistically,
with only a few hours to sleep each night, it doesnt make sense to drink
heavily. BUT! the shades *are* for real. the JBC always leave the hotel
in the morning wearing sunglasses as a hangover deterrent.
cats cradle 15 chapel hill, nc
warm weather finally and the land of jesse helms. they groove to the cheap
smokes and buy cartons of camels and marlboros. the songlist through
canada was mellower. now it starts off with rapidfire _conspiracy_ _lot 49_
_marnie_ sorts of songs which dont work as well. the blue aeroplanes set
never changes. the "this is just work" side of things is becoming apparent.
since the crowds are small, the bands just play for themselves and seem to
look forward to the last songs when they can cut loose. _sweet jane_ has
become a regular set-ender. it is approaching glam rock self indulgence.
i have to run the lights as the club is understaffed.
masquerade 16 atlanta, ga
who has seen this? just into the east of georgia is one of those bulberous
watertower things except it is supposedly shaped like a giant peach! martin
and i agree that it looks more like a huge upturned monty python butt suddenly
to split open and begin eating the passing cars. anyway...
the masquerade was easily the most interesting venue. it is a huge converted
textile mill with great grooved oak floor and the old machinery still in place.
pathetic turnout. mark feels that his crewcut has grown out too much and
has martin completely shave his head. the pseudo nazi black-jackboot clad
poseur club workers dont know what to make of it.
jimmies 17 new orleans
new orleans, the town that just *is* what montreal so dearly wants to be!
the pinball machine at the bar next door to the club gets a workout. the
club management doesnt seem to want to hear _sweet jane_ and unplug the JBAC
who are sent into the night looking for entertainment. pat and gerard langley,
the BA singer end up getting blitzed in the french quarter until the dawn.
by the way, all of the blue aeroplanes hate the band portrait on the new BA
album, except gerard, who looks much better than real life. gerard wears his
shades even more than pat does if you can believe it.
liberty lunch 19 austin, tx
pat hates texas. everyone else wonders "whats his problem?" the food is the
best of the tour and the weather is nice and warm. the liberty lunch is a
dusty open warehouse with an amateur soundman. typcically, martin runs
the big soundboard in the back of a club, and one of the club members runs
the monitor board which is by the stage. this particular soundman had the
attitude but totally sucked as a technician. martin and the JBC loose their
patience as the guy keep causing horrendous feedback. halfway through the
set, he simply walks up and places a photograph on the board in front of
martin: he wears fatigues, and army hat and a grin. he holds a sub machine
gun. alex notes after the show "an admission of guilt, dont you think?"
good food though..
trees 20 dallas, tx
this is it for me. easily the best sounding system. unfortunately, across
the street is a 10-band gig which draws most of the people in town. pat teaches
_angels_ to julian and plays it for the only time this tour. the mellower
songlist is back:
basement
shes on drugs
pineapple tuesday
marnie
angels
the best way
lot 49
girl go
human jungle
mr odd
sister death
girlfriend
conspiracy
groovin in the bus lane
room 109
partytime
caroline wheeler
a quick band portrait for me in the morning and we are on our separate ways.
they will be driving straight through to california to stay with deidre of
KCRW and downey mildew. you california types should have great shows!
as i drove back into purdue university this morning, i hear on the radio
that margaret thatcher has resigned as prime minister of britain. big party
day on the JBC dodge van i would imagine: thanksgiving, maggie resigns,
martins 27th birthday. the JBC drunk in
arizona. quite a site for the cactii, to be sure!
so...
the future?
whats the future of JBC?
good question. really. the sobering reality is, there will probably not
be a full tour for awhile. paul does not enjoy touring and the laurence
problems and sure to come to ugly blows. pat mentioned the possibility of
doing a small european tour with alex. it looks like it is going to be
difficult for the band to get together like the last time to do an intensely
personal album; martin lives here, paul has a girlfriend in california,
julian is in school.
they are discussing doing the next album in the US. candidates are LA,
NYC, or chicago if martin can line something up. but a US album will
cost alot. coming off of a poor tour turnout, this might be difficult.
looks like 1987 all over again, huh?
buy the man a beer and give him a hug.
-david
"been there. done that"