Little Fish

22nd June 2010

Text // Comments

Tour blog: Bournemouth (How Are Your Ears?)

We had a day off in between the Sheffield show and today Bournemouth. Blondie took the coaches down to Bournemouth and hung out by the sea most of the day. The weather here in England is scorching, very rare. We on the other hand, went back to our home town of Oxford. What with catching up on emails, blogs, video edits, washing and shopping for food, there wasn’t much time to relax. We did, however have time to watch the football (soccer). There is always time for the World Cup here. The nation is currently disappointed with England’s poor performance.

Bournemouth is an hour’s drive South of Oxford. Not far. Today we are playing The Opera House. We have played there twice before, supporting Placebo and The Eagles Of Death Metal. What is striking about the venue is not so much the size, of course it is big, but more its beauty. The balconies are ornate, painted gold. Everyone here likes the venue. Everyone has had a day to rest and everyone is feeling fresh and ready to go for the weekend shows and festival fun.

Tonight, I am using in-ear monitoring for the first time. With the conventional monitor system, speakers are placed at the feet of the singer, and through that, the sound of the band is fed back. Although you can choose what you want to hear back, it is not always easy as a singer to hear yourself with all the instruments on stage; with the loud volume and varying frequencies, the voice doesn’t always cut through. Not only does this make it hard to sing but it makes it dangerous for the singer, because to compensate for the lack in volume, you have to push your voice, shout even, and risk hurting it.

An in-ear monitoring system is exactly what the name suggests. All the top singers and performers use them. I suppose, you just have to be able to hear yourself on stage and in-ear monitoring has become the most favoured solution. I am a little nervous about using them but I am aware that being able to hear myself sing properly will prevent me from hurting my voice. If the best do it, then there must be a good reason. I am prepared to give it a go.

Ten minutes before stage time and I am out the back, putting in my in ears. Debbie walks past me. I say “hi”. She says “hi” back. Then I tell her that I am using in-ears for the first time tonight. She is excited for me. I ask her for tips. She tells me that she doesn’t like to hide her radio pack and quite likes having the device attached to her belt, “it’s like another gadget” she says. Just like her knife I think to myself. I jokingly tell her that I am onto her and that I am getting myself a sword that I will be drawing from its scabbard so as to out-do her. She laughs. Then we talk more about the monitors. She tells me not to be afraid to change the volume of it during the show. That if I want to sing softly, to turn it up and vice versa. She says that she couldn’t live without in-ears. I am encouraged. The boys call for me and I have to rush off. Time for us to hit the stage.

Little Fish take to the stage. It’s 8pm and the venue is full. I start the first song and from the first note, I hear my voice clearly in my ears, unlike ever before. As we all start to play, I hear my guitar, the hammond and drums kick in perfectly. I am happy. We rock our way through the set. The beauty of being able to hear yourself sing is that instead of competing and struggling with the voice and other instruments around, you can start to actually sing. I play with my voice. Add nuance. Sing loud. Sing soft. I feel that I have uncovered the start of something new. I am extremely happy. I exit stage right. My voice is fine. No strain. No loss. Perfect.

Blondie hit the stage, 9pm. I watch Blondie from the side of the stage. Perched on an amp, I am able to see everything. I am about two metres from Debbie Harry. I can see her every move. I watch her like a hawk. True enough, now that I am aware of her monitor adjustment trick, I see her touching her monitor numerous times. She subtly reaches to her belt and adjusts her in-ear receiver.

Their show goes well. Blondie are on a roll now. There isn’t anything that I could fault. Every night I get to hear their songs and each night I come to love them more and more. My favourite song is ‘One Way, Or Another’ as I have so many good memories of the song, dancing to it with friends at parties and night clubs. This is also the song I told Debbie I wish I had written, the very first night we met. Little did I know at the time, that I would be hearing her sing the song every night of the month of June 2010. When the band play it, every night, the audience goes mental. They sing the song back to her and there is this amazing personal interaction from artist to audience. It’s a real bonding song. I have also developed a sweet affection for “Call Me”, “Maria”, “The Tide Is High” and “Hanging On The Telephone”. Tonight was the first time that they played “Picture This”. They were learning it in sound check in Sheffield two night’s before so it was great to see it get into the set tonight. In the Little Fish camp, we are still waiting for them to play “Denis”.

Outside, at the end of the night, everyone is leaving. Debbie looks great as ever. She turns to me and asks me how my in-ears went? I turn to her and smile with glee as I say “It’s going to change my life. Incredible. I could actually hear myself sing!”. Debbie is pleased for me and just before we say goodbye, until tomorrow, she tells me that she is having a birthday party and will be cordially inviting Little Fish. Wowa! As I get in the van and drive home, I think back to how these last months have been amazing for Little Fish. Last month I was sitting in a cab in New York, telling Ben (our ghost Hammond player), how I wished I had written the song ‘One Way Or Another”. The following day, we are supporting Courtney Love at Terminal 4, when Debbie Harry actually comes to the show. We meet her afterwards and the next thing I know, we are touring with Blondie and being invited to Debbie Harry’s Birthday party. Praise that Lord!!

Tagged: BlondietourBournemouthBlondie tour blog

21st June 2010

Text // Comments

Tour blog: Sheffield (Blondie has a knife)

Image copyright Big_Franko, from the Little Fish Flickr group

I am ashamed to say that I have never been to Sheffield and am unaware of exactly where it is. When leaving Manchester, I ask the boys in the van and they tell me that it is only a small hour’s drive away from Manchester. I accept this, but to make up for my lack of knowledge on the city, my curious mind starts to wonder and I decide to probe the boys for more. This starts off a band discussion about Sheffield that culminates with the deduction that Sheffield is a city built around 7 hills, that the River Sheaf runs through it, that the hit children’s TV series Byker Grove was filmed there (not actually true) and that The Artic Monkeys also came from Sheffield. Most importantly however, Sheffield is famous for being the innovators of stainless steel. Importantly because when I casually bump into Debbie Harry backstage, right after having opened up for Blondie, she pulls out the sharpest of knives, seemingly out of nowhere, and rather calmly starts to tell me about the history of stainless steel.

So. Picture this. Sheffield Academy. Two thousand people front of house, all waiting for Blondie to come out and smack them dead with their killer tunes while me and Debbie Harry are standing backstage. I have just come off stage with Little Fish. It’s been another high-energy show and I’m sweating like a little mouse, with no ammunition except for a sweaty towel (which I kindly offer to Debbie, but she kindly giggles and declines). Debbie however, is dressed as wonder woman war fighter, head to toe in black, ninja shoes, power ballerina dark navy skirt and all sorts of chains and belts wrapped round her waist, holding a bloody sharp knife and kind of pointing it at me.

The first thing that crosses my mind is ‘What have I done? Is this for real?’ and then, when I realise that there is no threat or menace, ‘Is it normal for her to carry a weapon?’ Common sense makes me think for a brief moment that she might well have to carry a knife on her at all times, that this is indeed common, in case she ever needs it for some sort of rumble in the jungle with a crazy fan. You know, a self-defence kind of thing.

After my flashes of thoughts, my mind calms and I realise that Debbie is talking to me, not with anger or menace but more with a cheery smile. Her voice is calm, gentle and soothing. She has one of those American voices that I love. So composed. In and amongst my confusion and blurring of thoughts I realise that she is happy to have bought a real sharp blade from the city that innovated stainless steel. She smiles as she says that she actually bought it in Newcastle but Sheffield was where it was made. She likes it. We touch it. She tells me that she wears it around her belt as it reminds her of the woman on Blondie’s (soon to be released) new album. She says, “the most I could do with it is trim my wig and file my nails!” I laugh. She is funny. And although she has war paint around her eyes and a knife in her hand, I just want to hug her. She is the sweetest softest rock legend I have met so far in the world of music. Time has passed. Debbie needs to go on stage soon. She is sweet as she kindly says, “well I must go and warm up, see you later”. Blondie are on in twenty minutes and Debbie sneaks off back into her dressing room.

True to super-woman-tank-girl style, Blondie kicked ass once again in Sheffield. Maybe her knife gave them the edge? Every night, Blondie’s performances are improving. As I look on from the balcony, Debbie genuinely looks like she was enjoying the show. There seemed to be more smiles and energetic dance moves than usual. And just when I think that life couldn’t get any better, Debbie Harry decides, in between songs, to thank Little Fish for supporting Blondie. She tells the audience about how she met us in New York when we played with Courtney Love. I smile to myself and thank her in thoughts as the crowd applauds in appreciation. Blessed.

Next stop Bournemouth, and this time, I’m bringing my own knife!

Tagged: BlondieSheffieldtourBlondie tour blog