Simon Little

Hello Folks,

I’m going forn the rather risky move of blogging whilst still actually on the road. Could be tricky and you’ll have to excuse any typos and spelling mistakes as I’m hacking away at a German keyboard and all the letters are in the wrong place… Thought it would be better to do this now before I forget all the place names and all the gigs merge into one big tour blob…

We Started out this leg on a very small stage at The Pumpwerk in Wilhelmshaven. Barely managing to all squeeze on at once, we still had a good show with a great audience.

On Friday we returned to the same venue in Zwonitz we played last year (and it turned out we were there exactly the same date last year- they had a poster from the last show up on the wall that we’d all signed). It’s a great venue, again with a very small stage. The stage also has a balcony towering over it on one side, the close proximity of which I found out the hard way whilst setting up the gear… I’ve still got a massive bruise right on the top of my freshly shaved head where I jumped off that side carrying a flightcase and all but knocked myself out. Wouldn’t be allowed in the UK… health and safety and all that… The dressiong room at that venue is virtually pitch black with almost no lighting to speak of; just as we’d remembered it from last time. It’s the sort of lighting that if you were to put something down, you’d be hard pushed to find again at the end of the night (something Mark discovered last year with one of his favourite shirts…. we were all more cautious this time). It was another good show with a really fun audience, and they’ve said they’d keep the 8th March free for us from now on (we all love those annual residencies!)

On Sunday we played my favourite venue so far. It’s called the Blues Garage and it’s just outside Hannover. As we drove into what can only be described as a larger, and possibly bleaker version of the Slough Trading Estate, I really didn’t have high hopes for the gig. We walked into one of the huge industrial hangers and inside they’d built the most amazing Mid-Western style Blues venue. The owner Henry had decked it out with vintage gas pumps, old guitars and radios, various other class items of Americana and some fantastic artwork. All that was missing was the sawdust on the floor… We had a big stage with an even bigger drum riser for Steve and the backline and the show was storming. I love those sorts of venues, Henry was great and has invited us back next year so that’ll be one to look forward to. You really felt as if you were in some really happening dusty Mid-Western blues joint…until you stepped outside onto the industrial estate.

There was a house photographer there too and he took some good shots of the band so hopefully I’ll be able to post some of them up here and on Maggie’s page. keep your eyes peeled…

We had a day off yesterday in Melle, but it pissed with rain all day. Typical.

We’re playing in Melle tonight, then we’re off to Krefeld (I’ve got no idea where that is either.. my German geography is non-existant). We’re going home next Monday after 6 more shows. If anyone’s in town on Tuesday I’ll be playing Lea’s ‘Wall To Wall’ show at the Pizza Express on Dean Street with special guest Mornington Lockett. Should be a good one folks…

Anyways… see you soon. Hope someone reads this or I’ve just wasted a good half hour on this bloody thing.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Simon x

The Return of The Divine Comedy!
Category: Music

The Divine Comedy will be headlining Saturday night at the Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham on the 31st May. I’m gonna be playing at the Leicester City Blues Festival in the afternoon with the Chris Bergson band, and then burning my way to Cheltenham for a bit of DC action.
Here’s the details ruthlessly ripped from the DC blog:

Saturday 31st May

Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham Race Course
The DC’s headline Saturday’s show, supported by Duffy, The Blockheads (feat Phill Jupitus) and many many more!

Tickets are available now and can be ordered from The Festival Box Office on 01993-772580 (8am – 10pm 7 days a week)
Adult Weekend £100
Disabled 2 for 1 ticket £100
Concession Weekend £75
11 and under are free (max 2 per adult, then additional Child Ticket is £10)
Day Tickets: Friday £35, Cons £20
Saturday: £50, Cons £35
Sunday: £40, Cons £25

For more ticket info and a list of authorised ticket agents, please visit the Ticket section of the Wychwood website!

See you there.

Simon x

Well, I know that two days away barely constitutes a tour, but we’re about to embark on a longer stint in Denmark and Germany. The two shows we just did in Germany were so eventful I had to start here…
We started off with four days of intensive rehearsals at Ritz Studios in Putney. We’ve added a bunch a new songs to the set from last year and now a have the wonderful Steve Alexander on drums. Steve used to play with Maggie years ago and has since been on the road with Jeff Beck and Duran Duran amongst many others, so we’re really lucky to have him back. He’s a real powerhouse drummer and has already gone down a storm at the shows (Maggie keeps getting the old “Hey.. Your drummer’s really famous!” comments… very funny… still nobody knows who the hell I am though!).
Our first show was the Torgelow Classic Rock Festival, alongside Tony Carey and Ray Wilson & Stiltskin at the Stadthalle in Torgelow, Germany. We were on in the middle (Tony pulled rank and went on first so he could leave early and get an early night!). We had a great show and stayed on to watch a bit of Stiltskin. I was very excited to hear them do ‘Inside’ from the Levis ad…. sadly this was not to be. After their first number, there was some confusion on stage as the band all started checking their gear and in-ear monitors. Suddenly the entire stage went black, and so did the entire building. And so did the whole of Torgelow and the two nearest towns! Apparently a storm had caused a widespread power-cut and there didn’t seem to be any immediate solution. Confusion reigned as band, audience and backstage crew alike were plunged into complete darkness. Luckily Stiltskin took this in their stride and we all used to opportunity to have a chat backstage and have a good laugh at the seemingly hopeles situation! Eventually the fire brigade and local police turned up at the Stadthalle and managed to divert power to the venue from somewhere else, but sadly by this point (about 45 minutes later) around 75% of the audience had gone home. Stiltskin dutifully went back on stage to a smaller but enthusiastic crowd and the show went on. We went back to our hotel.
Now then, our hotel needs some comment. I don’t remember the name of it, but it was attached to an enormous windmill. The owner has obviously become obsessed with this windmill and has made it her own personal trademark as well as that of the hotel. It was run by one ‘Frau Braun’; a rather frightening and larger than life Korean woman who greeted us incredibly loudly in German (she spoke no English and we spoke no German: but both parties were going for the loud and slow technique in multi-lingual communication) wearing some kind of period costume… something akin to a German milk-maid outfit. Every available inch of wallspace in the lobby and restaurant was plastered with photographs of Frau Braun with local dignitaries and various German celebrities wearing what can only be described as an enormous windmill-themed Easter bonnet paired with the various costumes which she obviously has a penchant for. The Japanese kimono was my personal favourite, making her look like some kind of windmill-Geisha.
The second show was 300k down the road at the Brauhaus in Cottbus. We were to be the first ever act on at this newly-converted music venue. We had a great show and the audience were fab. We were really looked after by the staff at the converted brewery, which will hopefully go on to be a popular music venue in the future. It was a pleasure to be first to play such a great venue. The sound was good and the food was even better. Looking forward to going back there next year if all goes well.
Post-show frivolities were sadly rather low-key as we had a bastard early start the following morning to catch our plane back to Blighty. I had about 3 hours sleep…
I’ll post part II of the diary after our next jaunt. Have a look at the gig list to see where we’re off to next. Also, check out Maggie’s page (you can find her in my ‘Top Friends’), it’s more fully-functional than before- I’ve given it a bit of a facelift!
See you soon!
Simon x