There are no wolves in wolves

22/05/07

So, Wolverhampton…

So, Wolverhampton.

We were here about 6 weeks ago, just before we undertook the behemoth Euro-tour that just about killed us.

Its nice to be back.

We were walking back to the venue earlier on, and met a few Biffy fans who had their photos taken with the guys. At the same time, a couple of touts tried to sell us tickets to the gig.

They seemed upset when they realised that they were speaking to the band and tour manager, and made a point of telling us that they weren’t having much luck selling the 10 or so tickets they had, as the Champions League game was on.

Needless to say, the volume of our sympathy amounted to about the same volume of morality running through the veins of our ticket scalping friends.

Though it made me happy to know that we managed to put them in the ground to the tune of around £200 between them.

Hapless Capitalist Fuckwits.

The only wolves in wolves are those who prowl around music venues taking advantage of our friends, it would seem.

We were in London yesterday, which is always a bit of a nightmare. We don’t suffer from Londonitis that much anymore, but it’s still a bit of a sketch… Londonitis is best defined as the strange aura that seems to surround any band performing in the nation’s capital. For up and coming bands, I guess its the hope that they’ll land themselves a nice record deal, whilst for bands that are a bit more established, it’s more about blowing people away, living up to your benchmark, and quite simply, not to fuck it up in front of a large number of people.

Though, we had our largest guestlist ever, I think. In fact, I don’t think, I fucking know we did. It was H U G E.

And even if I didn’t know the actual number (which was larger than the capacity of some small venues) I’d know purely down to the amount of times that the poor girl on the guestlist (Lucy from the Roundhouse) had to radio me, to check missing names, to try and differentiate the blaggers from the bona fide guests.

Not to mention the absolute fucking scrum that was the aftershow party. The folks at the record label put some money behind the bar, which seemed to turn otherwise normal people into wild-eyed maniacs with the thirst of a vampire in the summertime. I actually saw someone biting another journalist’s ear in half, to get in on the free booze action before the tab ran out.

It wasn’t actually that bad, to be fair. We all just find the nature of the aftershow a bit strange… it’s very much for everyone else really, not the band and crew.
But ask me how much of the free bar tab any of the biffy team got in on, and the answer would be the same as if you asked me to rate our collective interest in the migration patterns of the noble Cormorant.

Little to Fuck All.

What else…

We had a pleasant time in Oxford the other day. Oxford seemed to have a pleasant time with the band as well. So that relationship continues abound.

Portsmouth as well, was lovely. I met a pleasant chap, who told me he really liked it when I ‘burned’ people on the messageboard… I felt a bit embarassed, but quickly changed my mind, when I remembered that it’s usually deserved, and that they’re probably getting off lightly when all they get are some sarcastic comments on a messageboard, when what they really deserve is… well, not for me to judge, but I’d start by removing their access to the internet, because they certainly aren’t doing any good on there.

So now we’re in Wolverhampton. As you know.
We went over to Birmingham earlier on…

(Oh…YCNI:Milo are upstairs onstage just now, and are playing ‘Translate’ from their new record… the big riff just kicked in, and it sounded like they almost came through the ceiling)

… sorry, distractions…

Birmingham… We went over to Kerrang! radio earlier, where the band played a 5-song acoustic set to around 50 or 60 competition winners and Kerrang! staffers, then hung out a bit to meet them all.

It was a fairly pleasant way to spend the early afternoon, compared to being locked in the backstage rooms of venues.

Admittedly, for the band, who tend to get up a touch later than the rest of the touring party, it was a bit of a wrench to get up at 10am, especially after the aftershow shennanigans of last night (or rather, the after-aftershow shennanigans).

(Milo are hitting Rapt. Dept. now… I remember when we heard this for the first time, when it came out as an ep, and literally listening to it about 15 times straight on a trip through Europe. Fucking awesome)

So have you all heard about Wembley yet?

The Biff are going to be supporting Muse at the new Wembley Stadium on June 17th, alongside My Chemical Romance.

It cracked me up a few times yesterday, when folk would come up to any of us, a bit wide-eyed, grinning, and just say "so… wembley eh?"

It’s a massive fucking deal, and a great warmup for when the Biffy headline at Hampden Park in Scotland at the end of the year. They need to get used to the 65,000 capacity open-air shows after all.

(ATTENTION MESSAGE BOARD FOLKS. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF SARCASM. IT IS NOT FACT. THIS GOES FOR TABLOID NEWSPAPERS AS WELL. BIFFY ARE NOT IN FACT HEADLINING HAMPDEN. IT’S FUCKING INSANELY MASSIVE. BON JOVI HEADLINE HAMPDEN. DON’T BE FUCKING RIDICULOUS. DISCLAIMER OVER.)

More than anything, we’re all buzzing because we get to see Muse’s show, which will likely be utterly mind-bogglingly insanely over the top.

So we have a day off the day after tomorrow…

you have no idea how happy that makes us all…

I think its been about 2 weeks or so since our last day off… which is fucking obscene to be honest. I know you get bands doing stupidly long tours, with like, 20 in a row, but those bands aren’t touring with a stupidly large lighting rig, going into venues at 9 in the morning, and leaving at 1am the next morning. And even those guys are off their heads.
Which makes us certifiable, I think.
Great fun.

We’ll be in fabulous Leeds, home to our friends in Forward, Russia, and many more that we don’t really care that much about. Love the Russians though.

We plan to hit the cinema. Spiderman 3 obviously, and possibly Zodiac, which I’ve actually seen already, whilst on holiday in San Francisco, where it’s set. It’s really really great. Chilling stuff.

Thats about it for now… the band are onstage in half an hour, so best sign off…

word out.
peace out.
i’m out.

etc etc.

bye.x