Blog: Tour Diary 2: Exeter

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On day two of the Hibbett/Osborn/Petrie tour I had a bit of a lie-in. ROCK! I then walked down the road to the Ibis Budget, where Grace had been staying. We hopped into the PETRIE-MOBILE and... then had to go back inside to get another ticket for the car park, as the original had disappeared, and THEN roared off onto the road. There then followed two hours during which I think it was fair to say that the world was comprehensively put to rights, and LO! there was much agreeing about THINGS. It's AGES since I've been on a car journey, it was FUN!

We arrived in the Funky Shops area of Exeter, and were astonished to find that the tattoo parlour had an "I'm Voting UKIP" poster in the window. What has the world come to when Tattoo Parlours, for heaven's sake, are voting UKIP? I fully expect to see FLORISTS calling for ANARCHY any day now!

We lunched once more in Weatherspoons (if we do another tour i may see if i can get Weatherspoons to sponsor us) then split up once more, Grace going to a hotel and me this time to a B&B. It was very nice, very friendly, and very very very much smaller than my accomodation the night before, featuring about 20% as much Mattress Space as previously.

After a while I got a text from Gav and mooched into town for coffee before AMBLING round the corner to The Cavern, where the gig was happening, and where we were soon joined by Grace. Before deciding on "Two Men And A Little Lady" as the TITLE for the tour we'd also considered "Grace Has Two Dads", as that was what we imagined it might end up being like. We imagined CORRECTLY - Gav brought everyone presents, and I told Grace off for not eating tomatoes. THESE WERE OUR ROLES.

We had a SPLENDID tea, including Pizza and the best coleslaw I have EVER eaten (which I also insisted everyone tried, or else they wouldn't be allowed to get down from the table and do their gig) AND we got free beer too. I was very conscious of the fact that Gav and Grace are used to slightly more Professional touring styles than me, and i must say i LIKED their way of doing things. We got fed AND paid AND given free beer at every gig! It was ACE!

Soon it was show-time - Pippa the promoter had booked THREE other acts to play, which I thought might be a bit much but turned out to be a GOOD IDEA as they brought PEOPLE! I was on second, which I was also a little wary of, but it turned out to be FINE. As ever, if you're on near the middle it means that most of the people who intend to come have got there, and most people who have come are there still, so I had a very enjoyable time doing THIS:

I Did A Gig In New York

My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once

Red and White Sockets

Strangely Attractive

20 Things To Do Before You're 30

It Only Works Because You're here

The Lesson Of The Smiths

I practiced a PILE of songs the week before these gigs, so was quite keen to do some different stuff, which seemed to work out pretty well, with 20 Things To Do Before You're 30 doing well again. There were two more local acts then Grace (who did a GRATE song called "Inspector Morse" with a GIGANTIC chorus) and Gav (who did a lovely old/new to me one called "Soundtrack", also "Closing MOntage" which stuck in my head for the next 24 hours).

It ended up being a beautiful evening, even though I must admit i did have some Slightly Melancholy ISH Thorts halfway through, wondering if this would be the last time I ever did a tour like this, and if maybe that would be a good thing? I've had a taste for the high life of FREE PIZZA on this tour, I don't know if I could go back to paying for it!

posted 20/5/2014 by MJ Hibbett

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