"Promiscuous makes an enterance"

Metric/Scissors for lefty. Manchester Life Cafe 30/8/06 .
Great opening line to a song that!

Went up to Manchester (again) to see Metric on Wed. Had a nice surprise when I found out Scissors for lefty were supporting. The Life Cafe is a small club with barely a stage. It's set in the corner of the place and not too bad to view as long as you're right up front or at the back which has steps going up to the bar. I of course was right at the front, stage right. I seem to get drawn there, that's Corins fault!! Scissors for lefty were very good the singer had a Jarvis Cocker feel about him. I only recognised one song, which isn't bad as I've only downloaded 3/4 of their stuff. Enjoyed 'em though so I must get their album, yeah should have bought it there I know.


Metric eventually came on with Emily wearing a very see-thru top, and nothing underneath. Much to the dismay of a girl next to me who's boyfriend couldn't take his eyes off her, ok me neither. They opened with "Empty" the 1st song on the album. Played most of "Live it out" plus 2 other songs I didn't recognise. Highlight was "Monster Hospital" which totaly rocked. I was stood quite near the bass player and had to move my head at times in case he clobbered me. The guitarist had I think the biggest effects board I've ever seen. It was huge about twice the size of Carries. They didn't play an encore though, just did their set and went. Good though.

My Sanctuary is back.

A typical tues night I walk into town to meet Tim and Bev. We have a few beers and catch up on the last week. When I get home at 11:35 I turn my computer on to check mail ect. I firstly check if S-K.net is up yet though starting to give up hope. Yay it's back up and running, the board and all. I immediately text Andy (marriemecarrie) and fire off a couple of posts. Julia was first to do so but I was second to get on there. My sanctuary is back! Within minutes the people online shows as Garrett - Sleater_kittie - Slight Male Coyote, what a surprise!
It's good to have the board back, though I fear the horse my have bolted here. It's 2 weeks since Portland and most people have posted and read about the shows on other sites, Julias blog/Myspace ect. It would be nice if "the community" kept the board active, I know I'll try to keep it going.

Just Realised.

With everything else being a bit wacky at the mo, I forgot I go on holiday (again) on 8th Sept. Problem being I only have 1 day off 'till I fly, and that's tomorrow!! (actually today) I haven't checked visa requirements, money situation. I've got a busy day comming up. Then a nice 9 day run in work. I'm still a bit up/down emotionally at the moment, today has been a both day. I joined MySpace yesterday promted by Andy (marriemecarrie) who said most of the S-K.net refugees are hanging out there. It's been really fun reading the others account of the Portland expierience, lot of great pics too. Thanks to Korina and Celeste your accounts were quite emoitional to read. I would like to upload some of your pics, but I'll contact you direct to ask permission. Ok back to traveller mode must start to do my research. Belgrade and Novi Sad, airport info, local transport infrastucture, hotel locations ect ect. Aw well it's better than sitting on yer ass and watching tv I suppose.

Portland pics

Eddie Vedder played a couple of accoustic songs (one a duet with Janet)

Corin during the "Let's call it love/Entertain" jam

My two tickets the one from the final show signed by Corin and Janet.

One of the best Janet pics I have (she's difficult to photograph during a show

Mid afternoon it was getting hot

Korina levitating!

An alien feeling

After the thrilling Portland expierience the come down was that there is no more S-K. I did have the straw to grasp that I was gonna see Janet with Quasi a week later. Now that week later has passed, and as good as it was seeing Quasi and chatting with Janet, thats it. I feel realy down and hollow today, stupid I know. The S-K board is still down, I fear it may never appear again. Sharing my pain and depression with other like minded obsessives is not available, so I feel quite alone. This is a feeling alien to me, and I don't know what to do with it. Writing it here may help, it may not, only the coming hours/days/months will tell. We'll see.

Quasi, The Roadhouse Manchester 22/8/06

I managed to get to the station and get the 17:54 train to Manchester. I was a little late getting in but I got to my hotel by ten past seven. I litteraly just chucked some stuff in my room and legged it to the Crow&Anchor to meet Tim and Bev. We had a couple of beers and walked dow the road to the venue. Got in there about 8:15, Janet soon apeared behind the merch desk and imediately recognised me stood at the corner of the bar. I went over to have a chat, I thanked her for the water she handed out at Philly. She said at times she could barely get her breath in there but enjoyed it all the same. After a coup-le of suport acts (not realy worth mentioning, sorry) Quasi came on and opened with "Alice the goon" The sound was a little too bass/drum heavy and you could barely hear Sams vocals. It didn't bother me though it made Janet sound even more awsome. I can't provide a set list I'm crap at that sot of thing. The sound did sort itself out towards the end though and they ended the main set with "Death culture blues" which Janet counted in. They encoured with a few more songs, by this time my mate Tim who I'd badgered to come and see 'em was proclaiming Sam to be a genius. After the show Janet took up residence at the merch table again and Tim bought WTGGD (on vynil!!!) and Hot Sh*t.

As a nice touch when Janet had had enough she made a point of coming over to say goodbye, I told her it'll be a while before I see her again, she shook my hand smiled and said see ya.

She rocks!

To Carrie, Corin & Janet

Thank you.
For so much great music and being the best live band I've ever seen.
Thank you.
For your wonderfull personal demeanour, smiles and waves.
Thank you.
For your time to speak to and your recognition of your fans
We will miss you.
We look forward to any future projects you may have.

Portland, 11th & 12th Aug. The Farewell

The memoirs of the long distance gig goer

10/8
So I get back from the East Coast 16 hours sleep in 5 days, but somehow I'm still buzzin'. In work for 3 days and back out to the far west. 13hrs on a plane though, good job I'm a good traveller.
Get to Manchester Airport in good time, jeez the sh*t has hit the fan. There is absolute chaos something about a terrorist alert. It took about an hour to get to the check in desk only to be told there's no hand luggage allowed on-board. No mobile or mp3 player, basically nowt!! A 2 hour delay, damn! that means I'll miss my conection in Chicago. Eventually take off 4hrs late. In my mind all I can think is I have to get into Portland tonight, or that would realy bugger up plans. When we land in Chicago we have to go thru baggage reclaim then thru security and onto see what's gonna happen about my flight to PDX. At security I get pulled cuz I only have 1 piece of hand luggage.

"Is that all your luggage sir?"
"yes"
"how long you here for?"
"I'm going to Portland Oregeon for 3 days"
grabs passport and looks suspiciously at me.
Looks at passport.
"You were in the US last week?"
"Yes"
"Why?"
"I was here for 3 concerts"
"Who did you see?"
"Sleater Kinney"
"Why you here again?"
"I'm going to 2 concerts"
"Who you gonna see?"
"Sleater Kinney"
At this point I get that all too familiar look us S-K fans know (and love) too well. That blank, vacant stare that just says "who" but with depth and disbelief.
Flicking thru my passport he asks "What were you doing in Istanbul"
"Touring"
"What were you doing in Egypt?
"Touring"
"What were you doing in Bosnia?"
"Ok international gun running" phew!! good job I never said that, I was thinking it though.
All I'm thinking is I have to get to Portland tonight.
Anyway I'm eventually set free.
At this point I get my first bit of luck of the day, I get the last remaining seat going into Portland that night. Depart 8:30 pm arrive 10:30 pm, result! Then another curious twist of fate. I wonder if there'll be any other S-K fans on this flight, so I keep my eye out for anyone wearing an S-K shirt. Eventually I spot a guy by himself wearing the blue doggie shirt. When it's time for boarding I say hi and introduce myself, turns out it' sk1bt form the board (Andrew, as I now know him) we then discover were sitting next to each other on the plane, how spooky was that? Eventualy get to Portland 11pm, made it. I actually check the venue at midnight to see if anyone is camping out overnight (ok I'm sad)
11/8
I decide to get to the venue at 6:30 am and hope that not too many people have got there before me and that Andy, Korina or Garrett have secured a good spot in the line. As I approach the Crystal I can see a figure stood outside and my heart starts to sink, I turn the corner and it's Andy result we have first in line not a sign of Sharron. 7am who walks down the road yep Sharron. In the next 2 hrs the usual hardcore crew are there, and so begins a long day. Several coffee runs, lunch at Jakes excellent seafood restaurant and the odd quick pint at the bar next door, the day soon goes. At about 4pm my ticket contact hadn't turned up, so I was starting to feel a little nervous. I try ringing Tom on his mobile but no answer, it's at this point I secure a back up ticket from Alan. 5pm still no sign of Tom so I have go with my back up. 15 mins latter who walks up to me and asks "are you Tim" yes it's Tom, I now feel awful but he understands the predicament I was in, he had been badly delayed with his flight. When the time came for doors, we were ready. Andy said the Ballroom was on the second floor, so leg it up 2 flights of stairs and we're there. Rule: never follow Garrett into a gig you have to run up stairs to. We just keep going up and up and end up on the wrong f**kin' floor, panic we shoot back down a floor luckilly Andy and Korina had held our spots at the front of the stage phew!. Garrett goes and buys the limmited edition posters for us (10 in all) he has a problem at first but a good bit of diplomacy sorts it out (I buy 2). It's pretty crammed at the front but I get the ideal spot just left of Corin. They open with Start Together, which I think is a great opening song. We also get Drama, Get up, Youth Decay. They play 2 encores which include Ballad, Little Mouth (unusual) Dance Song (Yay!) and Light Rail. I was absolutly soaked at the end it was pretty lively at the front, great though.
After the show quite a few of us get together to go for a drink, we end up in a bar that allows minors. Next thing I know it's 3am, damn! I need to get to bed up again at 6 am.
12/8
Get to bed 3:30 am, alarm set for 5:30. Eventually get up at 6:10 run in and out of the shower and out the door. Get to the venue 6:30 am Garrett is already there 3rd in line behind Sharron (of course, she wasn't gonna let it happen 2 days in a row) and 2 girls who were there at 5:30 am. It was quite cold at that time of the morning, but again several coffee runs kept us going. Similar form to the previous day within a couple of hours the mian hardcore were there. I may have forgot to mention that a couple from Brighton were there in line early both days. Had a few chats with them (Brits together sort of thing) I think her S-K.net name was Katness? I'll check that when (if) the board is up and running again. But good effort people. Andy and Korina decide to sit out the crazy get to the front mania this time and want to view S-K's last show from a distance. This I can understand and thought about it myself, but I just love watching them from the spot I've occupied practically every time I've seen 'em. Corin would expect me to there anyway and I couldn't let her down not at the final show. Garrett and I assume normal battle stations. With about an hour to go 'till doors a camera crew come out the venue and ask if they can interview us at the front of the line. They ask us all questions like how long? why? what do you want them to play? ect. When they turn the camera on to me the guy says ah! you were at the East Coast shows too weren't you? "how did you know that?" they then made a big issue out of the fact I'd travelled over gone home again then travelled back. Promted by Todd and Sharron. Thanks guys! who proclaimed me as the no1 fan, though we all agree that accolade belongs to Sharron, respect you damn fine rocker!!. If any part of my interview makes it to vid/dvd then that would be nice but I know I'm not at all photogenic therefore awfull on film so I'd have to live with the embaressment. At doors the usual rush, as a twist this time Carrie had walked into the place seconds before they let us rowdy mob in. Garrett while running upstairs practically nocks Carrie over then realises who he just run past,commically stops glances back waves then continues on his manic way. presious!! Garrett tells the story better than that, but you get the drift of how funny it was. So here we are the last S-K gig ever. I'm not gonna go through the set list, say how good the ladies were ect ect. There are many reviews of this gig I'm not going to add another. What I will say is the people who were there will treasure the expierience the rest of their lives. I know I will. What will stick in my mind is it was the last time I leapt up and down shoulder to shoulder with Sharron, Garrett,Todd et-al. At the end of the show (they finished on "One more hour") Carrie, Corin and Janet hugged as a threesome in the middle of the stage. This is where most people (well me) cracked. I turned and hugged Sharron I don't think we could look each other in the eye, too many tears. The next 2 hours passed with a daze, just hugging and shaking hands with people. It was deep breaths, a strange atmosphere couppled with the joy of an S-K gig to top all S-K gigs. We (hardcore) waited outside the venue till 3am (Corins car was outside, clue?) the ladies eventually appeared. I had my pic taken with Corin and got her and Janet to sign my ticket (I missed Carrie) The end to a fascinating couple of days, laughter and tears, all emotions shared.
As I bring this edition of "War and peace" to an end, I appreciate no one will get this far reading it except me.
I will end on a huge thank you to Andy,Garrett, Korina and Celeste. You are all lovely warm human beings who it was a pleasure to meet and be with. I hope being with this 45 year old British idiot didn't hold back your expieriences too much. There are too many other people to mention here I would be scared of missing someone. To everyone I met, just talked to, exchanged a nod to. Thank you.
You know who you are.
You are all special people.
S-K. R.I.P.

East Coast Shows. (Updated)

Ok I've been putting this off till I've come down to earth
How do I explain this trip without going over the top ?
The fact is those 3/4 days were the most insane of my life. Ok that may be overstatement but it was summed up to me by Garrett. We're in a bar in NYC 2am he just looks at me and says "you know what, we're not gonna be able to explain this to other people are we" Without going over the top, which would be easy to do, that sums it up. I think I'll just do a list of highlights cuz a detailed account would take too long.
Aw damn! the boards down we were told it was gonna be down from Sun till Tues but I feel lost without it. So a more indepth review here I think.
PHILLY. 31/7/06
My tight schedule with my flights went like a dream. No probs whatsoever, so I arrive in Philly on time approx 1:30 pm. Get a taxi straight to the hotel litteraly dump my stuff and head out to find the venue. The bloody place takes some finding too but I eventually get there about 2:30 pm. Typical for S-K it's in a dodgy part of town too. There are 2 girls sat outside the place one I now know as Sharron an S-K veteran of 10 years. Anyway we just sit and chat for a while then at about 3:30 ish a taxi pulls up outside and out steps Corin she just smiles at us and says Hi. About half an hour later the Rogers Sisters turn up and have a chat with us, I tell 'em I love their album and can't wait to see them live. Eventually Andy Garrett and Korina turn up so go thru the introductions ect, turns out they had turned up much earlier and got moved on by the club people. Before they did though they put our names down on the will call list so we were basically at the front of the queue. On doors we leg it in and get prime spot in front of Corin to middle stage. The Rogers Sisters play a good set mostly the new album so I know most of it, yeah their pretty good. The ladies eventualy come on and open with Start Together which wasace it's the first time I've seen 'em play it too. Anyway a great set Drama too, Things you say, Ironclad and Light Rail. Absolutly soaked by the end. We buy the limited edition poster that's on sale I also get the dog t-shirt. After about half hour the ladies appear to say Hi and sighn autographs so we walk over as were by Corin she looks up points at me and says "hey I know you from England don't I" How f**kin cool was that? I have a quick chat with her saying I'll be in DC and NYC and Portland too. She assures me it'll be cooler in Portland. After that the 4 of us go for a meal in a Chinese restaurant the others had been to the night b4, I eventually get to bed at 3am. A 26.5 hour day.

DC. 1/8/06
Up at 6:30 am to meet the others to get the 8am bus to DC. I stroll uptown and stop of at some "diner" and have some breakfast just some scrambelled egg and veg, coffee, that'll do. Find the bus stop book in, sit and wait for Andy ,Korina and Garrett. They turn up soon enough so we board the bus and set off. We're all still a little tired so we just drift in and out sleep for most of the journey. Arrive in DC, jeez it's friggin hot! as it turns out our Hotels are 2 mins apart. I book into mine at about 12:30. I get a call from Andy saying they can't book in till 1:30 . Anyway without too much detail they shower at my place then book in. So we set off for the venue the 9:30 Club. Arrive ther about 1:30 ish and get about b6th in line, just good enough. Avery long very hot day I struggled at times it had to be said. The Rogers Sisters say helo again and look at us as if to say "you're all nuts". Had to take on so much water and keep mobile/awake/sane, but we got there. A pain getting in though they set up 2 lines and searched every bag being taken in so we ended up well left on Carries side but still at the front of the stage. The Rogers rocked again, I think most of the S-K crowd are starting to take to them now. Ha told 'em.
So there we are waiting for the the ladies to come on, when some neanderthall walks up to Carries mic and says out the building now people, fire risk the building is about to blow. Yeah f**k off get S-K on now we think. Hmmm then he starts gettin' serious and the realiseation the gig is cancelled is just there. When we eventually filter out what is there left to do but get to the Hotel bar and drink like people wanting a drink. Garrett (wisely) states that this is the first (and only) "down time" we will get.

NYC 2/8/06
After a descusion the night before about getting to NYC as early as poss, I decide to get up early and see if I can get an early train. I get a taxi to Union Station (a superb grandiose place it has to be said) get there about 7am. I get boked on the 7:30 train to NY. Arrive in NYC at 10:50 and get a taxi straight to the Webster Hall, get there at 11:10 and whose sat on the steps? Sharron how the f**k did she get there before me? She informs me that the DC show is resceduled for tomorrow night(thank god it's before Portland) So do I try to get back to DC? it'll only mean shifting my flight 24hrs book a hotel and travel back by train, I'll think on it. It's an absolutely scorching day 100+. I text Andy to say I'm here and to get to me asap. They eventually get to me at 1:30 ish so I'm then relieved to go and book into my hotel which is only 5 blocks up from the venue. Another long day in sweltering heat broken by the odd jaunt for 20 mins to get a drink. At 4-5pm people start making the descision and try to change their travel plans to get back to DC for tomorrow nights show. I speak to the Rogers Sisters and they say they will not be with them and that the ladies are gonna -play an extra long set. I try but I just can't change my plans and at about 5pm decide to miss it. This time they split the queue into two lines hard tix (Korina and I) and "will call". They also put a sign up confirming what we suspected, that the show is being filmed for DVD release. At doors we get in and get prime spot again, along with 15 bottles of water cuz it's still very hot and this is gonna be tough one to get through. They open with Start Together which is great they kinda phase it in so you don't know what song it isat first. Other highlights Drama, Light Rail, Hot Rock, Youth Decay and end on- Dig me out. They play 2 encores which include Ballad, CTD, Get Up, W&G and Joey. After the show the others pile back to my hotel to change and shower before heading off home. Garrett has an hour or so, so we pop into a little bar I spotted earlier in the day for a couple of drinks. At about 2:30 we say our goodbyes and a "see you in Portland next week".