Mid north QLD looking both ways

Rockhampton is on fire. Literally. Bushfires are burning outta control on the outskirts (in a few days we’d hear news that whole neighbourhoods would be evacuated) and the trees, streets and even the local Vinnies store are bone dry. But pressingly, our soundcheck drags on unproductively until it becomes clear that the PA company decided to bail on tonight so the two girls who handle the show have kittens while our soundy Luke tries to make do.

The venue window reveals nothing of the panic of the missing PA

An hour before the show, a guy from the local theatre pops in for one beer before heading home – and once informed of the situation – manages to hook up the gear we need from an alternative company. This is treated as a miracle and we almost bow down to him. We’ll pretty much bow down to anything at this point. The show is a 180 degree flip on our expectations – the crowd go buckwild – jumping and flaying limbs in unison to ‘The Clocks’ (one of the more downtempo tunes in the set). Ok it’s clear, Rocky fucking rocks. I can’t recall how many times I get told that we’re the 3rd hip hop group to ever play there. Onto Mackay…

If you remember, a few weeks ago The Herd pulled out of a gig in Mackay and I was told not to come by certain err, fans, so I admit I was a little nervous about the show. It was kinda eery driving through the areas that were the subject of a national news story involving us only recently but once at the show, the crowd was mad. I talked with a bunch of people who were concerned, but respected our views and hands were shaken all round. Mackay is just as the sign says..

Tour manager Mondo gets in the spirit

The drive between Mackay and Townsville is crazy: cane trains; burning sugarcane fields; towering mountains; rusty old factories and sugar mills and little towns with 2 pubs and one general store.

Cane train with about 15 carriages

We’re in no hurry and manage to stop off in Bowen for a swim which leaves my ears blocked for 5 days. Tonight’s show is another mystery – the original venue closed on us a few weeks ago, in the process cancelling a guaranteed fee and free production (PA etc). The show’s replacement is the Andergrove Tav and we have no guarantee and we have to bring in production – which is over a grand – add on the fact that we haven’t had much time to spread the word of the new venue, and you have a tentative touring party.

Maybe it’s the low expectations, but tonight is awesome – we have a very decent crowd and they’re keen as. The enthusiasm at the last few QLD shows has been eye-opening and infectious. I get all but contracted to go out fishing and diving off the reef with two burly dudes that look like cops. Couldn’t take em up on the offer. All 30ish offers..

Last drive of the North QLD leg and it’s the most spectacular – you should do this sometime. The landscape has drifted from dry as a bone to lush and rainforesty and we drive through a bushfire that licked the edge of our car. Tonight we join up with Obese Records for their Block Party show (originally we were booked at different venues on the same night so we joined forces) which I’m looking forward to – a fair few Obese artists are good mates of ours.

Muph, Jane, Urth & Plutonic Lab

It’s my birthday and the crew have managed to get a cake delivered to our hotel room that is a replica of the shoe on my album cover.

No way...?

Note thongs, we’re not in southern Aust anymore…

Solo, Gusto, Mondo & Chips Tyzzle

Tonight’s gig is predictably carnage – the Obese lads make sure of that but we go down an absolute storm with the locals. Muph & Pluto kill it to conclude the night.. Somehow I’m photographed dancing on a podium and we depart for more drinks and late night swimming – how we didn’t get kicked out is beyond me.

The after after party at the airport

Then miraculously…

Cheerin and dancin at Sydney airport

This kinda sums up the Spitshine tour… mad vibes everywhere and the energy is brimming.

Looking forward to Melbourne next week…

After the bizarre ride of last weekend we reach the airport and I’m nervous. My voice has taken a turn for the worse and it’s scratchy as hell and it’s painful to swallow and I’m supposed to do 4 headline shows in 4 days? My normal strategy when I get crook is kick into denial and today is no different – so business as usual, strictly that is.

Syd Airport en route

Launceston is a crazy town. We came here once during the 2004 election and a panel van drove around the town in circles with the phrase ‘Fuck off Mark Latham’ emblazoned across the whole vehicle. From memory Latham was attempting to scale back old growth logging. This time however, it’s all roses and the town is in fine form – tomorrow is show day so even though it’s wednesday, there’s party in the air. Well, a sleepy party. Our show turns out to be fun and we get a healthy crowd and I somehow splutter my way through despite a croaky voice. Had a few good conversations with local folks – shoutout to Ashley our street teamer who helped put posters up. We pack out of the venue and Launny shows her wild side…girls in high heels stumbling head first onto the road, fellas heckling anything that moves; late night pizza shop doing serious business as punters rifle through their wallets and purses like looking for lost jewelery in sand. Beautiful.

Hobart 7th & 8th Oct

The Republic Bar

I wake to find my voice has deteriorated more so I start enquiring about GPs and miracle cures. I drop into Launceston hospital who inform me I’ll have at least a 4 hour wait. I visit chemists and Coles trying to get a hookup – no offence to chemists but pharmaceuticals are the last thing I resort to. The drive to Hobart is a great one though, littered with old colonial buildings and classic green Australian landscapes. We’re squashed like sardines into our Tarago and we’re short of road music so we bounce to Outkast thru the speaker of an iPhone.

View from the front

We arrive in Hobart and I head to a GP that Colin Daniels (Inertia) recommends. He originally tried to tee me up with some celebrity vocal doctor that Pink uses but (probably fortunately) that falls through. Col has been a huge help – he’s the one that lent me his house to record half of Spitshine in. Once again I’m sent to a chemist – this time for 2 prescriptions. Crap. The show is great tonight even though we’re taking a risk doing two Hobart shows, and we sell a truck load of merch. Our motel is modest… yeah, that’s all I can say.

Next morning and I’m back on my concoctions though my voice has taken a turn for the better. We headed up Mount Wellington and kicked around in the snow before rolling back to a soldout show – and what a crazy gig. A few guys gave Polo Club a surprise when complimenting them on their gig, by punching Urban Monk in the balls, “Mad gig mate, you deserve a nut tap! Yeah NUT TAP!” I’m serious, these guys were trying to pay them a compliment. Another bloke regaled me with his thoughts on the show and then revealed it was one of his best experiences tripping ever, although he thought “we were playing a joke on him for about 10 minutes in the middle”. Awesome!

Little do they know we have 3 hours at best, before waking to catch connecting planes for our show the next day in Adelaide. Sorry guys, we’ve gotta leave.

___

Adelaide 10th Oct

An early flight after a late gig is always enhanced by 4 hours transit before the connecting flight and though 10 hours seems too long between leaving your hotel in Hobart and arriving at your hotel in Adelaide, we pull it off. Tonight is ill, we sellout Adelaide and we get mad love – I’m warming to this city every year. There are 100s of zombies walking the street in some kind of zombie festival and I’m ok with that too.

This feels like triumph to me and this tour is killin’ it now. After a day & a half on this prescription I dump it against doctors orders. Fuck it, I’m feelin better.

Tomorrow morning Jane and I wake up at 6am for a 14 & a 1/2 hour video shoot for Shruggin’.

Mama Chu's!

In our infinite wisdom, we crammed 14 people into 3 station wagons and drove up the NSW coast. There’s Astronomy Class, Horrorshow, The Tongue, Hermitude, me and Jane as well as Mondo (manager) and our soundy Luke. This first leg is a one-off, Astro, Hermy and Tongue leave us after these 3 shows.

There’s something you can’t beat about opting for driving over flying; the mixtapes; the shit-talking; the friendly waves to the highway patrol who may have just fined you hundreds of dollars; the pitstops for shitty food; the busload of old women at Bulahdelah, all rocking that pimped out purple hair; watching a factory worker at Broadwater Sugar Plant trying to raise the Australian flag on their flagpole; the bikies camped outside a cafe on a rest stop; the progressively looser Astro car smokin’ & drankin’ (shoutout to Gusto designated driver); stopping off at Little Italy Museam north of Coffs where we find out the first Italian refugees arrived in 1881 (not the most popular of museams from our time there) while ‘We Get Around’ is playing on the car radio of the tradeys working out the front. There’s a lot to like about a good long drive up the coast. Me and Solo discuss new rappers like Wale, J. Cole & Drake.. I make mention that my favourite records of the last 2 years are from vets Q-Tip and Mos Def. Solo is across shit – I think he eats and breathes internet. Chips Tyzzle is dropping folk from Iceland or wherever..

First stop, Coffs Harbour. Everyone put on good shows and the night is messy. I’m holding it down sober – with 25 more tour dates and a voice that gets lost after raging tour weekends – I’m pretending to be pro. It’s working for the most part, though I think I shook one guys hand about 25 times who was drunk as shit (I’m not trying to be cold here, but after about 18 it gets really samey). Good guy though. Spent about 10 minutes chatting and signing some stuff for 2 guys at close, who then stole a shirt. Meanwhile, if you were deaf, you’d only have seen the haze in the backroom, not the cypher that kicked on well after closing time. I completely destroyed my ankle earlier on this week playing indoor soccer, so I’ve got an exaggerated white gangsta limp in full effect – and this traveling crew is full on proper noble gents, I ain’t carrying shit upstairs yo. The accom upstairs reveals bunks with no sheets. I probably would’ve been better off getting drunk.

On to Byron Bay – always a pleasure – it’s like a resort town nowadays. Japanese surfers working at the Sushi joint; glowing Belingen mums pottering around the Thai restaurant taking orders; Scandanavian girls making coffees – Byron is the place where George Clooneys go to rest. I worked away on the merch desk and tried to sneak glances of the Eels vs Dogs preliminary final. I actually dig the random conversations with fans, though it can be exhausting, and sitting on the merch desk is asking for it. Tonight a lady and her husband told me that 2 years ago, I’d signed a CD for their friend, who was arranging it for them, because they couldn’t come to the show as this woman was pregnant at the time. I had signed the CD and jokingly predicted the baby would be born on 5/6/08. They came tonight to tell me their baby was born on the 5/6/08 and maybe I have magical powers.

We finished tonight upstairs blasting Shane Skills opus. It includes the classics ‘Your mum’s a mole’ and ‘I like to smoke mull’.

Saturday and we’re at Sounds of Spring Festival in Brisbane. Some crew members are looking worse for wear and head home after their sets. I catch up with a few crew (Phrase, Drapht, Pez, 360 & Seth, Downsyde) but I’m confined to backstage of hip hop tent cos of my ankle, so I don’t get to catch up with my tight black jeans peoples. I caught the first half of the AFL grand final in the green room and it seems most of the music industry are Saints supporters. I reckon Tex Perkins and Paul Dempsey made grumpy frontmen that night. We (Urthboy) get a good response but something is missing – later we’re msg’d and contacted via myspace and email that the PA was dodgy on the bigger stage in the hip hop tent. You can plan for everything but…

As is the natural way of things at festivals, our rider is raided. We leave and party at our hotel. Cyphers on the balcony; Rage on the TV; Batla is speaking half Spanish half English so you know he’s had a big day. Good crew this one, made up of young and old(er) elefants. Mondo has done a stellar job (including 2 trips to the hotel due to lack of designated drivers, one had 7 people and about a 637 bags and 30 photos). Drama at the airport next day but it works out so I’ll spare you the blah blah…

Next week Sydney, Manly and Katoomba. I’m feelin it f’real.