the tour book - Sahar Baharloo

the tour book
once upon a time
A band went on tour.
I’m a little bit fed up this
morning. Not with life, because I know life is out there waiting to
be lived, but I’m a bit fed up with myself/the tour straitjacket.
Didn’t really sleep on the way down from Tokyo, and didn’t get
much the night before either, so by the time I got to Perth I’m on
a fine line whether I get sick or not. So, I decide to dedicate the day
to just hanging around the hotel, but when the others are off having fun, it doesn’t half make you feel a bit worthless!
I did my laundry yesterday because I stumbled on one in the hotel,
and it was free, powder and everything. I thought that pulling hot
clothes out of the dryer and folding them myself would give me a
small but well needed sense of achievement, and I wasn’t wrong.
Stuart Murdoch
the band
Mick Cook
trumpet
Dundee lad Mick originally
guested on B&S’ early recordings,
due to the fact his own band,
Hardbody, were signed to Sony.
After initially rebuffing B&S’ offers (see below), he was eventually
suckered into joining in time for
The Boy With the Arab Strap album.
A true musical gypsy, there’s
barely a style of music he hasn’t
toyed with. And barely a doubleentendre he hasn’t made. A cleancut young man, his large suitcase
has become renowned for always
coming on tour, regardless of
how long we’re away for. A day or
a month, it doesn’t matter.
vocals, guitar, piano
Scotland’s greatest poet comes
from Ayr. That’s probably not
all Stuart has in common with
Robbie Burns, but I’m damned
if I know what else. Both guys
I suppose. Stuart moved up to
Glasgow at a tender age, just
missing the first Scottish postpunk explosion, and having to
wait a few years for the next one.
The next few years were spent
dabbling in all sorts of nonsense;
DJing, promoting concerts, working in a record store, selling bacon
door-to-door, running marathons,
and trying and abandoning various courses at University, in the
days when you were allowed to do
that sort of thing. At some point
during all this, he seems to have
learned to write songs, although
I don’t think even he knows the
exact point.
Richard Colburn
drums
Chris Geddes
Stevie Jackson
lead guitar
Bobby Kildea
guitar, bass
This Irish lad was picked up on a
Bosman from local side V-Twin.
Imported in the early ‘90s, he
seemed destined for a career in
the lower leagues until the farsited Belles spotted something
in him that led them to believe
he could replace the recently-departed Stuart David. Appearances
would suggest he was cut out for
something a little more rock, but
the chemistry he has forged with
Stevie Jackson has shown him to
be more than a one-trick pony.
He’s got two tricks; the guitar
one and the bass one. Ignore the
nickname, he’s not from Belfast.
He’s from Bangor, obviously.
The joker in the pack. Born,
raised and still resident in Perth,
if Richard ever made good he’d
be a local boy made good. Initially
spurning his family’s musical tradition, Richard’s first foray into
the world of entertainment was
in the field of snooker. Sadly he
failed to break into the upper
echelons of the snooker world,
and inspired by The Matchroom
Mob’s work with Chas’n’Dave, he
reluctantly accepted his destiny.
He was a drummer.
It was a disillusioned Stevie Jackson that first saw Stuart Murdoch
performing at Open Mic night
at The Halt Bar in Glasgow.
Stevie’s band, The Moondials,
had recently split after struggling
to realise their ambitions. The
Erskine-born guitarist was set to
embark upon a career as an Assistant Occupational Therapist, and
reluctantly agreed to play guitar
for Murdoch, while insisting he
had no interest in joining another
band. One successful album and a
few gigs later, and Stevie remembered what had made him pick up
the guitar all these years ago:
the chicks.
keyboards
Having a childhood split between
Gloucestershire and Ayrshire
doesn’t seem to have confused
Beans too much. He joined Belle
& Sebastian having perhaps the
best musical pedigree of them all,
his previous band having supported riot grrls The Voodoo Queens.
Or possibly Mambo Taxi. Returning to study in Glasgow, following
a brief exile in Colchester, the
young communist was eventually
approached to join B&S. During
signing talks with Jeepster, he
memorably laid down his terms: a
pair of 24” flares, and a guarantee
that the glory days would return
to Celtic Park. He signed anyway.
Ironically, it wasn’t until B&S left
Jeepster that Celtic reached a European final. Makes you think.
Sarah Martin
vocals, stylophone, melodica,
guitar, flute
This Northern lass bided her time
in Blackburn, Lancashire before
making a break for her spiritual
home: Glasgow. Drawn by the
sounds of Teenage Fanclub and
others, as well as the presence
of an Expressway, which she
hoped would lead to her skull,
Sarah probably dreamed of
making music herself. And so it
happened. Tipped off that “that
guy who goes about Byres Rd”
was looking for a violinist, Sarah
offered her services. Which was
just as well. Within a few years,
the John Smith’s bookshop that
she worked in had become a Starbucks’. And Sarah had made the
move from violinist to violinist/
singer and songwriter.
where we went
1/18Music Hall
Aberdeen, Scotland
1/20ABC
Glasgow, Scotland
1/26Academy
Birmingham, England
1/27Academy
Liverpool, England
1/28Academy
Newcastle, England
1/29 & 1/30Ritz
Manchester, England
2/01Colston Hall
Bristol, England
2/02Corn Exchange
Cambridge, England
02/03Dome
Brighton, England
2/05Ambassador
Dublin, Ireland
02/06Ambassador
Dublin, Ireland
02/07Ulster Hall
Belfast, Northern Ireland
02/08Octagon
Sheffield, England
02/10Hammersmith Apollo
London, England
2/25The Docks
Toronto, Canada
2/26Metropolis
Montreal, Canada
2/27 & 2/28Avalon
Boston, USA
3/02 & 3/03Nokia Theater
NYC, USA
3/04Electric Factory
Philadelphia, USA
3/05 & 3/06930 Club
Washington DC, USA
03/08Ryman
Nashville, USA
03/09Brown Theatre
Louisville, USA
03/10Riviera
Chicago, USA
03/11Riverside
Milwaukee, USA
3/12Orpheum
Minneapolis, USA
3/14Granada Theatre
Dallas, USA
3/15Stubbs SXSW
Austin, USA
3/18 & 3/09Wiltern
Los Angeles, USA
3/21Concourse
San Francisco, USA
3/23Roseland
Portland, USA
3/24Commodore
Vancouver, Canada
3/25Paramount
Seattle, USA
4/28Trafalgar Square
London, England
4/29Tramway
Glasgow, Scotland
5/02Rote Fabrik
Zurich, Switzerland
5/14Samfundet
Trondheim, Norway
5/16Annexat
Stockholm, Sweden
5/17Tradgarn
Gothenburg, Sweden
05/18Vega
Copenhagen, Denmark
5/20Columbiahalle
Berlin, Germany
5/21Kuz
Mainz, Germany
5/22Tonhalle
Munich, Germany
5/23Rolling Stone
Milan, Italy
05/24Vox
Modena, Italy
5/31Hatch
Osaka, Japan
6/02 & 6/03Stellar
Tokyo, Japan
6/06Concert Hall
Perth, Australia
6/08The Barton
Adelaide, Australia
6/10Forum
Melbourne, Australia
6/12 Enmore
Sydney, Australia
6/14Tivoli
Brisbane, Australia
6/20Wireless Festival London,
England
7/03Battery Park
NYC, USA
7/05Hollywood Bowl
Los Angeles, USA
7/07Merriweather C
olumbia, MD, USA
7/13Montjuic,
Barcelona, Spain
7/14Boadilla del Monte,
Madrid, Spain
7/16Coliseu dos Recreios
Lisbon, Portugal
7/18Cervantes Festival
Malaga, Spain
7/26Nasa
Reykjavik, Iceland
7/28Braedslan,
Borgafjordur, Iceland
8/11Route Du Rock
St Malo, France
8/12Summer Sundae
Leicester, England
8/17Frequency
Salzburgring, Austria
08/18Pukkelpop
Kiewet, Belgium
8/19Lowlands
the Hague, Holland
8/24Carling
Reading, England
8/25Carling
Leeds, England
8/26Princes St.
Edinburgh, Scotland
9/01Electric Picnic
Stradbally, Ireland
what we played
Set list from Enmore,
Sydney Australia,
June 10, 2009
the music
Coming ten years after going
public with their debut album,
‘Tigermilk,’ Belle and Sebastian’s
sold out show with the L.A.
Philharmonic at the Hollywood
Bowl offered both a fitting way
to mark the anniversary but
also served as a reminder of the
group’s longevity and decade of
quiet achievement.
The arenas and contexts could
not have been more different. In
1996, the musical climate in the
U.K. did not look promising (Oasis were the biggest band in the
U.K. and Britpop / lad culture was
rampant) for the modestly brilliant
songs on ‘Tigermilk.’
These had been assembled
by Stuart Murdoch over the
preceding years, and were brought
into focus by his recruitment of
kindred spirits, Stevie Jackson
(guitar), Isobel Campbell (cello),
Richard Colburn (drums), Chris
Geddes (keyboards) and Stuart
David (bass).
Recorded for Electric Honey
Records - as part of a Stow
College student project-1000
copies of the album were pressed
on vinyl.The launch took place
in CaVa Studios in Glasgow and
within a few weeks there was not a
copy of the record to be found. In
pre-E Bay times, copies were later
selling for around the £500 mark.
Word spread quickly, and the band
responded by setting to work immediately on a follow up.
By this point signed to Jeepster
Records in the U.K. and the shortlived, The Enclave in the US, and
with new member Sarah Martin
(violin) in tow, ‘If You’re Feeling
Sinister’ has subsequently been
hailed as the group’s masterpiece,
though reaction at the time was
more muted.
This was partly down to an
avoidance of traditional rock
routes. Touring was not high on
the agenda. Instead there were occasional one-off shows, including
an American debut at CMJ and a
show at the BAM festival in Barcelona. Equally, there was little media
profile, with band members rarely
photographed or interviewed. The
album’s success - built over a num-
ber of years and culminating in a
‘Don’t Look Back’ performance
at the Barbican in 2005 - was built
mainly on word of mouth and
genuine fan excitement.
If ‘Sinister’ is seen as the
benchmark album, its successor,
‘The Boy With the Arab Strap’ was
the one which singularly did most
to raise the band’s profile, helped
by a run of singles/ EPs which
culminated in ‘3..6..9 Seconds of
Light’ reaching the U.K. top 40.
The singles from the Jeepster era
were later compiled on the ‘Push
Barman to Open Old Wounds’
set in 2005. Trumpet player, Mick
Cooke, who had featured as a session player on the previous albums
was by now a full-time member
of the band, with Stuart David
heading in the opposite direction
to form Looper.
‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’
debuted at 12 in the U.K. charts
and propelled them towards a Brit
Award in 1999 for ‘Best Newcomer.’ Even though it was their third
album, this and Pete Waterman’s
reaction suggested that the band
had finally reached the fringes of
the mainstream.
They also embarked on their
first batch of international touring,
with a few dates in Europe and the
USA, before a period of reflection
and stepping back from the growing feeding frenzy surrounding
them.
Yet if 1999 and 2000 were quiet
years by the standards of those
preceding them, it was only relative. The Bowlie Festival, curated
by the band at Camber Sands
featured Mercury Rev,
The Flaming Lips, Teenage
Fanclub, Godspeed You Black
Emperor and a cast of hundreds.
It sold out. John Peel and Jarvis
Cocker Dj-ed.
Side projects were undertaken
(Stevie and Chris with V-Twin,
Mick with the Amphetameanies,
Isobel with the Gentle Waves and
Richard with Snow Patrol) and
work on the fourth album, ‘Fold
Your Hands Child, You Walk Like
A Peasant’ commenced.
Although it was a lengthy
process and the results at the
time perceived as something of a
disappointment, time has served
the record well. It was their first
top ten album in the U.K. and
its preceding single, ‘Legal Man,’
(not on the album) made the top
twenty and it remains the band’s
biggest seller in the U.S.A..
If an insularity had marked the
band’s recording (they were largely
made with Tony Doogan within
walking distance of their flats
in Glasgow), the years following ‘Fold Your Hands. . . ‘ were
characterised by collaboration and
change.
The collaborations began with
the ‘Jonathan David’ single - the
first time the band had worked
with a producer. Mike Hurst
came with form dating back to
the sixities, though his CV also
included ‘discovering’ Showaddywaddy and Shakin’ Stevens.
The band’s increasingly wide
vision also saw them embark on
work on the soundtrack to Todd
Solondz’s ‘Storytelling.’ Although
little of the music made it to the
film, it yielded another Belle and
Sebastian record - their last for the
Jeepster label.
As well as changing label—
signing to Rough Trade in 2002—
there were personnel changes
within the group. Bob Kildea
joined on a full time basis from
V-Twin to replace Stuart David,
and Isobel left to pursue a solo
career. By way of farewell, Jeepster
released ‘Fans Only,’ a DVD
covering the band’s career from
1996-2002 in loving detail.
With the new label came
another collaborator with a history
- Trevor Horn, best known for his
work with Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Seal and the Pet Shop Boys,
and as a member of Yes, The
Buggles and Art of Noise. The
album, ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ was a critical and commercial
success, and was backed by a concentrated touring regime, with the
highlights being outdoor shows at
the Greek Theatres in both Los
Angeles and San Francisco, and a
free hometown show in Glasgow’s
Botanic Gardens, watched by over
10 000 people.
There were other landmarks
along the way. ‘I’m A Cuckoo’
became their most played and
successful single. The Avalanches
did the first (and so far only) B&S
remix for the same track. All three
singles from the album (‘Step
Into My Office, Baby’ and ‘Books
/ Your Cover’s Blown’ were the
others) made the U.K. top twenty.
Global sales reached new peaks
and there was a nomination for the
Nationwide Mercury Music Prize.
This period culminated in bizarre
fashion, with an appearance at
Wembley Arena as part of a night
to celebrate Horn’s 25 years in
pop. Sharing a stage with Yes, The
Buggles, Grace Jones and Seal
surely signified something, though
what is uncertain.
If ‘Don’t Look Back’ and the
‘Push Barman. . . ‘ compilation
made 2005’s output retrospective
in flavour, the band were thinking
ahead, working with producer
Tony Hoffer in Los Angeles on
the songs that were to make up the
core of their eighth album, ‘The
Life Pursuit.’
Released at the start of 2006, it
was devoid of the string parts that
had characterised its predecessor,
but marked the start of the band’s
most intensive year to date.
There were 3 singles in the U.K.
(‘Funny Little Frog’, ‘The Blues
Are Still Blue’ and ‘The White
Collar Boy’) all of which were
accompanied by an appearance on
Top of the Pops.
In addition, there were nearly
one hundred shows spanning
Europe, Japan, Australia, U.S.A.
and Canada ranging in size from
a show in the Icelandic fishing
village of Borgarfjordur to appearances on the main stages at the
Reading and Leeds festivals as well
as at Pukkelpop, Lowlands and
a number of leading European
festivals.
If these shows, the Hollywood
Bowl and outdoor shows in New
York and D.C. showed Belle and
Sebastian at a new peak of performance and popularity, then summer 2006 also marked the end of
another chapter in the band’s life.
Since then the band members
have been taking a break and
working on individual projects.
For example, Mick curated the
children’s album, ‘Colours Are
Brighter’; Richard is DJing around
Europe and Stevie is collaborating
with a number of artists and musicians on different projects.
The Belle and Sebastian story
will continue when everyone is
ready, but in the meantime an
album of songs recorded for the
Mark Radcliffe and John Peel
programmes on Radio 1 between
1996 and 2002 is scheduled for
release later this year on Jeepster.
happily ever after
We returned to the studio.I just didn’t quite
feel like throwing out all the tapes. I had them all in the bin, then
I fished this one out, put it in the machine, and it was an ‘ideas’
tape from about 1998. It had this nice song on it called Calculating Bimbo, that I’d completely forgot about. Then, of course, I
had to go through a lot of the tapes checking they weren’t full of
songs.
There’s a guy in the local veggie store who’s into his cassettes,
he’s always playing them, so I phoned them up and asked if they
wanted some. The fellow I got on the phone was a little unsure
(as I would have been!) but he said, “Bring ‘em down”.
Then I got embarrassed, thinking “Who really wants my crappy
old cassettes?” and “do I really want the hip and discerning veggie shop girls picking through my tapes?” I mean, I probably
recorded burping and farting noises on some of them. I used to
always fill up the tape right to the end.
So that’s when I thought, Competition! At least, if you discover a
groovy little original number hidden after a Brilliant Corners mini
LP, you can get back in touch..
This book was designed by
Sahar Baharloo in November
2009 and printed on Inkpress
Eco-matte paper. The type was
set in Garamond.