Just Panic tour is over and I am back at my day job.

From Friday night to Monday night we drove about in a silver van and played shows up North with Just Panic who were completely awesome. All the shows were good fun and everything finished off in classic style in Manchester with an awesomely busy and fun show followed by the standard trashing of Kieran Kellys house. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who put us on, Chris, Sean and Keiran and the Just panic guys who arranged Liverpools date - you are all dudes.

Thanks to everyone who came along and everyone who helped us out with floor space. Thanks to everyone who lives at Kierans house and sorry about the mess and noise at 5am.

If you still haven't checked out Just Panic, get on it now before they become massive so you can tell your mates that you have had their record for ages and are thus way cooler than they are.

Erm...thats all for now. See you in London on Saturday night for another banging show with the Menzingers?!

Dan

Just Panic tour starts today

Heyoo! We left Joes studio in North London about an hour ago and nearly left London, before Joe realised he forgot his cymbals. We're back at the studio now for our second attempt at going on tour with Just Panic. Bolton tonight. Get down!


Dan

Sink, venues. Sink.

Do you know whats really frustrating? Venues that get funny when you ask for water. That sucks and I have written about it before, but it really sucks and is totally inexcusable. Most venues are cool about this kind of standard hospitality, but the ones that aren't well, I hope they sort it out before people stop going there. 

You know what also sucks though, and is much more common? 

Tiny sinks. 

It seems like most venues have these incredibly tiny sinks and so if I try to keep my hydration under my own control and avoid bothering or somehow offending the bar staff by asking for something as trivial as water, my plans are totally foiled.

Well, venues, I have your number. No matter how small your sink is, I can beat you. I have developed a method of almost filling any bottle no matter how ridiculously small your sink is. Through a system of folding the bottle and tipping it backwards I can drink your water in quantities previously thought impossible without a hosepipe. I have scored a victory for the bands. Your porcelain water-protection devices have fallen to my technical prowess. I have won.

You know what really sucks though? The other night when I was getting pissy trying to fill my bottle up but bragging that I had managed to do it, I realised that there was free bottles of water for the bands.

One-all.

Dan

Don’t Panic.

A while back we played with Fake Problems in Manchester and the guy running the show had us on at like 5.45pm and while driving up to Manchester I was pretty sure we would play to no-one. In reality, the room was pretty full by the time we played ad totally full by the time we finished and I was totally stoked on how it all went and the fact that anyone gave a shit about what we were doing. The rest of the night was really awesome but it was a band I had never heard before, Just Panic, that I got really into. We didn’t see them again for a while, but somehow I picked up all their recorded stuff and didn’t really listen to it much until after we played with them again in Derby this year. After that show I got the 7” and then re-listened to everything of theirs and we had it on in the van for a few weeks. They flat-out rule.

We figured that seeing as we’re playing Manchester with them next Monday; we should do a few dates together before the show. So we are.

Formally announcing the Just Panic, Apologies, I have none mega-weekender!

12.11 – Gigs, Bolton
13.11 – Caledonia - Liverpool
14.11 – 1 in 12, Bradford
15.11 – Tiger lounge, Manchester

If you are around for any of these shows it would be awesome if you came, I promise you good times and quality rhymes.

myspace.com/justpanic

Dan

Ps: If you aren’t in Bradford on the 14th, but are in Manchester, go to the Bomb The Music Industry show. That band is completely worth your entry fee.

Bomb The Music Industry - Saturday.

All I seem to do these days is post about tickets and where you can get them and for some reason that seems entirely lame despite the fact that knowledge is power and tickets guarentee you entry to shows that you might be interested in going to.

Aaaanyway. This Saturday we are playing with Bomb The Music Industry and everyone knows this band is completely rad and we are stoked to be playing with them again. Last year Jeff from BTMI came over to the UK on his own and did a sort of solo/ipod show which I'm not sure everyone totally got, but I thought it was absolute genius and I sort of fell in love with everything he is doing. It's basically a party and some shows could really do with a bit more of a party atmosphere. The show is at the Peel and tickets are available through Banquet records here.

I am so excited about this show. Cynics and Bad Ideas are playing too, both also awesome.

Dan

*Flyer designed by Banquet records, Edited by Dan Bond. In MS Paint.

The Riot Before are coming to the Uk.

The Riot Before are awesome and I have been waiting for them to come over for ages now. Last year at Fest in Gainsville I was queing outside the venue they were playing for an hour, stressing I wouldn't get in, drinking a giant can of American Beer to calm my nerves and hopping from foot to foot. We didn't get in. I admitted defeat and went to watch Broadway Calls and Strike Anywhere. I bombed out later that night and was in bed by 10pm. I blame the Riot Before for that.

Anyway, we are playing with them in Southampton soon and I recommend buying tickets to avoid stressing about not getting in and thus drinking yourself into a hole. The venue is apparently 50 capacity, which means, minus the other 10 dudes in the other bands, there will be probably 40 tickets on sale. As president of the Apologies, i have none ticket hotline, I urge you to buy tickets!

Dan
President
Apologies, i have none ticketscam inc.

Train Tactics

Techniques for ensuring no one sits on the seat next to you on a busy train:

1) Sit on the seat nearest the aisle and put your bags on the window seat. Be prepared to have to move everything if someone calls you out though. This one is quite effective but expect dirty looks.

2) This is an extension of #1. If you have a laptop, get it out! No one can ever be bothered to ask you to move your computer, bags, coat etc to the window seat!

3) Sit on the window seat, but spread your legs into the legroom for the aisle seat. Headphones in! Pretend to be asleep! This is almost guaranteed to work because one wants to wake a sleeping commuter. Additional points if you put a coat over your face. Double points if you snore.

4) Put food wrappers on the other seat. This always grosses me out and I never ask people to move their sandwhich packet or leaking coffee cup. This is a dity move, but you'll be cruising along solo, so who cares?

5) Eye up people as they walk the aisle looking for a seat. The odder you come across, the more you might look like someone who wants to talk to strangers, the more you look like someone who will take up more than just your seat, the better. The least effective, but probably the most fun.

People did all 5 of these tactics on me this morning on the train to London. Assholes. I eventually scored a seat next to a dude who put all his papers across the aisle seat. I asked him to move them and he sighed and did it as slow as he could. Sitting next to him right now. Yeah that's right green jumper man, I BEAT YOU.