Tour Record (6) - 16-NOV/2010

Edinburgh @ Forest Café (9pm) & Whistlebinkies (11pm) – both gigs with Ruth & Cat aka ‘Ex Librettes’

Setlist:
Forest Café – Dis&ReCharge / Daydreaming / For Us For Me / Teenage Eyes / There’s still Room For Love / I Am Home

Setlist:
Whistlebinkies – For Us For Me / Teenage Eyes / Dis&ReCharge / There’s Still Room For Love / I Am Home

No words this time.
Just Pics & videos

PICS:




VIDS:






I'M HERE!!! KILL ME!!!!

3LX

Tour Record (5) - 15-NOV/2010

Newcastle @ Blank Studio’s. Amazing Radio session (with Ruth & Cat)

2 years ago was the first time we came to Newcastle we played a gig. The guys doing the sound at the gig were Sam, Chris and John. We crashed at their house, listened to music, talked about the band and dreams. They told us they were trying to find a space to build a recording studio in Newcastle. Blank Studio’s was their name.

Yesterday we went to a built Blank Studios for a radio session for the digital station ‘Amazing Radio’.

I could write and write about how the session was yet another dream coming true, but what I was happiest with was how Sam, Chris and John’s idea had manifested itself. It is, without a doubt, much better to see them making a name for themselves and doing it in their own way than it is to have done the session.

Call me cliché, call me cheesy, but the world makes most sense to me when others are happy.

Picture time






Oh yeah, we literally recorded the whole EP again with Ruth and Cat and even the new track ‘Daydreaming’.
Mint.

5 (part 2) – Crookham @ Sandyford Farm Cottages aka Angus’ party pad

Familiar faces from the past tour.
The village of Crookham had its first ever Diwali celebration. 6 Rockets and sparklers and a massive group chants of ‘Di-Va-Li! Di-Va-Li! Di-Va-Li!’
A massive living room jam involving 10 party people – playing all sorts of instruments including a trianglur sheet of metal
A solo set (informal like) by Amit
Awesome jumpers and balaclava shenanigans
Mild mushroom tea
Red wine & whiskey
Talks of the ‘brown’ note and the ‘x’ note
Spaghetti Bolognaise
& the night sky and the stars – so many, so bright, so humbling

Angus booked this tour – we were really hoping we’d get to come back to the farm and see the Wu-Tang Ham again (Angus’ 3 pigs: Snoop Hog, Missy Piglet & Notorious P.I.G). One of the loveliest and funniest people we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know and we’re glad we work with him.

His hi-fives are deadly

Diwali! Diwali! Diwali!

3LX

Tour Record (4) - 14-NOV/2010

4 – Newcastle @ Head Of Steam (with Ruth Campbell & Cat Calton)

Setlist: For Us For Me / Teenage Eyes / (Dis&Re)charge / There’s Still Room For Love / I Am Home

As we drove past signs for Lancashire, Cumbria, Pennines & Newcastle a familiar feeling took over; our 3rd time to Newcastle in the last 2 years it almost felt like we were about to play a home territory.

4pm and nerves kick in as 2 people walk through a rehearsal room door; Cat (violin) & Ruth (cello) from Glasgow. Ruth recorded the cello parts on our ‘Cut(s)’ EP back in July. With an hour to go we run through the EP and I can’t help but smile as excited shivers dance up and down my spine…

SIDE NOTE: Sometimes, somewhere, somehow, dreams do come true. I remember talking to Kieran before Ex Libras was an even a set of words to pass through our lips about how we both wanted to write & play music accompanied by a live string section. If you look to the right hand side of this blog you can see (as soon as we started the band) that we were after ‘outside-the-box’ string players. Sometimes, somewhere, somehow, dreams do come true.

… 10pm and the few trickle into the twenties. And unlike the last two gigs everyone is respectful and attentive (for all of the bands). There is no loud talking, there are people closing their eyes and sitting in the sound, there are a few gently rocking side to side with confused smiles across their faces, there is a blonde girl in a scarf standing near the back and once we finish she turns to her friends as tears glide down her face ad she says “that was beautiful” – all of this we‘re told afterwards and I’m now ecstatically in disbelief as part of me wishes I didn’t know that.

After the show we speak to as many people as we can. We are blown over by the responses we are getting. I guess thats the power of a string section.

And all night I quietly smile – hoping to get a drink in me, to give me enough courage to smile louder.

3LX

Tour Record (3) - 13-NOV/2010

Blackpool @ The Blue Room

Setlist: For Us For Me / Teenage Eyes / There’s Still Room For Love / I Am Home

Is the first offence the worst offence?
One-way systems and 100 mile an hour winds wrecking the town – though we only had to deal with one of the two directly.

Slightly more bruised after tonight – the Blue Room being the venue that Jimi Hendrix was once thrown out of for being too high.
For all our mistakes we still claimed a victory. For the half hour we wrestled with our music, as if trying to reign in a mad horse – sound erupted and gargled and wailed and screeched and buzzed (we’re doing acoustic shows?) - None of this in a positive sense, some gigs are just like this.

But…

…by the end we raised our bloodied fists and fractured loop pedals and voiced a dry scratchy throated sigh to a venue full of 2am license frequenters; a mixture of relief and gratitude to the listening police.

After an odd There’s Still Room For Love, the crowd whistled and whooped and I said (with a slight smile on my face) “Don’t clap, that was fucking awful…” because it was a shambles, BUT I guess what I meant to say was that I didn’t feel like we deserved an applause but words are seldom found when you need them most.

Phil – sound tech – was the best 'before, between and after band DJ'. EVER. Tune after tune after tune after tune after tune.

As Jo (Merch Girl) lovingly summed up; bad gig, great night.

I Am Home (from this very gig)



Love you, but not in love with you, but love you

3LX

Tour Record (2) – 12-NOV/2010

Liverpool @ Mello Mello

Setlist: For Us For Me / Teenage Eyes / There’s Still Room For Love / Daydreaming / I Am Home

The rain came down and washed our frowns away
Noodles in a box to fill our faces
Shithead between friends – with the merch girl (Jo) wiping the floor with us
Exotic Tea’s and curious soft drinks - truly

The students responded the most to our instrumental ambient pleas - Hanging on the notes, clapping and cheering, smiling and listening, speaking to us afterwards, telling us what they were studying. Nice students…

What was disheartening was another artist performing on the night. A seemingly lovely girl with a good voice – respect where respect due – but playing an out of tune guitar (not very well) with not many chords to choose from… But out of respect we listened, and applauded, because we’re like that. Sadly, the good will was not returned. Out of the people in the room she was screaming and shouting whilst we were playing and showed no respect to anyone in the room. We don’t mind (that much) - i mean, if its the public, thats part of the game, but when you're an artist yourself...
We’ll always play for the people who are listening or not, but when the people listening find it hard to hear… oh well.

But a minor speck on an otherwise pristine evening - oh, and a parking ticket.

We debuted a new ‘loopcoustic’ cut – ‘Daydreaming’






Photos by Jo R

I can call ya sweetheart can't I darling?

3LX

Tour Record (1) – 11-NOV/2010

Hackney Wick (w/ William Wells on Violin)

Setlist: For Us For Me / Teenage Eyes / I Am Home

Where are we? A converted studio, divided into rooms and creative spaces. Sitting at the back by the windows looking down the room at faces. Exposed and intimidated? Yes and yet no. This is a choice and sometimes I forget that. And if indeed it is a choice, then surely we make the ones that seem best. It doesn’t make sense to do the opposite.

Tomorrow we hit the road, and as we land we’ll either keep our feet or we’ll greet the tarmac and bruise our lips. For the next 10 days we have only ourselves as we exit one bubble and travel in another. A handful of songs with a couple of ways to play them; good or bad.

Tonight was good. Tonight was good. Well, tonight was tonight and tomorrow is a memory waiting to happen.

And Tobi is a beatboxer.

3LX