Aberdeen ***SOLD OUT*** - Matt Leeder
Nov 23 2007We're sitting in our dressing room having just played our set. As I
write this Delirious are on stage approaching the end of theirs. From the musical murmors rumbling through the building I can hear that they're currently rocking through 'Paint the Town'. Life, it seems, is good.
It's Friday. We're in Aberdeen. And it is really very cold! (I
didn't envy the people waiting outside in the freezing cold to get
into the gig tonight!) All the buildings are made out of granite.
One downside to granite is that it is very grey, but apparently
granite is mildly radioactive which is obviously awesome. The
radioactivity makes up for the colour by far...
Today the Delirious tour bus arrived here about the same time as we did. We Electralyte folks have travelled behind in a couple of cars (not nearly as glam as the bus) but on the upside we have been staying with some very kind folks who have put us up in proper beds whilst Delirious and their crew have been sleeping on the bus! You can draw your own conclusions as to which is the more comfortable option. Every cloud and all that...
Before the show tonight we all got some time to pray in the Delirious dressing room. It was great to spend some time together like this.. it was also fantastic to hear hearts that were positive and affirming in prayer. God met with us; an oasis amidst all the busyness!
It's the 7th night of the tour and the venue, The Lemon Tree, is sold out. This tour has been an amazing experience for Electralyte. We smiled early on in the tour when Martin said it was refreshing to play in front of an intimate audience. I agree. It is. But I think the Delirious' idea of an intimate audience and the Electralyte idea might not be quite the same!
Tomorrow night it's a gig in the beautiful city of Dundee. The day
after that we head home to Essex and Delirious head home to West
Sussex. It's been an amazing few days but it's time for the Omnisonic tour to go out with a bang!
Matt
www.electralyte.net
write this Delirious are on stage approaching the end of theirs. From the musical murmors rumbling through the building I can hear that they're currently rocking through 'Paint the Town'. Life, it seems, is good.
It's Friday. We're in Aberdeen. And it is really very cold! (I
didn't envy the people waiting outside in the freezing cold to get
into the gig tonight!) All the buildings are made out of granite.
One downside to granite is that it is very grey, but apparently
granite is mildly radioactive which is obviously awesome. The
radioactivity makes up for the colour by far...
Today the Delirious tour bus arrived here about the same time as we did. We Electralyte folks have travelled behind in a couple of cars (not nearly as glam as the bus) but on the upside we have been staying with some very kind folks who have put us up in proper beds whilst Delirious and their crew have been sleeping on the bus! You can draw your own conclusions as to which is the more comfortable option. Every cloud and all that...
Before the show tonight we all got some time to pray in the Delirious dressing room. It was great to spend some time together like this.. it was also fantastic to hear hearts that were positive and affirming in prayer. God met with us; an oasis amidst all the busyness!
It's the 7th night of the tour and the venue, The Lemon Tree, is sold out. This tour has been an amazing experience for Electralyte. We smiled early on in the tour when Martin said it was refreshing to play in front of an intimate audience. I agree. It is. But I think the Delirious' idea of an intimate audience and the Electralyte idea might not be quite the same!
Tomorrow night it's a gig in the beautiful city of Dundee. The day
after that we head home to Essex and Delirious head home to West
Sussex. It's been an amazing few days but it's time for the Omnisonic tour to go out with a bang!
Matt
www.electralyte.net
Belfast - Trevor Michael
Nov 22 2007Belfast on the Omnisonic tour. This is a homecoming gig for me. I was born and grew up less than an hour from here. I’ve been all over the world with Delirious but there’s nowhere like Belfast. The Spring and Airbrake which is the venue we played in tonight sits alongside Katie Daleys and the Limelight club. I remember watching one of my all time favourite bands ‘Ghost of an American Airman’ here about 10 years ago.
We loaded in at 12 noon today which was a little later than usual so I had time for a quick walk around the city centre, and a trip down memory lane. Belfast City centre is brilliant at this time of year. The Christmas lights were up and I was remembering Christmas shopping with my parents many years ago. The difference now is the barricades and security checks are long gone. The Irish Stew and the Guiness are still here, and today they tasted better than ever.
The show tonight was loud and rocking. It’s been fantastic playing these smaller venues on this tour. Don’t get me wrong the arena shows we’ve been doing recently, have been great but there’s something about these venues that really suits Rock n Roll. The main challenge we’ve been having has been trying to fit both Delirious and Electralyte on the stage each day. The new songs like ‘Stare the Monster down’ and ‘My Soul sings’ are sounding better and better every night.
It was great to see so many people I knew tonight. Tre and Tori Sheppard from 100 Hours who are living over here now. Mark Rainey the legend, Dave and Scott from Crave and Johnny Parks Mr. Iceman himself.
I need to visit home more often, but for now it’s off to Scotland for the last 2 nights of the tour.
We loaded in at 12 noon today which was a little later than usual so I had time for a quick walk around the city centre, and a trip down memory lane. Belfast City centre is brilliant at this time of year. The Christmas lights were up and I was remembering Christmas shopping with my parents many years ago. The difference now is the barricades and security checks are long gone. The Irish Stew and the Guiness are still here, and today they tasted better than ever.
The show tonight was loud and rocking. It’s been fantastic playing these smaller venues on this tour. Don’t get me wrong the arena shows we’ve been doing recently, have been great but there’s something about these venues that really suits Rock n Roll. The main challenge we’ve been having has been trying to fit both Delirious and Electralyte on the stage each day. The new songs like ‘Stare the Monster down’ and ‘My Soul sings’ are sounding better and better every night.
It was great to see so many people I knew tonight. Tre and Tori Sheppard from 100 Hours who are living over here now. Mark Rainey the legend, Dave and Scott from Crave and Johnny Parks Mr. Iceman himself.
I need to visit home more often, but for now it’s off to Scotland for the last 2 nights of the tour.
Mayfair, London - Stuart Garrard
Nov 20 2007Hey...
So last night at the Embassy in Mayfair we played the first of what hopefully will be many Living room gigs. The whole event was brimming with hope and energy from it’s conception just a few weeks ago to it’s execution and completion at about 11pm… the energy surrounding this has been amazing and has coincided nicely with the launch of the new website and the whole living room concept.
We want to apologise for keeping you all waiting outside in the rain while some extra speaker boxes were delivered and installed, and also for the fact that some of you felt that the gig was a bit short. We sooo appreciate everyone that came and are keeping these things in mind for future events. It was our intention to make it a special close up night for you all and make space for interaction with you and some guests from the music industry. Your forbearance and the fact that you stick with us as we experiment and take it wherever it goes, is more than appreciated.
We performed six of the new songs from Kingdom of Comfort and loved the intimate atmosphere to showcase these fine tunes. Hi lights for me were Stare the Monster Down, Kingdom Of Comfort and My Soul Sings, but also bringing back Bliss and Feel It Coming On into the set was fantastic. We played for an hour and had plenty of time to mingle with both you guys and some special guests while enjoying the fine atmosphere set by DJ Askillz and his incredible disc spinning genius
We have to say thanks to all our peeps that helped us pull this off…
Mark and the staff at the Embassy, Hoda and Laura Armani for going the extra mile and keeping us dreaming, Jonathan Brown and all our staff from Furious and Fierce you are great! Ian Cattle and our amazing Crew on the Omnisonic tour, Askillz you are amazing! Huey from Fun Lovin Criminals kept his word and came to visit us and be a part of the proceedings. Thanks Huey!
Most of all we want to thank the 100 of you that brought the living room to life, you made it amazing.
Sheffield - Jimmy James
Nov 18 2007Delirious Sheffield gig
Back in '95ish, an event called Cutting Edge came to Southampton. Strange rhythms, big fat string pads, a bloke making firework noises with his guitar and a funny looking bloke who could sing a note to break your heart...all absolutely sold out to making music we could all meet God in the middle of.
12 years later and the ripples of those days are still spreading far and wide...and at the Sheffield gig it was amazing to feel a bit like it did at the start. 1200 ish people (1500? No good at that numbers thing...) crammed in and getting thier hands and faces up, singing the natural anthems that Delirious belt out.
The new songs did that weird thing of making you try to sing along even though you dont know the words...love it. Songs about God and smiling and still hanging on and hoping and absolutely still believing that we can change the world.
But they are just better. The years have made that sound into a fine vintage, beautiful to savour and full of depth and deep fruit (??)
Anyway, wish the intro to Our God Reigns could have gone on all night, cos its those magical journies into Gods presence that I remember from back in the day. Its where everything started for me, which is why the gig made me smile and ache all at the same time.
Cheers boys, miss ya!
Jimmy James
Back in '95ish, an event called Cutting Edge came to Southampton. Strange rhythms, big fat string pads, a bloke making firework noises with his guitar and a funny looking bloke who could sing a note to break your heart...all absolutely sold out to making music we could all meet God in the middle of.
12 years later and the ripples of those days are still spreading far and wide...and at the Sheffield gig it was amazing to feel a bit like it did at the start. 1200 ish people (1500? No good at that numbers thing...) crammed in and getting thier hands and faces up, singing the natural anthems that Delirious belt out.
The new songs did that weird thing of making you try to sing along even though you dont know the words...love it. Songs about God and smiling and still hanging on and hoping and absolutely still believing that we can change the world.
But they are just better. The years have made that sound into a fine vintage, beautiful to savour and full of depth and deep fruit (??)
Anyway, wish the intro to Our God Reigns could have gone on all night, cos its those magical journies into Gods presence that I remember from back in the day. Its where everything started for me, which is why the gig made me smile and ache all at the same time.
Cheers boys, miss ya!
Jimmy James
Swansea - Lee Slater
Nov 17 2007Bang! Bang! Bang! Thump! Crash! Thud! Is this the end of the world? I found my self-thinking, as I slipped out of that world in-between sleep and consciousness. No it was a local shopkeeper from a bed shop banging on the side of the tour bus in annoyance of us parking outside his only access for a big delivery of mattresses.
As I was now awake I decided a short trip to Starbucks was in order. As I lived in Swansea from Sep 95 to 97 this was a good opportunity to check out how the city was developing. I enjoyed my cappuccino and headed back to the venue, for what was one of the hardest get in’s I have experienced. Yes even harder than Mumbles Fishing club!
The local crew were amazing and 3 flights of stairs later, we were ready for action.
The evening kicks in with “Feel it coming on” and “Rain down” and it becomes apparent that the energy of the people of Abertawe has not diminished. As the band move on through the set to a number of new songs, Martin questions the crowd as to how they already know the lyrics. I can testify to this as I thought it a little odd myself when noticing the front row singing along. Is there something we don’t know?
The highlight of the evening for me was to hear the new song “Stare the monster down”. A head down, meat and two veg rock song with a chorus that demonstrates what the band do best. For me this track sorts the men from the boys!
Good to be back In Swansea with a memorable show!
Lee Slater
As I was now awake I decided a short trip to Starbucks was in order. As I lived in Swansea from Sep 95 to 97 this was a good opportunity to check out how the city was developing. I enjoyed my cappuccino and headed back to the venue, for what was one of the hardest get in’s I have experienced. Yes even harder than Mumbles Fishing club!
The local crew were amazing and 3 flights of stairs later, we were ready for action.
The evening kicks in with “Feel it coming on” and “Rain down” and it becomes apparent that the energy of the people of Abertawe has not diminished. As the band move on through the set to a number of new songs, Martin questions the crowd as to how they already know the lyrics. I can testify to this as I thought it a little odd myself when noticing the front row singing along. Is there something we don’t know?
The highlight of the evening for me was to hear the new song “Stare the monster down”. A head down, meat and two veg rock song with a chorus that demonstrates what the band do best. For me this track sorts the men from the boys!
Good to be back In Swansea with a memorable show!
Lee Slater
Liverpool - Stewart Smith
Nov 03 2007Boy am I tired, I don't like to admit it, I feel like its a bad way to start a tour diary. I mean come on there are thousands of you guys out there that work far harder than i do. You may have small children that have become nocturnal, you may work nights, you could even be in the middle of a family crisis and sleep is a rare commodity to you at these times. My excuse is a trip to Moscow, you have already heard from there in another tour blog, great place but 2am don't get any easier. Thankfully, Liverpool greeted us with one of the most beautiful venues the world has to offer, Liverpool Cathedral, not 'Paddy's Wig Wam' as I had learnt on a trip to the local swimming pool but the Anglican very large red brick building on top of the hill. Tim and I spent the afternoon drifting around the Tate and drinking coffee. I haven't spent an afternoon with Tim drinking coffee ever I think in 15 years, it was fantastic to spend time chatting and chilling. I love places like the Tate, it is so inspiring to walk around these places and just soak up the creativity. The evenings performance was cool, I think we played 5 new tracks which are brilliant, it is sometimes difficult to know if people get them and enjoy them or wether they are just intent on listening and experiencing the new sounds from delirious? i love this venue, with all of it's history and significants, i couldn't think of a better place to sit and lay into a drum kit with every once of passion and power that God has given me.
Thank you Liverpool. Smeezer
Thank you Liverpool. Smeezer
Bath - Jonathan Thatcher
Nov 02 2007Cathedrals don't have wifi, maybe it's because they are sacred... May be it's because it was built in 1897, may be it's both. This has called for desperate measures, so martin, stu g and myself have ventured out in to the industrial streets of Liverpool in search of our daily fix of internet.
There is something a little different about us at the minute... And I think this is was apparent at Bath last night, I am finding that my vocabulary is very ill fitting for my faith, imagine David Byrnes Jacket in Stop Making Sense. I am not understanding my own words yet, my soul seems to be closer to the surface than ever before.
If my mind were a computer desktop it would have lots of files that are not neatly filed in folders, in fact there are so many of them I can't see the nice wallpaper behind. It's not that any of these files are bad, it's just that I don't know how to file them. Sometimes I miss looking at my nice neat, tidy screen and other times I love the vibrancy, life, unpredictability, danger and chaos of my new look screen with added finger prints. Has anyone got a screen wipe?
Stu g and I just spent some time by candle light in the darkness of the cloisters where we found this prayer.
I said to the man who stood at gate of the year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown"
And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better than light and safer than a known way." - M.L.Harkins
There is something a little different about us at the minute... And I think this is was apparent at Bath last night, I am finding that my vocabulary is very ill fitting for my faith, imagine David Byrnes Jacket in Stop Making Sense. I am not understanding my own words yet, my soul seems to be closer to the surface than ever before.
If my mind were a computer desktop it would have lots of files that are not neatly filed in folders, in fact there are so many of them I can't see the nice wallpaper behind. It's not that any of these files are bad, it's just that I don't know how to file them. Sometimes I miss looking at my nice neat, tidy screen and other times I love the vibrancy, life, unpredictability, danger and chaos of my new look screen with added finger prints. Has anyone got a screen wipe?
Stu g and I just spent some time by candle light in the darkness of the cloisters where we found this prayer.
I said to the man who stood at gate of the year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown"
And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better than light and safer than a known way." - M.L.Harkins
Leicester - Stuart Garrard
Nov 01 2007Well the day started in Moscow at 5 am local time, sometimes it’s great being in a band! So first stop airport customs for about an hour...who said the cold war’s over...HA
So much flying, sleep, ipod... My albums of the day:
I love music there’s so much to get inspired by... For me at times it’s an escape, I don’t have to be anyone for anyone I kinda become someone else for a moment! Any shrinks out there wanna take me on? Ha
Ok so we arrived at one of our favourite venues in the uk the Leicester de montford hall. Many great memories eh hutch!
Yeah it’s always great to get on a stage where inspired bands have been before. The event was a really cool thing and we thank Martin and Sam for inviting us to be a part of it. We wish Martin all the best for his upcoming operation and a speedy recovery...our prayers are with you.
Just one word on the new web site... Jon, Kristen, his kids and his team have been going the extra mile for months now getting this together. Thanks jon you are one of a kind!
See you in the living room.
photograph by tim green
So much flying, sleep, ipod... My albums of the day:
- The Manic street preachers: This is my truth tell me yours, favourites the everlasting and wish I had been born a girl
- Interpol: Our Love To Admire; favourites: pioneer to the falls and no I in threesome
- Radiohead: In Rainbows; favourites: weird fishes/arpeggi
- Jose Gonzales: veneer; favourites: post mortem boredom, heartbeats
I love music there’s so much to get inspired by... For me at times it’s an escape, I don’t have to be anyone for anyone I kinda become someone else for a moment! Any shrinks out there wanna take me on? Ha
Ok so we arrived at one of our favourite venues in the uk the Leicester de montford hall. Many great memories eh hutch!
Yeah it’s always great to get on a stage where inspired bands have been before. The event was a really cool thing and we thank Martin and Sam for inviting us to be a part of it. We wish Martin all the best for his upcoming operation and a speedy recovery...our prayers are with you.
Just one word on the new web site... Jon, Kristen, his kids and his team have been going the extra mile for months now getting this together. Thanks jon you are one of a kind!
See you in the living room.
photograph by tim green
