Tour archives: Live at Shanghai Foreign Language University 2012. Hangin’ With The Living…

Fires out.

This was our first really big show. Back in 2011 we played Beijing Midi festival for the first time, with no idea how big it would be until we stepped on stage. We’d arrived just in time & left for the airport about 30 minutes after the last song. The sound quality in this video isn’t great (downloaded from Chinese TV website) but the crowd shots & vibe are awesome.

I remember we were all getting a flu of some sort, not helped by the dust storm being kicked up by the crowd. I looked down at my guitar during the show & my fingers were filthy, like I’d been digging trenches.

Fires out.

Good friends The Vagrants are set to launch their Harley Monroe store in Box Hill. The guys have an amazing array of affordable nostalgic pop art-work in stock. Collectable retro gear perfect for the pool-room, the fridge, the lounge, the garage – wherever you’d like to bring the cool in your life. Not to mention birthday cards, awesome gift ideas & an assortment of potential band merch.

Harley Monroe store – The Vagrants very own brand – Box Hill, Victoria.

Do yourself a favour – get down to 11 Trawool St, Box Hill (Vic) & avail yourself!

Have a great weekend.
Fires out.

Lauchlan Bruce is set to join The Vagrants on stage for their final Melbourne show at The Brunswick Hotel, Monday 4th November – Cup Eve. Lachlan (from The Lauchlan Bruce Band) toured Germany earlier this year as The Vagrant’s bass guitarist. We had a lotta great times (we were their opening band). Didn’t know it at the time, but Lauchlan is also an amazing guitarist & multi-instrumentalist. Looking forward to catching up for a few beers at the show. I’m told he will be shredding…

Lauchlan Bruce.

The Brunswick Hotel show will hopefully not be the last time we see The Vagrants, as they re-locate to Europe next month. They’re planning to visit Melbourne for a few shows next year.

Fires out.

Photographer Anja at Style Delux – we stayed a few nights at her place on tour in Germany this year – had a couple of unusual pets. They spent most of their time clinging to the branches of indoor trees in the lounge-room. Simon Marrow took the shot below, holding the insect-to-be-dinner.

The shot above features on the home page of Simon’s website, Monkey Stereo. Take a look. There’s a bunch of German tour shots on the ‘On Tour’ page.

Fires out.

Shot from Germany – a show at Somerda with The Vagrants in April.

Many thanks to Simon Marrow at Monkey Stereo for taking this (and hundreds of other) tour shots. Simon came on the road with us for 2 weeks of that German tour. He’s a brave man, listening to the same sound-check & show night after night after night.

Fires out.

Playing a beer-barn on a Tuesday night in a town called Suhl, Germany earlier this year.

Max works the room, Suhl Germany April 2013. Pic by Simon Marrow at Monkey Stereo.

The show was sold out. We were opening for The Vagrants. German culture being what it is, instead of sitting in a soulless pokie-venue or watching some spirit-crushing reality TV show, people come out in droves on a week-night to see live music, eat great food & drink magnificent beer. They revel in it, young and old. We could take a leaf…

Have a great weekend.
Fires out.

Fantastic interview with Noel Gallagher. Everything’s in here – growing up in Manchester, rock stardom, song-writing, religion, family, the meaning of life…

Fires out.

We’ve had a few Facebook likes this week for this archival pic taken on our first tour of China (2011) at Zebra Festival.

We made a short documentary of that tour – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOJ8M4tOd6E

We arrived in China for the first time direct from a 6-week tour of the US. Fair to say, we all felt pretty battle-weary. It would be the last stop before heading back to Australia. We’d been away since January the year before on multiple tours of Europe and The States. Looking back, I think that first China tour was almost an after-thought. We were on our way home & weren’t expecting too much. But it turned into a monster, beginning with 2 huge festivals in Beijing and Chengdu followed by a string of killer club shows.

Fires out.

The Vagrants will play just two more shows in Melbourne over the next few weeks – before relocating permanently to Europe. We toured Germany with the guys earlier this year – one of our best tours ever & certainly the most fun. Great guys & outstanding musicians, we’ll be sad to see em go. Apparently, their plan is to return to Australia for a few months each year & play shows here before heading back home to Europe. It’s The Vagrants tour schedule for the past 7 years, in reverse. That said – you can catch them for the 2nd-last time this week at The Espy on Friday night. Or Cup Eve (for the last time) at Cherry Bar (4th Nov).

Long Live the mighty Vagrants.

Fires out.