Take Over Time!

I wanted to add something to Mr Drew's blog because the London show at the Scala was so awesome. Thankyou for making it so special, it was the biggest headline London show we've done so far and will remain in my memory as a landmark gig. From seeing my face adorning the massive poster outside to being shown the Die So Fluid tattoo on Shauna's bum in front of the stage,hehe, standing before several hundred people and feeling the energy in the air, it was such a memorable night,all the more meaningful to me now that I live in the States.There's a great review up already at www.Altsound.com with some ace pics. We had gone up to the Total Rock studios and recorded an interview with them in the afternoon, and done several interviews after soundcheck. We just heard today that we have the front cover of Nocturnal magazine when my interview comes out. Coldchester was indeed a contrast, and I ended up chastising a support act for playing slot machines through our set and carrying out their gear through the audience . It wasn't that they didn't listen, it was that they wanted pictures with me beforehand, and were all 'great set ' at the end. I just can't stand the fakeness.most people know i don't kick off without good reason, it's pretty rare. Anyway, i got an apology.I think it was an astrologically marred day as I also developed a painful mysterious lump in my arm that I was worried could be one of those spider eggs that explodes and lots of tiny ones pour out, and that evening me and mr drew got the joke shower from hell that only squirted water out the sides at intervals. i somehow whacked my head against the wall trying to turn the taps without drenching the whole room. Anyway, the next day the fan belt frayed on the van and we had to drive at a snails pace to Milton Keynes, we arrived nicely par boiled but in one piece as there's no windows that open in the back of the bus!Thanks to our best boys Frazer and Milly for getting us through this manic period unscathed. This is the rock n roll lifestyle, one day it's 'business class flight to Switzerland please, oooo free profiteroles and champagne' and the next it's 'has anyone got a pair of tights we can use as a fan belt?' Milton Keynes was not the best organised gig and ran pretty late, and our fab Dutch Black Bellies friends who flew over to see us in London had also travelled out to MK and were going to miss the show to catch their train. Black Sonic graciously swapped stage times with us to fix the situation,(they rock) and a great crowd materialised StarTrek style.i really enjoyed playing and it was a good end to that particular run of dates. I solved the heat problem by dumping a bottle of water on my head which gave me one panda Kiss eye but it gave everyone a little shower when i shook my head. We showed our appreciation the BS by rockin out to their set and getting them all shots. they took their tops off , it's unfair I can't do that! Next morning we got a replacement fanbelt and headed back to London the record an xfm session. You'll be able to hear four live tracks taken from the new album on Ian Camfields Rock Show. Today it was up fairly early, into gladrags, into taxi straight to the Scuzz tv studio to film our Scuzz TV Takeover! Make sure you catch us playing some favourite vids from the Scuzz archives and introducing Mercury to the Scuzz viewers, me with a particularly husky tone to my voice today :D I wanted to wear my green and black cowboy boots but it was filmed against a green screen and I didn't want to appear as the girl with invisible feet!

~LadyGx

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner that I think London rocks. The wonderful reception we got at the hometown gig probably made up my mind so thank you to all who came, from Amsterdam and Berlin as well as just round the corner. Had a great night on stage and becausee we'd warmed the set up could really get into playing with my two buddies. Next day in Colchester one of the Black Sonic boys commented that after London it was 'Like being drowned in a bucket'. A little harsh - But only a little. Even on the quiet ones there's always a couple of people who turn up and make all the difference. Got mixed feelings about the weather as it's nice apart from being stuck in an airless van and having settled on my bespoke suit style just in time for the summer. Taking a tip from Al i'm keeping the shorts on tonight for Milton keynes.

First day off on this UK jaunt and you know what that means – laundry. We're in Bristol which seems like the only UK town, so far, that doesn't recognize there's a recession going on - judging by it's shiny sprouting harbour view flats and it's star trek control panel launderettes. I would feel like I was in the city of the future if it weren't for the high street chains blasting out the Bristol sound of the nineties and the prominent Banksies (although they have all been defaced which is all very post post-modern). Shit. Sitting in college square has turned me into a latte drinking social commentator. I better get back in touch with my primal side so I can dish out the brutal riffs tonight at the Fleece. The only thing to ponder now, as I watch the underwear spin, is how Al has made it this far with just two pairs of pants.

Nice warm reception at the show from penguins, skeletons, scientists and hells angels alike. And as much as some of the faces tonight we've seen at many gigs before we're getting extra appreciation for playing a full length headline set for the first time on a UK tour. It's not a bad problem to have when you have too many good songs to choose from and after this tour we're going to have to start squeezing in more from the new album. The Black Sonic boys were led off by an angel to spend the night in a padded cell (rehearsal room). Travelodge suddenly looked like the Ritz.

At last I find myself with a spare hour, caffeine in one hand and free wifi –what’s up with travelodge that they feel the need to charge you a zillion quid for a minute of internet! Don't they know their main clientele are bands addicted to social networking sites? ;D Let's reflect over the first few dates of the tour, starting with Eddies in Brum. After managing to not oversleep again we arrived in good time and met our new tour companions Black Sonic who are here from Lichenstein as our special guests for the whole tour. We have also been invited to play a great festival in their home country in July. I don't know very much about the place but if these guys are anything to go by we're gonna have a rocking time! They play a consistently storming set and are winning hearts every night.You are required to learn the words to a Duran Duran song for their set-be prepared. My heart was warmed by our reception at Eddies, we had a great crowd who were so up for it and all the bands and it was a great way to kick things off. We did a couple of interviews which we hope to have links to soon. I’m really touched by all the girls who’ve told me I'm an inspiration to them, it's a totally mindblowing feeling to have this said to you quite openly, and I want to say thankyou because it makes me feel vindicated for all our hardwork, and commitment to doing things my own way.
For this tour we've dug around in dusty corners of our storage space to find a few fairly rare early singles which have been flying off the merch stall. So if you're coming along to one of the gigs be sure to smash the piggybank and nab yourself the complete set before they run out! we were intrigued to meet our new backline tech who was listed in the itinerary as Milly. Milly turned out to be a lovely Yorkshire lad who'd just been teching for Opeth so I was impressed even before I saw his leopard print creepers. (you know i'm an infamous shoe-fancier) With the capable Frazer on sound who we'd worked with at Gorefest we were all set for the road ahead. Next day we continued on to Scarborough, not as big a turn out but the passion of our friends who came made up for it. In the morning we promenaded the seafront and letloose on the arcades. The donkey rides were tempting but the best bit was our visit to Terror Tower where we got to stroll through scenes from horror films whistling a happy tune haha. We passed through Norman Bates Motel, the well from The Ring , Preditor, and Alien Autopsy and skipped through a gaggle of swinging body bags but I only screamed when a bloody big dinasour head came crashing down out of nowhere whilst crossing a wobbly bridge. Came away with some new stage set ideas anyway!Next on the agenda was York Stereo, I donned my hologram catsuit for the gig with a big f**k off belt i bought by the sea with three rows of skull studs. A brilliant momento. I was just in the mood after doing some more interviews and it was a really fun gig. Big love to Maxine for travelling from Newcastle whilst pregnant to see us play, and also the pressies.What an enthusiastic crowd, we were there signing stuff and chatting for a while. I will remember this one as the tourettes gig cos there was one of those wierd silences just before a song and i couldn't resist the urge to shout bollocks. i can't really explain it.someone must've slipped me something in me drink or somethin cos i also recall calling Milly my monitor bitch. Anyway, it was all jolly japes til Ray from black Sonic split his head open on the roof of their van-oouch. It's mending nicely now but i think he must've had a big headache from that, and all the 'medicine' that was supplied afterwards to aid recovery;) I got away with just a split seam in my catsuit. Better repair that before London!
Then we had the colour coordinated black and red Club Revolution in Peterborough followed by Wakefield rock festival this afternoon. I met lots of lovely new fans at both events including Lauren and Carla, and the two Lauras from Milton Keynes. Very windy it was today, and that's just Al, ho ho! It was ace to see Panic Cell, catch up with KOKaine and meet the Glitterati from our new label. During our performance I battled with snot streaming from my nose, hair blowing down my throat and my eyes streaming in the wind,don't think anyone noticed though and again we had our audience there cheering us on and pulled off a spirited show complete with monitor foot posing and back bending. it was a charity event we played for a fee of just ten gallons of Monsta energy drink-woah! in the night the roof had blown off the hospitality marquee (!) so i had to change in the van but they were selling a drink named the 'Die So Fluid', coffee with brandy in it. We hung out there for a bit , went out for an amazing Cuban tapas dinner, and walked around a 13th century abbey in Leeds just to round the day off in a gothic fashion. I must just mention our brand new T shirt which is now available at gigs. It has the sexy new album cover on it and looks coo-el. You can own one for just 15 pounds, or you can buy it with another item for 20! I wanna see all of you at the Scala who said they wanted to come these past few nights- it's gonna be an awesome night and we're looking forward to seeing you all there! I'll get to play my hometown again-yay!

Two Grogs!

~LadyGx

Hare v snail

Oh my, I overslept because my alarm didn't go off, and awoke to mr drew calling me from the photoshoot i was supposed to be at. First time that happened to me for years, Paul harries told me apparently i beat Courtney Love in lateness though from a recent shoot with her and that's got to count for something. Gimme credit tho, i got it together grabbed a cab and was there in 30 mins, West London to Oxford st! I wore black angel wings and they sped my journey. it's true. Boy did we get some tasty shots too, flying by the seat of your pants is good sometimes. ....Tomorrow we kick off the beginning of the tour by dropping in on Johnny Doom at Kerrang! radio in Birmingham before the first show at Eddies. Hold on tight!

ch ch ch changes

Hmm seems like we've had a lot of apologising to do lately and here we go again, but in the spirit of keeping you as informed as possible, here's a newsflash concerning the new single. Since we are a very new signing to DR2 they've decided it would be in our best interest to move the release of Mercury back to nearer the album release date, allowing them more promotion time. We will however be giving you a FREE track meanwhile to celebrate the tour and lead up to the official release dates. Check back here to find out which track it will be!

Tourdate ammendment

~Please note the recent change of venue on May 19th from TJs in Newport to The Night Owl in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Tragically TJ's owner John Silico passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago, and our thoughts and best wishes go out to his family and friends. The venue is temporarily closed and although they are fighting to re-open as soon as they're able, it's not possible to put a definate date on it. Therefore our manager has had to make an extremely tough decision to make sure this UK tourdate is filled, and avoid disappointment on the night. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. RIP John Silico.