DZ Deathrays US Tour Blog Part One

June 5 – We landed in Dallas a day early to make sure we didn't miss the first show of the tour, well that was the plan until British Airlines decided to be jerks and leave Shane's pedal board in London. So we decided we'd treat ourselves to a pimp hotel room with a jacuzzi and get some beers that night. Unfortunately the jacuzzi was actually just a bathtub in the middle of the room. It was weird to say the least so we opted for just pizza and sleep instead.

June 6 – We got to the airport with high hopes of still making the first gig, the timeframe was tight but nothing we hadn't done before. Shane's pedal board arrived however not quite as expected as it was completely open with parts everywhere (British Airlines: 2, Us: 0). Once again the airline gods decided to dick us and due to an abrupt lightning storm they had to close the Dallas Airport six times that night.

June 7 – It was 3am when we finally arrived at the gig… It was safe to say we had missed the first show however we had not missed the band rider. We stayed awake until day break catching up with the Bass Drum Of Death guys and helped them polish off the last of the beers until getting a solid four hours of sleep in the Airstream caravans provided out the back of the venue. Once everyone was up that afternoon the venue owner Brian (turns out he used to play in the Polyphonic Spree) let us use his shower at his house and we hit the road. That night was Atlanta, Georgia, where we played to a pretty solid crowd then hung around the bar until close and ended up taking the party back to Joey Turbo's (BDOD's friend) house until sunrise again.

Backstage at the Bottle Tree venue in Birmingham, Alabama Yeeeeeeahaaaw!

June 8 – It was midday and we were late again and furiously killing it down the highway to Raliegh in North Carolina. The show was pretty well received that night and we decided to celebrate by staying at the bar doing shots until after they had closed before ending up at a Motel 6 somewhere on the highway.

June 9 – We rolled into Washington actually on time. We were all surprised. After drinking some of the bartenders' “birthday punch” we nailed the show and went out to meet up with the Unknown Mortal Orchestra guys who were playing just down the street. After hitting a few bars until close we ended up back at some of BDOD friends: Mike and Jordon's house and shit got real. I think the picture of our friend “Flo” drinking wine out of whatever that thing was says enough.

Ultimate Party Dogs from left to right: Mike, Flo and Shane.

June 10 – That afternoon once everyone was up, Mike decided to take us out for some Mexican before hitting the road to Philly. The show was great and after a couple of rounds we went to the notorious “Pats” for some ligit Philly Cheese Steaks before heading on to New York that night to beat the traffic.

June 11 – We got into NY at 4am on our first day off in about two weeks. Shane went and checked out Johnny from the Death Sets Bar “The Flat” in Brooklyn while I spent the whole day in bed eating buffalo wings watching Cartoon Network.

June 12 – Today was the first day of bad weather on the US tour and it rained the entire day up until we played that night at Glasslands in Brooklyn. The room was packed and the show was amazing however unfortunately during our set my girlfriend decided to walk down a staircase using her face and was already in the ambulance by the time I had gotten off stage. As soon as I came off stage I was told what had happened and ran straight to the ambulance which took us to the hospital. Emergency rooms in Brooklyn on a Saturday night at 1am are k-fuckin-razy! After five hours waiting round and 11 tasty stitches to the face we went home.

Lucille “Partying-Pain-Train” Penrose

June 13 – After six hours on the road we decided that Boston traffic was worse than being raped by an aids infested camel. We got to the show late as usual and had to cram some kebabs for diner just before we went on. Apparently the show was pretty good however we didn't really notice as we spent the entire time trying not to spew lamb shawarma all over the stage.

Simon Ridley