UK mini tour with Future Islands

Last week we went on tour with Future Islands for a sprint round the UK. We started off in London at the Scala, where we played to a packed house, which was a little bit nerve wracking. We asked Apostille to play too, this was Michael's second live outing and it was awesome:

Here we are looking enigmatic:

The crowd went completely mad for Future Islands, and when a "birthday boy" was prompted to come up and dance on stage there was a tidal wave of people that wanted to join in too. William's face says it all.

Our friend Melissa managed to catch this on her mobile (no sound).

Next show was Glasgow. I haven't seen much of Glasgow so Chris did a little guided tour, where we managed to squeeze in Brewdog and Volcanic Tongue where we caught up with Heather and David who we haven't seen in ages. We had to rush back to the venue, the Captains' Rest, which was a tiny club with a bar that was like a galleon. We were really happy to be playing with our friends Sacred Paws:



I don't know what was going on here.
Here we are selling merch. And here is Christian, who was driving the van, selling merch way better than us, and somehow finding time to do the sound for Future Islands and manage the tour. He also has a nifty little bobble hat.

After the show there was a little, ahem, party. All of us except William bailed on partying through to dawn and we are went back to someone's place to crash. William and our host Gareth managed to stay up until the wee hours, like proper troopers. Next day we were up early as we wanted to go to see a bit more Glasgow. We were entertained by the Scottish wildlife exhibit in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum:
There was also a haggis, on the basis that many people believe the haggis is a small animal. Sadly the haggis in question had been removed for conservation work, so I couldn't take a snap of it.

An unlimited quantity of these are freely available from 10am in most Glaswegian shops that also sell towels that make you appear like you are wearing a kilt, nice!

On the way to Newcastle later that day we went to Rosslyn Chapel. This is a fifteenth century chapel completely covered with carvings ,which we had wanted to see for ages. These included a multitude of green men and didactic scenes and was slightly overwhelming due to the superflux of detail encrusted on every inch of space. It has acquired some infamy as being described as the place where the Holy Grail is situated in the Dan Brown books (or something, sorry!)

Admittedly there was some pretty cool stuff there, in the Crypt was this tomb, some masons marks on the wall and a grave of one of the 13th century knights templar.

We had a beautiful drive through Border country to Newcastle. We think we saw Hadrian's Wall, but couldn't be sure. In Newcastle, we played Cluny 2 with Warm Digits. It was another really receptive crowd. It was even better because we got to spend time in one of our favourite pubs, the Cumberland Arms and then hang out with Susie and the two Michaels.
Next day, after a quick stop for a proper breakfast we drove to Brighton. It was a long drive. But now I think I've seen all the major service stations in the UK,

In Brighton we met with our friend Dan and went for an explore. I only ever seem to go to Brighton for shows and never get the chance to see the town, which is different every time I go back.


I think this is a seagull eating a starfish, but it could be a frog.

Dan and Chris had a go on the bumper cars on the pier

We were also completely enthralled by the starlings that roost on the pier. People think starlings are a pest, but they are getting rarer and rarer. This spectacular sight is known as murmuration.

We got a great spot on the balcony for the show. Its been really exciting seeing the size and enthusiasm of the audience for Future Islands at every show on this tour.

And with that, we came back to London. It was great fun to play these shows and to play to totally new people. Thanks to all the supportive people that we met on the way, and extra special thanks to Future Islands for taking us with them!