Hey Soul Mates,
I'm writing from the banks of the River Thames. Bryan and Doug headed back to California this a.m. I'm here another 36 hours and very excited. England have their opening match in the World Cup tomorrow and the whole country has gone footie ballistic. I'm ready. Got my David Beckham replica jersey so I can blend in with the locals. London's bracing for a record day of beer sales. Haven't decided yet where to watch. There's a gigantic screen set up on the South Bank opposite the Tower of London. Nah, too hot to be out in the sun all day. Must have A/C and something cool to drink...
Rush Hour Soul wrapped up "From LA With Love" with a hot show at the Bedford on Wednesday. The set was unique for us. Because we spent the day filming a promotional video we had to mime playing "A Talent For Loving" in front of the live audience. We started and ended the show with live performances of the song; the lip-synched version followed the first. The shoot was the most professional thing we've done to date. Our director and director of photography did a masterful job of making the day productive and fun. I certainly learned a lot about making videos and how to perform in them. Bryan and Doug were both great, of course. So after two perfs of Talent we went into the rest of our set. The whole tour we've played for feel with out a set list (except for Liverpool) which makes it more fun for us. Hit and run. The Bedford is a neat venue. We performed in their Shakespearean Globe Theatre, patron on benches at tables around us.
Bedford Set List:
A Talent For Loving
A Talent For Loving (to playback)
Fall Out
Everyone's Ingenue
U Had The $
Everything My Heart Desires
Sucka
Bad Penny Blues (Ms. Jackson)
Love Someone
A Talent For Loving
London has been great but very hot. About 27 celsius, which is extraordinary for these parts. The band spent yesterday doing some site-seeing, We started the day with a private tour of EMI's Abbey Road Studios. We actually got to stand (and take pictures in) Studio 2 which is where the Beatles made 90% of their records. "She Loves You," "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "Help!," "Hello, Goodbye." All done there. It was as amazing as visiting Lennon's house. Maybe moreso. It's where all of that magic was put on wax. If you've ever seen the Beatles Anthology, you'd recognize the studio from the sequence where the Beatles are recording "Love Me Do" while producer George Martin watches from the control booth above. We also got to visit Studio 1, where the Beatles made "All You Need Is Love" and where John Williams conducted the scores for Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Harry Potter, etc.
We left the studio and went to the Abbey Road zebra crossing to take the obligatory band photo in the street. And guess what, we nailed it. Can't wait to get some photos up on the website and here to show you what's been happening. Doug then went down to Wimbledon, while Bryan and I went to visit the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, etc. We were pretty wiped by the end of the day. Battle fatigue, ha ha.
Then last night we did our celebration dinner at Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers. Thanks to our sponsor KS1 Security Management, we had a fun, burger and ribs filled evening. I've been to Sticky Fingers everytime I've been to London since '96. If you are a Rolling Stones fan, it is a must. The food is great, but the atmosphere is tremendous. Wyman (the bassist for the Stones for 30 years) was the group's archivist. So, the restaurant is plastered with memorabilia, one of a kind instruments and vintage promo art and posters. The band made a lot of noise singing along to Rolling Stones' songs and hits from the 80's. Singing into spoons very loudly, led to yours truly doing the family spoon on the nose trick to our Czech waitresses delight (or horror).
We are sad to leave Britain, but we promise to return later this year. Things are looking great for Rush Hour Soul. All of our new fans have been tremendous. Thanks for all of your comments. We are not going to forget you soon. We will be expanding our touring radius, but we'll be sure to come back to those who loved us first.
Time to grab some supper and make the most of a Friday night in the Capital City.
Come on, England!
From London With Love
I'm writing from the banks of the River Thames. Bryan and Doug headed back to California this a.m. I'm here another 36 hours and very excited. England have their opening match in the World Cup tomorrow and the whole country has gone footie ballistic. I'm ready. Got my David Beckham replica jersey so I can blend in with the locals. London's bracing for a record day of beer sales. Haven't decided yet where to watch. There's a gigantic screen set up on the South Bank opposite the Tower of London. Nah, too hot to be out in the sun all day. Must have A/C and something cool to drink...
Rush Hour Soul wrapped up "From LA With Love" with a hot show at the Bedford on Wednesday. The set was unique for us. Because we spent the day filming a promotional video we had to mime playing "A Talent For Loving" in front of the live audience. We started and ended the show with live performances of the song; the lip-synched version followed the first. The shoot was the most professional thing we've done to date. Our director and director of photography did a masterful job of making the day productive and fun. I certainly learned a lot about making videos and how to perform in them. Bryan and Doug were both great, of course. So after two perfs of Talent we went into the rest of our set. The whole tour we've played for feel with out a set list (except for Liverpool) which makes it more fun for us. Hit and run. The Bedford is a neat venue. We performed in their Shakespearean Globe Theatre, patron on benches at tables around us.
Bedford Set List:
A Talent For Loving
A Talent For Loving (to playback)
Fall Out
Everyone's Ingenue
U Had The $
Everything My Heart Desires
Sucka
Bad Penny Blues (Ms. Jackson)
Love Someone
A Talent For Loving
London has been great but very hot. About 27 celsius, which is extraordinary for these parts. The band spent yesterday doing some site-seeing, We started the day with a private tour of EMI's Abbey Road Studios. We actually got to stand (and take pictures in) Studio 2 which is where the Beatles made 90% of their records. "She Loves You," "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "Help!," "Hello, Goodbye." All done there. It was as amazing as visiting Lennon's house. Maybe moreso. It's where all of that magic was put on wax. If you've ever seen the Beatles Anthology, you'd recognize the studio from the sequence where the Beatles are recording "Love Me Do" while producer George Martin watches from the control booth above. We also got to visit Studio 1, where the Beatles made "All You Need Is Love" and where John Williams conducted the scores for Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Harry Potter, etc.
We left the studio and went to the Abbey Road zebra crossing to take the obligatory band photo in the street. And guess what, we nailed it. Can't wait to get some photos up on the website and here to show you what's been happening. Doug then went down to Wimbledon, while Bryan and I went to visit the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, etc. We were pretty wiped by the end of the day. Battle fatigue, ha ha.
Then last night we did our celebration dinner at Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers. Thanks to our sponsor KS1 Security Management, we had a fun, burger and ribs filled evening. I've been to Sticky Fingers everytime I've been to London since '96. If you are a Rolling Stones fan, it is a must. The food is great, but the atmosphere is tremendous. Wyman (the bassist for the Stones for 30 years) was the group's archivist. So, the restaurant is plastered with memorabilia, one of a kind instruments and vintage promo art and posters. The band made a lot of noise singing along to Rolling Stones' songs and hits from the 80's. Singing into spoons very loudly, led to yours truly doing the family spoon on the nose trick to our Czech waitresses delight (or horror).
We are sad to leave Britain, but we promise to return later this year. Things are looking great for Rush Hour Soul. All of our new fans have been tremendous. Thanks for all of your comments. We are not going to forget you soon. We will be expanding our touring radius, but we'll be sure to come back to those who loved us first.
Time to grab some supper and make the most of a Friday night in the Capital City.
Come on, England!
From London With Love
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