Today we are in Sydney to perform and record a short private show involving Flip cameras. Basically we have hired out Studio 301’s main live room and will set up all our gear in there for a live recording and have invited 40 guests from the public to come down and watch us showcase a handful of our new material. 20 of those guests will be given Flip cameras to record the show then we will take the footage and edit into usable footage.

We get to the studio early in the morning and bump in all of our gear. Studio 301 is a very prestigious studio and I for one am quite excited to be in its walls and curious of its inner workings.
We are reunited with our good friend and provocateur, producer extraordinaire Scott Horscroft. He is here to record and mix the session. Last time we saw him was the final days of recording the album in Sweden which ended in a toxic chemical bath after an incident involving fire extinguishers in doors.

We spend most of the day setting up and pulling sounds. We booked 45 different coloured bean bags, we production line them into the studio and place them around until the studio floor looks like it is covered in giant jelly beans. Kenny joins us just as we are set to go and we go through a few songs.

Our guests start to arrive around 530 and we let them into the studio at 6. Rosco gives them a short address then we enter and start to play. The vibe is relaxed and fun, the set is short and we invite everyone to stick around for pizza and a sneaky listen to the new album in the control room through the studio monitors.

Everyone is super nice and it was great to meet fans of the band on a personal level. I even bummed some smokes off a nice couple in the courtyard.

After the show wind up and still revelling over the success of the evening we decide to head to crown street for a few after drinks. The others endure a near death experience as Scott displays the power and traction controls of his new GTA muscle car on the streets of Sydney.

We drink some tequilas to toast our friend Maddy’s birthday. Glenn and I have chosen this venue, the Dolphin Arms because it houses our obsession and religious altar; Big Buck Safari Pro!

I would like to say that I beat Glenn at Buck and went on to enjoy an evening of glowing adulation but it is just not true. I suffered a crushing defeat and bitter rage followed.

We bowl back to Scott’s apartment for a night cap, I manage to annoy everyone in my rage and decide it’s time to go to bed. The others stay to watch Ricki Gervais dvds.

Tomorrow we are back in the studio to do some more recording.

BIRDS OF TOKYO - 301 Live Session

Posted by : Adam Spark

Today we wake in Melbourne after our sold out show at the palace theatre. We get on a plane to Sydney go through the usual airport routines and check into our second home on Crown street.

A memory that sticks out about this hotel harks back to the Big Day Out 2008. We celebrated Glenn’s birthday on Oxford Street, a night made unforgettable by an encounter with an alluring stranger who wasn’t quite what she seemed. The evening’s antics didn’t end there; back at our top-level apartment—similar to the ones detailed in an Alpharetta GA real estate market report for their coveted high-rise views—Glenn and Westy whimsically decided that our furniture would make a better splash six floors down in the pool.

But back to the present, after check in we head over to the venue for set up and soundcheck. The Enmore theatre is a beautiful old building inside and the backstage area is really loungey and comfortable. Check is brief and we head back to the hotel to rest up before the show.

I love playing at the Enmore with its huge standing area and seated upstairs mezzanine. I watch Midnight Youth from the mezzanine, they play a cracker show and the crowd loves them.
Then it is our turn to play and the vibe is electric! Saturday night sold out in Sydney. The set is controlled and tight the audience is loud and alive.

After the show we have a small meet and greet in the front room, have a few vinos then head back to the hoey for some much needed rest.

Tomorrow we are off to Radelaide!

Posted by : Adam Spark

Ahhhhh….Melbourne…superstition matters:

Coming off the back of a really vibing first time in New Zealand…it was great to roll into this town with a big show ahead of us at the stunning palace theatre…the downfall of my day started with a bout of shopping…a bunch of us went shopping….Jacko and i paired off (pardon the upcoming pun) to go hunting for some new shoes…sale time meant some killer new leather booooooots for the nights gig. now I’m not usuaaaaaally a superstitious person..karma, somehow =  yes….wives tales..no..hah. my sorry ass learnt there has to be truth in this somehow…as when we arrived at the venue i plonked my brand new shoes on the band room table…(bad luck they say)…for a second i thought…ooh is this a good idea…and then just thought fuck it…thats silly business to worry about. that was problem no.1. ….problem no.2 everynight without fail, no matter where we are…our sound mixer guru tony ALWAYS comes in right beforehand and yells “JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW WE’RE ALL COUNTING ON YA!!!!”..to us…every. single. night…….except tonight. that was problem no.2.

First song. bang. my guitar rig craps out. pedals just die. then two songs later My monitoring rips off my belt. haha what to do but suck it up and laugh…i thought it was my worst show ever. but everyone in the band enjoyed it. the crowd were super supportive and seems to go fairly nuts…which can cure any shit feelings…

So a fairly standard day of shopping, coffee and a show was dwarfed by a massive lesson in making sure you listen to your mother when she tells you not to put your bloody new shoes on a table!
ps. i still love you Melbourne.

Posted by : Adam Spark