fruit flies like a banana

well... time has flown like an arrow!

the zero degrees tour is over. alack and alas. that was possibly the best time i've ever had on tour. the music was so fantastic and the vibe was continually positive and so creative.

the glasgow gig i was going to tell you about was triumphant! the only hair raising and ultimately interesting moment to read about came when Vashti began to play "Here Before" and I realised I had the wrong kalimba on the stage - one that would have been hideously out of tune if I played my solo line on it. band members in my immediate vicinity remained impassive in the face of my flailing as i tried to decide what the grown up and professional thing to do would be! in the end I strolled as quickly as i could off stage, looking nonchalant, RAN to the dressing room shouting "Ohmygoodness!!!" all the way, hurled bags and instrument cases in the air in a frenzy until I found the right kalimba and hurled myself back to the stage, where it just so happened i was perfectly in time for my second entry. only a few hairs out of place, the band were only slightly bemused and the audience none the wiser. phew!!! needless to say this only goes to prove that my professionalism is only accidental...

after a brief break, which felt more like a just whirl of tax return and pillows, we were off to America-ca-ca. Thanks to the wonderful union people at British Airways we got to arrive two days early in New York to avoid strike action on the airways. Woo! So there was much wandering aimlessly and bagel-eating and gawking at Times Square. I'm not ashamed to say that I do really LOVE New York. It's madness on a stick... with lots of shouting in the background.

The main big news is that... CARNEGIE HALL WAS LAST NIGHT. How could I possibly describe the majesty of that to you?!?!? The line up was CocoRosie, Adem, Cibelle, Vetiver, us, Devendra Banhart and David Byrne curating/compering. Once again it was a mammoth collborative effort, a seamless show with no breaks between acts. And with only 9 hours of rehearsal together to prepare it was truly a miracle!!!

Arriving at that place, I felt so surreal. Like my hands were slightly too heavy and my head was a giant pom pom. Not sure that's the best explanation but it'll have to do. Now, I know this is what the Carnegie Hall is famous for... but the acoustic is actualy quite aStOUNDing! When I finally got my breath back after stepping out on stage for a peek, I played a single note on my flute and I've never heard anything like it. It soared through the air right to the back of the hall like it was a hot frisbee flying through a tunnel of butter!!!! Jeepers.

The show sold out, the hall was majestic, the sound was eagle-like and the camaraderie backstage was unrivalled in any gig i've ever known. I felt like the sense of priviledge might just burst me in two (especially when I spied my Dad's face in the crowd, beaming like a headlight, in his bow tie).

Absolutely awesome!

(And my flute didn't turn into an unmusical carrot mid-show you'll be pleased to hear!)

So here we are, the day after, in Philadelphia, our hair crackling with the static from the freezing cold, feeling like musical and emptional zombies. But i'm still energetic enough to be excited about the rest of this tour. We're soon to go to North Carolina where half of Vetiver hail from. They've told me about this place they're going to try and take us when we get there. There used to be an old lady who ran a kind of second hand/ vintage treasure trove of clothes and household items. Except when you went in to buy something and took it up to the counter, she would say "Oh that old thing? You don't want that?!?!? Oh no, I COULDN'T sell you that. SOrry"... She was so attached to everything that she could never bear to sell anything. SO it was really just a glorified crazy hoard open to the public and there was just more and more stuff collecting there. In the end the lady died and some artists took over the space. They kept all the things but divided them into objects of the same colour. So now the space, which is partially derelict, is just small corridoors running between huge piles and piles of crazy old objects of all colours of the spectrum blending into eachother, Apparently the white room is one of the most incredible things you've ever seen.

I can't wait....

And of course there's the music. And the people. And big old America.

Not sure many more words will come out of my head. It's really tired. But I'll try and blog later in the week with more interesting news of shennanigins. Hopefully I can embarass some fellow band members too!