WED 11th
Where to start? ...well on Wednesday morning we jumped on a plane, ready to begin our little trip to the Western Cape, and were politely informed that the left engine wouldn’t start! So, it was off the plane, back to the Vida for some coffee, and then onto a new plane! This time with 2 engines working!!! A good start...
We arrived safe 'n sound in Cape Town, only to find my flight case had been 'tampered with'... somehow, it had been opened, zips had been unzipped, and things had miraculously grown legs... turns out, the missing items were lying around in the hull of the plane! What are the chances???? Anyways... I got my things back and we got our big-ass VW and headed off to Stellies for our first show.
For the past 2 days I had been battling an uber-bad throat infection, one that the doctor had declared as 'gross' (nice!). Luckily, our friend Rachelle managed to get some miracle pills called 'homeovox' (which are now my best friend) and dropped them off at the accom - they saved my life!!!
Rest of the day was the usual - bugger round, head to venue, setup in the sun, sweat, sit around, soundcheck, sweat, head back to accom, eat din-dins, hit a showeroni, get changed and head to the venue...fun! We hit Klein Libertas at around 9 and there were quite a few people already...lets make that a lot of people actually! Our friends Ashtray Electric hit the stage first and during their set they shot some footage for their new music video - it looked really good! We hit the stage at just after 10 and played a really great set to an awesome crowd (well at least thats what we thought...)! Thanks Stellies...
The rest of the night, well... we'll leave that for the Z&G memoirs one day... ;)
THURS 12th
Crawled outta bed. Fetched gear. Drove to CT. Checked in. Hit the bed again. Ate dinner. Watched a kak movie. Sleep. Zzzzzzz
FRI 13th
I don’t believe in stuff like Friday the 13th... but maybe I should!
02:30 in the morning, I get a call from our sound guy Marinus (who is staying in a separate room with our bassist Andrew - we call it the 'sober room' - ironically) saying that they have 'a bit of a problem'. I ponder whether to actually even move... eventually I do. I stroll up to their room in a daze, only to find the guys packing all their gear into a taxi. WTF? I am informed by some large English 'gentleman' that 'you break my window, you leave my hotel' - umm okay? I head off to find a very serious Andy who fills me in:
Andy was sleeping, Marino was showering (yes at 02:30 – don’t ask me why!) and their old-school slide-up wooden-frame window, which was being held up by a Valpre bottle put there by the cleaning lady (!!! safety hazard???) slipped, dropped down, and shattered, sending large pieces of glass plummeting down onto some guys head (yes, there happened to be a guy sitting below the window, at 02:30 in the morning!!!! (Friday the 13th I tell you). Next, the manager storms into the room screaming and shouting. Andy tries to explain that he was sleeping but the ever-so-polite man starts accusing him of maliciously breaking the window in an attempt to hurt the people below. There's no arguing with the guy...next, his big friend appears and they continue to verbally abuse Andy and Marinus... throwing in a couple of physical threats as well! They ask the guys to leave immediately, and call a taxi... (this is about the time I appear). I am bad with confrontation, even in a pissed off mood, so I tell the guys to get the hell outta there and find a new hotel...
FUN NIGHT! I continued to dream about the incident the rest of the night, making what I thought were mosquito bites, a lil more irritating...
Ah, Friday morning... maybe things will be better today?
I head off to a photo shoot, deep in the 'burbs' of CT - I play 'Rock Band' with a whole lotta other musos, photos are taken, laughs are had - a good start. I head back to the City Bowl, meet up with the band, and drive to the beach for some surfing - my first time! We hire the boards, head into the sea at Muizenberg, catch a couple of waves & I sorta stand up a couple of times! Happiness…or so I thought...
The damn 'mosquito bites' I got, seem to be getting bigger, and start appearing everywhere...hmmm, have I got the plague? Nope, just bed bugs!!!!! Eeeeeew!!!! Next thing I know I am scratching myself like a flea-infested township dog, I am covered in red marks, and I got sore ears from surfing! Poor Greg! :) ...
Its turns out to be kinda funny, well, for everyone else, and we head back into CT to get ready to for a night out, plague-infested and all!
The night turns out to be a looooong one... we hit Ratanga for the UCT RAG show, hang out with aKing, the Skirts and Goldfish (such celebs we are), consume free booze and head back to the city... I cant remember what happened after that... ;) ... Oh wait, I do remember that I had to spoon with Rob, because I WAS NOT sleeping in the bug infested bed again!!!!
SAT 14th
Ah, Valentines Day... what a load of bollocks! Well, if you're single that is!!! Or if you're in a band!!!! The day proved to be very un-romantic between the band members. Tiredness, circumstance and hangovers had taken their toll and we realised why it was that in EVERY rock bio, band members end up hating each other... we did however, manage to get over ourselves when we got to Assembly for our show and saw the LARGE crowd that had gathered. Whether they were there just for the party or to see our lovely faces was irrelevant, we kicked ass and got our mojo back! Thanks CT!!!!
SUN 15th
3 hours sleep - A rushed drive to the airport - A late check-in - Seats for all of us between elderly ladies, and the WORST cup of coffee I have ever tasted - It proved to be a fitting end to an interesting lil trip. Thank god for the fans, the friends and the mountain man ;) ....
Greg
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