Tour Diary: Citizens! (Part Ten) • Neu • DIY Magazine

With a bit of PJ Harvey soundtracking their journey, the Citizens! boys are headed to Nottingham in the latest instalment of the tour diary the band have been keeping for DIY. The band encounter a few minor difficulties loading out of the venue, try to teach Grant rugby and divulge their dietary dilemmas.

Saturday dawns with summer in the air. The drive to Nottingham is spent discussing the pros and cons of guitar solos, and listening to Wales play Rugby on the radio. Grant is, as previously mentioned, completely uninterested in sport of any kind and keeps going, ‘What sport is this? What’s going on?’. It’s a fair question. The main thing that’s going on is a beautiful sunset across the lower midlands. Get ‘Let England Shake’ on the stereo, we’re off to Historical Nottinghamshire.

We turn up at the Rescue Rooms/Stealth mash up to see loads of posters around for our man Arni’s DOLLOP nights. These guys put on some of the best line ups in Britain for dance and electro music. It seems the fine folk of Nottingham are in for another treat with Mr Joy Orbison and Scuba due to hit town on the 2nd of March. We recommend you attend.

After a sweaty enjoyable gig to an almost certainly pill fuelled Saturday night audience, we load out through the usual carnage of a Saturday night party. Minor domestics, major vomiting and a wee scuffle or two all come between us, our equipment and the van. Thom, by the evidence of this photo, is extremely happy that it’s over.

It’s very, very hard to stay fit and healthy on the road. Lots of time in the van, very little physical exercise, and free beer every night. WHSmith makes it no easier for you when their ‘Healthy Snacking’ section contains such gems as the Jaffa Cake Muffin and the Snickers Brownie. I’d hate to see the unhealthy snacking section.

Cambridge on Tuesday. I’m packing apples.