Cat Dog Pig Tired

Well, that was a mental few days. On Thursday / Friday, I succeeded in my plan to play 24 shows in 24 hours around London... at the cost of some small part of my sanity. Thanks to everyone who helped out, especially Adam and Barbs. I'm going to be posting a "making of" video soon, and of course the finished item will be up ASAP as well. Watch this space.

So after the last show at The Flowerpot, I managed to get my head down for four hours, before heading to the airport to fly to Helsinki to play at Pitka Kuuma Kesa Festival. Despite feeling like a total zombie, I had a good time and a good show, and I'm looking forward to getting back there in December (show details to come very soon). Then yesterday I flew back to London to see Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park (amazing). Today I fly to the USA. I'm killing myself. But yes, the Offspring tour starts today! Huzzah! The dates again:

• 30th June @ CMAC, Rochester, NY, USA
  
• 1st July @ Mohawk Place, Buffalo, NY, USA (no Offspring)
  
• 2nd July @ Molson Amphitheater, Toronto, Canada
  
• 5th July @ Le Divan Orange, Montreal, Canada (no Offspring)
  
• 6th July @ Valentine's, Albany, NY, USA (no Offspring)
  
• 7th July @ Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, USA (SOLD OUT)
  
• 8th July @ Roseland, New York, NY, USA (SOLD OUT)
  
• 10th July @ Tsongas Arena, Boston, MA, USA
  
• 11th July @ Meadowbrook, Gilford, NH, USA
  
• 13th July @ Talking Head, Baltimore, MD, USA (no Offspring)
  
• 14th July @ Charlotte Boutique Amphitheater, NC, USA
  
• 15th July @ House Of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC, USA (Sum 41, no Offspring)
  
• 16th July @ Hard Rock, Orlando, FL, USA
  
• 17th July @ St Augustine Amphitheater, Jacksonville, FL, USA
  
• 18th July @ Pompano Beach Amphitheater, Miami, FL, USA
  

At the Offspring show I'm on early, playing solo, so come down early to catch the set. The others are makeup shows and should be a lot of fun too. If you live anywhere near Hoboken NJ, email me.

Finally, while I'm away, the boys in Dive Dive (three of whom play in my band) are gigging this week in Guildford and Oxford. Check it out.

Everything Happening All At Once

Well, it has been, to say the least, a manic day or two since I posted the previous blog entry about the video plans. After much manic typing, confusing myself about what time of day I was talking about, remembering the need to eat, trying to remember where Bromley is, making a killer spreadsheet, and desperately trying not to think too hard about the reality of what we're going to do, I think the plan is in place. 24 stops in 24 hours. Totally, utterly insane. But potentially awesome. In the meantime we've had myspace.com advertising it on the frontpage, NME.com thinking I'm in Gallows, and a flood of journos offering to come with.

The party slots are all now filled, but the open shows that you should aim for if you can are the breakfast show in Kingston (Banquet Records, 8am Friday) and then finale in Camden (The Flowerpot, 8pm Friday). Both shows are free. I'm also going to be using twitter to update the world on my progress (because I'm all about this internet lark). Good times.

More stuff! Shopping! First of all, the wonderful Xtra Mile Webstore, as well as stocking all my stuff and running pre-orders for the Million Dead Re-Release, now has a limited 50 signed copies of the split I did with Austin Lucas on sale. Check it out. Also, there's a new T-shirt design for sale either at shows over the summer or on my online shop. I think it's quite fetching, personally.

Germany at the weekend was a lot of fun - I was totally blown away by the number of people who came over to the tent to watch my set at both Hurricane and Southside. Roll on December - European dates to be confirmed and announced very soon. I'm also happy to announce that the wonderful Gunner Records will be releasing The First Three Years on CD and Vinyl in Germany / Austria / Switzerland on August 14th. Check it out. It's really great to be finally getting my teeth into Europe properly. Huzzah.

Right, I feel like my brain is full. Time for a break.

Video Insanity

Frank Turner @ The Flowerpot from Gregorynolan.com on Vimeo.

So, as you can see, that was quite a show. Which brings me to my next idea. We're shooting a video for the new single this week, for a song called "The Road". The idea for the video is, I'm going to try and play as many house parties in 24 hours as possible, around London. This is where we need your help. We're starting at 8pm on Thursday and finishing at 8pm on Friday this week - i.e. the 25th-26th. Here's the deal. If you live in London and are cool with me coming round to play a few songs at some point, please email video@frank-turner.com and I'll send you more details.

Obviously, from 8ish to probably 3ish is going to be comparatively easy to organize. It's the middle of the night, and the daytime on Friday, that's going to be more challenging. Also, we're looking for people who have interesting locations - if you or anyone who you can blackmail have a roof terrace, a garden, or a pool, let me know. Finally it'd be good if we can have at least a handful of people at each location. Like I say, email me and let me know.

We're going to finish the run with a grand finale at the Flowerpot in Kentish Town - a free show at 8pm on Friday. I won't be playing for all that long (I'll be knackered) but it should, hopefully, have something of the atmosphere of the show above. All are welcome.

So there it is: please do get in touch, and hopefully we can make a kick arse video.

New Shows, New Schedules

There's two cool new shows confirmed and posted up for the summer. The first will be in Kingston on August 27th, as part of the New Slang night at McClusky's. Tickets can be found here. The best part is that my good friends from Florida Fake Problems will be supporting. Cool.

The second show is part of the Edge Festival in Edinburgh. On August 28th I'll be playing at Cabaret Voltaire. Tickets for that show can be found here. This is in part a make-up for me not being able to play at T In The Park this year.

Typing this out, I've noticed all over again that Kingston and Edinburgh are fucking miles away from each other, and that puts me in mind of a whimsical observation I've made of late (hey, this is a blog, after all). I'm in that weird post-recording, pre-release limbo that musicians habitually inhabit once every couple of years. That generally means that we're making plans like they're going out of fashion, but not necessarily doing masses at this exact moment in time. It's slightly disorientating, looking through schedules with reams of dates, acres of promo work to do and so on, in a number of different continents and over several arduous months-to-be, whilst sat in the office or at home. One of the things about signing up with Epitaph is that my schedule is going to get one whole lot heavier in the next few years, as I attempt to spread the love throughout America and Europe in the same way that I do in the UK. Press days in Cologne? Whatever next. I veer between being piss-excited and pant-wettingly daunted by it all. Never fear, dear readers, I'll have me some fun on the way.

Which brings me neatly to the fact that it's really not so long now until I hit the USA (again) to tour with The Offspring. I'll be traveling by car with my good buddy John Berna, and we'll be keeping a tour diary, possibly even with video bits in it too. Oh the technology of it all, I'm starting to sound like Herbert Morrison. I'll shut up then.

Voting Season Is Upon Us

The Kerrang Awards Voting Season is upon us, folks, at it'd be great if you could take time out of your busy schedules to vote me up on this one. Previous internet vote drives have seen me achieving some ridiculous stuff in life, and my recent victory over all mainstream pop on Sara Cox (or something) wasn't even solicited. So if we all pull together, who knows? You can vote here: awards.kerrang.com. I'd focus on Best British Band and Best Live Act. And while you're there, a word for the Xcerts as Best British Newcomers wouldn't go amiss either. Thanks everyone.

In other news, would the UAF please, please fuck off? As "fascist" as those they oppose, clearly. They seem to be utterly incapable of grasping the basics of what freedom means. Morons.

North American Tour, European Thoughts

I'm pleased to say that the traditional end-of-tour "I fucking love you man" type platitudes between me and The Gaslight Anthem were more than just padding: we're heading out on the road again in September, this time in the USA and Canada. I'm very happy about this. The dates are on my myspace / the gigs page. Check them out, come down, have fun.

The album is done now, which is a relief. I feel a massive weight off my shoulders knowing I don't have to stay awake all night wondering if there's anything to be done about a million tiny things, or whether I should just leave it. It's coming out in the UK, Europe and the USA on September 7th this year, with a single / radio play preceding it. Can't wait, personally. Playing at Middlesbrough Music Live yesterday was both a lot of fun and a reminder that playing out with my band is basically the heart of what I do. Getting back on the road is a priority!

I had some thoughts about politics in the last few days; it seems like we're living through interesting times right now, in the UK at least. Much has been made of the BNP gaining a couple of seats. Obviously, that's a bit shit (although given the total irrelevance of the EU parliament, and the fact it's a mere 2 seats, not perhaps terrifying). The thing that's been slightly bothering me though is the reaction from some quarters, particularly on the left. Talk of trying to block the BNP's passage to Brussels, rallying against them, talk of how this represents a "failure of democracy" etc., seems a little petulant to me. They won the votes. That's the system, that's the nature of democracy. I'm deeply opposed to their policies, but more to the point I'm pro a liberal democracy. Saying democracy is defunct (or unrepresentative) just because you don't like the results is like punching the ref at a football game because the other team scored against you. Personally, I'm pro the ref. The people who would out and out attack the BNP are just the flipside of that coin, in terms of their regard for democracy. The pointless battles between the Anti-Nazi's and the NF in the 80's (which basically kept the NF alive) are a case in point. The reason the BNP are shit is because they implicitly threaten a tolerant system. Stooping to their level isn't a sensible reaction. Fuck the BNP, but do it through open, democratic channels. That's my two pence, anyway.