Column: Gordon Raphael #4, Dec 2001
By: Gordon Raphael
Alas, I have gotten evicted from the historic premises of the Transporterraum recording studio on East 2nd Street in New York City.
Too much loudness, too many strange, young boys with their rock-n-roll hair and guitars, those girls, and that unmistakable devil-may-care, we-rule-the-world attitude. I fought off leaving for 6 months, long enough to record many great projects, and of course to re-arrange the American release of The Strokes album 'Is This It' by producing a new track, 'When It Started'.
The day I packed it all up and moved the gear into a temporary storage unit, I received a phone call from one Richard Butler, lead vocalist for The Psychedelic Furs, asking me if I wanted to tour with them as a keyboard player, guitarist and backing vocalist. I was very excited and replied, 'But I've never talked to you before!' ... To which he replied, 'Yes, there's always that!' It sounded like a great opportunity for me to focus on actual musicianship - and a chance to meet one of my favorite bands and travel, so I said I'll try.
After eight days of serious rehearsal on a Manhattan soundstage, a crew was assembled, instruments packed, and a lovely tour bus arrived to take us on a trip. Naturally, Toby L. from Rockfeedback.com asked me to keep a bit of a diary and post it up here in cyber-land, so away we go...
Atlanta, Georgia.
Sure, I messed up several times, but I rocked quite well on a lot of the set. This was a very large hall packed with fans that were totally digging Richard Butler. From the moment he comes out onstage, there is a tremendous cheer and people never stop looking at him! However, Richard was very disappointed by our show, and thought we did not do a very good job. He wants me to improve my saxophone sounds, and make a more percussive clean tone on 'The Ghost In You'.
It has been five years since I played in front of crowds this size... It is fun! And I like hanging in the back of the tour bus with rose incense sticks, just playing a CD, or jamming with John Ashton. At 3 am, it's on to Nashville (By the way, we are touring with Echo and the Bunnymen).
Nashville.
This is the home of country music and southern skeletons.
Much better show, I only made three mistakes. Finally found some delicious food after discovering how dismal the food can be in the south. In Atlanta, they considered white, dried-up lettuce with mayonnaise to be a healthy fresh vegetable!! Spent most of my day online, catching up on e-mails, answering letters and talking to friends back in NYC. Washington DC.
Drove past the recently bombed Pentagon. In the 60's, a group of Hippies tried to hold hands around the building and levitate it off the earth. They had the right idea, but bombing isn't cool at all - ours or theirs.
The DC show was also in a huge concert hall, stuffed with fans, many of whom probably have been following The Psychedelic Furs since their arrival on the scene in 1981. Each nite, I'm playing better and better. Still am not friends with the songs, but starting to get comfortable. All the guys in the band are very nice and sincere, making me feel quite at home even as I progress in my ability to do my job well.
DC seems kind of boring though, and aside from the spectacular Smithsonian Institute (the many museums I visited there as a kid), I don't really care for this town much at all.
New York.
I find myself in a long stretch-limo with the Psychedelic Furs.
I've now played four shows with them, and put in a week's rehearsal prior to that - but still can't really believe I'm playing in their band; actually a part of this great music I've listened to, a band I've dug since their first album.
Last night we performed at the Beacon Theatre, a huge, gorgeous old music hall in New York City. I had a cute little hotel room right next-door and had my friend, T, over.
During the concert, I was petrified with nervousness. Some of my NYC friends, including the whole band Galvanized (that I recorded recently), showed up to watch The Furs and wish me well. With the friends in the house (musicians and critics), I just had voices in my head right from the beginning, all chattering about missing notes and getting lost! Not exactly the sort of thing you really want your imagination to be suggesting to you during a critical and new performance in front of 2000 people.
Every time I went to pick up my guitars, something went wrong: twisted strap, guitar stuck on a stand, strings slightly out of tune, no sound coming out, and the high string breaking on the first note!! I had a new suit on that T bought for me during the soundcheck - all black and very modern in style. I packed two suitcases of brightly coloured clothes; paisley, metallic flared trousers etc, only to be informed by the tour manager right before the first show that 'all black clothing is de riguer'.
Everyone thought that I played well, but - for me - it was nerve-wracking. Now, I relax en route to Philadelphia (most notable in my history as the place David Bowie made 'Young Americans'), listening in the limo to the new New Order album. (Which doesn't really grab me).
Limos from city to city are pretty cool - especially in the company of such rock-n-roll legends; bon appetit!