The Joy Formidable NYC Tour Blog Part 1
Ritzy from the Joy Formidable kindly agreed to give us an insight to life on the road. The band spent last week in NYC playing two dates with Passion Pit before headlining two further sold out shows. Over the last two years my respect and admiration for the band both as artists and people has grown. In 2010 I am sure The Joy Formidable will hit even higher heights and continue to blow crowds away through Europe with the Temper Trap next month. If you don’t have tickets yet for the March UK headlining tour get some! They are without doubt one of the best live acts in the UK! – Mark
Mark and I have been following The Joy Formidable for several years now, which seems totally unbelievable. It seems like only yesterday that I first heard the lovely ‘Austere’, but these guys have gone on to amazing festival performances, a well-received debut and have now played New York City! They’ve been very gracious to us and have generously offered to give us a peak into the lives of a touring band by writing up this tour blog. I know 2010 holds even greater things for them! – Sean
07/01/10
“I’m fearful I’m fearful I’m fearful of flying, and flying is fearful of me”
JFK. A 2 hour immigration queue and an interrogation. But then we’re in. Matt takes longer.
His probing officer used to be in a heavy metal band. We meet Leigh who’ll be helping us on this trip. An amazing guy and he penned the term ‘trouser cricket’. Hats off.
Leigh has a big truck. We pile in. First glimpse of New York, a blur of yellow taxis and the Manhattan skyline in the distance. We’re staying at 348, 47th street between 8th and 9th. Fuck Christopher Wren I love this grid system. Biggest beds I’ve ever seen , need a step ladder to climb in. Find a grocery store and buy essentials. Christmas Sierra Nevada 6 Pack, Cheerios, Milk, Banana and Coffee. Wanted matzo ball soup mix but we ran out of money.
Bed.
08/01/10
“Transformers more than meets the eye”
The sounds of NYC 6am. Dumpster trucks, horns and sirens. I met a guy one time who wrote a song about a Dumpster truck, doesn’t quite bring out the muse in me. Breakfast is meat and sugar and a lot of coffee. Glad Neak is with us. He points out the UK/ North American voltage difference and the potential for frying my pedal board. We go on the search for transformers. Have a very strange exchange with a guy in Radio Shack over a portable radio. I ask if it runs on batteries and he rolls his eyes, curls his lips and storms off. Mustn’t understand my accent.
Stroll the Hudson thinking about Sully Sullenberger. That’s what happens when you’re obsessed with air disasters. Enjoy the steaming manholes, the pigeon cloud and the space between buildings. What a metropolis.
Head for sound check at Terminal 5, happy to see Passion Pit again. The gear we’ve borrowed is vintage, Fender Bassman and an old Ampeg. Cool. Hope we don’t melt it.
Rider is Bud or Bud Lite. The Lite tastes better.
Our warm ups for this evenings show include running on the spot and windmill arms. Matt and I need to pee just before going on, Rhyds rolls his eyes.
Favourite show moment:
Crowd heckling Rhyds.
Rhyds “ What are you saying? ”
Crowd : inaudible
Rhyds “ Sorry I can’t hear you”
Crowd: inaudible
Rhyds “ What was that
big cheer.
Have tequila backstage with Ayad, Nate and Leigh. (thank you guys) And thanks to The Dig also. Ayad makes the best fucking drink I’ve ever tasted. Gold tequila, lime and Tabasco. A hot bomb to the brain.
Brilliant set from PP. They play Moth’s Wings. Very happy. Rhyds reaches a Stage 4 before 10pm. Never a good sign. By 2am he’s asleep backstage. A slow shuffle back to 47th street.
Bed
STAY TUNED FOR MORE…
Tags: the joy formidable
Trackbacks/Pingbacks