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November 12, 2007
LAST ONE OUT, PLEASE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS.
That really is how it feels in the UK. Like it’s backed itself into such a corner that there is no way out. Don’t get me wrong, its not all bad – the ‘village’ vibe in many of the areas is lovely, with old buildings and railings and parks and stores and everyone knows everyone ……. But they are even tearing all that down and replacing it all with the ubiquitous “Mall From Hell’!! Everywhere from the Kings Road in Chelsea to Camden and Covent Garden, the smaller boutique businesses are being bulldozed and flattened, to make way for yet another generic, overpriced, “made in china” version. The picture above is a good example of how quaint 'ol' London Tahn' used to look, and the pic next to it is how they are gradually changing it. And God forbid that you might want to order some food and ‘hold the mayo’ or ‘substitute tomato for cucumber’…….WHAT?!?!? You CANT do THAT!!
But I told myself that I wouldn’t slag it down too much, so that’s all I’m going to say about the state of the Nation. For now. I shot a bit of video while I was there - the Billy Morrison 4 minute tour of London Town!! So I will 'wax lyrical' on that some more when I get it edited and posted. The Sex Pistols? Well, what can I say that I didn’t already say in my review of the Roxy show ……one of the most important rock and roll bands ever. That’s it really. They were fantastic on all three nights that I saw, but the Saturday show really felt really special with a second encore of Roadrunner – even though no one quite knew how the song went!! The sound was perfect every night and I am back in Los Angeles feeling quite lucky that I was able to do that trip. Seeing them play in Brixton (my old stomping ground) and being able to catch up with a few of my dear friends (Terry, Phil, Bev, Ray, Guy, Steve, George, Suzie – thanks for making the week a good one!!) closed some kind of circle for me. Time to move on to …..
Circus Diablo at the House Of Blues tonight! Fuck – I just got off a plane, jetlagged out of my mind. I cant even remember where the House Of Blues is, never mind remember the words to the songs!! Oh well, it is what it is – if in doubt, I’ll jump into the audience…..that always gets you out of having to remember a verse!! Only joking, kids – I cant wait to play tonight. Providing I stay awake, its going to be a good show, for a good cause. We play at 10.00pm, so bring your donation (blanket, food, money etc) to benefit the homeless victims of the SoCal fires and get ready to have a good time! And I know there are other gigs being arranged for December so I’ll email our people and post during the week once I know whats happening. The picture is nothing to do with any of that - its from this years Halloween party (Scott W's birthday party was a 70's Roller Disco theme, and this is how Jen and I showed up!!).
My mind is a little mushy right now so I think I’ll leave it there before I start ranting on about sticky toffee pudding with cream from Marks And Spencers (SO good I ate 9 of them last week!!) and Banksy (an absolute genius and has the country in the palm of his hand – a true punk rocker!) ……I am going to get my life in order as much as I can in two days, and then apparently I am headed out of town again on another DJ gig? Or maybe not? I don’t know. Either way, here is a random picture of the tiny little store in Kings Road that changed my life!! Now called Worlds End, it is still owned by Vivienne Westwood, and when I was 11 years old, it was called Seditionaries and sold the most subversive, nasty, offensive tee shirts the world had ever seen. And I loved it!! Time to go ……
Billy
(CLOSED)
Posted by vivelerock at November 12, 2007 06:12 AM
Comments
Welcome home! Sounds like you had a awesome trip and a melancholy stroll down memory lane. Can't wait to see the v-blog of the trip!
I saw the pictures up on wireimage of Scott's Birthday party. It looked like so much fun! I would have sold my ovaries to attend!
Have a great show tonight, wish I could be there too.
Posted by: Robin (Peebs) at November 12, 2007 08:37 AM
Welcome home and have a great show. :)
Posted by: Wendybird at November 12, 2007 10:22 AM
Billy, that Halloween pic is too much. It's sort of like if Marc Bolan and the Commodores had a love child.
Poor Jen had to lean to the side just to keep her face in the picture!
Posted by: LiNda at November 12, 2007 03:54 PM
Billy, this my favorite post of your's yet! It sucks how things change for the worst sometimes, I know, I feel the same way about certain places, too, but I simply loved to read this and your photos are fu**ing amazing as well!! Welcome home Billy!
Posted by: Carly at November 12, 2007 06:22 PM
NINE sticky toffee puddings?? HOW do you stay so thin, Billy?! And weren't the Pistols fantastic? I went on Friday and my ears are STILL ringing today! Tell us all about the HoB gig when you're of sound mind, with plenty of photos, please! And let us know what gigs are coming up. I have asked this before, but think it got lost; as I'm sure you're aware, The Cult are going a UK tour next year. I'm wondering - any chance of Diablo guesting?? Living in hope! ;-)
And sadly, I think you're right about London. I don't notice the change because I live here, but returning from holiday recently, I've started to notice it a lot more. The area in which I live has been particularly badly affected by Mall from Hell with more to come, worse luck. Trouble is, the rest of the UK is just as bad, and the cost of living in the only unaffected parts is astronomical.
Posted by: Paula at November 13, 2007 09:37 AM
Welcome back & love the blog! Anticipating a full discrip of the HOB gig as well. Take care, Niki
Posted by: Merc957 at November 13, 2007 11:26 AM
I was at HOB last night. Billy did not seem to be suffering from Jet lag! Very energetic. I liked the climbing into the crowd.
And apparently Sticky toffee pudding does a body good. ;-)
Posted by: beth at November 13, 2007 09:03 PM
the pistols were awesome....i too was there on friday....but must ask what was with the california flag-i didnt understand that one....billy could u explain?
Posted by: paul at November 14, 2007 05:53 AM
ubiquitous....wow that's a mighty big word =P did someone get a new thesaurus?...snicker.....welcome back mate....glad you had such a killer time....peace & luv.....UC13
Posted by: UC13 at November 14, 2007 02:13 PM
Can't wait to hear about the show. Wish I could have gone.
Posted by: Wendybird at November 14, 2007 07:10 PM
Hey Billy, according to Dave on SRL last night you got the flu bug that's been going around. If that's true then I hope your feeling better!!!
Posted by: Robin (peebs) at November 15, 2007 03:21 AM
hiya Billy! :)
(don't get me started on a rant about those shopping malls!!! same problem in New Jersey though. So I got of of NJ, went back to the UK, then they started building the same malls and 'movie theatres' exactly as in NJ..around Reading, London, the whole area. One near Reading, a Sony theatre I think, was an exact duplicate of one in central NJ, it freaked me out, I had to go running out of it! LOL)
Sad I missed you (and the Pistols) while you were over here in the UK. :(
Love
Lisa
xxxx
Posted by: ylais at November 15, 2007 06:57 PM