Daintees Diaries Pt. 1
A legendary backdrop - On stage at the 100 Club (Photo - Hannah Pashley)
Welcome to a new semi-regular feature that i’m going to call ‘Daintees Diaries’ keeping you updated with all things happening with Martin Stephenson & Co. What a way to start it off too, a new album and the first weekend of tour dates, with more adventures ahead!
First to the new album, Howdy Honcho, which is out now on Bandcamp, and CD and Vinyl on the way too. I recorded and played drums on all but 2 tracks, mid-pandemic here in my home studio, and its all come out sounding wonderful, and been a joy to give some of these new tracks an airing in the shows lately too.
On the subject of shows, the tour kicked off last weekend down in London, and what a night we had. A packed out 100 Club with an audience that has clearly been yearning for a live, sweaty club gig for the past 18 months! A slightly expanded lineup for this gig, with original Daintees guitarist Gary Dunn, alongside his son Adrian making his debut on bass (Stepping in for his uncle Anth, and doing a mighty fine job too), bluegrass guitarist Rupert Hughes, ‘Harmonica Man‘ Spider MacKenzie on harps, Martin steering the ship and yours truly sat in the engine room! The sound of a 6 piece lineup is something special indeed, with each player bringing their own flavour and putting a stamp on Martin’s expansive back catalogue, with songs old and new, going from the first album right up to the present day. Personally for me it was great to be back in London after over a year, and seeing some familiar faces at the gig made it even more so, friends from university as well as a drummer pal of mine, making for some great pre and post-gig moments - an incredible evening in every way.
The London gig became special for another reason too, through sheer serendipity, Gary and Adrian happened to bump into legendary guitarist and record producer Lenny Kaye on Oxford street after soundcheck. He was in town ahead of 2 nights at the Royal Albert Hall with Patti Smith, and just so happened to be near the club when the lads popped out for a bite to eat (You really can’t write it!). Lenny had produced ‘The Boys Heart’ album for the Daintees back in 1990 (which we re-recorded for it’s 30th Anniversary last year), and hadn’t seen Martin since those sessions, and when he arrived at the gig out of nowhere (We didn’t know he was in town, and he didn’t know we were!) it just lifted the atmosphere to another level, not to mention him hopping up on stage and putting some backing vocals on an impromptu play of ‘Big Sky, New Light‘, the lead single of that very album. It was an absolute moment to savour, for the young blood in the band, but especially so for Martin and Gary, so many stories flying around the dressing room after the show, as they and Lenny chatted about old times and those very sessions. What a special moment, and one that no one could’ve predicted.
Rocking the 100 Club in London, alongside Martin, Spider MacKenzie, Gary & Adrian Dunn, Rupert Hughes and the legendary Lenny Kaye (Photo - Nick White)
Lenny, Martin & Me (Photo - Neil Entwistle)
Living the good life (Photo - Neil Entwistle)
Smilers the lot of us, with Martin, Adrian, Gary (Photo - Carl Rogers)
Shades on and ready for some Harajuku Punks action!
How can you follow a gig like that? Well with Martin its the usual practice to do something totally different - and that we did! From London we moved down to Brighton, to a venue called Patterns, a much smaller stage than the 100 Club, and a stripped back band lineup (Just Martin, Rupert, Adrian and me) so it was quite a cosy feel up there. A much more intimate feeling gig all round, with a receptive crowd and a few different tunes to the night before, including the reggae feeling ‘Boat to Bolivia’, as well as the sensitive and beautiful ‘I Cried for You’, from the new Howdy Honcho album. Once again the lads played a great set, and much enjoyment was had by all in attendance!
Post gig in Patterns, Brighton (Photo - Adrian Dunn)
Martin, Anna and Me… (Photo - Jane Cooper)
Fun on Brighton Beach…
Lets talk drums…
As you may have observed, I've been using a somewhat stripped back kit for these gigs, and with good reason. For logistical ease, the whole band were traveling by train, so I needed a kit that was going to be as easily transportable as possible. Looking through my (ahem, rather large) equipment selection, I was able to piece together the perfect compact rig.
Starting with a classic choice, my trusty 1963 Ludwig Acrolite snare, which is a real stalwart of my working arsenal, and can go anywhere and do anything, an aluminium (or Ludalloy if you prefer) shell providing a crisp, warm tone with great articulation, and a lovely brush sound too (a must for some of the tunes). Kitted out with an Evans UV1 and Hazy 300, Puresound Custom Pro wires, and the black Snareweight M1 for all the sound options I could need, and the tuning held solid by some Tuner Fish Lug Locks. At the base (pardon the pun) of the kit was the old Arbiter Flats Pro 22” bass drum, which with the leg mounts removed, handily fitted inside a Protection Racket cymbal case, and had more than enough thump to keep the band moving, even receiving compliments from sound engineers, who took one look at it and laughed, until they turned the mic up and heard it!
Cymbal wise it was an all Zildjian setup, with the 13” Armand hi hats (thin and jazzy), 17” Avedis Thin Crash (with the addition a Meinl Cymbal Bacon for some sizzle on the lighter Brighton show) and a 60’s Avedis 18” ride cymbal, with enough ping to cut through any band, but some crash sounds too for big endings! The whole setup was tied together with the incredibly light Tama Classic Hardware, which was a recent purchase from the ever wonderful Chris at Highwood Music, and a perfect choice for this gig, especially negotiating train stations without breaking my back! With a single braced Yamaha throne to complete the setup and keep the weight as low as possible. All cased up in 3 protection racket bags, the aforementioned cymbal case, AAA rigid snare case and wheeled 28” Hardware case (which also fitted the stick bag in it!). Ultimate portability and made the 3 days away so much easier than it otherwise would’ve been. My sticks of choice were the usual Vic Firth SSG2 Natural finish Steve Gadd models, Gadd brushes and a felt VicKick bass drum beater. I think that completes the drum nerdery!
What a weekend all told, 2 wonderful gigs in 2 wonderful places. Sure the weather could’ve been better (we got soaked a few too many times! (Not to mention having to dry cases and trousers out with hotel hair dryers!), but we all had a fine time, and we wouldn’t have changed anything about it in retrospect. As I write this i’m still recovering, aching all over from all the walking, equipment carrying, stair climbing (and falling - don’t ask!), drum hitting, and rain soaking antics! But an all over ache is usually a good sign of a job well done.
Theres more dates ahead so expect some further Daintees Diaries in upcoming blogs, and if you want to catch the tour, you’ll be able to find all of the dates and details here! In the meantime, where’s my bed?!