Thank You Mancunians
Another fantastic show, this time with the Paul and Storm bonus. Not to mention a little cross cameo business with our famous friend Neil Gaiman, who was doing a reading from his new book about 150 meters away (that’s in metric). Neil was nice enough to let us do a couple of songs at the beginning of his reading, and then when he finished up he came over to our show and read the second verse of Creepy Doll. Almost too creepy really, but an incredible thrill as I am a huge fan. Thank you Neil, and thank you Manchester.
And yes, for some reason I have been unable or unwilling to post this for several days – blogging ends up last on the list of stuff I gotta do when I’m on the road, which is kind of dumb because that’s when all the awesome stuff happens. It is now Saturday, and I have some breathing room in the hotel in Birmingham and am trying to catch up. Stay tuned…
Oy Loyk Oyrland
I’m currently in a hotel in Glasgow counting CDs and half-listening to the television. I can’t tell if it’s the jet lag or all the Irn Bru I drank during my set at Oran Mor tonight, but I’m not so sleepy even though it’s past midnight. It doesn’t help that there’s some kind of wedding in this hotel and a bunch of kids in suits are running up and down the halls randomly banging on doors (not as relaxing as it sounds).
Both shows have been amazing – the crowd in Dublin sang everything all the way through very loudly, which was great. I played Danny Boy, which is such a beautiful song I couldn’t resist even though I knew it was going to make the audience groan. And groan they did, but they sang anyway. I wish I could have spent more time in Dublin – I was staying with friends of friends who are actual Irish people, and they were very nice and fun.
Today I had a frenetic day of traveling and a second great show here in Glasgow. The crowd was less sing-y to be sure, but no less kind and enthusiastic. Also there was steak pie and Irn Bru and Tablet. I had no set list because the only pen I had in the green room was broken (I wish I made this excuse up but it’s true), so I kind of made it up as I went along, took a few requests, played some songs I probably should have practiced before playing in public.
Manchester on Wednesday!
More Helps
As you know, this Ireland/UK trip is coming up fast. I’m looking for a few folks to help out at the merch table at all these shows – mostly this means coming to the venue sometime in the hour or so before doors open so that I can show you how everything works and get everything set up. Then you sell things before and after the show (you don’t have to sit there during the show, I’m not a monster). Then you give me all the money. In exchange, I’ll put you on the guest list (and hopefully a second person who is also at the merch table with you, because it’s always easier with two people).
READ THIS: If you’re interested, please email my horribly disfigured assistant Scarface at scarface@jonathancoulton.com.
Paul and Storm are also looking to leverage the power of the JoCo overseas forces. And I quote:
Paul would like to (humbly) ask if there’s anyone coming to the Manchester and/or London shows that might have access to a decent keyboard/digital piano. We could rent one, but the fees are excessive, so we thought we’d check with the Coulton Army. It does not need to be fancy–in fact, an 88-key weighted-key piano with just a good piano sound is far preferable to, say, a 61-key synthesizer with 963,842 different samples. That said, beggars can’t, and won’t, be choosers. We will be happy to reward any generous soul(s) with 2 comps to the particular show; or, if you’re already attending, a full Paul and Storm Merchandise Super-Duper Prize Pack. Or, barring that, the eternal gratitude of a struggling musician wandering a strange land.
If you might be interested in helping a poor Yank out, please contact Paul at “info at paulandstorm dot com” and we can discuss specifics. And thank you. A lot.
Thank you in advance, foreign people.
Hodgman Coulton Debut Tonight
Barnes and Noble at Union Square NYC tonight (Tuesday) at 7 PM, be there if you want to see the two of us stumble through our first joint appearance in support of John Hodgman’s new book, More Information Than You Require.
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