2013-the story so far...

Halfway through the year give or take, and the present quiet offers a chance to reflect on the last few

Baz Cognac 2012

months, a look forward to the coming one, and then on into next year…

The British tour was, as always, a great time…We had nothing to promote commercially, and it was a chance to just get out there again, see everyone, and play… Using Jim McCauley for most of the set and then Jet coming on for the last 30/40 minutes or so was a risk, but a chance we felt we could take, and after a few teething troubles early on in the tour, we straightened the transition out and it worked very well we thought…and it seems a lot of you did too judging by the comments and reviews we received. I passed a milestone with my 500th gig, and as you can see from the footage was completely taken by surprise...As always, too of course, you’ll never please everyone, but we’re used to that and plough on regardless…as you’ll know by now. We were happy with it…

Baz-Philly

Then a breather…a knee operation for JJ on his left cruciate ligament…then off to Canada for the first time since being there as a 5 piece in 2004, the U.S. for the first time in almost 20 years, and my first visit there with the band. It’s been well documented by now that it was a hard slog in places, as all tours are, and wasn’t as seamless as we’re used to in the organisation department, but the shows and unending enthusiasm from the fans and media alike made it a trip to remember for sure…

Everywhere was packed with whooping, hollering yanks and braying Canucks and it was a pleasure to see the faces of people who feared they’d never see us play there again… Cancelling Detroit was a decision that wasn’t taken lightly of course…pulling gigs never is, but we had no choice as at that stage we couldn’t physically get into the United States and the entire tour was at risk had we not done so…In our parlance Detroit ‘took one for the team’…it couldn’t be helped and again, we’re sorry…hopefully we’ll be back…

And so now, during what has been a very quiet summer for us, we’re moving into August, the Royal Albert Hall, and a couple of nice local festivals, one of which we’ve done before… When we were first asked to do the Proms it all seemed a little unreal…for a band that has thrived on bucking trends and moving in the darker fringes of British music, courting controversy whilst still having hits and enjoying huge popularity, it almost seems like some sort of perverse vindication…The BBC, pomp and circumstance, and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’…

Err...maybe not...

The band have played at the RAH before of course, but it’s another first for me and I’m looking forward to it immensely, as are JJ, Jet and Dave…we get to play with a very big orchestra this time, as well as live simultaneous broadcasts on the beeb…and as I write this it’s very close to selling out…Hip hip….

Two festivals follow then we break for a while as preparations are made for next year…don’t know what they’ll be, where we’ll be or what form much of it will take…but we’re plotting, planning and scheming…and when we know, so will you… Enjoy the rest of the summer…

Baz/23rd July 2013

Baz Cognac pic thanks to Phil Martin
Baz Philly pic courtesy of Mitchell Smith