Day 1: Bannerman’s, Edinburgh
High: it felt great to kick off the tour with a strong set, plus some new friends of mine came to the show to support me, which was so lovely!
Low: panicking that my backing track had broken in my soundcheck, only to realise that I just had the volume turned down (rookie error).
Buffalo: we stayed the night in a grungy flat above the venue, which was gross and unbearably cold throughout the night, but it was a novel experience for me so it felt like a bit of an adventure.
Day 2: Taylor’s Shure5 Studios, Oldham
photo by Jeremy Sayle
High: outstanding sound and beautiful lighting, some of the best of the entire tour.
Low: feeling stressed at the merch stall because I couldn’t work the card reader (but I got there in the end).
Buffalo: We had a balcony overlooking the stage all to ourselves as our green room, which was pretty cool.
Day 3: Alt3, Blackpool
High: some delightfully strange characters in the crowd, including our glam sound tech who did our sound with knee-high boots and a perfect manicure, and a very enthusiastic lady who kept yelling “SHOW ME YOUR FILTH”, thus creating a meme for the rest of tour.
Low: soundcheck took ages and so we started and finished the show nearly 90 mins late, and then a 90 minute drive home meant I was absolutely shattered by the time I got home at 2am.
Buffalo: this gig started a bit of a tradition for Taylor and I to buy cheesy chips with BBQ sauce after our sets, and then scoff them at the back of the venue while watching the band play.
Day 4: SORM, Bradford
High: The first time we all performed Hana’s new song ‘Valentine’ on stage together, singing the chorus in 4-part harmony - we did it every night from here on out.
Low: I had a big crisis of confidence right before going on stage and was overcome with feelings of being an untalented impostor. Sometimes I get that, and honestly I’m pleasantly surprised that it only happened once on this tour. The first song was a big struggle, but I found my feet after that, and the positive crowd reaction really helped me through.
Buffalo: SORM had a friendly but subdued crowd, which made HVIRESS’ bombastic high-energy show even funnier. They gave Arena-stage-headliner energy every time they performed, and I love them for that.
Day 5: The Globe, Glossop
High: I felt like I really found my feet with this show, and from here on out everything had clicked into place for me. I felt like I wasn’t just playing the songs, but actually performing them. It was also an elevated stage, which always makes me feel more powerful.
Low: the turnout wasn’t great for this show, and it always feels disappointing when you’ve travelled a long way. BUT everyone who was there was so into the music, and I had some lovely chats at the end of the night.
Buffalo: We’d all been looking forward to this show because it’s a vegan pub, but the kitchen was closed so we didn’t get our vegan scran after all, and ended up grabbing loads of random snacky foods in Tesco after the show. We were extremely overdressed and glam for Tesco - yet another surreal tour experience.
Day 6: Trillians, Newcastle
High: There was a group of young people gabbing loudly and being a bit obnoxious while the first two acts were on - but when I played my first song, I saw a handful of them had snuck over to quietly watch me. That felt like a big win!
Low: going for a 10k run in the pouring rain, then having a quick rinse in the shower, then immediately driving to the venue for soundcheck and still feeling like a sweaty stinky mess (apologies to anyone who got too close to me that night).
Buffalo: we all loved the sound guy Womp for his great sound and cheerful energy.
Day 7: The John O’Gaunt, Lancaster
High: this was such a surprise of a show! It’s quite a small pub so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the crowd were amazing, and I met so many lovely people afterwards who appreciated what we were doing with our music. This was also the first show where I joined Taylor on bass for her song ‘Sin-o-matic’, and she joined me on bass for my song ‘Medusa’.
Low: the stage was tiny and I couldn’t move very much, so I felt pretty awkward swaying and stepping in place.
Buffalo: the venue played metal-ska covers of pop songs on a 1-hour loop all night and it felt like we were in the 7th circle of hell.
Day 8: Bar 39, Darwen
High: this was one of Hana Piranha’s best shows, and I felt so much awe watching them smash it out of the park despite a challenging crowd.
Low: this was the hardest show for me, because the crowd had workingman’s club energy (mostly older men drinking pints), and so my emotional music wasn’t what they wanted. In my first song I looked out into the crowd and saw their disinterest, and felt like I was a karaoke singer. But, it was so uncomfortable and absurd that it ended up being kindof funny to me. Even 2 years ago I would’ve struggled to get through a set like that, so I’m proud of myself for how far I’ve come.
Buffalo: the venue very kindly offered to give us a rider for this show, so we requested “healthy snacks”. What we got was: a bag of raw uncut carrots, a head of celery, 2 whole cucumbers, and a large pot of hummus. I mean, that’s not not healthy snacks so I guess we can’t complain?
Day 9: The Victoria, Coalville
High: another surprise of a show! We didn’t have a great turnout so I thought this would be a bit of a write-off, but every single person in the crowd was 100% engaged and enthusiastic, and they totally made the night. I think I met every single person that night and had a lovely chat with each of them! Goes to show that an audience really makes or breaks a show.
Low: the person doing our sound wasn’t the venue’s usual sound guy, and he did not want to be there. It was a very awkward and tense soundcheck, and that left us all feeling flustered for the first few hours.
Buffalo: the venue was adorned with cute halloween decorations all over the walls - tacky halloween is definitely my jam!
Day 10: day off
High: I had a huge lie in, then went for a long run, spent the evening on the phone with my partner, and had an early night. Such a treat.
Low: I really wanted some chocolate but was too tired to go back out to buy some, boo.
Buffalo: Hana and Mish were at a wedding all day, and the boys all went to a gig, so Taylor and I had some lovely quiet time alongside Eric the cat, our handsome yet aloof tour companion.
Day 11: The Fulford Arms, York
photo by Graham Campling
High: the lighting, sound, and stage were fantastic at The Fulford Arms, and helped us all bring our A-game. We all felt this was our best show of tour so far.
Low: I felt very tired today, but it was a matinee show so I was home in my jammies by 8pm.
Buffalo: I ran into an old friend who I hadn’t seen for 12 years, and we had a lovely catchup after my set :)
Day 12-13: days off
Day 14: Porter’s, Cardiff
High: this was probably my favourite show of tour. We had a brilliant turnout for a rainy Wednesday night, and the crowd were so friendly and enthusiastic all evening. The vibes were perfect, and it felt like such a welcoming cozy night.
Low: I had to work during the day because I’d run out of annual leave, boo.
Buffalo: we all decided to wear matching leopard print for this show, for no real reason other than we noticed that we all had leopard print clothes available. I think we rocked it.
Day 15: tattoo day
High: today we all got matching tour tattoos as a way to commemorate the tour! It was such a fun bonding activity, and now we’ve all got something that reminds us of each other forever.
Low: I had to work in the morning because I’d run out of annual leave, boo.
Buffalo: the gang were staying at mine for the Welsh shows, so we had 9 of us living in the house for a couple days! It was a tight squeeze with lots of queues for the bathroom, but everyone was so lovely that it wasn’t a stress at all, it kindof felt like one huge sleepover.
Day 16: Hangar 18, Swansea
photo by Andrew Mitchell
High: The stage and sound were fantastic, again we had a wonderful friendly crowd (yay Wales for having the best audiences!), and the photos taken by Andrew Mitchell and Jamie Panton were stunning.
Low: an attendee said something low-key rude to me in the midst of our conversation, and it upset me quite a bit. I confided in Taylor and Mishkin later, who were so lovely about it and encouraged me to let it go. I think it got under my skin more than usual because I was starting to get tired, and so my emotional resilience was lowered. I’ve been thinking of writing a song about the experience actually.
Buffalo: Brad’s mate George joined us for the Welsh leg of tour, and today was his 60th birthday, so we all sang him happy birthday in 4-part harmony during Hana Piranha’s set.
Day 17: Finsbury, London
photo by Frames By Francesco
High: I think this was probably objectively the best show of tour - we all smashed our performances, HVIRESS played a particularly silly set, we had a huge crowd, everyone was very engaged and enthusiastic, and I sold the most merch at this show than other shows! It was a really special night, and an amazing way to close the tour.
Low: This was my first time driving through London, and like a fool, I didn’t pay the low-emission zone charges. 2 weeks later I got TWO fines - one for Saturday afternoon, and one for 12.04 on Sunday morning. £180 down the drain, fucking gutted.
Buffalo: We all had to go our separate ways sharpish once the show was over, as we all had long drives home in different directions. It felt like an abrupt anticlimactic ending to a whirlwind month, and I was so sad to say goodbye to the gang. We had lots of hugs goodbye, and promised to keep our tour group chat going so we could keep the tour vibes going from home.
