Cadence will be starting a new tour shortly. Watch this space for a continuation of his view for the road.
Weez-L and I looking at art in Leeds, UK
Now Playing: “Bathroom Gurgle” by Late of the Pier
I am in Europe now. I have been frantically rapping for a long time now. I am extremely exotic. The Canadian tour ended successfully, much respect to the entire bus unit, all the visual types and our camera squad. Shout out to Kim, our tour manager on the Atlantic leg of the tour. She kept things hooping. Skratch Bastid is like a God of War, he’s a brilliant music king and it’s good to have hung out with him. Buck is a consummate pro and a masterful entertainer. I learned a lot from him. Very special thanks to our lovely merch girl, Serena. It was a wild ride and I am thankful to have been a part of it.
I am currently in a train en route to Edinburgh from Newcastle. The first three days I was in Europe, I did two shows a day. The last two days featured me starting the day in Brighton and ending up in London at night. This was quite a process, made even harder by the sheer mass of my merch bag, roughly 40 kilograms, the size of a child. I have finally started to develop muscle mass. Brighton is cool because they have a beach full of rocks instead of sand. Try laying down on a bunch of rocks sometime. You just sink in, it’s great.
The last show I did in London was at Fabric. This was the best show I’ve ever done, maybe. I’ve always wanted to play Fabric, just based on the mythology of the FabricLive CD series and the amount of brilliant DJs who have made their way to the venue. The dancefloor has bass sensors in the ground that pulse bass into your feet. Met some Swedish people called The Touch. They are great. Getting people to jump in unison to “Juliann Wilding” was an epic experience.
As I gaze at the beauty of the English countryside, I can’t help but wonder about how similar the Western world can be. The people I’ve met in my travels, while uniformly nicer than Americans, all remind me of people I know back home. I see people on the street that likely share the same lineage as some of my Edmontonian pals. Touring has shown me the differences and similarities of the West. Here are some English specific bits I’ve noticed:
- People love Friends here. Apparently, the English got Friends a few years ago and it’s been released sequentially by season like a new show would, instead of in random syndication style. As a result, people are watching Friends here like it’s a new show. There are billboards and ads about it. According to the promoter in Newcastle, it’s “for birds”, but his male buddy was jamming this program like crazy. Weird.
- Football culture more insane than hockey culture. When hockey playoffs are in full swing, it can get pretty heavy, sure. But the football culture here is all-encompassing, everyone you talk to, man or woman, has a certain amount of knowledge of the current Champions League final happening on Wednesday. I have a day off on Wednesday in London so I plan to check out Tate Modern and then find a traditional pub and watch the game with some locals. My review will find its way to this blog.
- People in England love music. The fact that such a weird genre as bassline house can gain massive popularity here is one thing, but the interest in festivals and music in general dwarfs that of North America. The radio here is stunning. Not to say CBC Radio 3 isn’t totally killer, but BBC 1xtra was unbelievable. I did a live session for them inbetween a Kanye West produced J Dilla song and some bassline garage. I am playing Glastonbury in June. Best believe I’m gonna blog that up. This is totally my vibe. I’d love to live in London someday.
- Straightforward wording. You know how a show in Canada would be like “$8 at the door”? Over here, they’d say “8 pounds ON the door”. We say “bathroom/washroom”. They say “TOILETS”. Our signs in the subway say “Exit”. Theirs say “Way out”. We say “drink ticket”. They say “drinks ticket”. I like that shit. It’s like an alternate reality.
Whoa, I just saw a castle!
That isn’t a castle, but it is in Newcastle. It could be a new castle.
Touring by train is pretty fucking hard, actually, but it’s cost-effective and makes for a great view of the country. It’s only practical to do over here. Can you imagine doing a Greyhound tour in Canada or something?
I get even more exotic next week when I hit Berlin, Barcelona and Dublin. You’ll hear from me again soon.
She loves him, she loves him, but just for a short while,
Roland
On the bus, in deep concentration (Photo: Skratch Bastid)
Now playing: “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction)” by the Roots
Tour’s almost over! Crazy! It’s been a wild and turbulent ride but ultimately a very productive one. I haven’t done many cohesive Canadian tours in my day and it’s been a great experience rocking on such a professional junket. We just played Saskatoon (Rapskatoon) and people were vibing and shaking and all that. The show in Regina was really fun, great crowd, totally hype. Winnipeg reminded me that I love Usher’s “In This Club”. I stepped foot in Edmonton a few days ago. Here’s what I learned:
Erol Alkan was playing a block away from our show and my show was earlier, allowing me to take in much of his set. Dude definitely went in and I officially had my rave hat on. Paul (Skratch Bastid) and his girl came there too but I had to explain him the purpose of house music through an “Ante Up”-related analogy. I don’t think it was his thing. This party made me really want to DJ. He played this weird saxophone-based track that sounded like a more polished “Patrick122″. Banging.
That said, here are my official DJ rules:
1. Don’t be selfish. Selfishness is okay in small doses, but just because you think you can dance to Rush doesn’t mean anyone else wants to. DJing is the same as the bedroom: there needs to be balance and reciprocity.
2. Actually have fun. Probably my favorite thing about Erol’s set the other night was that he was visibly excited every time he’d bring a track in. He was dancing and getting hype and that translates to the crowd. I am liable to jump off stage and start dancing while DJing.
3. Be original. While it’s cool to play the hot record of the day, I don’t get into a set that is 75% Ed Banger and 25% Daft Punk. Most people play the same shit. If they see Erol Alkan or Herve play a track, they download it blindly. It’s not a good look. I personally try to keep a balance of music from different time periods to keep people from being lulled to sleep. I am not down with the dudes doing a Michael Jackson medley either. Try and stand out.
4. Know Your Role. What’s up with opening DJs playing “Body Crash” at 10 PM? Relax, dude. Warm it up, Kane.
That said, we are about to shoot over to Golden, BC. After that, it’s two days of extreme intense party action in Van City, where I will bro down with my power unit and generate dance circles.
YAH TRICK YAH,
Rollie
Buck & I doing a duet in Hamilton, ON (Photo: Emerging Design & Photography)
Now playing: “Sound Of Da Police” by KRS-One
Ottawa was blessed by the heat laser on Tuesday. I bought a Drumstick ice cream treat, did some press and PUT MY SHORTS ON. Let’s get things together here: shorts + me = summer. It’s an equation that works and I’m sticking to it. I only brought basketball shorts on tour for running and occasional basketball, figuring that Spring’s icy grip would be all-encompassing. But KABLAM, I was wearing shorts all day long for the first time in ages. Oh, what a feeling (oh, what a feeling). By the way:
Dear Ottawa,
Thanks for the great show. You guys went ape in what seemed like a community bingo center. It was reportedly owned by nuns? But thanks. Really. This tour has been very exciting for me, to be able to rock out new tunes and have people know the songs and have a good time. It’s been a great tour. I’ll never forget you.
Your man,
Rollie
My current favorite thing about this tour, other than receptive fans, is the TV. I don’t watch TV much when I’m home, but when I do, it’s usually sports. I’m a pretty big sports fan, specifically for NBA and NFL. The NBA Playoffs are in full-swing and it’s up there with trees getting their leaves back and girls in dresses for best things about Spring. I am a supporter of the New Orleans Hornets and the Detroit Pistons. Detroit because of their commitment to togetherness and general “hood” vibe. New Orleans because they are extremely exciting to watch play and Chris Paul gives hope to all of us 6 footers out there. But hey, can we stop playing the Kevin Garnett Gatorade commercial every single break? The vast Boston conspiracy is obvious to me.
So anyway, the bus rolls on. We played Hamilton on Wednesday and I noticed one weird thing about town: Insects. There were more insects than any other city so far. Flies all over the place. I counted four Daddy Long Legs in the venue alone. We can all agree that insects are disgusting. But why do you have so many of them, Hamilton? WHY?
We had a day-off in Toronto on Thursday. I spent the day with my girlfriend and instead of seeing the unfortunately cancelled Atmosphere show, we took in Lifelike at the Social. He was tearing shit up on the filter house tip. French dudes, man. That club has a strange aesthetic to it but it has an appealing sound system. I’d like to DJ there.
Our show in Toronto has reinforced a factor that greatly worried me before this tour, but has been completely averted: I am a guy who thrives in dirty clubs currently performing in theatre venues. While I used to act when I was younger, I am not necessarily comfortable in this style of performance area. People have been very open to adapting to the seating and getting down in the orchestra pit with me.
That said, today’s show in London is at Call The Office: a bar where the folks and I can get kooky.
Rollie’s Top 5 For Right Now:
Zomby “Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix)”
Leif “Little Bit (Lykke Li Cover)”
Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is,
Roland
DJ Weez-L and I mid-conference in Moncton, NB (Photo: Craig Norris)Now Playing: “African Night Flight” by David Bowie
So it’s been a wild ride so far with the boys. We’ve recently bounced from the East Coast and our eight passenger van for new lodging in a deluxe tour bus, en route to Ottawa(wewahwah). It’s a bumpy way to travel, but it’s extremely convenient. On a tour bus, you sleep inside little pods with velcro curtains in front of them. It’s like sleeping in a coffin, except more like sleeping in a coffin inside of a hearse because it’s moving. I have had two nightmares in two consecutive nights on the tour bus.
NIGHTMARE ONE: Staying in a cabin with my ex-girlfriend of three years and her new boyfriend. AWKWARD!
NIGHTMARE TWO: Comfortably lounging in a hotel bed, watching Cloverfield on TV. I like the film so I’m pleased to see the establishment footage with the protagonist and his girl sleeping in the bed, all post-coital. But then I get possessed by a ghost/demon, which shakes me around a bit until I wake. I interpret this as the Ghost Of Tours Past infecting me with a lust for booze, meal buyouts and free shirts.
I received a gift in Charlottetown, PEI. A hat that says “Republic of Alberta” on it. This is apparently from the short-lived period in which Alberta tried to separate from Canada and become its own country. This period may or may not have actually happened. But I did get this hat.
We’ve had a rocking week. Halifax was raptastic, we had a few days off so I managed to get pretty messy at Tha Alkaholiks show. I realized that I completely don’t remember any songs by Tha Liks, but I was reminded that I actually really like rap music quite a bit. The awesome opening DJs were tearing shit up. I jumped around when they played “Full Clip” by Gang Starr. There was a rapper from the States who chastised “ringtone rappers” by rapping over top of their beats and deriding them. Doesn’t that seem like a weird thing to do? I think the whole crowd was made uncomfortable by his anger. Relax, buddy.
Oh yeah and after soundcheck for my show in Halifax, I was doing an interview backstage when Joel Plaskett came in to grab his guitar case! That’s the thing about Canada: music kings just show up and hang out and they are totally nice. Three things I had with lobster in it: lobster roll, seafood chowder and a grilled lobster and cheese sandwich from a restaurant owned by Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys. Really good sandwich, that.
Montreal is easily one of my favorite cities in the world. They have all the excitement of your average metropolitan city (the night of my show had competing shows by Wood Hands, Born Ruffians, Tokyo Police Club and Lesbians On Ecstacy, all of which reportedly had solid turnouts) combined with the old world charm of GENUINE CULTURE. It’s great. I can realistically imagine myself living there. I managed to see Destroyer play at Club Lambi, which was great as always. Along with him, I politicked with the music kings and queens from Sunset Rubdown. Canada: where music is alive.
But I gotta say, something was drastically altering the social fabric of the city. Left, right and center, from my plane to my hotel, I was surrounded by jocks. UFC 83: Serra vs St. Pierre 2 was taking place the same night as my show. I wasn’t concerned about losing fans to this fistfight because my fans probably can’t afford the average ticket price of $273.68. I was more worried about getting put in rear choke by some meathead later in the night.
They were rocking TAP OUT shirts and shirts with Gothic cursive and lions and shit on them. I also saw plenty of crass championship-related Yankess and Red Sox shirts. New York and Boston sports fans make me hate how much I like sports. I like sports, but hate jocks. You can imagine my conflict. The dudes had their girlfriends in tow, ladies that gave off a distinct stripper/bartender vibe.
Conversations between UFC fans overheard by me:
Meathead 1: “So are you going to make her lick your balls?”
Meathead 2: “Yeah, for sure, she’s definitely going to suck my balls.”
Meathead 3: “What about tossing your salad?”
MH2: “Yeah, for sure, that’s a go. I’m gonna be elbow deep.”
That was in the elevator. At like 6 pm.
Meathead Z: “I put $1500 on that French fry, man. He better fuckin’ win.”
Meathead A: “He’s gotta win, man. He’s fighting in Quebec.”
That was at 4 AM.While checking into the hotel:
Meathead 44: “Are any fighters staying in the hotel?”
Hotel Clerk: “I can’t give you that information.”
MH44: “I’ll just check every floor, you know!”
I look forward to returning Westward. Hopefully I get back in time to avoid the shocking reappearance of SNOW in the Albertan province. Holy shit, man. Perhaps we weren’t supposed to settle up here. Ottawa tomorrow. Rock, rock, rock.
When I’m at the bottom, she’s Hillary Rodham,
Roland
Now playing: “Death Of A Ladies Man” by Leonard Cohen
Hello, I’m Rollie, the rapping head and heart of Cadence Weapon Overdrive. We’re throwing bows. So many bows. I’m currently touring with Buck 65 and Skratch Bastid across Canada and I will be blogging here for as long as I possibly can.
I’m in the van. Things have been stunning so far in the Far East. Moncton was Funkton. The show was in a charming venue called the Empress that had suited elderly ticket takers and a generally positive temperament. This was a welcome change from my recent US tour with Born Ruffians (holy shit, Mary), where, among other things, a guy in Philadelphia gave me the finger mid-set for rolling around on the ground. This was right after buying my album. On the flip side, I’ve gotten a compliment on my tour shoes (black, red, yellow Dunks) after two out of three shows so far in Canada. Nice choice, Roller!
St. John’s was one of the hypest shows I’ve ever had. The crowd was jumping up and down like they were being televised for American Bandstand. I finally became Elvis (right before he started getting fat). A young hipster in the front was inspired by the Ghost Of Raves Past to take his shirt off mid-set. I had a local boy help me get screeched in and let me tell you, I had quite a bit of trouble receiving this procedure. According to Wikipedia, “Screeching” someone visiting Newfoundland for the first time is a custom in which a person must drink a shot glass filled with Screech, kiss a codfish on the mouth, and recite the phrase “long may your big jib draw.” We bounced from traditional bar to bar, even one that had a fully illustrated sign with a cod on it and a breakdown of what Screeching In would get me, but NO SUCCESS. I only got the Screech shot at Club One, no fish kiss. So next time I come to town, can someone please bring a cod to the show?
I started this tour off with the expectation of blazing heat, as with my transient lifestyle and occasional lodging in icy Edmonton, I have no way of recognizing seasonal shifts. I expected to be poolside lounging post-show. It was snowing in PEI yesterday. It’s been raining consistently everywhere else. What’s up with that? Whoever controls the Weather Laser needs to shoot the heat ray out East.
My friend Jessie just brought this to my attention, it’s from a program called Soccer AM called “Showboat”:
“House Music” With Soccer Dudes KICKIN’ IT
Weird, man.
I have never done such an extensive Canadian tour before, so I’m very excited when I meet people who copped my new record or even know about Breaking Kayfabe. I am oblivious to the ways of the regular world, so I don’t know what to expect from any given place. But I am excited about how well people are adapting to the Cadence Weapon show structure. I had the venue turn the disco ball on for my set in Charlottetown.
I am going to have a couple days off in Halifax. In the few times I’ve been there, I’ve positively loved the vibe. A truly beautiful place. Tha Alkaholiks are playing on Tuesday, I’m pretty hyped for that. I will get drunk at that show. I had this thing where I was considering not drinking during this tour. I wanted to have a healthy living tour. We’re switching from van to bus in Montreal, so what I figured was I would grab some sandwich parts and just make sandwiches and eat fruits. Sounds good, right? But then I remember how emotionally and physically draining touring can be so I foresee myself buying forty boxes of Pizza Pops and buying my own whiskey even though I get free beer every day. Oh yeah, I’m doing a show without Buck at the Marquee on Thursday that I’ve been looking forward to for quite a while, so check that if you’re around.
I’m gonna get my snack on. Keep your lamp lights trimmed and burning.
FLASHIN’,
Rollie