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Glastonbury Festival GAGA
The Rakes did a cover of poker face by GAGA during our set on the other stage, although I think the audience was too stoned to notice the irony. Alan thinks she looks like an ugly prostitute. I think she’s quite fit. Lasse and Matt are undecided. Different horses different courses. Our dressing room was next to hers but I didn’t dare talk to her. She looked quite scary in all that latex.
Southside & Hurricane Festival Germany
We got REALLY drunk last night, dressed up in roman togas, and it’s all a bit of a blur. BUT i have on my phone a picture of myself and Alan in full Roman atire with a knife around Moby’s neck.
After some careful consideration, unless I can be persuaded otherwise, I’ve decided that this photo should probably never see the light of day.
Codes Missing
ok, i lost the code for the login. So that explains the delay. But i’m back and i’m gonna bombard you with a few posts that i’ve been saving up.
The pleasure really is all ours!
| Los Angeles |
| San Fransico |
| New York |
| Brooklyn |
| Brighton |
| Portsmouth |
| Manchester |
| Dublin |
| Glasgow |
| Newcastle |
| Nottingham |
| London |
| Hasselt |
| Dusseldof |
| Frankfurt |
| Stuttgart |
| Zurich |
| Bologne |
| Linz |
| Munich |
| Toulouse |
| Paris |
| Tourcoing |
| Strasbourg |
| Groningen |
| and last but DEFINITELY not least…. Amsterdam
We Thank you ALL for your continued support. The Rakes are 6 years in and the venues are still full. Really quite touching. If we’ve missed you out we may be heading to a city near you after the summer, plus some of the festivals have just been announced so hopefully catch some of ya’ there… (P.s USA hold tight hold tight, something should be announced soon) That (above) was quite a long jaunt around Europe and USA, so we’re gonna take it easy for a few weeks before festivals. Alan’s gonna host to a Rolls Royce convention, Matt’s gonna hang with the King Monaco (the both share an interest in cats - so lot’s to talk about there), Lasse’s going to attend to his much neglected collection of rare cacti at his Danish castle and I’m gonna do a tour of the northern baltic states on my new yacht. ….. or something like that.
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The Best Venue In The world!!!
OK, so I thought today I’d bring attention to the Toulouse Bikini. Hands down, the best venue in the world….. and trust me, in the 6 years of touring, The Rakes have played a hell of a lot of venues throughout the world.
The Bikini is set just back off some of the most scenic canals and countryside in the French city of Toulouse. The owner is a guy called Herve Sansonetto and he should be awarded a medal for French relations. The Bikini itself has existed for decades but was burnt to the ground by an unfortunate chemical explosion in 2001. The Explosion of 296 tones of ammonium nitrate was so powerful that it registered 3.4 on the richter scale and left more than 70,000 people homeless, whilst killing 30 people and injuring 2,500, after which the Bikini was moved to a temporary venue 200 ft down river. For 7 years Herve put his heart and soul into designing and building the new Bikini until the opening of which last summer at an all out celebration in which The Rakes where enrolled to play the opening party. This was not just a knees up but also a celebration of the end of a darker era and the beginning of a new exciting one. From what I remember… what a night that was!
Out of all of the blood sweat and tears that have hindred the history of the Toulouse Bikini, what has come out of it is surely one of the amazing triumphs of any musical venue. The result is what we think the best venue in the world.
I’ll try to explain the lay out as the pictures don’t really do it justice. As you walk in, the venue has a swimming pool and palm trees in an outside area where people can hang before the gig where there is a decently priced bar surving some great french wine and priemium beers. The staff actually want to be there and give off an almost family atmosphere. The live room has two stories and is acoustically treated. It holds 1000 people. In the words of our well traveled and largely experienced sound man he has never in his career “heard a live room sound that flawless.”
The in house chef has his own herb garden outside. I mean you wouldn’t find that at the Carling Acadamy would you?
This is our 5th time playing the Bikini, including our first time supporting Bloc Party back in 2005 to the most recent headline show this week and every time it’s an absolute pleasure. If your ever in the area, I urge you to go see a gig there. The experience of the venue is enough but on top of that Herve REALLY knows his music has his ear to the floor regarding whats current and going on. He hand picks the bands that play there and there is always a top class selection. Often bands that should be playing stadiums play there just so they can spend the day there.
If you see Herve (bottom picture) someone buy that man a beer!
Au revoir!
The Rakes Go Wine Tasting
last night on arrival to the Mini-Pyrenees Region of South West France on the borders of Toulouse, we got invited to a wine tasting evening complete with Jazz band and Fashion show. Here’s some snaps. La-de-da
12th May 2009 Blog Update…
It’s comin’ it’s comin’… .Ok we’ve been pretty busy in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria over the last week so I haven’t had much of a chance to update the blog. BUUUUUTTTT I’m on it. We’ve just arrived in France and things are a bit more chilled out so I’m gonna start again from here. Meanwhile… we have a new Band supporting up for the rest of these European dates that I forgot to mention. Their called ‘I Heart Hiroshima’ and are AMAZING. You really gotta get down early to check them out.
