The Thermals Tour: BRIGHTON

The last show. Sob sob.

but this Brighton bike cheered me up.



Our friend Pat came down too which was lovely who has done all our artwork for the vinyls and t-shirts.

The freebutt is a strange place in all honesty. It has a giant pillar in the middle of the floor so the audience is cut in two!

But fun was had by all. We got Kathy and Westin up for some mega drum playing in our set.

This photo is gold:






We have had the most incredible 11 days and thanks to The Thermals, Audrey and Chris for being amazing people. Also,a small shout out to Bill Hicks who has kept us sane in our hours of need in the van.

Thanks to all you people who have kept coming back to this blog of madness too. I hope you have enjoyed our rants.



I will leave you with this live footage we were sent from a chap at the Dublin show.



Love from Sketches x

The Thermals Tour: LONDON

Ok. so this was probably the best gig we have ever been a part of. An absolutely heaving packed sweaty East London Cargo. Bloody loved it.

Unfortunately I didn't get many photos from this day. It was just too awesome to try and keep track of to be honest. Thankfully, the wonderfully talented Rosie managed to come down and take some photos of the show, so here are a few thumbnails for you.




I strongly urge you to go here for the large slideshow, they are fantastic:


For slide show CLICK HERE


We love you Kathy, round 11 and a half soon.



x

The Thermals Tour: BIRMINGHAM

Sorry these next ones are late.

The academy, the little one that is.



We had the best dinner ever that evening. Westin somehow found this amazing vegetarian restaurant in the middle of an industrial looking part of Birmingham. You had to ring a doorbell to be let in and then up some stairs to the tiny restaurant.

So so good.




The show was again a busy one and much fun.





We found THE best graffiti we have ever come across near the backstage area of the academy. I tried to find out who did it but nobody seemed to know. Incredible though I am sure you will agree.



I questioned putting this one up from the journey after Birmingham. A bit of censoring has sorted it. I won't tell you any more about it apart from tequila was involved.



I will leave you with that.

M. x

The Thermals Tour: MANCHESTER

Hello! although our day off was nice, it was so cool to be playing again. PLUS we have been graced with the lovely Harry from The Old Romantics for the remainder of the tour. Oh yeah! Tequila times will be super.



Poor old Westin hurt his finger on the beach, he was too hardcore with catching the american football. This injury was only for 10 points the crazy dude!



He still ended up looking like this after the show, so all was well.



We hit 85mph in the red rocket van also! no lies! here is almost proof, I couldn't get a photo when we were at 85, the van shook too much and almost exploded so we will all have to settle with 84. Boom!



Manchester was a really good show, the crowd were ace and featured a Johnny Marr too, a bit of a legend.



Luke has begun his 'paint by numbers' set. He needs to do at least 2 colours a night or he won't finish it by the end of the tour. The pressure is on!



We hit the midlands tomorrow, lets pray the rain holds out.

Oh and this is Kathy after a few tequilas, wearing the tequila hat. Woo!



No Bill Hicks today, tomorrow though. Oh yes.

M.x x

The Thermals tour: Beach Day

Early ferry, not cool. 10 quid for a big breakfast!?! definitely not cool.



We all had a day off in Wales so we went to the beach. Armed with a frisbee/'Fling Ring', a giant tennis ball and an american football courtesy of the cribs.

BEFORE: (from left to right) - James, Weston & John.



ON THE WAY:



Damn cold, I was told.

Super Westin representing:




we went for dinner at 'The Clamydia' and back at a mad Welsh hotel we were attacked by peacocks.





An eventful day off! You have to love Wales. Beautiful beaches.

x x

The Thermals tour: Dublin

Dublin is amazing. Fact.





and the Guinness is lovely, only I'm not completely sure if there is a major difference to other places. It may be rumours.



The academy is a great venue. There was a crazy boxing match going on upstairs too, amateur boxing, not great but entertaining all the same.






We went to a bizarre club next to our hotel after the gig where Audrie danced a lot. She never stops dancing!



On a comfy couch after a few too many ales. Happy times though. Will definitely return to Dublin soon to have a better look around. It is very much up there with Edinburgh.



I shall leave you with Bill.




x x

The Thermals Tour: BELFAST

We hit the ferry early morning..but Weston was still in the mood for some happy times.



Belfast a pretty cool place, didn't get to see too much of it but the city hall was beautiful.



WE GOT OUR T-SHIRTS!!!!!!!! they came to our hotel which was nice. you will be able to buy them online soon, or come to a show. They look a little like this.



Auntie Annies is a quaint pub, a good place to have a few beers. The show was cool, not as busy as the previous dates but we were all excited to be in Ireland, some of us for the first time.

By the way we have changed our name to 'The Sketchs' now!



I reckon I know 50% of the Thermals lyrics now, it is a goal to sing along to the whole set by the end of the tour. We are just over half way as I write this in Dublin, looking forward to telling you about tonight already!



We were all pretty hazy this morning, we were shown how to smoke out of fruit last night. Read into this as you will, but you should check it out.

yeah! M x x x