The Black Ryder Backstage #2

The Black Ryder - on the road with The Cult - LOVE tour..

Written by Miss Aimee Nash of The Black Ryder.

And so we have the second installment of The Black Ryder live on the road with The Cult. When you combine forces with new and different people, you never quite know what you're going to get. It's part of the ride and it's always interesting...

We kicked off our first show in Brisbane @ the Tivoli. When you're touring with another band, the first show is always a curious social exercise. You're meeting new people, trying to remember names, and figuring out who you're going to be spending your time around for the next however long. Scott, Archi, Nick and myself are all Cult fans, so it was an honour to be asked to join them on this tour.

We were pleasantly surprised at how warm, receptive, supportive and genuinely amazing The Cult band and crew were. It all seemed to go quite well. First show jitters were out of the way, spirits were high and so were we. Some of us stayed out later than others, some of us had heavier hangovers the next day.

Next stop, Sydney. Again, the show felt good. There were a few more sore heads the next day, just in time for our long ride to Melbourne. Our first show @ the Palais was just plain weird. It was a huge seated theatre. While crowds had been great for us so far, the bar was outside and there were no drinks allowed inside. Bad news for a support band generally - hey, I've been there before, I understand. Either way, it was weird. Next stop was the Palace Theatre. Awesome. It felt like we were on a roll now.

Click to see larger images!

After the Palace we drove on to Adelaide. It was a first time there for most of us. At the helm of our van and mixing desk was the legendary Greg Clarke(y), Road / Tour warrior, who loves to accelerate with might and keep us laughing with inappropriate jokes along the way. The Adelaide show was also great. We caught up with Adam Edwards, who has played drums with The Black Ryder in the past. He's a good guy. Adelaide is his hometown so it was nice to catch up, albeit briefly.

The amazingly divine Ian (Astbury) shed some extra love (on the appropriately named 'Love' tour), and so very kindly offered up the services of their lighting/visuals crew to add some extra magic to our show - I recall turning around at some point while we were playing and seeing The Black Ryder face swirling around behind us. A beautiful touch, beautiful soul. Definitely a moment.

Click to see larger images!

Last stop, Perth. Also our first time in Perth. By this point most of us were feeling run down, exhausted, sick... However, the show and the audience were electric. Scott later gave me a piece of artwork that a fan had made for us. It was really special. I wish I'd gotten to meet them to say thank you.

Seeing The Cult play each night was exhilarating. Here is a band who have an amazing repertoire, have survived many line up changes, amidst other things? they kick ass. I feel lucky that I not only got to see them again (I was at their show when they were last in Sydney, which was around fifteen years ago... jeez), but we played with them. Love indeed.

Perth was also special for me because they played one of my favorite Cult songs 'Star'. What else is left to say?

There's that old saying 'What goes on the road should stay on the road', which is probably the best way of signing off - there's more stories to tell, but it sure is nice to have some photos to at least look back on (especially when our actual recollection isn't great).

Thanks to Guillaume and Oyster for coming along for the ride.

Love,

Aimee

X

For music and future tour dates, visit www.myspace.com/theblackryder.

You can see more of photographer Guillaume Lechat's work @ www.guillaumelechat.com.

The first part of The Black Ryder tour diary can be viewed by clicking here.