UNITAUR DIARY

If you’re wondering what was going on backstage and on the road during Unitaur, here’s the second part of the diary that Dorian (the guy on the right) from Parisian pop band The Teenagers kept for us during the tour.

BRISTOL 07 NOV
Our drummer Antonia (pictured) is from Bristol so it was a special night for her. We played here a while ago and it was very good, so we were happy to be back in Clockwork tonight. The venue is dirty and huuuuge. Blyk put in a kind of installation with a camera and a screen. While you’re filmed by the camera Blyk logos appear all over you. I don’t really understand how it works. What was special about Bristol? Erm… the crowd was really good and all the bands were good that night. I must have got drunk ‘cos I don’t really remember anything but the These New Puritans were very cool. I remember getting a cab at 5AM from somewhere in Bristol to get back to our hotel. I had to pay £40 pounds. Shit.

NOTTINGHAM 08 NOV
Nottingham is always a bit hard for us. I don’t know why, but I don’t think people like us here. The gig was strange and the crowd was the hardest of the tour. It was hard to get them excited. We didn’t see Crystal Castles or These New Puritans play ‘cos we were outside smoking cigarettes in the cold. People we know from VICE are here to film the party so it’s a beautiful mess backstage. Sam from Late of The Pier (pictured) was there to see us. That was a cool surprise as we hadn’t see him since the Airwaves festival in Iceland.

BRIGHTON 09 NOV
We have only played in Brighton once before and it wasn’t our best gig ever, so we were quite excited to play here again. The city is beautiful and it’s the only town which reminds us of France. After a disgusting chicken wrap, we’re on stage in Digital at 10 PM and everything is cool. It’s a great venue. I’m really tired and feeling sick but i enjoyed the gig. The crowd were singing along until “Homecoming.” I don’t know why but nobody wanted to sing with us. We did it every night and it always worked out but tonight: no joy. Brighton you are too shy! Next time, we want 5 girls on stage. The party was very cool, Medhi played and it was just a mess inside and outside the venue. Everybody was drunk and it was funny. A lot of people invited us to party at their places, but we had to go back to London during the night. Tomorrow is the big final night in London at Goldsmith Union so we have to rest and be ready for that.

LONDON 10 NOV
It’s the last day of the Unitaur and we are in London. We get to stay at home and we don’t do anything until 6pm. We soundcheck and it’s a nightmare. Everything goes bad. I don’t know why and we’re running out of time. We don’t have any time to have dinner so we drink backstage and try to manage our stress. When we come on stage at around 10.30 PM we’re pretty frazzled and we don’t feel good at all but after two songs we start to feel better. The crowd is young and supportive and we realize that we shouldn’t stress out that much in London because it’s always a lot of fun. Lex, the guy we are in the studio with at the moment, is here, and the Merok records guys are here too. Price James, who directed our last video, came as well.

After playing we feel relieved and the tour is over for us so now we can just have fun watching the other bands. During the Crystal Castles set, Michael and I jumped into the crowd from the stage. Just like when we were teenagers! My shoulder sure remembered it the day after. I tried to push Alice into the crowd too but I missed her. People were going crazy and when the last song was done everybody came backstage and everybody looked a bit sad. It was like being at school and having to say goodbye to your friends for the whole summer. Everybody knows they will see everyone else soon, but it’s still kinda melancholy. We take a few last pictures together and then head home to have a good night of sleep. Tomorrow morning we have to wake up early because we’re going to Paris to play Le Festival Les Inrocks. Unitaur was our first proper tour and it was great. I cant wait to buy the Crystal Castles and These New Puritans albums now.

X
Dorian

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PART I

GLASGOW – 30 OCTOBER
At 7.30AM we left London for a 7-hour drive to Glasgow. The journey was long but we were tired so we slept in the van (as usual). It’s first gig of the Unitaur and we’re very excited. We really like These New Puritans and our friends Crystal Castles. Tonight will be the first show we ever play with a drummer (the girl pictured sitting on those boxes over there). Pressure. She wasn’t there for the soundcheck, so we had to do it without her…

When the doors opened the place got crowded in a second. Apparently, all the venues are gonna be packed. That’s cool.

We played first. It wasn’t exactly the best gig ever, but we enjoyed it. Glasgow always has a good crowd. I broke a guitar string = pain in the ass. After our show, I saw These New Puritans for the first time. “Elvis,” their killer song, was amazing live.

Then I went downstairs to have a smoke and saw our tour manager Kenny talking to the two guys from Franz Ferdinand (Alex, the singer and Paul, the drummer). I was really surprised and shy when they came up to me and said that they came to the gig to see us … and that they like it. How weird is that. We spoke for like 15 minutes and they were very nice.

I got back just before the Crystal Castles gig. When they went on there was a riot. Everybody rushed the stage and the security was on fire. Alice was screaming, dancing, and lying on the floor with a strobe in her hand. Brilliant. Last time I saw them was a few months ago and they just keep getting better and better, bigger and bigger. I took a lot of pictures… It was a great night.

NEWCASTLE – 31 OCTOBER
It’s Halloween in Newcastle and the venue was totally full. 50% of the crowd came in fancy dress so there was a funny atmosphere. This is the first time we played in Newcastle and everyone seemed into it – so we were happy.

I broke a guitar string again, and my amp was doing strange noises. Hmm…

Girls from Newcastle are… open minded, they kept touching our asses with a smile on their face. Funny.

We ended up at a weird afterparty somewhere. When we left, around 4am, we didn’t know where we were and had to find a cab. When we finally got back to the hotel we fell asleep in 30 seconds.

LEEDS – 1 NOVEMBER
The last time we played in Faversham, Leeds, we were supporting Tilly & The Wall. It wasn’t our crowd, so tonight is gonna be better.

The venue was crammed, like 700 people packed in like sardines. The gig was really cool and it was a real pleasure to play with our drummer. I didn’t check out These New Puritans, but I did see Crystal Castles and they exploded over everything, like every night. I met the singer of Hadouken. He’s really nice and apparently he loves us.

MANCHESTER – 2 NOVEMBER
This is the 5th time we’ve played in Manchester this year, so we were quite afraid of being boring you know. But when we went on stage, the crowd was screaming and applauding a lot. I think it was the best gig so far. The venue was dirty and the crowd was into it. We had a lot of fun on stage, it was sweaty and cool. We love it here and I didn’t break any guitar strings.

Gavin, our best Manchester fan (never misses a show) was dancing like crazy when someone accidentally hit him. I dedicated “Homecoming” to him and he didn’t even get to hear it. Sad.

We saw TNP, their songs sound better  and better every day. Crystal Castles ended the party. Everybody went mental. The young girls in the crowd were suffering. The security guys didn’t really know what to do. Alice (the Crystal Castles vocalist) broke two mics. She was even bleeding when she went off, but she was still smiling and really happy with the show. No afterparty tonight – we’re just too tired. Just smoked cigarettes back at the hotel.

SHEFFIELD – 3 NOVEMBER
The is our first time ever in Sheffield, Jarvis Cocker’s hometown, and it’s a nice city. We spent all day sightseeing since we didn’t have any hotel (we go back to London right after the show tonight).

We fell asleep before the sound check and tried to eat some crisps. The show was cool. There was this one guy up front who kept screaming “Yeah!” during our whole set.

We left right after the show and got back to London around 3AM. Time to check MySpace and sleep.

* Many thanks to Blyk, Unitaur’s headline sponsor.