Post by Dan the G-Man on Dec 4, 2003 19:29:44 GMT -5
Road Report Eight For '99
Hello garbage dot commers. By now you know what happened at the Grammys. Just as we predicted, just like it ever was. But did you see who we were sitting near? Kenny G! And his evil stepsister Shania (Shania? Is that a name?) Twain! Hey Shania, give Shirley back those fishnets (from four years ago)! We wore our fancy outfits and talked to anyone with a microphone and a camera and did our best and still went home with only memories. Because it was LA, where the parties shut down at eleven -- unlike NY the last time, we didn't even get the morning after headache we so richly deserved. However, it's not often you see Madonna do an incredible geisha show from about ten feet away, likewise Lauren Hill playing live, so there were some high points. And B.B. King was in the same room as us, honor enough. But Will Smith, who may be a great guy, is not rap.
We're in the middle of the dates with Alanis -- more to come through April 7. She's been a more-than graceful hostess to us, and she's putting on a good concert, ignoring what people expect of her and following her instincts, and we respect that. She'll be around. Garbage didn't know what to expect from both her and her audience, and we're pleasantly surprised. Different from having our own crowd and production, but a challenge that we relish in our own perverse fashion.
Around Grammy time we went into a demo studio on La Cienega and did some real Southern California recording. Unusual for us, anyway, in that we set up in a room as a band and actually played together all at one time. Instead of one at a time into the Mac and agonizing for six weeks over whether it was good enough or not. Amazingly, we've been on the road so long now we don't have to fix every note -- we don't suck after all ! Yeah! We recorded two new B-sides (for the UK release of You Look So Fine). One is called "Soldier Through This," and the other is "Get Bizzy With The Fizzy." Subject to change, but you heard it here first. Also recorded was Shirley's vocal on the Fun Loving Criminals remix of YLSF, which is sounding ultra smoove. Yo, yo, that'll be on the b-side as well.
Yet another incredible Garbage rock fantasy moment: after the Dallas Alanis show (Dallas crowds are always great to us, and it was Steve's birthday so there was onstage cake and tomfoolery) we drove in the bus straight to Love Field, where we got onto our own (for a couple of hours anyway) little jet and flew to NYC! Totally ridiculous, we know, but it was the only way to get there in time for Saturday Night Live rehearsal the next morning. We felt like action heroes as we took off over the arena we had played to only minutes before, but we knew we'd be sitting in coach again soon enough, so we didn't get too carried away -- a cheese plate and some red wine were the sum total of the Zepplin-like debauchery. Rehearsed for the show on Thursday, and taped an interview for the Charlie Rose Show (on PBS) the next day. Charlie turned out to be maybe the best interviewer we've ever spoken with -- thoughtful questions, well researched, no dumb questions, and we all actually spoke -- even Steve! We haven't seen the show yet, but it should be a good one. Plus, we got to meet one of our favorite actors -- Claire Danes! She's taller than you think, and really nice, and we couldn't believe our luck. We also got to go to the Knicks game Thursday night, which they lost which wasn't good, but it did provide more celebrity sightings, including Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Ed Norton and Jenna Elfman. They played Special and bits of Stupid Girl during the game, and put our pictures up on the scoreboard, which was extremely embarrassing but kind of cool -- we haven't played the Garden yet but it's one of our biggest goals -- maybe someday.
Another "maybe someday" type thing that came true was playing Saturday Night Live -- certain members of Garbage have watched it for a really really long time (and a certain other female member had never seen it before), and it was a huge thrill to see how it all works -- the show changes a lot from the rehearsals up through airtime, mostly for the better. Showday is a long day, with a soundcheck, a full dress rehearsal, and then the real thing, and this very nervous band was very very relieved when we made it through the two songs without screwing up and the show was over. Party time! When it was all said and done it was a great night for us, although the 7:30 am lobby call to fly to Phoenix was more than a bit harsh. And, yes, we got to meet Drew Barrymore, who is as sweet and unpretentious as she seems in the movies.
Now we're back to "reality": Alanis dates and lots of long bus rides. Rust never sleeps and neither do we. As for the future: another Leno, collaborations we can't talk about yet, disc 3, new parts of the world, revisiting parts of the world we've already been to. We don't know what all's going to happen! That's part of the fun, for us anyway. Thanks for checking in with us, we'll talk to you again soon, Steve and Garbage
Hello garbage dot commers. By now you know what happened at the Grammys. Just as we predicted, just like it ever was. But did you see who we were sitting near? Kenny G! And his evil stepsister Shania (Shania? Is that a name?) Twain! Hey Shania, give Shirley back those fishnets (from four years ago)! We wore our fancy outfits and talked to anyone with a microphone and a camera and did our best and still went home with only memories. Because it was LA, where the parties shut down at eleven -- unlike NY the last time, we didn't even get the morning after headache we so richly deserved. However, it's not often you see Madonna do an incredible geisha show from about ten feet away, likewise Lauren Hill playing live, so there were some high points. And B.B. King was in the same room as us, honor enough. But Will Smith, who may be a great guy, is not rap.
We're in the middle of the dates with Alanis -- more to come through April 7. She's been a more-than graceful hostess to us, and she's putting on a good concert, ignoring what people expect of her and following her instincts, and we respect that. She'll be around. Garbage didn't know what to expect from both her and her audience, and we're pleasantly surprised. Different from having our own crowd and production, but a challenge that we relish in our own perverse fashion.
Around Grammy time we went into a demo studio on La Cienega and did some real Southern California recording. Unusual for us, anyway, in that we set up in a room as a band and actually played together all at one time. Instead of one at a time into the Mac and agonizing for six weeks over whether it was good enough or not. Amazingly, we've been on the road so long now we don't have to fix every note -- we don't suck after all ! Yeah! We recorded two new B-sides (for the UK release of You Look So Fine). One is called "Soldier Through This," and the other is "Get Bizzy With The Fizzy." Subject to change, but you heard it here first. Also recorded was Shirley's vocal on the Fun Loving Criminals remix of YLSF, which is sounding ultra smoove. Yo, yo, that'll be on the b-side as well.
Yet another incredible Garbage rock fantasy moment: after the Dallas Alanis show (Dallas crowds are always great to us, and it was Steve's birthday so there was onstage cake and tomfoolery) we drove in the bus straight to Love Field, where we got onto our own (for a couple of hours anyway) little jet and flew to NYC! Totally ridiculous, we know, but it was the only way to get there in time for Saturday Night Live rehearsal the next morning. We felt like action heroes as we took off over the arena we had played to only minutes before, but we knew we'd be sitting in coach again soon enough, so we didn't get too carried away -- a cheese plate and some red wine were the sum total of the Zepplin-like debauchery. Rehearsed for the show on Thursday, and taped an interview for the Charlie Rose Show (on PBS) the next day. Charlie turned out to be maybe the best interviewer we've ever spoken with -- thoughtful questions, well researched, no dumb questions, and we all actually spoke -- even Steve! We haven't seen the show yet, but it should be a good one. Plus, we got to meet one of our favorite actors -- Claire Danes! She's taller than you think, and really nice, and we couldn't believe our luck. We also got to go to the Knicks game Thursday night, which they lost which wasn't good, but it did provide more celebrity sightings, including Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Ed Norton and Jenna Elfman. They played Special and bits of Stupid Girl during the game, and put our pictures up on the scoreboard, which was extremely embarrassing but kind of cool -- we haven't played the Garden yet but it's one of our biggest goals -- maybe someday.
Another "maybe someday" type thing that came true was playing Saturday Night Live -- certain members of Garbage have watched it for a really really long time (and a certain other female member had never seen it before), and it was a huge thrill to see how it all works -- the show changes a lot from the rehearsals up through airtime, mostly for the better. Showday is a long day, with a soundcheck, a full dress rehearsal, and then the real thing, and this very nervous band was very very relieved when we made it through the two songs without screwing up and the show was over. Party time! When it was all said and done it was a great night for us, although the 7:30 am lobby call to fly to Phoenix was more than a bit harsh. And, yes, we got to meet Drew Barrymore, who is as sweet and unpretentious as she seems in the movies.
Now we're back to "reality": Alanis dates and lots of long bus rides. Rust never sleeps and neither do we. As for the future: another Leno, collaborations we can't talk about yet, disc 3, new parts of the world, revisiting parts of the world we've already been to. We don't know what all's going to happen! That's part of the fun, for us anyway. Thanks for checking in with us, we'll talk to you again soon, Steve and Garbage