Rainy Sets, Dodgy FIFA Games & Loose Crowds: On Tour With Black Bird Hum

Sydney reggae outfit Black Bird Hum have been busy touring throughout NSW and Qld this month in support of their new single, Down.

Here's what the boys have been getting up to on the road.

day one — the federal hotel, bellingen

We head off at midday from Sydney and smash out six hours on the Pacific Highway. The first day of any tour is the best one to do a big drive. Everyone is pumped, not tired yet, the van doesn’t smell and there’s a bunch of awesome gigs to look forward to. The first one is the Federal in Bellingen. It’s a really good crowd in and it’s only a Thursday night. North coast towns are the best.

day two — miami shark bar, gold coast

Another decent six hours in the van today.  Some awesome music gets played on these drives. We’ve also rigged up a dodgy version of FIFA that lasts about an hour each time. It’s agreed more investigation is needed to work out how to get it to last the whole trip. The gig tonight was our first at Fibra’s new event “Rasta Love” at Shark Bar. The crowd is loose and sweaty and up for it.  Awesome new night we’ll definitely be doing again. We pull in some favours with our trombonist's third cousin’s wife’s plumber and stay free in some pretty cool digs five minutes’ walk from the venue.

day three — the royal mail hotel, goodna

First up a swim at the Goldie - Nish forgets his swimmers so rocks his fluoro undies instead — then its a short drive to Brisbane and onto one of our favourite venues in the country.  These guys have been supporting us for years. We headlined their 30th birthday bash last year and it was the loosest, rowdiest, most manic shit we’ve seen at a gig.  Today there’s no one hanging from the roof or climbing the walls but the vibe is still awesome and they pack the place in and dance pretty much non-stop for two sets with us. Love the place.

day four — caloundra music festival

Another hour or two north and onto the big one for this tour. We get in early enough to see a bunch of other acts - the Nth Power are awesome and Teskey Brothers and our mates at Hot Potato Band put on great shows too. Our set was at 6pm and it goes down great. We play a couple songs like we’re overdosing on valium, but the crowd doesn't seem to mind the slow-groove approach so we roll with it. After we play, we get on the other side of the fence to dance to Sydney reggae legends The Strides, and Thundamentals who put on a huge show.

day five — caloundra music festival

We’re back on at the festival today, on the same stage that George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic tore up a couple days before. The rain comes early in the morning, and we’re on at 12.30pm so we expect the worst, but a healthy crowd braves the shitty weather and makes it in to check our set out.  Despite getting collectively smashed the night before, it’s the best set we’ve played in a while. We stick around to see the Nth Power do their Marley Tribute set and are blown away by their drummer Nikki Glaspie. Amazing. After that it’s back in the van, which is way less appealing than it was on day one, for back-to- back six hour drives to get home.

Listen to Down below.