Tired Lion Tour Diary: Part One

Where are we?

Delirium levels have hit and it’s pretty damn easy to forget what city we're in after consecutive nights of drinking and partying. Thank the Lord for our first full day off. Let's back track…

Day 1: The calm before the storm

Arriving a day earlier in Newcastle after two flights from ol’ Perth town, our freshly washed hair and ironed clothes wouldn’t be intact for much longer.
It’s humid today and we’re stoked with the quality of our accommodation this round. There is some major mood lighting going on in the joint – sort of like a soft-core porno-meets-horror film.

We took it pretty easy today. We piled onto our beds and watched a Japanese game show together. Soon we received a call from a radio station in Melbourne for an interview with Hoist FM, which was pretty dope. Myself [Sophie Hopes, vocalist] and Ethan [Darnell, drummer] watched The New Guy. There happened to be a little mix up with the accommodation leaving no choice but for Matt [Tanner, guitarist] and Nick [Vasey, bass] to share a sensual double bed room, ooh la la - The lighting didn’t help either. They thought they’d seize the opportunity to, uh, ‘get to know each other’. Shortly after they settled with the idea of sleeping in the same bed the accommodation was rectified and their hopes and dreams of a comforting spoon were lost.
Things we can’t stop saying: Schneebly, Fugazi, Fingle Bay, Minyaki.

Day 2: Newcastle

Newcastle Merriweather baths were on the cards today, it was an incredible view and it made the beach experience tolerable for those who were scared of the waves (cough, Ethan). We made sure we found 30 today, a pre-gig swim and a couple of hot chicken rolls would be the perfect start to the show in ‘Newi’.

Tonight’s show went down a treat, it was student night and the room was full and buzzing. Everyone was fresh and a few beers deep. We caught up with the Luca Brasi dudes traded some kisses and cuddles and were stoked we’d be spending the next two weeks together. Bros for life. The highlight of the night for all of us probably would have to be the weedy young blonde dude who knew all our lyrics to I Don’t Think You Like Me. It was great seeing somebody spit the words back into your face.  The sound guy, John - an Americana guy with a semi-badass attitude and a blue bandanna - gave me a rather weird compliment: “You really owned it out there, you were slinging that guitar around like a cock.”

I’m not sure how to feel about this - a nervous laugh and a nod would sum it up.

Newcastle stand out songs from our iPods: Slowdive - Dagger; Wavves - Afraid of Heights; The Middle East - Sydney To Newcastle; Metz - Headache; The Cure - Mint Car.

Day 3: Bris Vegas

A couple of scotchs deep we arrived into Brisbane. Our friend Alistar from the legendary band The Cairo’s was kind enough to offer us free accommodation for the night. We rocked up at the front of an auto mechanics radiator repair shop. This couldn’t be right? We were staying at his house? Nope, we were indeed staying in this warehouse. It had a lot of charm and was crossed with a rehearsal studio – Millions, Last Dinosaurs, even Dune Rats rehearsed here sometimes. We wouldn’t sleep as we had to be up by 4am for our flight to Sydney. Brutal.

The Brisbane show was epic and it was great to see some familiar faces in higher places enjoy the show. The Crowbar had vibe and we were all in top form from meeting with our publicist earlier from half priced drinky poos.  Black sambuca shots were definitely a thing this time round and we actually took part in some intelligent conversations – my favourite kind.

Day 4: In a Daze – Sydney

We developed an obsession with the phrase  ‘yucky thing’. We arrived way too early to check in so we carted our gear up two elevators to my sister's apartment. We had a quick nap and then stood in the rain waiting for a cab driver with a wagon to stumble upon us.  We ventured to our new accommodation and decided to check out our surroundings. As I fled for the local op shops the dudes decided to scope out a burger place that looked very promising.

On arriving to our accommodation we were greeted by a lovely cat. Many of us debated if her name was Sharron or Osher but what we did know was that she could sense Ethan was missing his baby, Doctor Karin Peterson (cat). 

Tonight would be the first sold out show of the tour, and the dudes from Gnarwolves and Luca Brasi killed it as usual. The Newtown Social Club in Sydney, the smell of day-old beer and let’s not forget the suicidal cab driver. We’re all lucky to be alive.

Melbourne, Tasmania, Adelaide and Perth to come… 

Sophie Hopes