Sneaky Sound System - Sneaky Tour Diary: Part Two
On tour in the UK, MC Double D (AKA Daimon Downey) of Sneaky Sound System kept a diary whilst on the road – and we stole it. Here’s the wrap up of week two.
DAY 8
Connie and Donnie (our bass player) head out to find a second-hand collectables store they found last time for some dusty bargains and the rest of us just potter around. We catch the train to London (I love long train trips), check into the new K West hotel and race to the venue – Shepherds Bush Empire to check it out. Oh my god, this place is amazing. It holds about 2,000 and it’s an old theatre – four levels of balconies staring down on the stage, all beautifully decorated. We’re all buzzing. This show sold out ages ago and the place went crazy. Total madness. We all agree it was one of our best shows ever. Seriously. So back to the K West my friends, let’s celebrate! Martinis are dangerous. They say they’re just like women’s breasts and two is enough. So I had six.
DAY 9
Rest time. Check into the Landmark hotel and we all have a bit of chill time. Sleep the hangover away and might pretend today never happened.
DAY 10
Rest day again so it’s phone-a-friend and catch up with London buddies. Shop, eat, drink and be a tourist.
DAY 11
Brick Lane for breakfast pizza, Portobello Road for the markets, Lucky Burgers for the best thickshake ever and Paradise Pub for pints.
DAY 12
We pull together a photo shoot with a friend at Hampstead Heath. It’s huge and they say it’s the nicest day London’s had in months so there are thousands of people there. We manage to get the shots done with little fuss. Congrats Connie on the stealth outfit changes. Then it’s Happy Birthday Donnie and off to the pub. We all have a lovely meal. Well almost all. The birthday boy’s meal didn’t come. Sorry Donnie, we’ll make it up to you. Have Chinese dinner for round two of the birthday celebrations and off to bed because we have a 7am lobby call.
DAY 13
Tonight we do a three-piece DJ set in Dublin and realise it’s the day before St Patrick’s Day. Hang on, this could get messy. After an Irish Stew and a bunch of press interviews we skip soundcheck, get changed and head down to the venue – Pod. It’s already going nuts. Laurent Garnier is playing with a band for the first time ever, and it feels like it. Our show was for two hours and we had a blast. The room was filled with all sorts, hands-in-the-air whistles and quite a bit of booze. We decided to walk back to the hotel through the post-St Pat’s Day parties to see the madness. Oh they don’t mind a drink, do they- Fall into bed.
DAY 14
Back to London to the MTV studio to film our acceptance speech for the MTV Independent Spirit Award, as we will be in Miami when the awards are on. Thank you Australia. Afternoon beers and dinner on Baker Street.
DAY 15
Our last day in London and tourist time. We head to the Natural History Museum, buy stupid gifts and head out on a pub crawl with Sibbsy, our drummer extraordinaire. NYC, here we come.
WHO: Sneaky Sound System
WHAT: Play The Cube, Campbelltown / Hornsby RSL / Selina’s, Coogee / UCU Refectory, Canberra
WHEN: Thursday 16 April / Friday 17 / Saturday 18 / Saturday 2 May
MORE: sneakysoundsystem.com