The Journey Itself Is Home

Our final show was yesterday night. It was GREAT. Björk was wonderful and we did our very best. And the audience was splendid. It was a beautiful end to a fabulous adventure.

I started this blog, in April 2007, with a poem by Matsuo Basho:

“The moon and sun are eternal travellers.
Even the years wander on.
A lifetime adrift in a boat,
or in old age leading a tired horse into the years,
every day is a journey,
and the journey itself is home.”

I had planned to end the blog with another poem, but I never found one. The poem by Basho says it all.

The Volta Tour may be over, but new beginnings are in the cards

Today we go home and to other journeys.

Thanks to my companions on the tour. You have been awesome.

Thanks also to all who read the blog. I have enjoyed your presence immensely.

Goodbye everyone! What a journey this has been…

Here is a video from the party.

One of the highlights of the evening was a tour quiz. Here are some of the questions:

Apart from Paul McCartney name 3 other guests on the Jools Holland TV Show?

Name the Pipa player who guest appeared at the NY shows?

Which European Festival in 2007 had the worst rainfall since the festival began in 1971?

In which city did Ghostigital first make an appearance as the opening?

When asked to wait at the top of the stairs, who replied “where’s that?”

At which backstage catering on the Big Day Out was there a Koala Bear?

Name the South American city were the venue was an old quarry?

Which member of the entourage sent panic through the camp after mis-translating the Spanish airport tannoy system in Peru?

Who said “She needs protein” - go grab her some chicken”?

Who asked “What are all those mirrors at the front of the stage for”, almost two months after the start of the tour?

How many of his own shows has Chris Corsano done on this tour (A: 10-20, B: 20-30, C: More than 30) ?

How much per day was on the Starbucks breakfast cards in NYC?

On the drive back after which show was there a collective pissing session in the dark?

Who only just made their plane after getting a little tipsy and loosing their passport in the hotel nightclub, which was found very last minute in the hotel gift shop?

Name the first Wonderbrass girl to become a member of The Roadie Wine Club?

What was decorating the ceiling of Alan’s room when he checked out in Tokyo?

Whose room got damaged by a vicious pillow fight in Chile?

What was the name of the bar in Jakarta that Jónas could not believe how friendly the girls were?

Which airport landing was even worse than the Lisbon one?

After purchasing xmas presents for half of Iceland in the Inca market in Peru who decided the best way to avoid paying excess baggage would be to wear as many gifts as possible?

The Brass Girls and some of the ladies on the tour caused a sensation by going topless in which American state (later to be told it was illegal to do so)?

Who during one of the breaks of touring had laser treatment on his eyes but unfortunately for the band never got his hearing tested?

Which two tourist attractions did we visit on our day trip out in Northern Ireland?

Name the town where the show was played in the palace grounds of an ex Spanish king?

Which founder member of the Huntsville Harley Davidson Society crashed a 50cc moped in Bali after being hit by a falling coconut?

Which venue was played the same day as Volta was released?

At which gig did Konono Number One load their equipment into their van themselves and upset the Union crew?

Who was the support band who hit the stage on the very 1st show of the tour in Reykjavik?

In which city did Kevin set the PA on fire?

Mark Bell is a big fan of which Virginia Dancing group?

To-date how many bottles of champagne have been provided on this tour (A: 209, B: 309, C: 409)?

In which city did a group of folk head out to a restaurant to see “Chiquita the angry Gorilla”?

Which Porn star was trying to get into Björk’s dressing room compound at Coachella?

Three weeks ago we received this email from our tour manager:

“Hello All,

“Just to let you know that we are looking into holding a gathering of great touring minds on the 12 August as an end of tour night out.

“It would be great if everyone would participate in preparing a little party piece for the evening.
(This can be an individual or a group thing)

“Anything goes from a performance, a personal memory of the tour, to one of your old party tricks, I think you get the drift.

“So either talk amongst yourselves or you can play your cards tight to your chest BUT let your creative juices flow!”

The party was yesterday. It was amazing! A video with some of the highlights will follow shortly.

People have asked why Björk is never included in the videos I have been posting here, except when she is singing.

Well now.

Tonight Chris Corsano, with Virginia Genta, gave an astounding performance on the roof of the Galeria Ze dos Bois here in Lisbon. Many of us were there and I loved every minute of it.

Immediately afterwards Björk had to leave, and as I’m a bit tired after the long flight yesterday, I decided to share a taxi with her. During the time it took us to find a cab at least three persons tried to photograph her.

Björk doesn’t like that.

Why should I play a paparazzi on the tour?

Björk’s final independent show on the Volta tour was held in Istanbul last Sunday. I enjoyed myself thoroughly on stage and so did the rest of us. Björk was marvellous and the venue was beautiful. And the audience was simply wonderful.

Here is a video. I hope you like it. Since this was our very last sound check, it was a bit unorthodox.

The party back stage was great and the evening for me personally ended with a few friends on the terrace in front of the Four Seasons Hotel, which is located right on the bank of the Bosphorous.

It was awesome sitting a couple of meters away from the water, watching black ships sail by in the darkness against the city lights, with the Bosphorous Bridge constantly changing colors in the background.

We left Istanbul yesterday and flew to Portugal. The flight was uneventful. One of the stewardesses had the attitude of a Gestapo guard, which was very funny, but the landing was not amusing. Strong side winds made the plane quite wobbly in the final descent and the touch down was brutal. Scary!

“Dearest touring family,

“As you know we will all be saying goodbye to each other very soon. However, before we say goodbye to each other we must first take the deeply emotional step of saying goodbye to my moustache. It has become a cherished member of our travelling party in the last few weeks, and having made it safely to Istanbul its purpose has been served.

“My moustache is going to wait until we arrive in Lisbon before it departs for good. For those of you who wish to say goodbye, I’m organising a little farewell evening in the bar at the hotel. So, if you’d like to buy my moustache a drink, or perhaps give it a present as a small token of your appreciation, or otherwise if you just want to all share stories with each other about how my moustache has enriched your lives since our gig in Latvia, please come on down to wherever you can get a drink once you have dropped your bags in your rooms.

“If we all pull together as friends and family, I think we can together deal with the empty feeling that will remain amongst us once my moustache is gone. Maybe we can persuade Squibbo and Cairnzy to keep their eye on the prize and let their astounding growths carry the torch, ever dreaming of one day having a fine pair of handlebars like Pyro Richard……

“One more thing….

“The memorial service for Jónas Sen’s goatee will be held on the bus to the airport tomorrow, a moment’s silence will be observed.

“And Alan Pollard will be the bookie for bets on Shaun Martin’s next facial growth.”

Damian has just announced a farewell-to-his-moustache party tomorrow. At that time everyone has a chance to say goodbye to the moustache, bring it gifts, etc.

I will, hopefully, post a picture of Damian’s moustache in the next few days…

Incidentally,this reminds me that Shostakovich wrote an opera called The Nose.

Will we eventually see The Moustache on the opera stage?

I must have thought that Turkey was Iraq. Before coming here I had imagined that most Turks have a moustache. So a couple of weeks ago I said to Damian: “We should try to blend in when in Istanbul and have a moustache.”

Damian said: “Oh yeah!”

I didn’t even dare asking Mark.

Nor Chris.

Yesterday I said to myself: Now is the time. So I began shaving.

I shaved my cheek - and thought I looked ridiculous. So I decided to trim my moustache. A mediterranean look would surely be cool.

Not so. Because of my clumsiness I only managed to create a bald spot beneath my right nostril.

I considered painting over it, but in the end I shaved it all off.

I look positively awful. I should have been born with a beard!

Damian, on the other hand, is so handsome!

Last night I went to a restaurant to meet a few friends. One of them said: “Hey, you look like seventeen!” Another said: “Hey, you look like seventy!”

I can’t wait for my beard to grow back.

I was going to check out, here in Istanbul, some YouTube videos from our last concert.

No such luck.

This is the message I got:

“Ankara 1. Sulh Ceza Mahkemesi, 05/05/2008 tarih ve 2008/402 nolu kararı gereği bu siteye erişim TELEKOMÜNİKASYON İLETİŞİM BAŞKANLIĞI’nca engellenmiştir.

“Access to this web site is banned by “TELEKOMÜNİKASYON İLETİŞİM BAŞKANLIĞI” according to the order of: Ankara 1. Sulh Ceza Mahkemesi, 05/05/2008 of 2008/402.”

Hrmpf…