every night
unrelenting
an examination
of my thoughts
of my courage
of my instinct
of my very self
i try to gasp for air
stress positions
the best modern hardcore band today
one of the best hardcore bands period
Ben Rudolph - razor precise melodic assault.....tension builder…Multi-dialectal cockney
Stephanie Brooks - unique, raw energy, total charisma. the most engrossing lead singer I’ve ever seen.....
.......Sheep enthusiast
Jonathan Giralt - a tornado of energy, precision and swing…the glue AND the tune. Card Club top dog.
Russell Harrison - the anchor with depth, agility, muscle and a shitload of distortion. The Usain Bolt of bass soundcheck
day one
glasgow
Hug and Pint
fucking legendary place
last here in 11/24 with Deaf Club
brilliant staff, brilliant vegan pizza
ben had a deep fried calzone
missed the support due to being upstairs yacking to Sam and James, Stress Positions' hosts for the night
i say yacking....more like delivering a finely curated crop spray of podcast bullshittery, which they tolerated with amazing grace and patience
they even spoke to me after my frankly tragic explanation of why i'd gone inside and not come back out, only to be subsequently spotted sat on my own inside...
day two
newcastle
bring back british rail
nationalise the shit out of services that privateers can't run for shit,
who can't be arsed to mend the lavs
who can't be arsed to mend their infrastructure
pay out sweet dividends to s/holders and sweet paychecks to their CEO's and
.....raise our prices
wtf is wrong with these fuckers?
anyhoo
5 mile hike around the ogwen lake - sorry, bad joke - around the toon in the drizzle
fearsome dominion of cat power (not Cat Power)
had I been transported to an episode of tales of the unexpected?
back to the van to check on Jon (SP's driver) who was getting
40 wan...I mean winks
in the van
(unapologetic for that diamond))
lubber fiend
first time here
it's the name of a creature from old english folklore
like a kind of goblin
stay with me...
you can do it.....
love it.. a proper community interest grassroots venue
JONO slams all comers at the pre-gig cards club
I had no fucking clue what was going on then
and no fucking clue now
two excellent local supports Seconds Out and BÖRDA bring a BRILLIANT local crew.
"Were Stress Positions any good, mate?"
"Yeah, decent, mate"
day three
bristol
quick diversion en route to the moor brewery
armenian cookies and bulgarian cakes are the calling
... and so
daddy (fucking) biscuits
is born ....
first of three nights with the ferocious, untamed, exquisite blind girls
local bands cainhurst and proprioception bring the wild, positive energy
community strength
smiling, laughing, feeding from each other
a stage that exploded each time a band took to it
the energy surged between band and crowd,
feeding the soul
what a fucking night
day four
london
legendary moor brewery (London branch) hospitality
a mouth watering array of walker's crisps on the bands' rider
daddy biscuits raised the bar (self promotion is rife) with
innerearoutereareveryear crunching set
steph and ben's fams in the crowd
saskia and my friend neil are here
i'm feeling many new converts to stress positions
because they do, in fact, RULE
day five
brighton
it's all about the mushy peas
nothing else matters
it's all about the mushy peas
nothing else matters
oh I do like to be beside the seaside
so here we are...to the final england show
a trot through the games arcade
rekindling misspent youth
of glorious fails trying
to win a whoopee cushion
or fart spray
soundcheck....then....
....mushy peas (lots of, please)
local supports =
this hurts & good cop
blind girls blast through the anguish
convulsing, lacerating towards restorative healing
'an exit exists'
stress positions -
my thoughts after the Brighton show
and the last words to Stephanie
human zoo is out on 16 may on three one g records
CREDITS THANKS RESOURCES
roll of honour for the amazing people on the SP crew:
Daniel, Jon, Jono, Russell, Stephanie and Ben
and to all the amazing venue staff, sound folk, promoters and everyone who came along
design, layout, art, videos, stills, photos, texts by giles sibbald-