Tour Intimacy Theorem; Liverpool; Glasgow; Pictures

A theorem I’ve been exploring of late: As the amount of time one spends on the road increases upwards toward infinity, the amount of time it takes to feel incredibly close to someone decreases to almost nothing.

Before the Blood Arm existed, I was a sober scholar who spent most of his waking life buried in the library. It would take a great deal of shared experience, deep conversation, and common interests for me to consider someone a ‘good friend.’ Over my lifetime through University, I managed to accumulate perhaps six or seven of these relationships. I wouldn’t have minded more, it’s just that it took a lot effort, and it was difficult to meet persons with whom I was compatible.

Then we started touring.

Perhaps it’s the excess of alcohol, maybe it’s the lack of sleep, but the intensity of the friendships formed in the six hours one spends in a venue and the additional party time tacked-on at the end is almost blinding. Guarding oneself doesn’t seem to be an option, as these bonds are all about bald-faced, fuck-all, I’m-going-to-tell-you-the-truth-so-deal-with-it honesty.

Take Glasgow for example. We spent much of our most recent night in the city drunkenly blabbing with a gaggle of eighteen year-old girls whose faces I only vaguely remember now. And yet they know all about my ex-girlfriend, my intense hatred or certain people, and the testosterone injections I was forced to endure to induce puberty (shhhhhhhhhh). And I know equally painful truths about them. I love those girls. For the eight-odd hours we spent together, they were my best friends in the entire world. It remains to be seen whether we will ever meet again, but if we do, I assume our relationship will pick up right where it left off, though hopefully it will end in nudity and soul kissing then. That’s sort of how it goes on the road, except with more farting and fat jokes.

Liverpool and Glasgow were just as fun as we remembered them being, which is a lot. The show in Liverpool was at the Korova, which we love, if only because it allowed us to meet the fabulous Steve Revo and Crazy Pete of Stealer. (That is not the only reason we love the Ladytron-owned venue/restaurant/café/pub. The food is wonderful, and they have free wireless Internet access as well. And the people! Oh my!)

Glasgow afforded the band an opportunity record an acoustic set at Xfm Scotland with the lovely Stuart, and to hear ‘Suspicious Character’ played on BBC Radio 1, which, for all the Los Angeleans reading this, is kind of like the 102.7 KIIS fm of the United Kingdom. So we were a little excited. The show at the Barfly was epic. We fell in love all over again with the inimitable Flying Matchstick Men, and fell in love with the band Parka for the first time. Then there we partied perhaps a little too much with the boys and girl of FMM, and now we’re in the van driving to Leeds.

Stayed tuned for more party action...

-Ben Lee Handler


Oh! Here are some pictures. The Nathaniel sitting-down-and-performing shots from the Korova and the Barfly are not rarities; the practice has become tradition. It’s fun and easy: When the singer asks you to sit down, you sit down. You can even practice at home before the show if there’s any trepidation.