Steve and Lily in Sao Paulo
Trip Start
Jan 18, 2007
1
8
17
Trip End
Jul 01, 2008
Sao Paulo,
State of Sao Paulo,
Brazil
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The next day I got a message from Stevie Fuller. The reason I'd come to Sao Paulo had finally arrived. For those of you who don't know Fuller went to school with me and I've not seen him in about 6 years. He had contacted me through the glorious Facebook a few months back and told me he'd be performing in town and I should come along. I was pretty excited. Fuller was a legend at school. Uber-cool and genuinely nice to go with it.
So I got myself ready, putting on my new hat and splashing on a little bit of perfume.
After a fair bit of tooing and frowing and 2 phone cards later it was just past 01:00 and Fuller arrived with most of the band, Octave, Gareth, Jack, Shannon and Nick, at a club called Clash. All of whom were preposterously decent fellows who made me feel really welcome. Just acting like I was an old friend and being truly happy that I'd come down from Salvador just to see them, well to see Fuller but they would all clearly be involved.
We stayed at Clash for a little while before Fuller, Octave and Gareth decided they were bored, we moved on to a place that had been recommended to us called Vegas. Acting as the translator I jumped in the front of the cab and we drove on. As we arrived at Vegas Octave went straight to the front of the queue showed him a pass for the next days festival and got us right in at the front with discounted entrance. BONUS. We spent a fair few hours in Vegas, drinking and regaling tales of various travels. At just after 06:40 we decided it would be a good time to leave so the lads got in a different taxi and went back to their nice plush Hilton Hotel I went back to my dank dark Hostel International place, so rock and roll.
I had been told the day before to arrive at 19:00 as they would be leaving for the festival bang on 19:00. Being the stickler for time that I am I left at 18:25. The taxi driver asked me for directions. I gave him the district and told him, I was sorry but I am a gringo and don't live in Sao Paulo. He asked a few other taxi driver and I arrived at arrived at 18:45. I went straight to the desk and asked to call Steve Fullers room, no answer. I went and sat down for 10 minutes. I tried again, no answer. 10 minutes later I decided to try Shannon and Jacks rooms no answer. I then bought another phone card in order to call Fullers mobile. It didn't work. I was getting fairly tired of the staff looking at me like some kind of moron and almost upped and left. I decided to try one more time. As I was calling his room I saw a back stage pass bearing the name Gareth Brown. I was sure they hadn't left because they wouldn't go on without a drummer. I'd also had time to say hello to the lead singer of Kasabien who was at the same hotel so I was fairly happy. Sure enough 20 minutes later they all arrived. They weren't leaving until 20:30. so I went up to Fullers room and flicked through some pictures of the tour over the past year and a bit. He's been to a lot of places and met a lot of really famous people yet he's still the same Steve as he's always been, in fact all of the guys were just completely normal. I know for a fact if I'd been touring with Lily Allen for a prolonged period of time I'd be a fucking idiot. Not one of them has let it go to their heads.
As we were waiting for the van we were told by the tour manager that it had been commandeered by Lily's assistant Emily (Whom Ray the tour manager didn't like one bit, mostly because she was fairly incompetent by all accounts) to take a few friends to the gig.
This left us needing to fit 11 people in 2 cars. Well It was a bit snug but ok I guess.
I'll admit I felt pretty fucking rock n roll going into the back stage bit. The dressing room was nice, food and drink n shit in there. Lily was a fair way through a bottle of Jager, a good number of cigarettes and I'm sure a few grams to the wind. She was smashed but then if you were a 22 year old who has risen to fame in a year or so wouldn't you be a bit of a fuck up? I said hello then went for a wander with the guys. There was a further addition now and Ian the guitarist came too. Ian is a legend. He wears his Arsenal top on stage where ever he can get away with it. What a hero.
It soon came time for the guys to all go on stage. They left me back stage whilst they went to get dressed. Lily arrived on back stage and I decided to wish her good luck. I also decided that it was really important to find out what her opinion was of my beard. I mean come on I can't meet someone and not talk about myself to them. She liked it, so Haha Mum looks like you're wrong. I didn't however ask if she wanted to suck me off but never mind, I'm sure her time will come.
The show was really good. I took views from all angles. My favourite was probably the last view where I could see and hear the whole band but the vocals weren't very easy to hear. Now I don't hate her songs any more but I was really enjoying the band and I felt she let them down a bit by constantly forgetting her words.
After the boys finished we went for another wander about. Fuller telling me that I should adopt the persona of their manager when all the people were asking what I played. I decided it was a fine Idea and played along a bit. Well until a crew of girls came over and asked me to take a flower into Lily I just said no and pointed them in the direction of Shannon. Lily was long gone anyway, she'd slipped into Kasabien's dressing room to fill her face with more gak.
After a large number of drinks we got back in the van for their hotel. I was going to go out but in the end decided that as I'd been offered a driver back to the hostel. 03:15 would be an ok time to go to bed. So I said goodbye to everyone and my weekend was over. I went back ready to get my bus home to Rio.
The bus journey was fine and felt like no time at all after recent journeys up the coast. I've become well trained in just zoning out and letting time just drift by whilst being on the bus so 6 hours was really nothing.
Back in Rio and I was ready to go back to my old apartment as I had been promised by my land lord. There were however people in it for my first week so he put me in a much nicer place with more rooms and cable tv. There is in fact almost enough room to swing a cat in this place. On my first night I watched a lot of movies, the best of which were Ronin and Waynes World (which has Toby from Oz in it by the way Tori), its good because they have the Portuguese subtitles at the bottom so it helps a bit I guess.
I was glad to back in the sun and on the beach. Sadly it became over cast and rainy the day my sister told me she was coming out to see me. I'm now praying on a return of the sun because my skin is losing the beautiful tan I have worked so hard on. I also decided it was time to end the bearded madness and enter a new era. The era of the tash. Now I know I look really gay and it's really ginger, I'm just showing some solidarity to me brother on the other side of the world.
I'm glad to be back in Rio though. Takuro whom I'd met in Sao Paulo is here, my friends are here it's all good. I do have stupidly swollen glands in my throat and I can't swallow my own spit but I've got some medicine for that so fingers crossed I'll be up for getting stupidly drunk in Lapa tonight.
It was lucky, I was completely up for getting blind drunk with Takuro. He was too drunk by 03:00 so I took him home and went out to what can only be described as the gayest club in the world. I was with friends don't worry, I'm not changing that rapidly.
It was a fairly strange experience seeing hundreds of brazilian boys walking around topless, off their faces on pills grabbing at each other, and me. It was certainly an eye opening experience.
Takuro left the next day leaving me alone awaiting the arrival of me big sister. Who's plane was delayed. Which has left me in a bit of a muddle. Do I stay up and get completely pissed to get the bus at 06:00 or do I get some sleep. I think option B is the safe one in this instance. So I've bought myself a grossly overpriced Economist to read whilst waiting and on the bus tomorrow.
Right I'm off to grab some Z's.
Next update will be in 2 weeks or so after my dear sister has returned to blighty.
Big Love One and All
H
