LA to Fiji - days 33 - 36

WARNING - INSANELY LONG BLOG ENTRY ALERT!!

Days #33 - #35
Get up, pack and get to SF airport for my flight to LA. I get to stop here for a couple of days before my flight to Fiji. Get through security pretty quickly and chill out with a beer and a Mexican snack before my flight. Flight to LA is an hour long!

Arrive at LAX, grab my stuff, and meet Jonathon who is waiting for me outside. I was looking forward to LA as I was gonna be hanging out with a couple of mates from London who I haven’t properly seen since 2005. Jon was the chef at The Ship in Soho, and since moving back, now works for Gordon Ramsey! Jon takes us to Santa Monica and on a tour of a few bars and restaurants. The great thing about knowing Jon is he knows all the chefs – so every place we eat over the next few days, we get lots of extra free food! Eventually, we hear from my other mate Jeff and his wife Nicole, who invites us over to theirs for dinner. This was an added bonus, so we headed over to Venice Beach and Jeffs apartment.

The weekend pretty much flys by. Many beers are drunk, and I crash over at Jeffs for two nights. We go to a couple of cool restaurants for lunch in Venice Beach – Larrys and Cabo Cantina (which does bottomless bloody marys!). Venice Beach is a bit of a shithole to be honest, and kinda reminds me of Camden. But the beach is huge, and when the sun comes out its awesome.

Jon takes me out in Hollywood one night, we see High Voltage Tattoo, but not the Hollywood sign, as its too foggy. Check out another amazing burger joint called Stout Burgers (where they suggest a specific beer for each burger), and get taken to a mad Mexican bar in downtown LA.

On the Saturday night, we all head to the legendary Troubadour to see D-Generation, a band that Jeff has been raving about for years. The venue is pretty cool, fairly small, big stage, nice low balcony, and the band are entertaining enough. They play that glammy pop punk type thing – kinda like Social Distortion doing Johnny Thunders via Hanoi Rocks. It’s a great show and its cool to see another band before I leave the States. After the show, we try and grab a beer, but its heaving with people in the surrounding area, which also appears to be populated with gay bars. We convince Jeff not to go for a beer in a bar packed with guys, that has big muscle dudes dancing in red trunks in the window!

The guys drop me off at the airport on the Sunday (which is well handy), and I’m off to Fiji. I had a brilliant time seeing these guys again, it definitely didn’t feel like we hadn’t seen each other for 6 years or so, and was great to catch up and chill out for a few days. I really appreciated the lifts and crash space offered by the guys, and made this part of the trip a total no-brainer.

Got to LAX, checked in, got through security and was disappointed to find LAX is a terrible airport. Theres no shops and 1 bar, and no free wifi (or any wifi that I can tell!).

It’s a 10 hour flight to Fiji, and Air Pacific are a pretty low key airline. The tvs in the seats are the old school, wait-till-the-film finishes before you can watch them again type sets, and the decent films are reserved for first class! Watch Doctor Who on my laptop, then sleep for the rest of the flight. Or as much as I can sleep, as the guy next to me and the girl behind me are the most annoying space invaders ever. The aussie girl behind me keeps sticking her feet so far under my seat I can see them sticking out the other side (so I keep treading on them by accident), and the retard next to me obviously felt one seat wasn’t enough, as he spent the entire flight on my side as well. The plonker.

Arrive in Fiji at 5.30am, absolutely knackered, and its already hot as hell as I get out the plane. Get through immigration and am met at arrivals by the Awesome Fiji people, who take me to Smugglers Cove on the coast in Nadi. Luckily the hotel has a room available, so I get some well needed rest once I check in. One thing that smacks you in the face on arrival is how friendly the Fijian people are. Its almost overpowering at first. Everyone says hello (whoever they are), all the hotel staff want to know your name and where you are from, and they all want to shake your hand. Coming from the UK, it feels very intrusive at first, but after a while you get used to it. I don’t miss much of the day while I’m sleeping, as its absolutely pissing with rain for the most part. The room is small, clean and basic, with decent aircon and a fairly nice bathroom.

Once I wake up, I have a shower and check stuff online before I go downstairs to see what Fiji has instore for me. I’m feeling pretty apprehensive at this point. I feel well out of my comfort zone and don’t really know what to expect for the next month. Maybe this is an exciting thing to be feeling? Into the unknown and all that. Its stopped raining by the eve and has brightened up, so I bite the bullet and head downstairs. I’m pleased to see the bar is now busy, theres plenty of people, the rugby is on and theres a nice chilled atmosphere. I take a seat by the veranda and am leapt on by the nearest waitress, who wants to know who I am, where I’m from etc. I get a beer and start updating my journal. By the end of the evening, I’ve had 5 beers (she keeps making me get another!), an awesome plate of fish’n’chips (I didn’t have much fish while I’ve been Stateside!), and met an aussie couple who had just finished their island trip. They told me a lot about where they went and what to expect, and I felt a lot happier about stuff by the time I got to bed.

Day #36
get up at 6am to catch my bus to Denerau Marina. Get to reception of the hotel and the place is FULL of backpackers. I’m earwigging while I’m waiting for the bus, and its apparent theres quite a few single travellers, who immediately start talking to whoever is nearest, and by the time they’ve got on the bus, have more or less decided to travel together. Its pretty intense. One girl from the hotel sits behind me and is rabbiting ten to the dozen to a kiwi girl shes just met. Turns out shes from Redhill, and I basically listen to her life story from the hotel to the port.

Get to Denerau and its utter chaos. The Awesome Fiji people try and explain what’s going on, but they can never seem to make up their minds on what’s properly happening. All I know is, theres a massive yellow boat on the port that I need to catch to the island. As I’m asking the AF person for more details, someone else comes up and is as lost as me. Random meet up #1 – this is Jenny, a girl I briefly bumped into at LAX while we were changing money. Turns out she’s as confused as me. Eventually we work out what’s going on, get checked in and wait to board the boat. Its about 7.30am now, and I’m sweating like a pig.

Get on the boat, and relax. Got a 5 hour trip to my island. Redhill Girl sits behind us with her gang of travellers. Throughout the course of the journey (which is incredible, even when the weather goes a bit shitty), me and Jenny meet various different people and find out whos going where. Jenny meets a French girl called Jeannie and they decide to go to the same islands together (they are doing the cheapo backpacker thing). I get my photo forcibly taken with a huge tattooed Japanese tourist who likes my tattoos! I stand on the front of the boat for an hour while its bashing through the sea, and pretend to be Leo Di Caprio from Titanic (or maybe its Kate Winslet).

As it turns out, you book where you are staying on the boat at the AF travel desk. This is where I realise my “highly recommended” Bula Pass is pretty much a waste of time (thanks STA!). The resorts I want to stay at are fully booked (or so they say to the AF people). Blue Lagoon was a place I definitely wanted to go to and was the main reason I came to Fiji. I manage to get my first and second nights booked only. I can’t get ANY bookings for Octopus Resort, and I’m gutted.

Eventually the weather clears up again and I’m being dropped off at Blue Lagoon with 6 chinese tourists and one Israeli guy. Met on the beach by the Fijian staff singing and playing guitars. The sea is crystal clear and its flippin HOT. Get checked in, dump my stuff in my wicked little room (massive double bed, ceiling fan), meet two of the happiest hotel staff ever (what’s your name, where are you from, nice tattoos!), and get told to go and get lunch. The restaurant/bar is awesome – a centre square bar surrounded by various sets of tables and chairs set on a sandy floor. Grab myself a coke (after the barman introduces himself and goes through the usual questions), and decide to sit down on the only populated table. Here goes…

Theres a fella about my age sitting opposite me, waiting for his lunch. We get chatting – he’s a scouser called John who’s on a 2 year trip. He’s 3 months in, having done 2 ½ months in the states. Like me, he had a similar type job and decided to call time on it. Has been in Blue Lagoon for two weeks, and he looks as chilled as anything. We chat about the states, he tells me what things you can do at BL, and what everyones like. He does a hill walk every morning and invites me to come along. Food turns up, and its AMAZING. Now, you know how much I hate food right? This place was incredible. If I could eat here forever, I would. I get a massive fish’n’chips (I couldn’t resist it again), and its one of the best meals I’ve had so far. After lunch, leave John to it and go wandering – up and down the beach. Every so often a random Fijian will shout “Bula!” at me, including a couple of little kids who want to know all about my tattoos. Its hilarious. At this point I’m paddling up and down the beachfront and the sea is flippin warm and there’s fish swimming around my feet (which is a bit freaky at first). Eventually decide I need to go and sort my stuff out, so come out of the sea and am confronted with a massive pet hate of mine – wet sandy feet. Decide theres nothing I can do about it (and the rooms have water bowls outside so you can wash your feet anyway) and get on with it. I don’t wear shoes again for the entire week.

Evening comes around, grab myself a Fiji Bitter, am grabbed by a Fijian and told I have to go to the welcome ceremony, which is just outside the bar on the sand. I’m the only one sitting there while three guys play Fijian songs on guitar and ukulele. Its kinda weird, but I quite like the music. Its like the most chilled out Ska ever. Eventually, the Chinese group are dragged over, along with some other randoms who wanna join in, and they get on with singing songs and making us drink Kava, their local drink. The Kava ceremony consists of a confusing amount of claps, weird sayings, more clapping, drinking the Kava, and more clapping. The Kava really isn’t good, like drinking muddy coconut water. Makes my stomach feel weird so don’t drink anymore. The band down the stuff like Ribena, and are dozing and out of it by the time we finish dinner.

As for the evening – were all called to dinner by someone banging a big wooden drum, and 48 people start milling about trying to find somewhere to sit. I spot John sitting on the first table, and theres a spare seat. “So what happens at dinner then? Do I just sit anywhere?”. “Pretty much” comes the reply and plonk myself down with these random strangers, who all turn out to be pretty cool. Introductions happen immediately in a dizzying flurry – the girl next to me is Patricia, from Czech Republic and is on holiday with her boyfriend Ladislav (who is insane). Opposite are Dom and Emma, a couple from Buckinghamshire who’ve been travelling for 10 months. Next to me are Will and Carole, a mid 20s Colorado couple who are just starting a year of travelling. Wills got a bad back and has been doing nothing. Carole is doing her open water PADI course. Chat to these guys a lot, and they are pretty interesting. Will has done some mad stuff over the years, including numerous round the world boat trips. They are both hammered on rum and are pretty funny. Patricia and Ladi are also pretty chatty and promise to take me snorkelling. Ladi is pretty tiddly too, and has a habit of being totalling inappropriate and not giving a shit. I like this guy immediately, he has me in tears.

Dinner consists of a ludicrously massive curry, including a whole fish, tail and head, over a foot long. Its AWESOME, and I eat a shit load. I manage a couple more beers, but the Kava has made me feel weird so I stop drinking, which feels pretty good. After dinner theres a quiz night. Only three tables enter. We win the quiz – the prize is a champagne breakfast on the beach the next day. WTF??? My first night in Fiji, and I win something as random as this with complete strangers. My head is blown and decide I should go to bed. Its 10pm.

For All The Unheard

The Bouncing Souls have been doing a bunch of shows over the last month or so where they play all their albums, in order, over 4 nights. The last two weeks saw them pitch up in London and Vienna – and as i couldn’t attend all four dates in London, i managed to do all four dates split over two locations: the first two nights (albums 1 – 4) in London, and the last two nights (albums 5 – 8) in Vienna.

Night #1 - Good The Bad And The Argyle and Maniacal Laughter.

This was gonna be an interesting show as far as I was concerned and came away blown away. Firstly, GBA hasn’t been one of my fave albums and wasn’t sure how it would come across live. Secondly ML is one of my fave Souls albums and couldn’t wait to see it. Thirdly, this show was in the smaller Islington Bar Academy venue, a far superior gig venue than the crappy downstairs main Academy, and also the smallest show i’ve ever seen the Souls do. As the show kicked in, the band were using a “Rocky/Boxing” type theme for introducing each of the albums, including the Rocky music, cheesy boxing announcer man, and a “ring girl” parading the album thats due to be played – this instance being a cute tattooed alterno-model. Once the band hit the stage and kicked into “I Like Your Mom”, i realised how great this set was gonna be. As i said, GBA isn’t an album i’m terribly familiar with, but they totally killed it. I guess its because most of these songs haven’t been played live for years (with the exception of Joe Lies).

When the set was over, i was left gobsmacked – i never expected this album to come across so brilliantly.

Highlights: Fist bumping Bryan in the first song, Inspection Station (a song i never expected them to play), and a particularly crushing Old School.

Once GBA was over, the band disappeared for 5 mins while the announcer and ring girl started again for Maniacal Laughter – then they were back out. I’d been looking forward to seeing these songs as ML is my second fave Souls album, and was gutted i’d never seen them play this set for the ML anniversary shows a few years back. Theres not much more to add really – once the gig was over (both albums in less than an hour), i was totally blown away and was happy to have seen the guys play such a mad set of rare songs.

After a quick chat with Kate (manager) and Pete (guitarist), it was off to the pub and was looking forward to Night #2, which unfortunately was in the bigger downstairs venue.

Highlights: Freaks, Nerds And Romantics, Lamar Vannoy and No Rules

Night #2 – Self Titled and Hopeless Romantic

Onto the shittier main Academy venue, and it was obvious from the outset someone had ballsed up. Obviously the 2nd night had sold out for upstairs – but they’d only sold a few more extra tickets, and the gig was quite sparsely populated, which was a shame. Self Titled is a bit of a peculiar album – apart from the first few tracks, its full of quite a lot of filler (band admitted!) tracks, and i was intrigued to see how it would come off. I didn’t expect the band to completely bludgeon the record into submission to get onto Hopeless Romantic!The first few tracks ruled, but by the time they hit The Toilet Song things were flagging. A couple of songs were then dropped, and they were gone after 20 minutes, after a breakneck Shark Attack. As much as the opening of the show was ace, i definitely felt this was the worst session of the 4 gigs i saw – but it was kind of expected.

Highlights: Cracked, Kate Is Great, Say Anything, East Coast Fuck You

Another 5 minute break, and Hopeless Romantic was driving everyone nuts. This was more like it, and they put everything into this set. HR was the first album i got by the guys, so this was always gonna be a bit of a special set, and they pretty much delivered on all counts. A mega version of Bullying The Jukebox made me wonder why they didn’t play this live a lot more often (i’ve never seen them do it before), and Night On Earth was a cracking mid set anthem. Some lucky girl got dragged up to sing on Wish Me Well (we’d met her in the pub earlier and it was her first Souls show). She did a great job, but for the remainder of the set, all you could hear was her screaming hysterically. I guess you couldn’t blame her! Added bonus was the attendance of my mate Jackie, one of my gig going buddies, and a fellow Souls fan who’d done some other multi date trips with me a few years ago. She was gonna be joining me for the Vienna dates, so i was pleased she got a taste of the show in London before we headed out the following week.

Highlights: Bullying The Jukebox, Fight To Live, Kid, Hopeless Romantic

Night #3 – How I Spent My Summer Vacation and Anchors Aweigh

Off to Vienna! After a relatively easy flight and a straightforward negotiation of Viennas subway system (easiest train system ever!), we’d checked into the hotel and were ready for beers – food – gig (in that order). After we had a massive beer in some nice little Vienna beer hall, it was off to The Arena – a place that surprised and impressed us from the off. Seems the Vienna Arena was some kind of squat – its more like a compound that contains 3 venues, an outside pub, an outside stage and accommodation for the staff/bands. It was an incredible place. So the Rocky music kicks in and the next thing, i realise the ring girl for Vienna is the legendary Lamar Vannoy, an old Souls cohort from their early days. It was cool to see him pop up after all these gigs, even though he looked a little uncomfortable onstage (or maybe he was just stoned?). The band then arrive, set off with That Song, and its like its 2001 all over again. Me and Jackie are down the front, shouting the words to every song, while the politest mosh pit kicks off behind us. They play some songs i’d totally forgotten about, and play some songs they NEVER play. The set was amazing, and its obvious to see why this night was the most popular back in London (even though they have just a good other records).

Highlights: Streetlight Serenade, The Something Special, an epic Gone

Anchors Aweigh blasts along next. Its not one of my favourite albums, but am enjoying it all the same, especially with Jackie shouting in my face. Makes the whole thing more interactive. The sets a good one, but unfortunately they don't do The Day I Turned My Back On You, which is my fave song off the album. I've never heard them play this live.

Highlights: a very kicking, full band version of Nightrain, I Get Lost, Kids N Heroes

The show ended and me and Jackie headed out into the courtyard. Theres a film being shown on the main outside stage about a band called The Gits, so we watch that for a bit while we finish our beers. Then we bump into Pete, who tells us to head over to the outside bar as everyone will be hanging out after the show.

I expected a round of quick and polite “hellos” with everyone (even though i’ve had some mad nights with the band in the past), but this didn’t happen. Within the hour we were sitting at the Souls table, chewing the fat and downing the beers with Pete, Bryan, Lamar, Brian Downey (another old school Souls cohort), DJ the roadie, and Michael (McDermott, drummer). A fun night was had by all, and by the time me and Jackie had staggered off (at about 2am), she’d been signed up to do ring girl duties for the following night, and i’d been roped in to do ranting/shouting on “The Mental Bits” from the last album. Lamar seemed pleased to NOT have to do the ring girl thing the following night – he admitted to us that it meant he got to watch the show instead of being involved in it. Bryan had also said he’d sort us backstage passes and to come back early tomorrow so we could all hang out. This was a surprise to us, and due to

the amount of booze and weed consumed by various people, was something we weren’t sure was gonna happen. Not that we minded. Me and Jackie were happy to be at the shows, and we’d just had a great night with the band - we aren't the kind of people you'd class as "liggers", and hanging out backstage and stalking band members isn't something we do. Surely things can’t get any better?

Night #4 – The Gold Record and Ghosts On The Boardwalk

Hangovers sorted, me and Jack headed out for a day of sightseeing, to see as much of Vienna as we could in one afternoon. We saw a palace gardens, some mad shops at the Museum Quarter, and lots of tube trains. Then we decided we should prob get to the gig, a little earlier than we did the night before. Surprise of the day was the Bryan HAD facebooked me, and said to get our passes from the door. We were very excited! We turned up and immediately bumped into Lamar and Downey from the previous night. Had a chat about our respective sightseeing, then the guys told us we should find the band, as they were looking for us. Yeah right, we thought. We picked up our passes with no issues and headed into the venue, grabbed a beer and then wondered what was best to do. I saw Kate wander off in the direction of the coaches so i suggested to Jack that we go backstage quickly to see whats what and show our faces, and then get out of the way of the band and leave them to it.

This didn’t happen. We got backstage and met up with Bryan and Pete. Immediately, Jackie was reminded she WAS doing ring girl for the night, and i WAS doing the mental bits on The Mental Bits. Apparently everyone was into the idea. This was a shock and both of us immediately felt sick AND nervous.

We're offered food and beer, and even though we try to leave the band to it, they won’t let us leave.

Its quite bizarre watching the band get ready, stretching and doing pre gig excercises while chatting away. We were definitely seeing something people don’t normally see. Then its showtime and we are dragged to the side of the stage. WTF???

Me and Jackie are called over with the rest of the band, Lamar, and Lukas, the other “guest” of the night (sax on The Pizza Song) and his girlfriend, into the band pre-gig huddle. MADNESS!!! I then run down the front of the gig with my camera to watch Jackie do ring girl, which she pulls off with the biggest grin i've ever seen. Shes a natural, haha!

Once The Gold Song kicks off, Jacks back down the front with me, and once again, we’re shouting our heads off for the entire show. The Gold Record is my favourite Souls album, and it was so great to see them play the whole thing live, even though some of these songs are mainstays of the regular Souls set. We nearly lose our shit when they play the incredibly upbeat Better Things (a Kinks cover) – it

was what we needed after all the shit going down in the UK at the start of the week. This is definitely up there as one of the sets of the 4 nights.

Highlights: the band huddle, Jackie the ring girl, So Jersey, Better Things, For All The Unheard.

After the show, we run backstage and hang back, letting the band do their thing. Jackie persuades Lamar that he should join her for ring girl on the last set, and DJ explains the deal with The Mental Bits – what mike i’ll be using and when to go on stage. Before the next set kicks off, Bryan and Pete suggest we watch the show from the side of the stage. This was an amazing treat, and something that prob won’t be repeated.

And as much as i wanted to watch Ghosts On The Boardwalk from the audience, it was a cool way to end the Souls final set. And it also sounded better onstage, randomly enough.

Jackie and Lamar do their thing, and get a massive cheer, then the guys go out and tear Vienna a new one.

These are the newest songs they’ve got and they don’t hold back. They refrain from doing the slow songs off the album (which is a shame as Like The Sun is one of my faves) and hammer along playing the rest of the album.

I’ve heard people in London left before this set – those people are MUGS as far as I’m concerned, as they totally nailed this set. Some of the tracks on the last album are among their best, esp tracks like Gasoline and Dubs Says True.

Track 7 pitches up and its time for me for me to do my bit. I saunter onto the stage behind Pete, and start my ranting. Greg looks round and laughs as i

shout my best “Play THE BLOODY SONG”, totally in the right place and in time. Yeah, i play in a band too, i know what i’m doing. The song kicks off, and i feel less self conscious as things go on. People seem to be enjoying it. Pete and Bryan keep laughing everytime i shout something. The “Scenery” line gets a cheer. People are taking photos. Then its over and i saunter off, while Bryan shouts a massive “thank you”. That was totally bizarre, and an honour to be onstage with my favourite band.

This is the first show that the band do an encore – and its a cracker. I feel sorry for anyone that missed this. They do Punks in Vegas, No Security and Bryans Lament from the split EP. They do Hybrid Moments by the Misfits. And end with a massive version of Hot Water Musics Wayfarer, where everyone in the building joined in with the woahs in the chorus. It was deafening. Gig ends, and the first person to collar me before they’ve even hit backstage is Greg, who thanks me for doing my stuff. Its the most Gregs ever said to me at this point!

Highlights: The whole encore, Dubs Says True, Gasoline, Badass, Ghosts On The Boardwalk, being onstage with my fave band.

Things just get more insane though. Me and Jackie are stunned at this point and head off to the outside bar for a quiet drink. Next thing, Lamar has dragged us off to the afterparty in the smaller venue, where all the band are hanging out chatting to the fans. Lamar ends up chatting with me and Jackie, as he “speaks to those assholes

(the band/crew/etc) all the time”, then starts to DJ. His ipod only has hardcore Dancehall Reggae on it, which he plays for the entire night. An impromptu dance party kicks off, punks and band alike zumba-ing along with each other. Me and Jackie finally catch a break and get to chat to Greg and his wife Shanti, who turn out to be the nicest people ever. It was amazing finally getting to speak to Greg properly – and i think this was mainly thanks to his wife!

Everything gets vague the more alcohol gets drunk. Jackie is dancing with Lamar and Michael. I can’t believe my eyes, its hysterical. Everyones having such a brilliant time. By the time we leave, the crowds thinned out. We say goodbye to those we can find, then catch up with Bryan sitting quietly outside the small bar. He’s chucking around sentances with words like “friends” and “family” and “always welcome in my house” in them, and i can’t believe what i’m hearing.

When we say goodbye, it appears i’ve managed to organise a trip to New Jersey for a tattooing from the bassist. Again – utter madness.

Me and Jackie get back to the hotel, jump around excitedly for a couple of minutes, then eventually pass out around 3am. Next day is just a total daze with what we did the night before – a daze that’s still going on nearly a week later.

Lamar said to me that life can be pretty amazing sometimes. This weekend was one of those weekends. We never expected anything like these last two days to happen (we just expected two gigs and a quick chat with the band, in a nice city), and it’ll be something i won’t forget in a hurry.

What a start to my mega holiday....