New York, TV Ad, Singles and more.
What a start to the New Year! New York, TV Ad, singles, and many more exciting dates to play.
New York was FANTASTIC! Got there on Monday, too knackered to go out that evening, so spent Tuesday traipsing around town for 8 hours in the freezing cold. (We just presumed that was what NY was like in the winter) Got back to the hotel, turned on the (shite cable) TV news to be informed of the "state of emergency" NY would soon been under due to -4 degree weathers & with -15 degree wind chills throwing everything into chaos. That'd be why we couldn't actually move our mouths by the end of the day. They were locked, frozen.
So our first date was at CBGBs (the birthplace of punk) on Wednesday. We hooked up with NY photojournalist Bruce Alexander for the (essential) pics outside the famous CBGBs awning, all grins and excitement! Mick Rock (famous Iggy/Stones/Queen photographer) was there with his camera too. 'Towers Of London'surprised us showing up with their label TVT for the gig. All was looking rosy, then 10 minutes before we were due to go on, the man from Health and Safety shut the venue down, whilst his wife sat at the bar enjoying a few drinks. We were just about ready to kill! Then we calmed down, went next door to their other venue, watched a jazz band finish their set, took the stage all fired up and played a great, loud, violent set. So we did get to play CBs after all, just at the jazz venue!! HELLO NEW YORK!
Thursday we played at Arlene's Grocery in East Village. Having warned the venue of said health inspector early in the evening, they made sure everything was in order! The gig went down real well, and later we hopped off for an all night after-show drink (management dancing and singing to UFOs 'Only You Can Rock Me'!!) Saturday, it snowed, and it snowed, then it snowed some more. At 6.30, we found ourselves 2 foot deep in snow, traipsing through a blizzard up by Central Park. Unperturbed we showed up for our last date at 'Siberia'. (Perfectly named venue!)
All 3 other bands had pulled out of the show, as they couldn't actually get into New York, roads had been shut etc. The venue had half a drum kit, a bass amp, and no snare or cymbal stands. We found a locked cupboard, that someone suggested might have equipment in, so we smashed it open. It had equipment in, not a lot, but enough, and with a load of gaffa tape, beer and patience, we were set up and ready to go. The snow also kept half the usual crowd indoors. It didn't matter one bit, we played a storming gig. We played for a good 2 hours, playing everything we had. New songs that didn't even have lyrics to them yet, making them up as we went along. A member of the audience got up on stage for a shambolic romp through 'Louis Louis', which turned itself into The Stooges 'TV Eye'. A great gig to finish the trip on.
All in all it was a fantastic trip, which also generated much US industry interest, with our management racing between meetings and bars for the duration, and we haven't even mentioned go-go dancers?!!
Other News
C-Jags have also adapted/remixed one of their tracks, 'Paradise Park' for the new RAF careers TV ad / campaign to be aired from Feb 4th for approx 6 months across terrestrial, satellite and cable TV. The ad is really sharp looking and bodes great with the track which the band will release as a double A-side as the original version with the remix.
Finally, C-Jags are proud to have been invited by 'Martini Bros'(DJ Gian Maria Girardi) to play a show with him at 93 Feet East. The Underground Italian Connection, Martini Bros. have been championing British rock, disco punk, garage & electronica tunes from the 'newest and most exciting bands around' for a while now, and having spun 'Hey Honey' and 'Tambourine Song' all across Europe and has hooked up with C-Jags in London for this one night only show. It should be a storming night. (Full gig details on home page)