Ainslie Wills Tour Diary: Part One

Writing songs for the album You Go Your Way, I'll Go Mine began in 2009. It was recorded in 2011 and released March 2013, so the anticipation for the release and its subsequent tour was quite intense. The band and I were sooooo very ready to unleash the songs to well, anyone that would listen.

This is the first of a four part tour diary.

TOUR STOP #1 - BENDIGO

My band, consisting of; Lawrence (guitarist extraordinaire), Natalie  vocal and piano prodigy), Linden (B B B Bass hound), Arron (the Bonham of today) Jono (sound design master) and I,  landed at the infamous Golden Vine hotel to load in and soundcheck and play the first show of the You Go Your Way, I'll Go Mine tour. The hotel had a kinda family vibe about it, you know the type I'm talking about: it had a bistro, pool table, LCD TV screens with the footy on....but the great and most important thing about it, is that it hosts original music several nights a week. The 'Band Room' was pretty consistent with most 'band rooms' in that it was a miscellaneous storage unit that you could hang out in if you could find the space. The room was positively plastered in signatures and quotes from bands from past and present: Zoophyte, Oh Mercy, Midnight Oil (I'm guessing that this last one was bogus).

The Golden Vine - where the memorable, inebriated heckler set up camp for the night...

After dinner at a local pub where both Linden and Arron courageously took the challenge of consuming a 'thumping big bastard burger', we took to the stage to play out the carefully rehearsed set. The room would every now and then be confettied with people that weren't exactly music lovers, but rather avid drinkers including one girl who started heckling at me in the middle of a song, the poor love was clearly inebriated and as she exited the room (whilst still shouting nonsensical B.S at me) she then tripped and had a date with the floor, needless to say she was silent for the rest of the show. It was a memorable way to start the tour, there were a few adjustments to be made sound - wise, for the next steps of the tour, but overall, we were off to a great start.

TOUR STOP #2 - CANBERRA

Three days before departing to play my first ever show in Canberra, my body decided it was time to get sick with a throat/chest infection and as you can imagine, when you are a singer, this is not the most ideal situation. After a few days in bed resting and ingestion of several various magical elixirs made with lemons, ginger, Manuka honey, thyme and Nin Jiom, I was ready to roll for tour stop number two. The band and I arrived at the airport to fly out to our nation's capital, only to be met with a P.A message saying 'flight 666 to Canberra has been cancelled', hmm the immediate thought was 'how long does it take to drive from here to Canberra?', luckily, Richard Branson himself scheduled another flight for us (slight exaggeration) and we were on our way, this was after a few games of hacky sack and a hand drawn band portrait done by Natalie to pass the time.

When waiting for your flight, why not draw a family portrait?

Or, partake in a little game of Hacky Sack?

The last time I had visited Canberra was back in year 7 when I took a school trip there, I remembered being bored out of my mind and was hoping that this encounter was to change my impression of the city. The Front Cafe/Gallery in Lyneham was to host our show, we arrived at the venue and were immediately sucked into its charm: warm lighting, comfy couches, lovely people…it was a very cosy space, we sound checked whilst people were still in the cafe reading, sipping long blacks and typing away on their laptops, it was all a very chilled affair.

It got to show time and the local artist that was to open up the night, didn't show which meant the band and I hit the 'stage' and played a longer set to a packed room of people, they were a very welcoming audience and at the end of the set we got a request to do an encore, but in the original context of that tradition which was that, they wanted us to repeat a song we had already played, something I have never done before, the band and I obliged and finished the gig in pretty high spirits. As a souvenir of what was a great show, I got the punters to sign the gig poster on their way out, I think few people were initially weirded out by that request but I assured them I that I wasn't going to try and steal their identity and likened the request to that of the days when being at school when you'd break an arm or a leg and have to wear a cast for weeks, you'd get your mates to sign the cast and keep it for memorabilia.

TOUR STOP #3 - SYDNEY

I have a really strange disconnect with this city, I feel like I can never quite relax when I play there, it's all in my head I know it, so I was trying to shift my mind so to be in a positive mind set before we played at Fbi Social in Kings Cross. It was a particularly special show as the incredible Elana Stone Feat. Zebra Zap were celebrating the launch of their new single Sleep Doesn't Come and PJ Wolf was opening the night. Unfortunately my dreaded throat/chest lurgy had been passed onto Lawrence who plays guitar and in some songs, sings. He was pretty much a mute by the time we finished the gig and sounded like the kid on the Simpsons with the pre-pubescent voice - “would you like some fries with that sir?” We got through the Sydney show and were ready for a little break before we headed to Newcastle. More on that in the next entry.

And with these wise words, it's time to move on to Newcastle...