On The Road With: Mild Manic
Whilst on the road for their East Coast tour with Blue Velvet¸ Mild Manic frontman Sam Rees, put pen to paper for Laundry Echo. Taking note of their time on the road and pumping us out a tour diary. Read on for stories of surfing, beers and finding their feet on the road.
A ten-hour drive for one show can put a lot of people off playing that show at all, but when it’s your home town, and you’re playing to all your mates, in a place as beautiful and lush as the Far South Coast- those hours in the car don’t seem so long.
We arrived to our first show of the tour “Bass Front” which in the past has been a straight up DJ event. We wondered how the mix of bands and DJ’s would go and whether we would be the ugly duckling of the night. It helped having Blue Velvet (who just dropped this ridiculous new single) there along for the ride for the start of a crazed high octane tour together. It was actually the first time we had even met the BV fellas, but we could tell by the big hugs, cheeky banter and mutual love for a nice cold brew that we were going to get along just fine.
Blue Velvet hit the stage to test the waters and the crowd was immediately drawn to the energy blazed set. It was at this time we realized that what we had in common was a passion for having a good time on stage. This gave us hope as we witnessed the blended crowed of ‘music connoisseurs’ coming together to just enjoy music!
We hit the stage and received an awesome reception from home. We were taken aback after working our butts off in Melbourne to come back home with so much support and love for what we have created. Nothing really beats that high.
Drinks flowed, laughter echoed and joy carried us through the successful night. Capped off with a nude late night bridge jump. Looking down after coming out of the water.. It was evident that winter was coming.
When you are having that much fun sleep seems to go to the bottom of the priority list. Come sunrise we grabbed the boards and headed straight for the waves and had them all to ourselves. After returning to the venue we found the publican had booked Sam in for a sky dive after Sam was talking shit about doing it in his ‘few too many whisky’ influenced state the night before. So up he went, no sleep, energy drained from the surf, tossed himself out of a plane. He slept for next 2 days straight.
After much need rest, it was the next leg of the tour and Brisbane was in our sights.
We always love coming to play Brizzy, particularly in Fortitude Valley. The vibe on the streets is always welcoming and the place feels so cosy with a sick selection of venues, bars and clubs all nestled in ready to feed the night’s hunger.
We headed to the Bloodhound Bar after a pretty relaxed flight. Met the BV fellas and picked up from where we left off (plently of beer). The local talent we played with that night was top notch! Chlorine, Deluzo and Worse for Wear all must see bands!
There was a lot of competition in town that night and we were really stoked to see the crowd that came out to our show in support. Even better is seeing people rock up that you used to go to high school with and what must have been seven years since you last saw each other, I love that shit! Great sets played from both our bands and in true form carried our celebrations into the night. The next page of the journey just around the corner…
Friday April 20th @ The Wombarra Bowlo, Wollongong 18+
Saturday April 21st @ Frankies Pizza, Sydney 18+
Sunday April 22nd @ The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle 18+
Friday April 27th @ The Penny Black, Melbourne 18+
Saturday April 28th @ Musicman, Bendigo 18+
