Country-hopping I Am Three come home
A TRIP into the world of I Am Three can be disorientating.
Their songs, with their diverse tempo's, timbre and poetry, usually leave listeners with more questions than answers, as the music revolves around a playful mix of fiction and reality.
I Am Three have dubbed Their Autumn European 2008 tour 'The Truckers P*ss Tour'.
A reference to their semi-illegal en-route camping at filthy motorway lay-bys and truck stops.
Over a period of 10 days the Manchester duo crammed into a 1991 Rover and cruised their way on a journey across central Europe which featured gigs in Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Köln, Basel, Bologna and Perugia where they delivered their sometimes epic two-hour long show, including songs they'd never attempted outside of the studio before.
Travelling alone, the duo acted as their own manager, roadie and driver. Irving (upright bass and vox), and Hughes (guitars and vox) battled fatigue and sore throats to perform their set sometimes three times a day to audiences in pubs, bars, clubs and on the street.
After the performance they hit the road again and continued their 3,500 mile journey onto the next venue.
"It's certainly confusing waking in one country, playing in another and sleeping in a third," the slightly confused Hughes pointed out.
The duo found gigging condition on the continent a stark contrast to the UK.
Irving surmises: "Gigging in Europe makes you realise how crappy the UK set up is.
"We've got accustomed now to being given free meals, free drinks and getting paid. And we have to come back to the UK norm or paying to play somewhere or having to flog 30 tickets before we can play."
The mini-tour was funded by sales of their first self titles CD release, an eight-track studio EP.
The duo are currently in the process of editing the live recordings from Europe and road testing new material.
I Am Three will wrap up this year with at date at Lass O'Gowrie on Friday, November 28 plus plan to continue their impromptu coffee shop performances around the north west.
Published: Sat, 01 November, 2008
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