Boston

I woke up today minus yesterday's hangover but still feeling pretty worn down. The end of the tour is in sight and my mind is starting to drift towards the comforts of home. My own shower, my sofa, my bed, my records and of course Jenny and Bonzo. The last time I managed to get eight hours sleep in one night seems like a long time ago.

At least this morning we were in no stress to get going. We are playing our own show in Boston tonight, which is only a couple of hours drive from York, so we're good. I feel really tired this morning. I could have easily lay in bed at Snitch's all day long, watching the Family Guy dvd's we fell asleep to last night.

I get up and try to shower away the sleep. It works somewhat. After hanging out on Snitch's sofa drinking tea for an hour or so, we get our stuff together and drive in to York city centre. I was a little worried how we had left the van last night, since we'd had no choice but to leave it in a deserted street away from the apartment. You can't get a van down the narrow street Snitch lives on. Last time we were here with Speedhorn, John slept in the van and guarded the gear. But that was good old Betty, which at least had beds inside her. No one was in the mood to sleep in our freezing cold van last night! Thankfully the van was fine.

We head to the pub where Snitch works to get a bite to eat. I insist that Jon orders the same as I'm eating, which is the giant Yorkshire Pudding with sausage and mash with gravy. He takes it and is chuffed when it turns up. It's absolutely huge and delicious. Andy complains that it looks digusting. He has no idea what he's missing out on. I guess British cuisine isn't always for everyone.

After finishing off lunch, we all slouch in our chairs, completely stuffed. I think I could easily have fallen asleep, right there and then. I order some strong, black coffee in hope of reviving me. It kinda works.

It's soon time to say goodbye to Snitch. I guess it's going to be a while until I see him again since he's studying and doesn't have the money to spend on flights to Sweden. He talks about coming over for Midsummers, I hope he can. We say our goodbyes and drive off in the diredtion of Boston. It's a grey, miserable day. I'm starting to feel done with winter for this year. I heard yesterday that it was -22 degrees at home. I think I'm going to hibernate when I get back, until spring arrives.

We make the drive down to Boston in just over two hours. After today everything is going to start getting a little tougher again, as far as driving goes. If it's true that you don't get the same star treatement in the UK as you do on the mainland, it's also true that the drives are a lot kinder. Municipal are already in London having a day off, we'll be meeting up with them again tomorrow. Tonight we're playing a classic hardcore venue in a room at the Indian Queen pub in Boston. This place has seen some classic nights. Even Municipal played here on their first UK tour.

Tonight we're playing with our friend Luke's band, Burning the Prospect. It's their last ever show so it should be a bit special. Another friend of mine, Chris, is also here playing tonight. His band Jesus of Spazzareth is opening up. It's their last show aswell. And then there is Wolfbeast Destroyer, who are members of Prospect and a classic UKHC band called Urko. Tonight is going to be a lot of fun, if not a bit emotional.

Before we drive into town and to the venue, we meet up at an address Luke has given us, where we're going to be fed. It's a cottage in the middle of nowhere, which is a summer house that his parents rent out to paying customers. The idea originally was for us to sleep here tonight, but since I have to get my amp fixed at Marshall tomorrow, we're driving back to my parents house, which is a lot closer to the Marshall factory. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow. I was supposed to be taking the train from Boston to London in the morning to get tattooed from Marcus Regimes, but I had to blow that off because of my fucking amp too. Still pissed off about that.

Anyway, we somehow manage to force some more food down us courtesy of Luke. Most of us are still completey stuffed from the lunch in York a couple of hours ago, but we all make a good effort with the baked potatoes, cheese and beans Luke has laid out. A free meal is never to be blown off.

We sit there for a half hour or so, drink a beer, and then drive into town, following Luke's car through the dark, winding country roads into Boston town centre. It's snowing when we get to the venue, so loading out is a pain in the arse. We get the gear in as soon as possible, through the pub and up some steep, narrow stairs. Why is there always stairs?!

The gig tonight is insane! The room is tiny. Eighty people would easily pack it out. The show is on the floor of course, with the drums and the rest of the backline on a small stage. I have a great time watching Spazzareth play. There are plenty of kids here and they are all having a lot of fun. Chris is always fun to watch on stage, he's always full of good cracks between songs. It's too bad they are spiltting up, but Chris tells me afterwards that most of the guys in the band are starting something new together.

I'm not sure how but I miss Wolfbeast Destroyer. They must have played a very short set whilst I was downstairs in the pub drinking coffee. Andy tells me later they were great. Typical. I'm told there is a chance they might be playing Punk Illegal with us later on in the year in Göteborg, so maybe I'll get the chance to see them then.

There is no way I'm missing the Burning the Prospect gig tonight though. They play an absolutely immense show. The crowd is going wild for them, the singer spends most of his time in the air being held aloft, or jumping up and down like a madman. It's such a great show, and I'm dying to get on stage when they are done. The crowd are singing along to their songs and it's truly an awesome send off for them. The atmosphere is buzzing as I stand on a chair, watching over the crowd and loving every second of their set.

As we're setting our gear up, it seems most of the crowd have fled outside to get some air. We take a while getting our sound going but it still seems pretty empty in the room that was packed full when Prospect were playing. I suddenly fear an anti-climax to the night. Maybe everyone was here to see Prospect, they are from Boston afterall. Fears are soon erradicated when we start to make some proper noise. By the time Johan announces, ”Hi, we're Victims from Sweden”, the room is once again packed.

In fact, there is hardly any room for us to stand. People are completely on top of us. We start the set with Scars as usual. The room erupts. We're not playing in front of the crowd, we're playing in it. We're not even three songs on when Johan gets a glass thrown at him, hitting him square in the head. I don't think it was intentional on this occasion though. He seems to be ok and we get on with things. During almost every song the mic stands are getting ripped down by the surging crowd in front of us. People are grabbing hold of it and screaming along to the songs. At different points during the set both Jon and myself are picked up by the crowd and thrown around on people's shoulders and hands, the whole time trying to continue to play.

We play This is the End and the whole place goes mad. The atmosphere is amazing. Johan doesn't even get near his mic come chorus time, it gets completely taken over by the crowd. People are jumping off the small stage where Andy is playing his drums. At one point ten or so people build a human pyramid, right in front of Johan. I've never seen anything like it. They are built up on top of each other, all screaming mad yet somehow choriographed. They hold out for about ten seconds before the whole thing collapses down on to Johan's feet. As we're playing Victims in Blood pt. 5, during the breakdown part of the song, another bunch of kids are sitting on the floor in front of Jon, air rowing togehter, It's absolutely hillarious. It's the most fun I've had playing a show in a long time.

We play a couple of extra songs before finally finishing up the show. Afterwards we hang out for a while chatting to Luke and Chris and the other guys, we sell a shit load of merch and swap some stuff with the other bands. As much as the Waste shows have been amazing for us, a band like Victims needs these shows too. This is where we come from. After a few last goodbyes, we wash down a quick Newcastle Brown Ale before we start packing out the gear. The snow has stopped now.

We head back to Corby through dark country roads, finally getting back to my parents house around 2am. I get into that old cosy bed and fall asleep barely a second after my head hits the pillow.