Photo Diary: Black Gold

I’m sitting here in my New York apartment on my familiar old couch  sorting through tour pix for ‘SUP when I realize that my couch isn’t  so familiar anymore. After three long months on the road, I feel like a visitor in my own crib. Am I truly, finally back home? Is this real? Hope so, ‘cos I’m fucking beat. Beat, but happy. This has been the best tour of my life, no doubt about it. It was also Black Gold’s longest tour so far. We started in  the UK with Neko Case and her incredible band (kisses to Neko and  Kelly!), then we did our first show in Asia at the F1 Rocks festival  in squeaky-clean Singapore. After an insanely drawn-out layover in Manila due to typhoons, we headed back west for long stint across the  USA with the lovely and talented Girl in a Coma (girl drummers rule!). Finally, we capped off the three-month run with the dream  tour: four shows with the Pixies (viva los Pixies!). I literally took thousands of pix, so many that my camera died, so here  are just a few teasers taken from my iPhone on the last leg of the  tour. Hope you enjoy, I’m off to bed after this.
Sweet dreams,
T.

–Than Luu, Drummer, Black Gold

1. Eric at Red Rocks.

2. Truck stop

blackgold_suptourdiary03 3. Oh no, more truck stop weirdness!

4. Al fresco

5. Santa Cruz

6. Fab Four

7. Pelican, Santa Cruz

8. Grassy Neil

9. Monkey not yet in heaven

10. My vintage Gretsch kit on the Pixies’ stage at the Hollywood Palladium

11. Kerry Wayne James, on bass during soundcheck at the Palladium.

12. Al on guitar, Palladium soundcheck.

13. Mini ‘hawk, Malibu, California.

14. Topanga Canyon. We had a few days off and it was our dear friend Chip’s birthday so we took a hike in the canyon after a delicious meal of dried mushrooms and peanut butter. A lovely hippy girl from up the canyon gave us this lemon and some fresh sage.

15. La Costa Taqueria in Oakland. Their red sauce is killin’!

16. My seat at the Fox Theater in Oakland, about an hour before doors.

17. Lunch at Taqueria Otaez in Oakland. Cheese always tastes better when it’s cascading on to your plate.

18. Ponies!

19. Customizing our tour van en route to the next Pixies show.

20. The Pixies soundchecking at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. This place is gorgeous. It was built in 1926 and was an old hang spot for Al Capone.

21. I’m constantly destroying my hands on tour. On our very last song opening for the Pixies in Chicago, I dropped a stick and continued to play by bashing my fingers against the cymbals. Not recommended! My hand is still fucked.