They got games
OXEGEN 2011 : How do fete acts relieve the tedium of touring? From Kanye’s and Beyoncé’s Connect 4 dogfights to War Like Apes’ shoplifting game and The Strokes’ card schools, a bit of tournament passes the time nicely. Well, it’s better than taking drugs, writes UNA MULLALLY
Twist YOUR mind back to when you were a kid, and remember the long car journeys on family trips that were so mind- numbingly boring they required the origin of games that didn’t make sense but fostered some vague sense of competition and entertainment.
It’s that atmosphere of unremitting tedium that sees bands and musicians seek fun as an alternative to staring blankly out the window. Being on drive, much like shooting a film, is 90 per cent hanging around, 10 per cent action.
The roads are large, the van is dull, and any sort of light relief or methods to escape the humdrum, becomes an attractive diversion from bum-paralysing bus journeys and microwavable serve-station burgers. It’s one of the reasons musicians have a disproportionately large appetite for alcohol and drugs. Most of the consumption is done out of monotony. Acres of spare time is also the reason touring bands are some of the most film- and television-literate people out there. With hours of habits that’s technically free – but can’t really be allocated to anything of great commitment – between mobile, loading in, soundchecking and playing, bands are bound to come up with various ways to amuse themselves. Inscribe the tour games.
