Light Speed Champion tour diary-Bristol

Posted Sunday, December 09, 2007 @ 11:47 in Events by Nilina Mason-Campbell

After heading back down to London at the close of the Exeter gig, it was back on the roads to reach Bristol. Taking to the motor way we successfully made is to all our destinations - only a bit later than scheduled even though our only stop was at a service station to catch up on everything from metal to Miley Cyrus in the newsstand along the way. Still, there were no cancelations like the night before! First stop was the Bristol University Student Union for Lightspeed Champion to record three songs for their radio station and complete a short interview. We'd called ahead when we realized we were going to be late and eventually turned up somewhere near an hour past due, but the group of students assembled to partake in the recording were unfazed.

The seemingly inevitable question arises in most interviews asking if Lightspeed Champion is the project Dev wanted to pursue the entire time while shredding the guitar for Test Icicles. For the record, it just happens to be one of the many genres he writes and just so happened to go about releasing via Domino. His upcoming album could have just as easily veered towards rap had it not been for Domino head Lawrence snatching up Dev's demos when he did - if it'd been a few months down the line Falling Off The Lavender Bridge could of instead taken it to the ghetto. The Bristol radio interview came oh so close to touching on the Lightspeed Champion versus Test Icicles topic. During a pause, Lightspeed Champion collaborator Emmy the Great called, prompting Dev to attempt a performance of "Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk" - a track left untouched since his Omaha recording sessions in January.

After the wrap, it was on to the venue for two in person interviews. The first of the two was conducted by two students doing their first ever interview. They brought bouquets of flowers. The interview was recorded backstage where Patrick Wolf was laptoping it up, so it was more a best of both worlds interview - with Dev and Patrick dueting and jointly answering questions as conversation rolled on. Come show time, Dev performed in front of a standing audience looking especially dapper.

Patrick Wolf graced the stage in gold body paint for his set, fueled by two bottles of vodka. Come their encore, the music of the Spice Girls made another appearance - this time Dev and Patrick not only performed "Headlines" alongside Patrick's accompanying violinist Victoria who had just received a new haircut an hour prior from Patrick's hairstylist, but a medley that included "When Two Become One" and a couple other singles. Entirely unrehearsed - it was pulled off without a hitch and received perhaps the best audience reaction of the entire tour.

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