Today we hit London. It was the first time for Loathe, so we were suitably excited. We set off from Jake’s in Birmingham pretty early, (well, 11.30, by heavy metal band standards that’s the equivalent of the crack of dawn) and got on the road to The Unicorn in Kentish Town, not 5 minutes away from Camden.

We got there with hours to spare, so we hit Camden Market. As per usual, the story unfolded with yours truly pretty much working himself up into a shopping frenzy, after which he also got lost, much to the amusement of the others who were by now waiting in the pub. Ah well, in the wise words of Beast, “Consider it an adventure”.

The venue was a cool place with a decent sized room. SLAB, eternal gentlemen that they are, ever so kindly swapped spots with us so we could get on stage third instead of second, and even sped up their changeover so we could have 5 extra minutes of set. Had we needed the clothes off their backs, I’m pretty sure we’d have seen three butt naked guys in a jiffy!

We played a fast and tight set to a very receptive audience, and they showed their appreciation with load roars and applause. Given it was Halloween, tomfoolery abounded. Suffice to say that at a point there was a crocodile and a huge teddy bear jumping around in our moshpit. Madness indeed.

After the set we all kind of went our separate ways. Some went straight to the Travelodge near King’s Cross, others stayed at the venue, some went to a party close by, and yours truly was treated to an Argentinian steak dinner near Tower Bridge by the girlfriend and a friend of hers.

Tomorrow is Birmingham, and also the last date on the tour. We can’t say we’re not relieved things are drawing to a close, but we’re happy to end things in good old Brum, as that ciyt, and Scruffy Murphy’s in particular have always been excellent in their response to us. After all is said and done tonight, champagne (courtesy of Tony from the Duke in Neath, Wales) awaits us, and we shall close this tour and chapter with a suitably drunken smile.

Check back tomorrow for details of how the destruction in Birmingham proceeded! See you all soon back home, and for those who’ve come out to see us on this tour, a big thank you is owed to you!