Here’s Jack talking up some of the great and good from the last US Tour…
August 31st:
Los Angeles, The Sportsmen’s Lodge - we arrived in the late afternoon. Already LA was mellowing with the approach of Fall, deeper colours, longer shadows and in the evenings a delicious smell that reminds me of our first visits to LA in the 80’s. LA does nostalgia very well. I think of LA as a brand new town, but really it is steeped in nostalgia for its own celluloid past and for my own. Jerry’s Deli for dinner and it was like we had never been away!
September 1st:
We met up with Mark Bell, an old friend of both Nick and Paul’s. He lives in LA and does all kinds of DJ remix stuff. Lots of stories, wild times - heart of the maelstrom stuff that must be published one day. The stories that led to Paul developing a speech impediment were particularly striking… he recovered after a few months. Oh yes.
We went to an ambitious Italian restaurant on Ventura Blvd. where the waitress proudly announced that their lasagne contained the best meat sauce “in the world”. A challenge from which I could not escape so lasagne it was and yes it was very nice meat sauce - photo attached.
September 2nd:
1st gig at The Key Club. We went on around 11.00pm so we -and the audience -were pretty tired - 7am for us UK time. But we did our best and everyone enjoyed it. It was great to see friends there. Peter Wolf drove up from Malibu in the nicest white Bentley convertible I have ever seen. And he gave Nick and I a lift back to the Sportsmen’s Lodge. Sitting in the back of that car hurtling up Laurel Canyon and gazing up at the stars was bliss. Peter is one of those people you just want to be around and it was so great to spend time with him in LA.
September 3rd:
Checked out of the Lodge around midday and got into the suburban that was to take us up to Vegas. Mikal drove in the worst traffic - apparently everyone goes to Las Vegas for Labor Day Weekend. So a long drive, Mikal in the driving seat, Steve Serrano sitting next to him with his check shirt over the side window to try and block out the sun so he could watch the Bourne movies - it just looked like some student’s bedroom. Nick was reading “Apathy for the Devil” - the new book by Nick Kent. I got into listening to this great Little Feat bootleg called Electrif Lycanthrope. They were just hitting their stride on Spanish Moon as we hit Vegas and lots of LCD type signs with all the stuff that was on that weekend - including us. That funny picture of me and Nick in the 80’s would flash up, our name in lights, Little Feat rocking out, everyone in the car happy and buzzing. Lovely.
We checked into the Monte Carlo, a hotel lobby like an airport check-in but they looked after us and we got settled in for our holiday in Las Vegas.
September 4th:
I think it was 106 degrees on the Strip on Saturday afternoon. Paul and Tom and I found a nice little place for breakfast down the street. eggs over-easy on wheat toast, hash browns and coffee and OJ. Perfect and we went there every morning.
Soundcheck was around 4pm in The Pub - sounds a bit lumpy, but was actually nice. A big space, good size stage and decent sound system with a good crew. The gig that evening was really good. Great crowd and lots of friends came along. Peter Wolf was there again as he was doing the Jerry Lewis Telethon the next day. Lee Gorman from Bow Wow Wow, a dear friend from our early days in 57 Men where he played bass. He lives in Vegas now and came with his girlfriend who looked like she had just walked out of an Andy Warhol movie. CJ, a DJ friend of ours came along and Nick’s brother Steve was also there plus Colin Gibbens, Emma and various other friends. I love an entourage! So we hung out into the night and managed to ignore the Casino’s multifarious temptations.
September 5th:
A day off. Bob Burchess, a photographer friend of ours got in touch to invite us to the Carrot Top show at the Luxor that night. We went along as Carrot Top’s guests and had a great time. He is in the fourth year of a five year contract - mind boggling - but you’d think this was the first week of a short run. He was totally spontaneous, really smart and hilarious. The props were in the good old English tradition of say Tommy Cooper and his self-deprecating stance and surreal sense of everyday stuff was a bit like early Izzard. Tom and Paul are seasoned comedy fans and I wondered what their attitude would be but they were rolling around in laughter. He introduced us towards the end of the show and then invited us backstage. His family and their kids were there plus his crew. He was very friendly and it was a nice atmosphere, an honour to invited and really great all round. We walked back to the Monte Carlo and took in Vegas at night. The sheer hubris of it all made us feel very happy to be there.
September 6th:
I think I spent the day typing in a thousand “likes” to the Wang Chung facebook profile - sad really. But in the evening we had managed to get tickets to see “Love”, the Cirque de Soleil Beatles show. There were those among us who felt it was all a waste of time, but as Ringo says in the documentary, “You’ve got the old records if you want to listen to them - we just wanted to try something new”. So we 4 all went along, plus Nick’s brother Steve. We can’t recommend it highly enough. If you are a Beatles head then you are going to be a little weepy and trying to pull yourself together at times and you will love hearing the music LOUD and recombined in inventive ways. If you are new to the Beatles then this could turn you on to them. It is visually stunning - the colours and formations of characters and the ultra-skill of the acrobats - amazing and all really in the grand Beatles tradition of working with arty eccentrics like The Fool, Peter Blake, even Astrid Voorman back in the early days. So a totally amazing experience that you can only have in Las Vegas. It gave it the air of a pilgrimage in a way… now lets not get too carried away. Took a long walk back from the Mirage to our hotel via the Bellagio fountains - a little less classy than “Love”, but plenty of hubris. And there is a bit of the strip that looks exactly like scenes from The Fifth Element. Now this is what the future is supposed to look like right?
September 7th:
Tom, Paul and I rented a car and drove to Area 51! Who knows what happened from there…
October 11, 2010 at 5:50am
Nick Feldman’s ‘Las Vegas’
Whilst Jack, Paul and Tom went off on their (frankly ludicrous but
rather endearing) quest for aliens and above-top-secret snooping in
and around Area 51… . me and my brother (who had shlepped over
from London to Vegas a few nights before, to see us play a really
enjoyable gig at the Monte Carlo Hotel … the first time he’d seen
us play since the 80’s!), decided to undertake a much more out of
this world experience.
We decided to go in a helicopter from Vegas to check out the Grand
Canyon. I’d never actually seen the Canyon up close before, although
over the years I’ve driven past it many times on various tours with
Wang Chung.
This time we not only flew over it, along it etc but we landed IN it
too!!! It was spectacular enough taking off and getting an exciting
view of the strip of Vegas, but the views as we approached and then
flew into the Canyon were breathtaking. On the way, we flew over the
Hoover Dam and various man made lakes. It was almost unreal landing
in the Canyon with the sides towering 4 thousand feet above us on
each side.
Apparently the river running through it has taken 3 million years to
erode it’s way through the earth creating the canyon… . .quite a
thought.
The helicopter pilot seemd pretty knowledgable about the geology of
the region and was able to answer all my brother’s searching
questions. But when we were flying back to Vegas he came up with a
very bizarre and ironic fact … . Vegas has apparently got more
churches than any other town or city in the US! I dont know what
was more amazing … the Grand Canyon or that fact!
September 9, 2010 at 11:53am
Wang Chung - Tour Diary Part 4
So from the heady heights of Kokomo and another brilliant show there, it was onto Cleveland for a show at The Winchester. It is an old bowling alley that looks unprepossessing from the front but that opens up at the back into a cool club. The owner, Jim Mileti, and his assistant, Rebecca, are great people, real music heads and looked after us no end - we were really appreciative of that. A good crowd showed up and we had a great night.
Todd Richards is a DJ/journalist for whom Jack did an extensive interview for his radio show (which you can find on part one – we were so impressed with it that it had to go up on here straight away!). He came to our Akron show and to the Cleveland one and afterwards invited us all out to the University campus where he does his “Running Late” Show. All 4 of us went and crammed into the studio. His pal Mike went off to get us take-away Mexican food and we took over the show.
Take a listen again here : - this time with playlist!
Wang Chung - Rent Free
Yes - Yours Is No Disgrace
Little Richard - Lucille
Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days (New Version)
Thelonious Monk - Crepuscule with Nellie (from “Live at Townhall”)
Wang Chung – Stargazing
We met up with Todd & Mike again that afternoon at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame by the waterfront. Another amazing building built by the same architect who created the pyramid at The Louvre - indeed this is another huge glass pyramid. The people there were very happy to see us, gave us VIP passes which gave us access to everything including the 3D movie of U2 in Buenos Aires. We were very pleased, of course!
And our highlights, you ask? :
·The Green Silk costume that John Lennon wore on the cover of Sgt. Pepper.
·John’s black Rickenbacker guitar.
·Hendrix’s 12-string acoustic on which he played “Here my train a’coming”.
·Lowell George’s Fender Strat with the steel socket wrench he used as a slide - God bless you Lowell.
·Bruce Springsteen’s Chevy Corvette.
·Film of Sam Philips talking about the early days of Sun records.
·John Cipolina’s Guitar and Amplification set up with Wurlitzer horns built into the top speaker cabinet.
·James Burton’s paisley Telecaster.
·Hendrix’s Black velvet and silver buttoned jacket and his hand painted Flying V
Shall we go on…? Fabulous place and a remarkable must-see collection of artifacts, costumes, instruments belonging to the greats - Michael Jackson’s glove and Thriller costume, Bowie costumes, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, James Jamerson’s upright bass… ok that’s it, you’ve probably had enough!. You must go there!
Our hotel in Cleveland was opposite the building where the legendary radio DJ and TV presenter Alan Freed broadcast in the 50’s onwards. He actually invented and applied the term ‘Rock’n’Roll’ and he is a key figure and champion of it’s development. He held what is regarded as the first ever rock’n’roll gig. It was called The Moondog Ball and took place in 1952 in Cleveland. 10,000 people turned up (99% black audience) and Fats Domino was one of the acts.
Nick and Jack went to see the 4th July independence day fireworks display from an amazing vantage point right in the middle of the city, just outside the apartment of a friend of ours, John, who’s a very good TV cameraman here. Cleveland is a vibrant and amazing city.
With Cleveland done, it was off on the final overnight stretch to NYC!….
…where there was a serious heatwave! A Total Sweatfest! We did a TV/radio session for American Apparel’s Viva Radio. (Check it out right here (To include link)), where we did a semi-acoustic performance and interview. We squashed into their tiny, tiny studio in Brooklyn. It was seriously sweaty, but went really well!
The next day we played NYC at BB Kings – and it was an absolute triumph! The crowd loved it and, as ever, the new stuff went down great. Earlier Paul and Nick had even managed to catch the world cup Spain v Germany semi final in the restaurant “Lucille’s” before our sound check. So for them, and all of us - A Really Good Day!
After the show, it was back onto the bus to Connecticut for a gig at the Mohegan Sun Casino. It’s a massive and extravagant complex on Native American land and owned by native Americans. It’s almost like a mini- city! We played on the Wolf Den stage, right in the middle of slot machines and craps tables and animatronic howling wolves! The slot machines are all tuned to the same pitch - C, a hypnotic endless tone like some early piece by Terry Riley - utterly brilliant!
And yes, some of us did try a bit of gambling, but to not great effect. Best stick to the day job, hey? Also, our friends Claudia and Laurie supported us through NYC and Mohegan Sun with home made cookies, t-shirt wearing and general rabble rousing – and what a brilliant job they did!
We then went off to Boston to play Showcase Live. The show took place in a part of the New England Patriots stadium complex. There was a nice couple at the front, dancing away harmlessly enjoying the show, when a uniformed policeman burst through the crowd and marched them out. Our techie, Steve, saw this and rushed out to protest but to no avail. He gave them a free t-shirt and CD as a consolation. What was the policeman thinking?! Anyway – apart from that - another good show, but it was our second to last gig – and we really don’t want it all to end!
August 18, 2010 at 7:34am
Wang Chung - US Tour Diary Part 3
So on our way to Detroit, Nick and Paul had decided they would be at their football-loving best and get up early to watch the England-Germany game. We hope it’s safe to say that all know the outcome of that one (especially from the last diary entry) – with only mutterings of ‘Should’ve stayed in bed’ coming out of the guys by the end of the game…
Nick and Jack met up with a good old journalist friend once in Detroit, a guy called Russell Trunk. Was good to see him and even had the luxury of seeing him twice, both before and after the show! Again, the show was brilliant – it’s been heartwarming to see such a positive reaction all round.
From Detroit, we travelled to Pittsburgh, where the show didn’t exactly go to plan! We sound checked for almost three hours, and still all of our kit was playing up. But, luckily, everyone still seemed to enjoy it and we battled our way through it all because of that, so thank you Pittsburgh for bearing with us!
Then – A Day Off – PHEW! Pittsburgh was a great place to have it though – it seemed so rejuvenated, so we felt a kind of spiritual home thing there! Nick got the chance to wander around and catch a great local jazz band playing outside one of the squares (after the football again, that is..), whilst Jack went off to the Andy Warhol (Nick shortly followed).
Jack was, in fact, so enamoured by what was on offer there that his little adventure just had to be elaborated on…so, take it away Jack!
“The exhibition starts on the 7th floor and you work your way down. It begins drawing parallels between Warhol and Marcel Duchamp and has some excellent Duchamp work on view including the infamous “Fountain” - a public urinal, and a replica of “The Bride stripped bare by her bachelors, even…”, something I’d read about in esoteric literature but never seen. There’s a seminal Campbell’s’ Soup Tin silk screen print.
6th Floor has lots of his movies running. I stood looking at the Empire State one - an 8 hour film of the Empire State Building from a single camera angle - I was there for a couple of minutes admiring the beauty when suddenly the lights on the building came on. That must be the only thing that “happens” in that film so I felt privileged to witness it. Of course Andy would not approve of such a moronic approach to his work
but I liked it. Looking at his work makes you feel free. There are many quotes dotted around. One that sent shivers through me was, “Pop” - by which he means the Pop-Art philosophy - “Pop means liking things”. I thought how in so many Art Galleries the prevailing mentality was NOT liking so many things (other than what everybody agrees you should like…). There was a room with maybe 30 TV’s all playing episodes of his TV series - what an enlightened time!
Other stand-outs were the Silver 11 Elvis’s with him pointing a gun and dressed like a cowboy in one of his movies, a stunning photograph of Judy Garland and the room of silk screen skulls in the centre of which is a big foam settee thing covered in parachute silk made by one of his associates, John Chamberlain (I think), that you can just lie around on - so I did and sneaked picture of myself on my phone.
A great way to spend an afternoon in Pittsburg, like all great Art it makes you feel free and love life”.
Another notable event – Tom (that drummer chap you saw in the last diary) cut all of his hair off! Nick didn’t recognize him when he got on the bus! And now we’re on our way to Akron, home of Devo and Chrissie Hynde, so yet more musical history to be had there! I guess it’s our job to go and make some more..
We then arrived into Kokomo, Indiana where, again, we had a fantastitc show (we’re not tired of telling you that, yet!). We played on the town square to probably 2 or 3,000 people, it was a beautiful ,warm evening and as everybody was out with their families celebrating July 4th weekend it made the show extra special! After a great reception
from the crowd, we got to meet the Mayor and his wife and were then taken to a restaurant and given a police escort - a car in front and one behind our tour bus, lights flashing, running every red light in Kokomo. Now, that is what touring in theUSA is all about! Great food, lovely people and feeling the love all round.
Thank you Brad & Angela, thank you Kokomo, J + N x
August 4, 2010 at 11:16am
Wang Chung - US Tour Diary Part 2
So, we’re now on our way to Oshkosh in our brand new bus.We made a quick stop in the small town of Bozeman, Montana, close to where Custer had fought the Sioux at the Battle of Little Big Horn.This gave us the chance to expand on our ever- growing knowledge of American History and gave Jeff, our driver, the chance to have an extremely well earned rest.
Back on the road heading East, a marathon journey that carried us through the night and the famous Fargo, we were enjoying a peaceful, sleep-filled journey when we awoke to a large THUD and everything in the bus crashing down around us.
A deer had run out in front of us and we had to come to a shrieking halt!On inspection the deer had miraculously vanished.We don’t know what came of the poor animal but it left us all a little shaken.
Our second stop was in Jamestown, N. Dakota! A huge Walmart and
a little shopping Mall were our distractions so we decided to visit the local-movie-house to catch a film; we watched “Knight and Day” which was… incomprehensible, but a mindless diversion from what seemed to be an endless stream of visits to diners!
It’s quite a weird experience for English guys to see an American movie and then walk out into middle America – kind of feels like you’ve jumped into the screen!
Then overnight to Oshkosh who rewarded us with nice comfortable hotel beds and a brilliant festival. We left in good spirits headed for Chicago.
This time our journey was filled with the hilarity that was the French and Italian World Cup campaigns, swiftly followed by watching good ol’ dismal England in the bus at 8 in the morning!
The Chicago show was great – we played another festival, this time slap bang in the middle of the street in a funky little neighbourhood. It was so encouraging that once again, the crowd were as much into the new songs as they were the old. It’s been like that at every show so far!
We also had the pleasure of playing on the WGNTV morning show, where we performed semi-acoustic versions of Dance Hall Days, Rent Free and Let’s Get Along.We’d only had about 3 hours sleep having just got in from Oshkosh and had got up at 6am for the show but we thoroughly enjoyed it. The folks at WGNTV really looked after us well - lots of coffee and donuts and proper make-up department! You don’t always get make-up on TV anymore! Never feels right without make-up…
Next stop Milwaukee, where an incredible 6000 of you turned up making it a real highlight of the tour!
Unfortunately we couldn’t stay around much after the show as we were straight on to Detroit, where Nick and Paul had the pleasure of watching England finally get put out of their World Cup misery by the Germans!
Next up: Pittsburgh…Catch you there, J + N x
July 26, 2010 at 11:12am
U.S. Tour Diary - Part One
We’ve had a fantastic time in the US, so much so that we really didn’t want it to end. We played 22 shows; travelled about 20,000 miles and encountered friends, old and new, along the way.
It all started with some brilliant shows in California. We saw Tommy Lee and some of the guys from Ratt at our show in Redondo Beach. Mike from A Flock of Seagulls and Andy from OMD came over to Woodland Hills and we had the pleasure of Mr. William Friedkin, director of To Live and Die In L.A. (as well as The Exorcist and The French Connection) turning up at that show as well. He was there to witness our first fully-fledged tour streaker (and no, it wasn’t us!). We went over to his house for tea before we left LA - Bill has become a great friend and is always a wonderful host, with lots of stories about the movie business and talk about his current passion for directing opera.
BUT, it wasn’t all as plain sailing as that opening gambit may seem…
By the time we were on our way to Phoenix, Arizona for a show at Skye, the A/C on our bus had completely broken down, leaving us with a ridiculously hot journey across the desert! When we arrived in San Francisco for the show at Slim’s, we plugged the bus into the club’s power supply - after a while there was a blue flash as the toaster exploded then each of the TV’s in the bunks started shorting out! All of the TV’s, appliances - everything just fried and filled the entire bus with smoke! Just before we went onstage too. Great timing!
We made it to Portland on an overnight drive after the gig, albeit with a limping bus. But to lighten the mood for us when we arrived, we happened upon a naked bicycle parade; a pretty well attended one at that! Nakedness seemed to be a bit of a running theme for this part of the tour (again, not with us..)It probably isn’t appropriate to post photos on here though.
As we made it to Seattle, we had a great spot on a morning radio show there. We performed acoustic versions of Dance Hall Days and Rent Free, and hope you Washington folks got the chance to hear us. For those of you that didn’t here is the link.
We had our first proper day off in Seattle, so we nipped over to the Experience Music Project. The project was founded by Paul Allen, one of the creators of Microsoft, and the fantastic architecture - and it really is fantastic - was designed by Frank Gehry. You can see a picture of a small part of it on the left.
Originally set up to celebrate the life and work of Jimi Hendrix, (His brother, Leon, actually came to our show the last time we played here and professed to being a fan of ours). It now houses a Science Fiction Museum with a collection of stuff, ranging from Science Fiction books, Star Trek costumes, the original model of the Death Star from Star Wars - a collection of ray guns.
It of course also has a considerable collection of Rock ‘n‘ Roll artifacts, including a historic guitar collection unrivalled anywhere in the world, Hendrix’s Isle of Wight costume, a couple of “sacrificed” guitars and the legendary white Strat he played at Woodstock, plus all sorts of other stuff and a definitive archive of Hendrix’s recordings and writings. In fact, one of the rare guitar exhibits was the exact same model of Steinberger bass as Nick’s. The people there were very nice and we want to thank Neil for taking 2 hours out of his day to show us around. If you are ever in Seattle EMP is a must see.
Check out some of the things we saw right here - we especially loved the instrument fountain!
To top it all off nicely we had the joys of getting A NEW BUS which was handy considering the monster 3 DAY journey ahead of us from Seattle to Oshkosh! We just prayed this bus would work!
Anyway, stay tuned for some more tales from the road. Hope you enjoyed the shows!
J & N x
July 21, 2010 at 11:32am
Our first UK show since 1993 has just been announced!
We are incredibly pleased to announce that we will be making our live return to the UK in Canterbury on Saturday 31st July for a very worthy cause.
BOOK UP TO ENSURE YOUR PLACE AS TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST! Ticket Price: £10 Box Office at Orange Street: 01227 760 801 All proceeds go to The Teenage Cancer Trust (Registered Charity 1062559)
The organisation of this event was prompted by the diagnoses of extremely talented local Canterbury musician Jacob Barnes with leukaemia. All funds raised will go directly to the Teenage Cancer Trust and towards a purpose built wing for treating young cancer patients at the Royal Marsden Hospital where Jacob is being treated.
Welcome to our brand new website, now with updated links to all things Wang Chung.
Most importantly for you all to know is that our EP package is out TODAY! Simply click on the ‘Shop’ tab to find a variety of different packages!
We’re also due to start our US tour on 10th June in San Diego, so make sure you click on that Live tab as well so you know exactly where you can catch us live!
We’re so excited to present this all to you! Enjoy!
WC x
March 31, 2010 at 10:04am
Abducted By The 80’s
I was Abducted By The 80’s
I never saw them coming.
I was on my way home one night
At about three in the morning,
Minding my own business
When BAM! Without warning
I was being catapulted from scene to scene,
To the music from The A-Team
Dressed for all the world like a new romantic
Feeling a bit sad and starting to look it,
With some pointy shiny shoes,
And a Mel Gibson mullet.
I Was Abducted By The 80’s.
Wang Chung have been abducted, as you can probably tell. To join them on this first step of their adventure, the band have set up a portal for you to follow their experience in this newfound musical universe.
Already legendary for their name alone, the band are intending to embrace this new cosmic trip with a series of free downloads, starting with the aforementioned soundtrack to Rob Gee’s poem ‘Abducted By The 80’s’, which is available for free download from www.wangchung.com.
Working in tandem with this new material, Wang Chung will also be releasing new versions of their greatest hits, including ‘Dance Hall Days’, ‘Everybody Have Fun Tonight’ and ‘Let’s Go!’. These will work in tandem with the upcoming releases as one, grand souvenir package.
Their cosmic adventure began with their featured role in the Regeneration Tour arranged by the band ABC in 2009. Since then, Nick Feldman and Jack Hues have been working and sculpturing their new material, culminating in this new series of songs.
The band will also be touring the US during June and July to support this combination of old and new where their beloved fans will have more than just music as a memento from their sonic quest.
I Was Abducted By The 80’s
I Never Saw Them Coming
And whether we die of AIDS or salmonella,
Or simply hit the deck like Tommy Cooper;
Fall in love, get nuked from above,
Or slowly choke to death on the grease from the hair of Brian Ferry,
So on our way to Detroit, Nick and Paul had decided they would be at their football-loving best and get up early to watch the England-Germany game. We hope it’s safe to say that all know the outcome of that one (especially from the last diary entry) – with only mutterings of ‘Should’ve stayed in bed’ coming out of the guys by the end of the game…
rejuvenated, so we felt a kind of spiritual home thing there! Nick got the chance to wander around and catch a great local jazz band playing outside one of the squares (after the football again, that is..), whilst Jack went off to the Andy Warhol (Nick shortly followed). 
So, we’re now on our way to Oshkosh in our brand new bus.
BUT, it wasn’t all as plain sailing as that opening gambit may seem… 
We had our first proper day off in Seattle, so we nipped over to the Experience Music Project. The project was founded by Paul Allen, one of the creators of Microsoft, and the fantastic architecture - and it really is fantastic - was designed by Frank Gehry. You can see a picture of a small part of it on the left. 
