Jay Darlington of Brit-rockers Kula Shaker told us about his Stone Roses experience.
Jay Darlington: Seeing the Stone Roses supported by The Ullulators at the Tonbridge Angel Centre in the late '80s. That was a great night for me and my close mates. We had all taken a tonne of acid so it was going to be a great night anyhow. We thought we would check out this new band from Manchester. Both bands were amazing.
The Roses melodies were something else. More hooks than you could shake a stick at. 1960s jangle guitars, great tunes and great grooves. I was blown away. They actually restored my interest in modern guitar music and so I bought their record. Many years later I shared a taxi with Mani, now that's a long story in itself! Ha. I mentioned the two reasons Kula Shaker wanted to work with producer John Leckie were the Dukes of Stratosphere and the Stone Roses records. He laughed and said they wanted to work with John Leckie because of the Dukes of Stratosphere record. That made me smile.
Other notable mind-blowing gigs for me: The Cramps, The Butthole Surfers, Brian Auger. Meeting Captain Sensible from the Damned and watching the Electric Prunes at the Canterbury Sound Festival. Gong. Kevin Ayers. Arthur Brown. Jimmy Smith. Damo Suziki with Jackie Leibezeit and Micheal Karoli at the Kozmishe Club. Rocky Erikson. Good grief the list goes on. I'm gonna have stop now before this short article becomes a rambling book! I do feel blessed to have been at so many great gigs. What a jolly life.
Kula Shaker will spend much of September and October on tour through the U.S. with The Dandy Warhols. See below for dates.
Photo by Dutch Doscher
Kula Shaker and Dandy Warhols co-headline tour:
* indicates Kula Shaker only / ^ indicates Dandy Warhols only
Sept 16 - Chicago, IL @ Metro *
Sept 18 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House *
Sept 19 - Montreal, QC @ Le Studio TD *
Sept 21 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall *
Sept 22 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza *
Sep 22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall ^
Sep 23 - Denver, CO @ Washington's Foco ^
Sep 25 - Dallas, TX @ Longhorn Ballroom
Sep 26 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk (Levitation 2025)
Sep 27 - Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater
Sep 29 - Santa Fe, NM @ The Bridge
Sep 30 - Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee
Oct. 2 - Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory OC
Oct. 3 - San Diego, CA @ Humphrey's
Oct. 4 - Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet's
Oct. 6 - Los Angeles, CA @ Bellwether
Oct. 8 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
