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North American Tour.
01/08/25. Chris Buck
Our first ever North American tour starts this month. Even though it feels as though everything’s been building up to this moment for the last year or so, it’s still so utterly surreal to actually say that. For context, it was only a few years back that we were playing weddings, even after Tell Me How It Feels was released. It was only a few years back that that we were playing pubs, bumping belligerent punters out of the way so we could cart a bass drum across a crowded dance floor to bash out some covers for a disinterested crowd for a few hundred quid. It was only a few years back that I was pinning posters of Slash, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain on my bedroom wall, pumping out power chords in front of the mirror and dreaming of the land of milk and honey…and rock n’ roll. And now our North American tour is about to start. This month. And most of it is Sold Out.
Rehearsals are done, bags are packed, Visas granted and I’ve corralled every pair of socks that I own and stuffed them into my guitar case. I’ve secreted an AirTag in just about all of my worldly possessions and I’m now sat in my favourite coffee shop soaking in a few brief moments of calm and composure before the fever and frenzy of a month-long tour that will take in virtually an entire continent across 13 cities over 5700 miles of driving. In a minibus. Like a strange school trip but without the compulsory stop at Techniquest (a niche reference, I grant you unless you went to school in the South Wales Valleys…) and less pocket money to spend.
I spend most of my life in coffee shops. It’s the unspoken reality of being a musician in the 21st Century that it’s about 10% playing and 90% admin - emails, design, content creation, logistics, marketing, strategising etc etc. Scintillating stuff, I know but entirely necessary and the work that goes into a tour of this size, even with the backing of a label and booking agency is pretty intense to say the least. And most of it gets done in coffee shops. Even with headphones in - in my case, invariably listening to a podcast about the Titanic, WWII, politics or most recently, the Great Fire of London. Did you know that only 11 people are said to have died?! Although it’s estimated that temperatures reached over 1700 degrees so there’s a fair chance some people were atomised… - there’s something strangely soothing in plodding through a never-ending list of things-to-do while life happens around you. Snatches of conversation, reunions, business meetings and first dates; the customary cacophony of a good coffee shop in full flow. There’s nothing like it.
Looking at the schedule for the next month and the travel days involved, I’m not sure how much time we’ll have to take in the best beans that North America has to offer but even if it’s more Tim Hortons than tasting notes and more machine-made Mochas than single-origin shots, we’ll be sure to keep you posted on the tumult, trials and tribulations of a band tackling their first North American tour. Which starts this month. Not sure if I mentioned that?
Vibe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Coffee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Little Man Coffee Co.
Little Man Coffee Co. Swansea. 01/07/25. Adam Roberts.
I’m in Swansea. That means not only will I regurgitate quotes from Twin Town like it’s going out of fashion, but I also drop into those badass coffee experts on Wind Street, ‘Little Man Coffee Co’. But you knew that, right? To add some sobering context to my visit, recent financial hardship impacting the Welsh high street hit Little Man hard, forcing them to close the doors of their Cardiff cafe for good last year.
I was gutted. It was one of my favourite joints in the Welsh Capital. A coffee staple for 11 years, not only was it a sublime coffee shop, but it was something of a creative hub, displaying the works of numerous local artists on it’s walls, serving as a meeting spot for community groups, charities and activity organisations. It really did serve the local community in so many more ways than just hot drinks.
As saddened as I was to hear of it’s closure, it was a relief to hear the Swansea shop remains and is flourishing today in the uber cool ‘Founders & Co’ on Wind Street- a collaborative space that serves up great street food, a cracking bar, and coffee excellence. The Little Man Coffee mission statement is one to remember - “A haven for the underdog and a springboard for the fearless”! *Chef’s kiss*. My visit today served up a small yet stiff black Americano. My kinda vibe. A soundtrack of Joni Mitchell accompanies a tasty carrot cake, taking the edge off a long, traffic ridden drive down.
I love Swansea, from caravan holidays as a kid on the beautiful beaches of Gower, to student nights in the trashy Time and Envy nightclub. I’ve always had a fairly close affinity with the place, as much as the city centre may not to be to everyone’s taste nowadays, the surrounding coastal areas of Mumbles, Langland Bay and Caswell Bay really should be experienced. But it’s in the town where you’ll find the soul of the ‘Swansea Jack’. Dylan Thomas put it better than anyone ever could, calling it an “ugly lovely town”, which, was later embellished by Terry Walsh in 1996 - “I’d call it…a pretty shitty city”, but maybe Dylan Thomas didn’t do as much cocaine as old Terry!
From a working class angle, the city has fucking everything, giving birth to a stellar list of famous people. Catherine Zeta Jones, Ian Hislop, Bonnie Tyler, Rob Brydon. The list goes on, including my old man’s favourite drummer - one Terry Williams of Dire Straits. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that drum intro from Money For Nothing. Class though! The town, like so many in Wales has succumbed to the pressures of the British high street of late so is in some ways a bit of a shell of it’s former self, but it’s still got that edgy valleys charm that made Twin Town such a cult phenomenon in the 90s. The attitude and rebellious swag remains. Some of the old boozers and dive bars have survived, the kind of which you see close down on a weekly basis in other towns. It’s been through the mill over the last 30 years, and the closure of the nearby Steel Works at Port Talbot has been another dagger into the unwavering, rebellious Jack heart. To quote that famous Swansea film one last time, “The way of the transgressor is fuckin’ ard”.
I’m in town today visiting my Nephew Cam, who lives in Mumbles, a beautiful sea front town on the outskirts of Swansea. He’s just returned from his first Glastonbury, so I’m preparing myself for the kind of stories you don’t really want to hear from a young Nephew. I’m also taking advantage of some down time to start the research into Cardinal Coffee Club in North America. Being the founding member and Chairman of the Coffee Club, I take my role very seriously, and scoping out the best coffee spots on the road is a very important responsibility. Knowing what’s on the doorstep of our digs, the gig venue and in general across the town, is vital to avoiding both indecision and bad coffee! In short, I’d like to think the band doesn’t survive without it. I also believe that without trying the best coffee, I haven’t truly understood what a town has to offer. Capiche?
Thank you Abertawe!
Vibe ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Coffee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Troubadour. The O.G
The Troubadour, Earl’s Court. 08/07/25. Tom Hollister.
It’s a hot one! The U.K is currently in the middle of a heatwave and the air in the back of our gracefully-aging splitter van is rich with regret. Regret that we didn’t op for the air conditioning package. It’s not often that the best coffee around is the venue itself but today, that’s very much the case. So, our journey, dear listener, will start and end within the four walls of this musically-hallowed ground. Let’s get the load-in done and grab a cup…
We’re here for our second warm up show for the North American tour. When searching for a London venue, we picked the Troubadour, in the first instance, because of its obvious similarities to its LA namesake - a feature on the North American Tour - but there’s also a much deeper for us with this venue.
In a different life, we used to play this beautiful little club pretty regularly and for a while, it became our creative London home. Long black ordered, I head outside to the courtyard garden to seek relief from the heat in the dappled shade. Sitting alone among the beautiful melody of competing languages from the other tables, I quietly consider the changes since we last played there some 12 years ago. The most obvious difference is the layout of the the live room downstairs. Covid played an instrumental role in reducing the size of the downstairs by a third but cleverly, a complete redesign means the capacity for gigs hasn’t been affected.
The room change has apparently returned it to its original layout and now I’m about to sing in the exact spot where Jimi Hendrix used to play. That’s pretty fucking cool! The redesign also gave the current owners better chance to pay homage to the Troubadour’s incredible history with its saintly-themed wall of fame. From Jim Morrison to Freddie Mercury who used to live close by and pop in on occasion for a brew, the wall shows off a gathering of legends with Troubadour connections.
Opening its doors in 1954, it quickly established itself as one of the city’s most iconic coffee houses and live music venues. With its ground floor based on the Parisian cafe culture that was sweeping across the English Channel, downstairs was a trailblazing venue that found itself at the centre of the burgeoning folk scene in London. Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell all owe their success in some part to The Troubadour. It was the after party hangout for Led Zeppelin after Earl’s Court performances and more recently has seen the likes of Adele, Ed Sheeran and even guitar phenom Chris Buck…wow!
That post-war creative renaissance feel has never left. Among the Starbucks and McDonald’s that otherwise blight the city, you walk through the doors of The Troubadour and you’re immediately transported to another place and time. You can understand then, why Doug Weston was inspired to open the Troubadour in LA after a visit to the original in London. That sense of creative freedom, unbound by the trappings of commercially-focused music has been at the heart of both venues for over 60 years.
Although its LA brother has become the more globally-famous, we’d be fools for dismissing one of the most important music venues still around today.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Troubadour. The O.G.
Vibe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Coffee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Arcadia Coffee, Newport
03.07.25. LePub, Newport. Tom Hollister.
Newport’s a shit hole. And I say that as someone with a deep-rooted affection for it. It’s my home city and I spent most of my formative days falling out of Zanzibar, watching bands in TJ’s and rubbing shoulders in Rodney Parade. But it’s true to say that of late, Newport has faced troubled times. The almost-constant development of its bigger sister, Cardiff, has sucked budget and, somewhat inevitably, footfall from the once-endearingly scrappy city. The reopening of the Valley trainline from Ebbw Vale in 2008 brought great hope to Newport with an almost straight line between the two points, promising an invigorating flow of new bodies to the city. But, alas, the train line bypassed Newport straight to Cardiff, cruelly tapping the nail deeper into its coffin. Discount stores quickly replaced nationally-recognised brands and the zombie-like proliferation of vape emporiums choked the remainder of the once-thriving Commercial Street.
We’re here to play a warmup show for our North American Tour in one of the only live music (especially original music) venues left, LePub. Its legacy as a taste maker for new music is etched into the fabric of Newport and despite a location change in 2017, it’s managed to ride the city’s downturn and continues to provide locals with the best new music from Wales and the UK. Long live LePub!
I’ve gone off quietly to grab a coffee on my own. About 500 yards away from the venue on the corner of Newport Arcade is Arcadia Coffee (get it?!). It’s hard at times to close yourself off to the sights and sounds of the High Street but Arcadia Coffee manages to do it perfectly. The decor I quirky - think gothic meets Alice in Wonderland - but the mixture of wingback leather chairs, rich colours and dark wood textures make me want to pop a bit of John Martyn on the headphones and forget about the world for an hour. Everything is local, from the cakes and the furniture, to the local acts they have playing regular open mic nights. It really is a great little coffee house and the sense of community is abundant.
You can still find that community spirit in Newport if you look hard enough. That end of town features the newly-renovated Newport Market, hosting a selection of independent restaurants and businesses and it seems to be bustling. It’s just the High Street that’s struggling and it makes you wonder why Newport doesn’t try what Bristol has done with areas in the city and make the High Street financially-inviting to small, independent traders that would love and care for the city in the way it deserves.
Next time you’re in Newport, stop for a second and look up. You’ll see beautiful architecture and traces of its storied history. You’ll see bullet holes from muskets fired in the Chartist’s Rising in 1839. You’ll see culture - culture born of a city that attracted music giants like Oasis and Green Day, a city that saw Kurt Kobain propose to Courtney Love. A city that has played host to golfing royalty with The Ryder Cup and political titans with the G7 convention.
Newport boasts a rich tapestry of history shaped by resilience, innovation and community spirit. From its origins as a medieval port to it pivotal role in the Industrial Revolution, Newport has long been a gateway to progress. It’s a city forged on the backs of people fighting for democracy and human rights, a legacy of courage that still echoes today in the tired, but not beaten locals.
Once driven by coal and steel, Newport is searching for its beating heart once again. Its story is one of enduring strength - it can once again become a beacon of Welsh pride and possibility.
Where - Arcadia Coffee House, Newport Arcade. NP20 1GF
Vibe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Coffee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Darby and Tom
Hello, Tom here. We’re in London visiting the US Embassy - always a treat. As tour manager for the band, it falls on me to ensure we follow the proper procedures, and where international travel is concerned, there’s no room for error. I find these moments pretty anxiety-inducing at the best of times - did I bring the correct documents? Is that actually MY passport in my pocket or has my late Aunty Dorris’ somehow snuck in there by mistake? The heat, coupled with heightened security measures at the embassy, means the sweat is flowing so freely, I could bottle it. Come to think of it, if Cardinal Coffee Club doesn’t have legs, that could be our next venture. Food for thought.
Success! Visa’s approved! Brace yourself America, we’re coming for you!
It’s relatively slim-pickings in the immediate area surrounding the embassy; chain restaurants flood the ground floors of new-build developments, and with our parking close to expiry, we don’t have the time to make it to New Covent Garden Market. With low expectations, we take a short stroll to the end of the street, and there, with the beckoning power of a brothel to an old drunk, we find Darby’s. Or more specifically, Darby’s Next Door. The little sister to the restaurant that shares the same building, Darby’s Next Door is an independent, New York-themed bakery/breakfast spot serving bagels, pastries and some lunch time offerings too. There’s an obvious attraction to Darby’s; the small room is dressed immaculately, with only the stark newness of the building itself letting down the New York aesthetic. It’s a turn-of-the-century, red brick building away from a 5 stars for vibe. The staff are welcoming to obvious first-timers and despite the constant flow of new patrons, very attentive.
More than ready to eat, I'm wondering if the filled bagels are satisfaction enough or if they might undermine all the hard work I’ve been putting in lately to bulk up. I’ve heard the portion sizes are small in the US so I’m calorie loading now. Always be prepared… The answer is obvious, I need a pre-bagel morsel, a soupçon, something to get my jaw muscles prepped for the main event. Like an assassin of starvation, I prey on my next victim. Our eyes lock from across the room. Perhaps it's the excitement of my first breakfast of the day, perhaps the unseasonable London heat has made me ravenous. Either way, it's love at first sight. A tray of freshly baked croissants the size of a mid-threat puffer fish is carried past our table, head height. The waitress knows what’s she’s doing, the wafting scent of this pastry-based upsell has worked immediately.
Well, it was incredible. I’m a man of simple pleasures, I like my croissants plain, as the French kitchen gods intended. Keep your desiccated strawberry this and earl grey-infused that. BUTTERY SALTY GOODNESS is all I need (upon review, I realise my last statement sounds somewhat sexual in nature. Get your minds out of the gutter, dear reader, I’m strictly talking pastry here).
Now then, coffee. These days, I take my coffee black. At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking this is boring - of course, you would be wrong - but I’ll forgive you. It’s definitely an acquired taste, I’ll admit that, but it’s something that you grow into. Like the transition from drinking lager as a child to Guinness as an adult. When you do finally reach black coffee maturity however, the rewards are obvious and immediate. Black coffee is a pure, unadulterated expression of the bean—bold, rich, and quietly complex. Its deep aroma hints at earthy origins, while each sip reveals layers of bitterness, subtle sweetness, and smoky warmth. Stripped of distractions, black coffee is both a ritual and a revelation, awakening the senses with its elegant simplicity.
It stays fucking boiling hot for ages though… so watch out for that.
Where - Darby’s. 3 Viaduct Gardens, London. SW11 7AY
Coffee - ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
Vibe - ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bean & Bread
Hello hello - Adam here, founder of Cardinal Coffee Club and long time coffee enthusiast. Like the proverbial hipster, I burnt my tongue as I drank coffee before it was cool! All joking aside, I’m just a keen coffee bean and love a bit of cafe culture (the more pretentious the better, might I add). What I will say is that I’m a little more old school and usually enjoy a simple black Americano or Espresso. Syrups and flavourings aren’t really my jam - they just hide the taste of the coffee. Am I wrong?!
My first edition of C.C.C is a local one, at the super chilled Bean & Bread in Rogerstone. As a Rodgie resident, I probably spend a bit too much time (and money) in this place, but it’s just too damn tempting at times. Plus, the guys working here are great craic and always have a pup cup ready for Juno - we’re hooked!
So, it’s Sunday morning, I’ve been out for a run and I’m thirsty for it! Me and Juno get caught in the rain en route so arrive like a couple of wet dogs (great start). As it’s a Sunday morning, the place is pretty full but we manage to grab a high table next to another dog fam. Cue the usual dog related chat and swooning. Things are on the up!
It’s great service as ever as the Americano and Pup Cup is over within minutes. Nice to see young Max today, who’s a part time Barista and full time rockstar in his band ’New Gale’ - check them out. He also just informed me he bought a neon orange copy of Midnight at The Valencia, so is a proper gentleman. The decor in this place is as chilled as the atmosphere - stripped beams across the ceiling, lime washed walls and enough house plants to fill a greenhouse. Vibes in abundance. Plus it’s always nice to see a La Marzocco machine in full view too!
The coffee is as good as ever, the beans in the hopper today are ’San Fermin’ by Origin. These guys apply “sustainable and organic practices through innovation and climate resilience”. Which is just up my alley. The beans are Colombian (one of me favourites) and the notes we’re getting are dried apricot, orange and almond - oooff! The display of cakey goodness catches the eye too, so I of course give in to the temptation and grab a Biscoff Cake, plant based too which is always good. I’d better go for another run…!
All in all a strong visit. Bean and Bread never disappoints, and I thoroughly recommend you (and your dogs) drop in for a cup.
Ciao, with love,
Adam x
Scores on the doors
Where - Bean & Bread, Rogerstone, South Wales
Coffee - ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
Vibe - ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️
People - ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️