In 2014 Thomas George aka The Lion and The Wolf quit his job and hit the road to pursue a career as a full-time musician. It was a gamble that paid off as he played over 100 shows last year and topped it off with the release of his acclaimed ‘Symptoms’’ LP
2015 is going to be no different for Thomas as this month he heads out on a lengthy UK tour, and he’s been kind enough to document it all especially for Already Heard.
Armed with just his guitar, a backpack and a case of merchandise, Thomas is living the DIY life to the fullest. In the first part of The Lion and The Wolf’s “Tour Tales” feature, Thomas leaves his Isle of Wight base to begin 3 weeks of travelling, playing shows and connecting with longtime friends.
Janaury 31st: Nottingham House Show, Lenton
So today starts my longest UK tour to date, just over three weeks of travelling our fair isle courtesy of National Express and my National Railcard. I get the feeling my back is going to disown me by the end of this month, that and my shoulders. I’m still not used to carrying a backpack, guitar and merch case all at the same time. I’m now very familiar with heading down to Victoria coach station and beginning my tours from this point, National Express is superior in comfort compared to Megabus (just a hint).
My good friend Shanko (of excellent band Isaac) came to meet me at the station and we went for delicious coffee at Rough Trade Records where we bumped into about 15 people that he knew. It’s probably because he is so handsome. I think a general consensus of “being on tour” is drinking pints and pints then playing songs. In this particular case we had three rounds of delicious caffeine in the space over an hour stretch and were understandably buzzing for the next few hours. Sadly, that’s about as crazy as I get nowadays.
The show in Lenton was excellent. A large space (front room) with a PA, lots of people and somebody passing around Skittles during my set which I flagged them up on and shut down immediately as any kind of enjoyment during my songs is frowned upon. (I jest)
These kind of shows remind me of being much younger and watching ludicrously loud bands in similar environments. For a lot of people this was their first house show and I was pleased to be part of it.
To top off my evening. Shank and his lovely girlfriend Hannah introduced me to latest Disney epic, Frozen. I woke up with THAT song in my head.
February 1st: Chameleon Cafe, Nottingham
After somehow stamping out ‘Let It Go’ from my recent memory I was greeted by Shanko with a cup of “shit coffee” as he called it and an excellent chocolate brioche roll from Lidl. Absolutely delicious way to start a morning. The show today was a matinee and my experience with matinee shows isn’t that great as generally the ‘acoustic guy’ goes on first and plays to nobody. I said hello to Caves, Bad Ideas and Bangers and we all went for a surprisingly excellent spoons’ lunch. I was the “acoustic guy” on first but the room was really busy and it was excellent to see some old friends and have a tasty beer afterwards. Burritos followed and when we got back we watched Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, because why not.
February 3rd: Manchester Gullivers
I played in Manchester a lot last year, and the Northern Quarter is slowly becoming one of my favourite places to visit. The show was with TG Elias and as you can imagine I was furious to see he had stolen my initials. This was one of those shows were everybody who I saw soundcheck was absolutely fucking incredible and I think my gulp punctuated how much I still need to work at my craft and master what I’m doing. Before playing I visited ‘Go Falafel’ which was excellent and well worth a visit. The show was really solid and seeing people coming back from previous shows is always nice and restores confidence in what you do. My good friend Jez hosted me for two nights and when I left Manchester earlier it made me realise how many good people I know and for that I feel incredibly thankful.
The Lion and The Wolf is still on tour and you can see him on the following dates:
February
Fri 06 The Looking Glass, Leicester
Sat 07 Brook’s House, Bristol
Sun 08 Dave’s House, Plymouth
Tue 10 Cheese And Grain, Frome
Wed 11 Owl Sanctuary, Norwich
Thu 12 Rock and Blues, Barnsley
Fri 13 The Compass, Chester
Sat 14 Santiago Bar, Leeds
Sun 15 Birkby Manor, Huddersfield
Tue 17 Joiners, Southampton
Wed 18The Wine Bar, Ipswich
Fri 20 Phoenix, High Wycombe
Sat 21 Sticky Mikes Frog Bar, Brighton
Mon 23 Buskers Bar, Eastbourne
‘Symptoms’ by The Lion And The Wolf is out now on Courage and Stone Records.