“God do I have some ugly faces…” said Riz, flicking through our photos from their set last year at Reading festival. On that note, we bring you some more photographs of Riz, Static, and Ransom – from their UK tour dates last December with Mark Lanegan. Check out our tour photo special! The set list for their UK dates included the following songs from their debut album (out now): Peave Love & Toxic, Drops Of Miracles, Fly, Hitches, Running Dry, Don’t Wake Me, and Giving Thrills. The band decide the set list just before they go onstage each night, so it can change from night to night depending on what they feel like playing. How were the shows? Read on.. GLASGOW – The band are excited to be back in the UK, albeit struggling a little to understand the Scottish accents. Having only arrived the night before in London, it was a long drive up to Glasgow overnight in order to arrive in good time to set up for the show. The band tried to take a nap on the way up, but that’s not easy in a minivan crammed to the ceiling with everything imaginable for a tour. Riz has even brought his Union Jack belt buckle with him, which he duly poses for a photo with in Manchester, complete with a Gawd Save The Queen sign he made himself (check out that photo in the tour photo special). The show goes great, and the Glaswegians get to see firsthand just how many drumsticks Ransom breaks each set. “They just snap”, he shrugs. MANCHESTER – One band member divulges that much hilarity ensued enroute from Glasgow when Ransom got a little confused and thought Manchester was actually London, and referred to suburbs, before defensively declaring “well, they’re really close aren’t they?!” Anyway, after a fantastic show, in which Static nearly managed to lose his only pair of infamous goggles to a fan and Ransom let fly some more snapped drumsticks, the band retired to that fabulous hearse-owning club known as the Rock Kitchen (whose hospitality knows no bounds). In fact the band thought the club was so great, they all want to come back and play an intimate club show there! It’s a nice opportunity to hang out with the band, to get to know them a little. I learn that Riz doesn’t drink, Static loves red wine, and that Ransom “can hold his own”. Static has some truly awful jokes about kangeroos and virgins… We discuss the venues the band are playing this tour, how it is going so far, and Riz talks about his ambitions to play Wembley Arena, exclaiming “you don’t believe me, do you? We will, we really will.” I assure him, when that day arrives, I’ll be down the front. Static has a new sticker on his bass ‘free the dogs, chain the humans’, plus a cartoon sketch of a chicken with a rather large penis (we didn’t ask) and has brought a photo of his dog Jack out on the road with him to remind him of home. Ransom is busy with a camera, taking some holiday snaps to remember the trip. The band already have some new songs written, and Riz tells me he has plans for the next couple of Anyone albums.. for it to get more and more pschedelic, so you have to take time to ‘get it’. A big fan of Floyd, he tells he wants to create an album as astounding as ‘The Wall’. The band even joke about about which Zeppelin or Bowie covers they could do. Not much else to report from Manchester, except to mention the flood… and those in the know will understand that. LONDON – In proper British fashion, the weather is freezing, and when I arrive at the venue early evening, I find Riz wrapped up like a eskimo in one of the largest coats you would find. He grins sheepishly, and says “hey, when it’s cold, you just gotta give in and be warm”. He’s right, so we bundle everyone off to a nearby Morrocan restaurant for food, where we end up hijacking the downstairs to hold an impromptu photo shoot because the decor was so amazing! The band spend the time before the show hanging out with the Roadrunner teamers, signing stuff and chatting. During the set, Ransom often calls out to the crowd, throwing sticks out etc. He tells me afterwards he loves being involved with the crowd, and being the drummer is cool, because he can watch everything that is happening, study the front row etc, and give some of the love back. The interaction between the 3 band members is quite something to see – they are such a tight knit group, when you see Riz ‘conducting’ Static and Ransom, it is almost as though you can sense some telepathic vibe. Static talks about how visual their music is and how “people can hear through what they see”. After the set, the band hang out in their increasingly smoke-filled dressing room, with some new friends. Static and I wander out to catch Mark Lanegan’s set. At the end of the night, the band go to stay with a friend in Bayswater for more debauchery, before heading up to Wolverhampton in the morning. WOLVERHAMPTON – On the way to find food before the show, we have to keep pausing to take photographs of local churches, the town Christmas tree and other such features. The band are all genuinely excited to be over here, and their enthusiam is nice to see. Although we find out that Static would like room service to be available everywhere he goes, and that when at home seafood-fan Riz eats super healthily, the band readily accept that when on tour “you just gotta eat whatever you can get your hands on”. Just as well, for we fell into an IKEA-decorated cafe with the slowest service in history. When we end up taking the food back to the venue, the band are so tired from the last 3 days of touring, it’s nap time in the dressing room for 30 minutes instead. After the show, Riz concernedly asks “you couldn’t tell I was really tired, could you?”, the late nights and early starts having taken their toll. Static spends some quality time teaching their driver Paul rude Swedish, and shows me pictures from their CD insert of the new tattoos he wants to get – a star, and a girl, both drawn by Riz. The band give me a lift in their bus back to the hotel we are all staying at that night. While checking in, Ransom digs out his camera again, and we pose for cheesy pictures with the fake plants in the lobby. After hanging out in one of the hotel rooms for some time, chatting and looking at tour manager Mick’s photos of the band, it’s a late finish to the night for everyone. The band are up and out of the hotel for 5:30am though, in order to drive back to London and catch a flight to Germany for 2 days of press. No rest for the wicked… It’s been a long time coming, but it is now confirmed, written in stone, painted on the wall…Anyone’s self titled debut has a street date in the U.S. On February 26th, Anyone’s music will be in stores. What more to say? Last year Street Beat, a part of NYRock.com, reviewed of load of unsigned, newly signed, and independent label bands. Sitting proud in their Top 10 choices of the year is Anyone. We quote, “Anyone rocks”. Need more clarification? Shouldn’t, but if so, you can check out their full review of Anyone’s work HERE. Of course, over here in Europe, it’s been out in the shops for a while you lucky people, so if you have it, go and play it loudly right now. And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?! Words on the UK tour from Mick… “The only word that I can think to describe the tour is Euphoric. Only our second trip to the UK and we were received by an overwhelming barrage of applause after each and every song at every single show. Night after night energy was transferred between the band and audience over and over again until it exploded outward with Thrills. You could see spasms of electricity emanating from fans minds as the bands finale convulsed. We can’t wait to experience the trip again.” Ransom first met Static when he bumped into him backstage at a Korn gig. Being a big fan of Anyone, (although never having seen them live), when he saw Riz wander off from chatting to Static he had to go talk to Static and say what a great band he thought Anyone was. Apparently Static found this all kinda funny and kept quiet about being the bassist until Riz returned! It’s true.