In the packed, neo-Gothic Union Chapel in north London, Hugh Laurie sits onstage at a piano, introducing the solemn blues song Six Cold Feet in the Ground. His guitarist, Toronto’s Kevin Breit, starts laughing so hard at Laurie’s wisecracks that he screws up his prelude to the tune—twice.
Thirty-eight years ago this month, the members of the Flower Travellin’ Band moved from Tokyo to Toronto, poised to take on the world. A little over a year later, they returned to Japan, broke and somewhat disillusioned. But from the Land of the Rising Sun to the land of the ice and snow, rock ‘n’ roll dreams die hard, and now, FTB have returned to take care of some long-unfinished business.
Inkstain collects articles by Mike Doherty. Some have been tampered with since they were first published.