15/07/98 - Bottom of the hill. San Francisco, CA.

We are staying at the Phoenix hotel. It's the famous band hotel in San Francisco. The maid carts are all covered in band stickers, the decor is ultra 50s. This place looks like the Jettsons designed it, or David Hockney. The rooms all have bamboo xylophones for some reason and the pool looks like the pool from his famous 'splash' painting. 'Totally rad dude.'

The gig is punk. The support are a local band called 'The Sick' the guitarist wears a bowler hat and the bass player has tattoos all over his neck. I like them. The PA is minuscule tonight and we just have a laugh and jump around. I like the crowd in San Francisco. I guess having bands like the Dead Kennedys in their midst makes the crowd receptive to freaks like us.

After the show I'm talking to a few fans and a man comes up to me to say hello and tell me we played a good set. I thank him, shake him by the hand and turn back around to my other conversation. DOUBLE TAKE! Who is it who's just said hello and shook me by the hand? . . . Jello Biafra. The singer from the Dead Kennedys just came to tell me he liked the gig. Let me just say that again for those of you out there that missed that. JELLO BIAFRA CAME DOWN TO SEE PITCHSHIFTER PLAY. Fucking hell. I have every Dead Kennedys record. We all do. I love that band. It means so much to me to have him come to a Pitchshifter show. Jello wants to meet the rest of the boys and so I take him to the bus. Their jaws drop as I stroll on with Jello Biafra. We know everything about the Dead Kennedys. We take photos of Jello and us and get him to sign our DK's CDs. This is heaven. The man is one of the most brilliant lyricists. Next to him I am a telentless charlatan. In my dreams I write lyrics as good as his. As Jello has to leave I bid him farewell and walk him off the bus.

"Well Jon, it's been a pleasure. Keep in touch and if you still want me to do any singing or spoken stuff on your next album then gimme a call, here's my phone number."

If you would have come up to me and told me nine years ago when I first started playing that Jello Biafra would be at one of our gigs, tell me he'd think about singing on one of our tunes and give his phone number, I would have died laughing. But here I am and here he is and it's happening.

It's a mad world.