how soon is now? || w. a rose [i/v]

ERIC III

IT'S CONFIRMED! TICKETS OPEN FOR MIND THE GAP'S NEXT TOUR "MAKING IT UP AS WE GO ALONG!"

BRITISH rock group Mind the Gap have confirmed that a twelve month tour will come after the release of their new album as yet untitled in October of this year. Dates are ranging from North America, Europe, Near East, Far East, Oceania and Brazil. The group have never toured outside of the US and Western Europe, with just about all taking place in the United Kingdom. Dates in Israel and Turkey, as well as Hong Kong and Singapore in Asia, create quite a studded line up for the British group.

There has currently been no confirmation on which band will support but it is suspected that it will be a selection of groups from the different continents chosen by the band members and manager, Dan Stevens. Little is currently known about the album set to be released, with no name or tracklists being released so far but there will be a debut performance for the first single at the September VMA's where they performed televised to a US audience for the first time last year.

Let's hope this time goes better without any punch ups between rockstars. 

// RIP Magazine, May 1990

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w. discussions of HIV/AIDS, domestic abuse, alcohol and drug abuse. 

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Eric scuffed his boots against the stone floor, the steel inlay of the toe dragging against the texture. The rubber sole was half worn out, pulling around the corners of the edges where they had been dragged across machinery and rough pavement, dulled down over and over again over the past five years.

It was truly a miracle they had survived as long as they had, the laces had been replaced three times after multiple snaps from misplaced feet, one time had been on stage. That had been a performance to remember, if not for the fact that Andy was recovering from tonsillitis and being circled by a caravan of assistants, a doctor and and a squawking Dan as her voice was still croaking just three hours before going on. Lemsip had been used to its most extreme.

They'd been half way through the set when he felt the cotton tape snap, the knots unravelling around his ankle until the leather was slipping off his foot as he smashed down into the pedals. He'd stay on time for the whole thing, even if the back of his ankle was being ripped up by the sliding leather that was hammered back to the floor on beat.

It had been a good performance though, the crowd electric and Andy managed to make her way through most of her croaks on her longer notes. She'd scowled for the rest of the night, slowly sipping her water with her lost voice.

The other time the laces had snapped had been a few years before that, long before sold out crowds, barely two months out of prison The cotton of his t-shirt so different to the itchy old polyester of the prison issued sweats that had somehow been two cold and too hot at the same time.

He'd had to run fast through the back door and he'd heard the sharp noise of losing the overlong lace on his right foot. He hadn't face planted though, right into either the gravel or the side of the brick building. Just another night of Andy yelling at him as he squirmed away from the antiseptic poured over his foot while watching Top of the Pops on his shitty static TV.

"Stop moving!"

"It hurts,"

"Shut up you big baby, I'm trying to help you!"

"Doesn't fucking feel like it!"

It was no wonder why she had so many supplies for cleaning wounds and patching them up. A large plastic tub that she carried in her left hands, the left handle had been glued back on multiple times, a large crack through the centre. Bandages bundled up in the corners and different plaster packs from Tesco shoved under three different antiseptic wipes, sprays and gels. No doubt used for her own injuries over the years, ready to fix torn skin and protect from any further bleeding.