Plini Shares 5 Of His Wildest & Most Wholesome Tour Memories

Australia’s own guitar wizard Plini is about to bring the live spectacle home, returning this August for a national headline run in support of his new album An Unnameable Desire.

The tour will see Plini unleash his biggest production yet across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, joined by UK math-rock favourites Delta Sleep, rising local alt-metal enigma Cenobia on select dates and Sydney newcomers Nightdive. But after years spent criss-crossing the globe, sharing stages with everyone from Sleep Token and Periphery to Animals As Leaders and TesseracT, it turns out some of Plini’s most treasured touring memories have very little to do with actually playing music. Ahead of his Aussie homecoming, we asked the prog virtuoso to rewind through five of his fave adventures from the road – involving an ill-fated dice game for Protest The Hero, an Irish publican abandoning her own bar, an accidental Amsterdam techno bender, some extremely serious coffee-nerding and fireworks beneath the Arizona stars.

Plini – ‘Vespertine’

1. Cleaning Out Protest The Hero At The Gov

Plini: “This is the Australia one. So, a few years ago had Protest The Hero come on tour and they are lovely Canadians who are very fond of a dice game, which I’ve forgotten the name of, but it’s just a casual play amongst friends gambling for cash dice game. I’ve forgot what it’s called. We were in Adelaide at The Gov just sitting outside in the courtyard sort of area and they were playing and I was like, “All right, I’ll get in on this.” And in basically one round, I cleaned them out of all their buyouts for the entire tour and there were just cheers guys and walked off.”

2. Closing The Pub For A Plini Show

Plini: “Another one we were playing in Florida, I think in Fort Lauderdale, but it might’ve been Jacksonville. It was kind of not super central in the city venue, but just a suburban venue, I guess. And I went to meet my lighting guy at an Irish pub, basically across the road before the show. And there was this really funny Irish chick working there. I guess it was her bar. And she was kind of complaining to us, “Where the fuck is everyone? It’s Friday night. They’ve all gone to some fucking show or something.” And I was like, “Oh, that’s my show that’s across the road.” And then we were just chatting and then it was like, “All right, it’s time to go play the show.” And she was like, “Oh, fuck this. ” And then just closed the bar and came with us and just watched the whole set with my lighting guy and then finished, went back, reopened the bar. And then I guess everyone from the gig went and gave her pieces.”

3. When A Surprise Visit Became A 3AM Techno Party

Plini: “Recently, the second last show of the European Tour in Harlem, which is kind of near Amsterdam in the Netherlands. My very good friend Raul, who booked my first Australian tour and used to live in Sydney, flew in as a surprise so mid-soundcheck and our sound guy was like, “You have a visitor.” And then we were all like, “Ah God.” It was really exciting. And then Harlem’s a really cute town/city too, so we finished soundcheck. And even before Raul had come the morning, we were just walking around drinking coffee and eating pastries and our whole crew was sort of out doing the same thing but without planning it. So I’d get a coffee and run into so – and-so. It was a really fun, easy day. And then a really sick show. Oh, and the promoter, Tom, who is a legend, the venue turned into a techno club night, but we were meant to leave at one because the bus power was going to be turned off.

And so, I’m in the techno club with Raul and Tom and some others at 12:59. And I just said to Tom, “Can you just not turn the power off?” And he was like, “Yes, you’re staying till three.” Yeah, the entire day was just good vibes from everyone. It was like, let’s have fun. It was nice.”

4. Nine Metalheads Walk Into A Seven-Seat Coffee Shop…

Plini: “Another recent one. We’re in Stockholm and I had gone before the tour, and I went to this cafe that I was recommended where the insane barista was obviously Australian. And I had the best coffee of my life, went back a couple of days later, had to steal somehow the best coffee of my life. And then because

“My band and crew are coffee people, it was like, when we’re in Stockholm, we’re going to this place. And I didn’t realize that they… It’s not really a cafe; it’s just you go in and have an experience sort of thing. And I didn’t realize that they only had seven seats or whatever. So this group of, I guess, nine people in black death metal hoodies and shit just descend on the place. And the guy that I had met, the Aussie guy wasn’t working that day. It was a younger barista and she was like, “I can’t do this. ” Because we were too many people and it’s usually 30 minutes at least of chatting. And we were like, “Oh no, we’re fine. Take your time.” And eventually we completely befriended her and just spent probably two hours in this place drinking insanely sick coffee and getting just coffee nerdy and then just I guess vibrated back to the venue.”

5. A 2AM Fireworks Detour In The Arizona Desert

Plini: “And then final one, I guess we’d probably just played in Arizona, and we would’ve been driving to California. And my driver for that tour, whose name is Desty, which is already a good sign, is an Arizona guy. And he was like, “I’m surprised for you boys.” And so, it’s like after the show, it’s probably 1:00 or 2:00 AM driving into the middle of nowhere in Arizona just stops on a random dirt road and then produces a box of fireworks. And it’s the clearest night sky you’ve ever seen. You can see the Milky Way and then we’re just ripping fireworks into the sky. Yeah, it was just surreal and beautiful.”