Warriors of the Night Tourbook
William G Hartwell
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2010 William G Hartwell
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Inner cover image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Introduction
In digging through some of my old papers after moving to Laputa, I found a copy of the booklet we gave everyone who attended a concert on our Warriors of the Night tour in 1994. Unfortunately, the photos we used when we made the original have been lost, but the rest of it is here, in all its glory.
So, for all our fans out there, here's a little something to remind you of that tour. If you're living in a country (like America) where possession of this bit of memorabilia will get you thrown in prison (or, worse yet, disappeared), we'd like to invite you to join us in Laputa. If you aren't living in one of those countries, we'd still be happy to see you here. We love all our fans, no matter where you come from!
So, without further ado, here's our Warriors of the Night tourbook. Enjoy!
Alex Cooper
Tour Dates
April 25 . . . . . Madison, Wisconsin
April 26 . . . . . Minneapolis, Minnesota
April 28 . . . . . Denver, Colorado
April 30 . . . . . Las Vegas, Nevada
May 2. . . . . . . Los Angeles, California
May 3. . . . . . . San Francisco, California
May 5. . . . . . . Portland, Oregon
May 7. . . . . . . Seattle, Washington
May 9. . . . . . . Vancouver, British Columbia
May 11. . . . . . Anchorage, Alaska
May 14. . . . . . Sapporo, Japan
May 17. . . . . . Tokyo, Japan
May 19. . . . . . Osaka, Japan
May 21. . . . . . Fukuoka, Japan
May 25. . . . . . Honolulu, Hawaii
May 30. . . . . . Wellington, New Zealand
June 1. . . . . . . Melbourne, Australia
June 3. . . . . . . Sydney, Australia
June 6. . . . . . . Perth, Australia
June 9. . . . . . . Darwin, Australia
June 13 . . . . . . Manila, Philippines
June 15 . . . . . . Bangkok, Thailand
June 20 . . . . . . New Delhi, India
June 23 . . . . . . Mumbai, India
June 27 . . . . . . Tehran, American-Occupied Iran
June 29 . . . . . . Jerusalem, Israel
June 30 . . . . . . Tel Aviv, Israel
July 4. . . . . . . . Luxor, Egypt
July 7. . . . . . . . Cairo, Egypt
July 11. . . . . . . Alexandria, Egypt
July 13. . . . . . . Athens, Greece
July 15. . . . . . . Rome, Italy
July 18. . . . . . . Barcelona, Spain
July 20. . . . . . . Paris, France
July 22. . . . . . . Vienna, Austria
July 25. . . . . . . Munich, Germany
July 27. . . . . . . Copenhagen, Denmark
July 29. . . . . . . Stockholm, Sweden
August 1 . . . . . Oslo, Norway
August 3 . . . . . Edinburgh, Scotland
August 4 . . . . . Forbes Castle, Scotland
August 5 . . . . . London, England
August 8 . . . . . Belfast, Ireland
August 10 . . . . Dublin, Ireland
August 12 . . . . Reykjavik, Iceland
August 15 . . . . St. John's, Newfoundland
August 17 . . . . Montreal, Quebec
August 19 . . . . Ottawa, Ontario
August 22 . . . . Toronto, Ontario
August 24 . . . . Winnipeg, Manitoba
August 26 . . . . Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
August 29 . . . . Calgary, Alberta
August 31 . . . . Yellowknife, NWT
September 2. . . Whitehorse, Yukon
September 5. . . Boston, Massachusetts
September 7. . . New York, New York
September 9. . . Baltimore, Maryland
September 12. . Chapel Hill, North Carolina
September 15. . Atlanta, Georgia
September 17. . Miami, Florida
September 19. . New Orleans, Louisiana
September 21. . Austin, Texas
September 23. . St. Louis, Missouri
September 26. . Indianapolis, Indiana
September 28. . Columbus, Ohio
September 30. . Detroit, Michigan
October 3. . . . . Chicago, Illinois
October 5. . . . . Madison, Wisconsin
###
Whew! That was quite a tour! If not for the gang at Gold & Appel, we would have burned out before we reached Japan. As it was, we were ready to drop by the time we got home to Madison. Just looking at the list of venues brings back a lot of good memories - and a few bad ones, too. We made a lot of friends on this tour, picked up more fans than we could have ever imagined, and even got to meet some of our idols! Like the Japanese dates, for instance. Somehow, the guys surprised us by getting us scheduled to play with SILK! And in Australia, we got to play with this crazy bunch of guys that called themselves "Men at Work". Seriously! Too bad no one in America has ever heard of them. Their stuff was really good! If you make it to Laputa, you'll find their stuff in any music store. If you're still stuck in America, talk to whoever you bought this book from. They'll know how to get what you want.
Sparrowhawk is:
Alexandra (Alex) Cooper: . . . vocals, guitar, synthaxe, theremin
Crystal Summers:. . . . . . . . . . keyboards, vocals
Faith Cohen: . . . . . . . . . . . . . bass, vocals
Tiffany Simmons:. . . . . . . . . . percussion, vocals
Crew:
Lauren Jefferson:. . . . . . . . . . security
Mike Cooper: . . . . . . . . . . . . engineer, manager
Peter Jensen:. . . . . . . . . . . . . Gold & Appel Records
Notice how we didn't have stage crew and the like? This was our first big tour and we hadn't figured out yet what we were SUPPOSED to do, so we ran it like we did all our local gigs in Chicago and Madison. In other words, we paid anyone who showed up early enough to help us set up and tear down. Usually, they were happy with free albums, t-shirts, or autographed photos, but in a couple places (like Tehran) we'd throw in a meal and slip a little cash into the gewgaws where they wouldn't find it until we'd already left the country.
Of course, we STILL don't do it the way we're SUPPOSED to. Except now we have hoards and hoards of kittens, puppies, puppens, and hatchlings who come along and lend a hand. I've even seen the occasional brownie, gnome, and goblin working the cables and lights. Not that I'd say anything where they might hear it. Wouldn't want to upset them, after all.
Psychopomp
Words & Music: Alexandra Cooper
Whippoorwills fly in a blood red sky
The voice of a wounded heart's pain.
Whippoorwills fly in a blood red sky
Dear God, let their cry be in vain!
My heart is as bleak as the whippoorwill's cry
I've poisoned the well of your love.
My heart is as bleak as the whippoorwill's cry
As dead as the last mourning dove.
I cry to the stars to give me a sign
To purge all my guilt and my shame.
They answer me back with no word of reply
But the whippoorwill's crying again.
Whippoorwills fly in a blood red sky
The voice of a wounded heart's pain.
Whippoorwills fly in a blood red sky
This time, it isn't in vain.
###
A lot of people have asked me over the years about this song. It's not a good memory, but since writing this song was part of what helped me through the four years between Chicago and our first album, I think it's safe to write about now.
When the United States of America, Department of State Security butchered my family on May 9, 1990, I escaped only because we were doing a concert that night. That was the night Peter Jensen, of Gold & Appel Records, signed us to the contract we've happily renewed every chance we've had. But the problem here is that while I was at Peter's office, celebrating with the rest of the girls, my father, mother, little brother, and little sister were being machine-gunned by DSS officers. Why? According to the DSS, in the release they sent to the press the next day, we were all sorcerers, and thus in violation of the State Security Act of 1976.
My parents ran a dry goods store. My mother would occasionally do tarot readings - but only for family, never for gaje. Yeah, that might have had something to do with it, too, although the DSS hadn't yet become so sure of itself that it could come right out and say they were murdered because we were Rom. The DSS tried to get Mike, too. But he was in the Army, and the Department of Defense has this nifty exemption for all active duty personnel and their families. The DSS wanted Mike bad, because when they killed my family, they fucked up. Mike listed my mother and father as his closest family. So they - and we - were protected by law from the DSS. They had to make Mike disappear so he couldn't blow the whistle on them. They almost succeeded, too.
Remember when the Chicago Office of the Dept. Of State Security was destroyed a couple weeks after they murdered all those people in Texas? That was me. Now that I'm a citizen of Laputa, I can admit it. I wasn't taking revenge for the Branch Davidians. I was taking revenge for my family. And I'd do it again, in a heartbeat.
So what does this have to do with this song? A lot. See, after my family's funeral, Mike and I had to disappear, so the DSS couldn't make us disappear. This was the first song I wrote after we went into hiding.
It was both a lament for my family, and an expression of my self-loathing at the time. I honestly did blame myself for them dying, since I wasn't home, where I could have fought to protect them. Go figure. A 16yo girl is going to fight off armored thugs with machine guns, LAWs, and flamethrowers? But that's the kind of thing that goes through your mind when this kind of butchery happens. Even three years later, with all the time he had to work on me, Mike still hadn't gotten it out of my head. It took going into the Chicago DSS headquarters and blowing it - and every single human, orc, ogre, troll, and vampire in the place - into flaming rubble (and almost dying in the process) to finally get it out of my head.
Not that I won't still happily blow a DSS agent into the next life when I run into him molesting an innocent civilian. Someone has to improve the average humanity quotient of the human race.
Shadowfall
Words & Music: Alexandra Cooper
The black coach rumbles through the night,
I don't know how or where.
Please free me from this empty life,
My name's not written there.
No friends, no lovers, all alone,
I stumble through the night,
No pill can ease the pain.
I must be evil, full of blight,
A tare among the grain.
With open heart I burn for love,
Do I burn too bright?
What have I done to hurt them all?
Can I make it right?
How can I act, what can I do?
I do not know my crime.
Or am I simply destined
To empty heart and wondering mind?
The life I have is simple,
If life it is at all.
For what is life if there's no love,
But endless shadowfall?
###
Ten points to each of you who guessed that this song was written during the same period as Psychopomp. See, at the time I wrote this, even my band wasn't allowed to know where I was. We'd been together since we were six years old, and lovers since we discovered how good it felt. They'd been there for me between the butchery and the funeral, and suddenly they were cut out of my life. For nearly six months, it was just me and Mike, living under false IDs the Army had provided us. It really was the lowest point in my life. If I hadn't already known it wouldn't work, I probably would have slit my wrists.
When the Army finally let the girls catch up to me and Mike, it was like the sun coming out after a hurricane. We haven't been apart since.
She Touched Me
Words & Music: Alexandra Cooper
[Chorus]
She touched me.
She put her hand in mine
And then she touched me
She came into my life
And touched me
And now my life’s complete
Because she touched me
She touched me
She touched me
I tried to satisfy myself with men,
I thought that love was that way in the end,
But deep inside, the emptiness
Cried out for something more than this.
A woman's touch,
My heart takes flight.
She understands
And shares my plight.
And . . .
[Chorus]
And now we live a life of loving bliss,
No man could ever fill my life like this,
The place within that cried for love,
Is filled by her who I dreamed of.
Her gentle hands,
Her tender lips,
As heart to heart
We finally kissed.
And then . . .
[Chorus]
Now my life is hers and she is mine,
Two women bound together for all time,
The love that joins our hearts in life,
Returns to us in sacred light.
Our hearts are one,
Life after life.
We grow into
A greater light.
When . . .
[Chorus]