After a moment lost in his thoughts, Parton's eyes de-glaze and The Go! Team's songwriter and main-man snaps back to reality. "We're just never going to get the whole red-carpet VIP treatment again," he says. "Last night was definitely a once in at lifetime thing." Parton is recalling The Go! Team sextet's role as Cinderellas at last month's Mercury Prize ball. Camus uses it as a figure for the purgatory of modern man's existence. "Put it another way; if you ever get good at something, if you finally manage to do something right, they'll make you do it over and over again till you puke. They're all so happy and excited by our bizarre, contrived pop band It's moving, and it's hilarious and it's fun. Larry's milking the crowd, in kinky leather gloves and a biker jacket with " DEATH" on it He looks fantastic NOWHERE 3am The bus hurtles through the night I have an audience with D Wayne I'm having trouble with my tour diary for The Independent.
All the interesting stuff is either going to get me into trouble or piss someone off. And I can't decide whether to make it a joyous, epiphanic rock'n'roll rollercoaster, or a dark, disaffected tract of spleen He talks to me about the absurd, and the myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to roll a boulder up to the top of a hill, then watch it roll all the way down again For eternity. But this whole festival of degeneracy is his idea, the product of his delusion Trouble is, I quite like him I settle for drinking him under the table SOUTHAMPTON I'm dying I try to eat a piece of tinned tuna but it revolts me. I try to focus on the TV but Doctor Who is making my head melt I turn to Ed "Ed, mate, I feel terrible I'm a nervous wreck." "I know, O I feel exactly the same." We burst out laughing.
Then we hug, like two survivors of a natural disaster, clinging on to each other for dear life It's a proper, strong hug, like an infusion of plasma At once I feel better than I've felt for two weeks Thanks Ed I look out at the audience. It's an automatic reaction, like tears in the face of a strong onion. Everything he says, everything he does, makes me want to hit him It's not his wild exaggerations, it's not his narcissism It's not even his stupid cowboy hat Actually, it might be the hat. He smiles and says: " I'm crying cause I'm happy!" NOTTINGHAM Davey tells us about the time Mark E Smith got into an amphetamine-fuelled argument with a promoter Promoter bloke pins Mark E to the wall by the throat. Mark E cries: "You can't hit me! Look!" and pulls out his false teeth Promoter bloke pulls out his glass eye and holds it aloft It'd make a great children's TV show I'm gripped by desire to smack Larry Love in the face. MANCHESTER Before the gig, Rock and me discuss concepts of time.