Saint Cloud—the patron saint of screwed up middle america. Our first day in the country without a show. CJ deposited us at a cloned suites hotel in a sub-urban sprawl of strip mall franchises, a landscape of two storey retail, entertainment and `hospitality' that stretched to the horizon. There was nothing to be seen that even vaguely resembled what passes for a city in the civilized world. The staff were wide-eyed at a fancy looking Prevost tour bus pulling in to the parking lot—never a good sign. Read more...

Three blocks from MC’s Dugout and we were in the leafy residential grid that lies behind the endless highway strip mall: uniform clapboard houses of all shapes and sizes, each sitting in a parcel of lawn with varied assortments of vehicles, garden furniture, kids toys and topiary strewn around. And a dizzying array of places of worship; Lutheran, Islamic, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Spirit Filled Non Denominational Love Christian Fellowship, High Praise Non Denominational Prophetic Healing & Deliverance, Catholic, Holy Mhyrrbearers Orthodox, Methodist, Life Assembly of God, Peace United Church of Christ—all within a couple of square miles. Read more...

The BMO Pavilion is right on the shore of Lake Michigan and the view from the bus when I woke was of the sun on the water. A welcome relief from the drizzle in Chicago the previous night. The geography of the city of Chicago somehow seems to indicate that it is on a lake but I always have to remind myself that Milwaukee is not on the sea Then again, Lake Michigan is about the size of the Irish Sea: you could sail due north for three hundred miles from Chicago before you would land in Canada—the Michigan coast is way beyond the horizon seventy miles to the east of Milwaukee. Read more...

Back to another back stage parking lot. This one with military levels of security; buses and the trucks checked with mirrors as they enter, metal detectors at the entrances to the lot, a second security ring and another metal detector to get to and from the Prevost, and a third level of security and a third metal detector to get on to the stage. Something to do with the levels of gun violence in Chicago. Read more...

This was our first headline show on this tour and the first place that was not airport or bus or venue (or zoo) that I had set foot in since leaving home. It is only a three hour drive from Toledo and bus came to rest outside HI-FI Indy early. The club was on Fountain Square which revealed itself to be a designated national historic district and a very cool neighbourhood indeed. Read more...

Now this was unexpected. A show in a zoo. Breakfast was served in the Great Hall in the basement of the Toledo Museum of Science—through the doors, turn right at the huge stuffed yak and head down the stairs. The stage was located between the flamingos (more ludicrously pink than you could imagine and stuck in a cage that they could not possibly fly in) and the aquarium. Lions could be heard roaring querulously from deep in their lair. Read more...

Everyone was a little more chilled today. The venue was a proper shed—outdoor but with a roof to protect audience and stage from the elements. Just as hot as yesterday but we didn’t have the sun actually cooking us as we played. In fact by show time it was not unpleasant on the stage. No general admission though, so the love we got in Columbus from directly in front of the stage from the few souls gathered there who bought tickets because we were on the bill is missing. Read more...

It seems appropriate that we are back in Ohio where the we played the final show of last year’s US tour—Columbus this time. But it was touch and go getting here. A catalogue of mishaps on the journey—phantom bags; lost (and, thankfully, found) passports; a two and a half hour delay at Heathrow airport that left us stranded in Philadelphia; a disagreement with US Customs that almost resulted in us having all of our guitars impounded. Read more...

With some trepidation, we are on our way across the Atlantic once again to spend the summer as the opening act on the Last Summer On Earth Tour. The prospect of living on a bus for seven weeks and playing thirty odd shows across the USA certainly has its appeal. The tour will take us to some exotic places; Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Mankato Minnesota. Nampa, Idaho. Indio, California. We play at Red Rocks, Colorado and the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Read more...

Cleveland, early on a Sunday morning. I feel fully recovered and in denial that this is the end of the road. The final venue is another damn supper club, The Music Box. There is a decent looking Sunday brunch on offer there but distressingly this will be accompanied either by a Doobie Brothers or a Crosby Stills Nash and Young tribute band depending on whether one chooses to eat upstairs or downstairs in the club. Read more...