When you get caught between the Moon and New York City...

i know its crazy, but its true....

well, thats the touring all done. Our bags are all unpacked, we've taken our Roadhog hats off, and things are slowly reverting to normality. I'm so used to wandering round with my passport on me that i'm still carrying it about. It doesn't seem like a year and a half since we set off (aye it does).

We'd slowed down a bit towards the end, and it was quite nice to spend the summer popping up at festivals all over the shop. We thought it would be nice to wind up the touring with a week in North America and then the electric picnic in Ireland. Good choice.

Its always nice to hit North America, we all know folks over there, and its always a pleasure to say hello.

We hit Baltimore for the first time, which was cool, its always nice to go to somewhere new. Interesting place (i heard gunshots outside the hotel entrance, there was a strange man who appeared to be having a hand shandy in the hotel's gents toilet, and there was the woman telling the maid that she'd managed to get blood all over the towels, but i guess these things happen when your hotel is IN the greyhound bus station) but the folk there were great and the show was a blast, lovely venue which had just got a new $65,000 PA fitted that day.

Then it was onto Philly. Most of took the opportunity to taste the legendary Philly Cheese Steak. Not sure why we managed to miss out on that in our two previous visits there, but amends were made, and whilst none of us felt like trying to break the record of 11 in one sitting we were reading about on the wall of Jim's, it was rather pleasant. Vintage stores were rooted through and a fine pair of boots were procured by me. Kenny almost bought a new suit, but whilst the jacket fitted like a glove, the trouser legs only went down to his knees, not a good look. I saw a bass in a wee guitar store that looked like a cross between a Rickenbacker and a Burns. It was called a Dillion, and if you're Glaswegian, you can guess how close i came to buying it for the name alone. First time playing in the TLA, and it was another fun show.

NYC, and a couple of radio sessions and record shop in-store turned into a couple of sessions (First time we've ever had to go through airport style security on the way into a radio building. Its never happened at the BBC) and a surprise full show in Brooklyn in a wee bar in the back of the record shop. Seeing Carey doing an Animal from the Muppets on the ride cymbal during Teenager had to be seen to be believed.

Next day was our show at Peir 17. Just up from Wall Street, we wandered up during the day to load in and set up and get soundchecked. We'd spent the afternoon wandering round Battery Park, loafing, or heading off to buy perfumery from Manhattan. So we got set up and ready and went off for some dinner and to get changed. It was weird, having spent the day wandering round the area, and sound-checking on the stage, we hadn't really thought too much about it, not really sure how many people would turn up, couple of thousand maybe, but we turned up to play, and the place looked really busy, so we went backstage, and nipped to the loo, which was in the shopping mall next door, it was coming back out of the mall when we actually looked up around is for the first time since it had got dark, and we nearly fainted, the stage was basically facing the entire Manhattan Skyline, with all the office windows lit up, boats behind us, loads of folk sitting in bars around the pier and the front of the stage area full to capacity. about 8000 folks. Brown Trousers Syndrome struck, but it was such a beautiful backdrop for a show and a great crowd to play in front of that i suspect its a show we shall never forget.

Up into Canada the next day and our third visit to Montreal. Lovely venue, quite old school with a balcony. I received some tips on how to do a good english accent from a couple of kids from New York who were up in Montreal on holiday, always handy to get taught something new wherever you go i always say. Once again, a nice crowd as always.

The last show was in Toronto, again in a new venue for us, and the end of tour bug struck and i think we decided to try a couple of old songs in the soundcheck. After we tried then we decided not to play them, heh. Kenny played a wee version of Rocky Raccoon, which was brilliant. I got a microphone for the very first time, and when i spoke into it, it was turned off, so i felt a bit like Norman Collier in a country where no one knows who Norman Collier is or what his one joke is.

And it was all over, all too quickly. We headed off to Detroit the next morning and flew home.

Then re-convened a couple of days later to go to Electric Picninc. What a festival. Lovely atmosphere. Great folks all wandering around having a cracking time, very few casualties in evidence, it reminded us of festivals we've played in spain. Got to see bits of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Nouvelle Vague but managed to miss The Beastie Boys, who i REALLY wanted to see (Kenny missed them too, but he was standing at the wrong stage wondering where they were), but this was almost made up for when as we congregated in the van to head off back to our hotel, the Beasties appeared back at the Artist Village in two people carriers, spilled out into the road to have our sound man Jim leaning out of the van window shouting, "Nobody!! Can Do It!! Like Mixmaster Mike!!! 'Moan The Beasties!!!!" at them. They looked in equal parts bemused and afraid.

Anyhoo, as i appear to have wittered on for long enough, i shall leave you for now, cheers, Gav