More people I meet, more I like mah dawgs.

Birch rocks the Gibson Amphitheatre

Rolled into LA at 10am after a smooth night-drive. Jim, our driver, is turning out to be a welcome oasis of calm amidst our tour maelstrom. Driving tour buses for rock and roll bands is an odd choice for a man who's been seeking peace and quiet for the past 40 years.
"More people I meet, more I like mah dawgs." About sums it up Jim.
He's brought some of his Bison product with him for us on the second half of the tour. (He's got several acres in Indiana where he keeps 15 of the beasts, apparently they LOVE apples...) We've got Bison jerky and summer sausage in the fridge. It's delicious. Meaty, spicy and definitely home-grown.
Jim's not a fan of the big city, so pulling into LA is stressing him a little. Still, he's smiling.
And, it's HOT. Oh my GOD it's hot. I thought I was acclimatising, but ever new city brings another sort of heat. The smog is an unwelcome addition too. We're parked on the back lot of Universal Studios, Hollywood (there I go again, name-dropping) with nothing to do until ABC and Berlin have finished soundchecking. I'm checking out the Google maps to see if I can escape into the Hollywood hills for a run. I fancy doing Mulholland drive. It looks possible, so I plan my escape route and get the trainers on. After 5mins of sticky tarmac and searing heat, I abandon the plan and clomp around the back lot instead, imagining I'm in the opening sequence of 'The Player'.
Soundcheck rolls round and we wait. Our opening slot has been moved forward, even though we're advertised at 7.30 we're going to have to take the stage at 7.10, no doubt to an empty house with people still drifting in. Understandably, Nick's not happy about this. It's an important gig, the Gibson Amphitheatre, a place full of rock history - he's invited agents, friends and promoters. 6pm slides by and we still haven't checked. Finally, we get a line check at 6.45pm and rush back to change and get straight on stage. Ridiculous, but there's nothing to do but roll with it.
Inevitably, we performed really well, with a kind of 'oh bollocks to it' attitude and went down a storm. It filled up for our last two numbers at least.
Nothing to do now but drink beer. I had a quick pint and then ran into an old pal who moved to LA about 5 years ago (actually, he physically leapt on me, causing a moment of concern for security). MUCH more lager later, I realised I'd not eaten since 11am and was starting to slur my words. Had to put myself to bed on the bus almost immediately after pulling away, headed for Saratoga. Looking forward to the fresh mountain air.

Shag Pile City

It's like walking on marshmallow. You know that jet lag feeling? (The one that Bruce Willis cures by walking barefoot on a shag-pile rug in 'Die Hard'?) Well, I'm getting used to having it daily. Woke at 3am in Toronto, stuffed my bags with nearly dry laundry and ran for the taxi to the airport. Barely caught the flight to Salt Lake City via Denver after sweating to verify the street address of our inbound hotel for Homeland Security. (Erm, tour manager? What on earth is one of those? Frankly, not seen one for a while...) Arrived feeling other-worldly, which is actually a great way to be for Salt Lake. First impression, imagine Disney, The Stepford Wives and Westworld rolled into an uglier package. After the sullen taxi driver attempted to destroy our luggage by compressing it violently with the boot lid, we made it to The Depot, an old railway shed turned venue. Primary news was that the promoter had only sold 190 tickets by weekend, and had wanted to pull the gig. Instead, he'd opted for the 'half-payment clause', which luckily he'd just invented. Secondary news was, we had no hotel for the night. (When I opened the dressing room door, I half expected to see Bobby Ewing in the shower, 'cos this must all be a dream)
Hot tears of unbridled joy were about to seep out of me, so I had a walk outside to try and calm them and the marshmallow. I was back after 10mins, the searing heat and piped music in the streets was enough to drive a man straight into the nearest Latter Day Saints temple shouting 'bollocks'.
After a short lie down in a dark room, I decided to take some pics to remove myself from the situation. Here's my favorite useless one:

Me, in a hub cap. Genius.

Really tired, I made it through the gig on adrenaline and then collapsed in a grumpy heap on the bus. Another day without hot food. It's a glamorous life.

Toronto, soaked.

Wimbledon week. It's STEAMING in the UK. Hilarious. Here we are - Gay Pride (or just 'Pride' as I've noticed a few of the locals refer to it as, hmmm...) in the pissing rain.

The bit of the stage where I'm about to place my pedals

Not much to say about today - really tired after the bus journey across the border. An afternoon gig on a wet stage to about 30 people. It filled up later, and the sun came out for Wang Chung and ABC. I'll let the pics do the talking.

Birch poses like a good 'n

Jack rips it up (and he can!)

Worse than Detroit?

Lily Gonzalez (Bongobird) does her stuff

Detroit? Motortown, Motown, ROCK CITY! Erm, well, nope. Turns out we were in Meadowbrook, a leafy suburb about 30miles away. One of those open air venues that lend themselves to the steaming continental US summer. We arrived at 9am to the sound of birds tweeting and the distant thrum of lawnmowers. A definite college town. Nothing really to do all day apart from wait for the lack of soundcheck in about 9 hours, so went off for a run to try and shake off the sleepless bus ride. Found myself running around vivid green shaded streets, scenes from so many suburban US dramas and films. Stars and stripes flying over manicured lawns. A trip to the local mall for eggs and too much coffee followed by a load of waiting around and then a well attended, fun gig. Not such a bad life today.

Martin in one of his many sharp suits

It Might Get Loud

Right! For those of you who've actually been following the blog, and have been complaining because of the dead air - sorry! I had a small, but much needed break in Manhattan (yeah I know, name-dropper) which consisted of a big birthday and a big ol' booze-up (more of that later).
But, I'm back! Meantime, and while I catch up, here's a quick taster of a film us guitarists are going to be champing at the bit for: http://www.sonyclassics.com/itmightgetloud/