3rd February Perth BDO
Friday, February 8th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 20 Comments »The flight over to Perth takes three and a half hours and there is nothing to see en-route but thousands of miles of desert. The city sits in splendid isolation on the far western coast of Australia. This is the ...
1st February Adelaide
Thursday, February 7th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 7 Comments »The two Melbourne sideshows were out in St Kilda, giving me even more reason to play the Yarra Song, in which I express my support of the local Australian Rules team and how I love the fact that it often ...
28th January Melbourne BDO
Thursday, February 7th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 1 Comment »We went early out to the festival site to catch the set from Anti-Flag. The Pittsburgh punk band have the unenviable job of opening on the main stage at midday, which for a black-clad bunch of spike-tops presents a challenge. ...
27th January on to Melbourne
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 5 Comments »Our little touring party of soundman Grant Showbiz, tour manager Andy James, BDO tour rep John Baker and myself were the last to head out for Melbourne and, just as we were checking out of the hotel, John received a ...
26th January Sydney
Friday, February 1st, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 12 Comments »The Sydney sideshow was the best so far, a Saturday night special. One of my favourite songwriters, Mick Thomas, formerly of Melbourne stalwarts Weddings, Parties, Anything opened the evening and he was followed by The Nightwatchman. Both joined me for ...
25th January Sydney Big Day Out
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 2 Comments »Went down early to the Essential Stage where Kate Nash again called me up to sing A New England. It works much better this time with me on acoustic guitar, allowing her band to play the song their way rather ...
24th January Promo Day
Sunday, January 27th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 2 Comments »The notion of this festival being the Big Day Off has proved rather hollow for yours truly. Since I got to New Zealand, I’ve been doing loads of promo for the new album on those days when I’m not performing. ...
23rd January Sydney
Sunday, January 27th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | No Comments »The Big Day Out takes the opportunity of the long weekend that marks the peak of the summer holidays here to hit the two biggest cities in the country, Sydney and Melbourne. Australia Day marks the anniversary of the arrival ...
23rd January Byron Bay
Friday, January 25th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 2 Comments »Situated an hour or so south of Brisbane on the east coast of Australia, the locals refer to the Gold Coast as BrisVegas, a sun-baked mix of Blackpool, Surfers Paradise and the Strip. BDO goes there because at the height ...
18th January Auckland NZ
Friday, January 25th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | No Comments »The BDO tour kicks off in the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland. All the dates take place in built environments, either sporting venues or agricultural showgrounds. This makes it a lot easier to get out of the fierce sunlight and ...
17th January Auckland NZ
Friday, January 25th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | 3 Comments »After a rejuvenating stop-over in Sydney, my body clock woke me up for the final leg of the trip, three hours across the Tasman into Auckland allowing me to make real progress with Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History of Nearly ...
12th/13th/14th January Limbo
Friday, January 25th, 2008 Posted in Road Blog | No Comments »The Timor Sea goes on forever, or so it seems. Three hours into the third leg of a 30 hour flight that will see us touch down in Dubai, Bangkok and Sydney before arriving in our destination, Auckland, New Zealand. ...
12th December - Bristol
Thursday, December 21st, 2006 Posted in Road Blog | 6 Comments »Returning to Hackney Empire after a dozen or so years was a revelation. The theatre was built in 1901 and some of the great music hall acts played there, among them Charlie Chaplin and Marie Lloyd. By the time I ...
8th December - Scotland
Sunday, December 17th, 2006 Posted in Road Blog | 3 Comments »Stung into action by a comment left here, I realised that I’m almost a week behind with my tour blog. Apologies all round but I am a firm believer that this shouldn’t be like homework, rather something done in idle ...
5th December - Glasgow
Thursday, December 7th, 2006 Posted in Road Blog | 2 Comments »In among all the dashing about, there were one or two moments that do bear recounting. The Electric Proms gig at the Roundhouse in London on 26th October was memorable for the fact that, called upon to make a sudden ...
