FRI 5TH MAY
The big breakfast at The Farm Café, just a few minutes down the road. Eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, mushrooms and black pudding which is blood and gore held together with lumps of fat as far as I can tell, but then again what do I know? Must be a boy thing. Seemed to set them up for the long road to Cox’s Yard Stratford-On –Avon. I had one of their famous king size scones which gave me a ‘rock in the stomach’ feeling as far as the M6 so I think the guys won on that one.

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Cox’s Yard- we were here last year with The Rutles. A beautiful spacious green room (dressing/relaxing room) with glass doors leading to balconies overlooking the river with gaggles of geese, flights of ducks and swathes of swans making a cacaphonic noise well into the night. No boats drifted romantically through the bridge arches however – think it is a tad on the cold side to be caught coatless on the Avon. August’s the only safe time for that sort of thing.

Nice gig – good sound and a responsive audience. Neil doesn’t eat before a show but was promised something to munch as soon as the show was over. He never got it. The manager said the kitchen was closed. Meanness or what? The rest of the staff –sound and hospitality -were lovely but we have found that all it takes is a manager who has issues to give you a bad feeling. Some gigs cant do enough for you and others cant take enough from you. Talking about this a day later we were told about a very popular performer who turned up somewhere in the north after a six hour drive. He did the sound check and then had to ask for a cup of tea. He was told he would have to pay £2.50 for it!!!!! Roadrunner did us proud with the hotel – the Chalecote Pheasant. Wondered whether this was named in honour of a particular breed of bird or whether it was actually a cunningly disguised Travelodge- the Chalecote Peasant. (Nb Travelodges are a cheap overnight hotel – some Ok but most smelly and usually attached to a fast food outlet of the kind that is spattered all along the motorways in UK US and Canada.) But no, this hotel was good. JJ had the best deal. His room was damp so he was moved to a suite. Jealousy all round- rest of us wasted a few minutes looking for damp patches.

SAT 6th May In the morning Neil and I had breakfast with Bob Carruthers – who was responsible for the first Bonzo revival and for the next 10 or so shows in November – all over UK. Another beautiful day – they only come in twos over here so we learn to enjoy them hugely. This is why english travelers have huge cases – they learn to be ready for anything. Sun, hail, light drizzle or snow on consecutive days or even the same day. But today definitely starts 3 off as a shorts and tee shirt kind of day. The drive to Wimborne was uneventful until our sat nav system brought us into a small bungalow’ed culde- sac where we were watched closely by homeowners ready to defend themselves against attack. The van is very big and very blue and Neil can look quite ferocious when he hasn’t shaved. We had definitely not ‘reached our destination’. So we hightailed out of this potential confrontation with no clue where to go. This is the problem with sat nav. If it goes wrong you are left somewhere you would never have been if you had not used it in the first place. It began to rain – a light drizzle followed by a torrential downpour. Thought of Barney and Max. Barney (youngest son) had offered to meet us at the airport and drive the van back to Suffolk- so he and son (Max) spent the day in London doing father and son kind of things – Natural History and Science Museums – rides on trains, tubes, buses etc finally fetching up at a very smart airport hotel where we were to meet them. We had assumed that because the gig was in Dorset that we would have to go without sleep in order to check in by 6am, but we had a happy surprise in that as JJ turned off the motorway to get gas, Neil realised how close we then were to both the gig and the airport, so instead of driving through the night we could actually check in at a hotel and have a couple of hours kip before the gig and a few after it, before the flight. Anyway we followed the signs and asked a few locals and finally made it to the Tivoli Theatre about an hour late for the soundcheck. But the crew were all sweetness and light – having coffee already brewing, sandwiches etc. No rush – the soundcheck was efficient and unproblematic. The Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne is one of those old English theatres manned almost entirely by volunteers who love the place. No grants of any kind, just relying on donations and any fundraising they can manage. They had raised enough money to restore this once derelict theatre, even getting seat colourings copied exactly.

Couldn’t get a decent photo but you can still get an idea of the effort that has gone in to it.The audience were warm and responsive especially this small group who had traveled up from Cornwall to see Neil. They had Neil, song lyrics written all over their tee-shirts and they were just the most lovely people.

Later we spoke to Charlie North Lewis, the manager at The Tivoli, who had actually run the actual theatre we are actually going to in Toronto, years ago.……..

Then back to the hotel and a quick last minute sort out of things to take and things to leave, and bed, having set alarms everywhere – mobile phones, backed up by TV alarm, backed up by the night porter if all else failed. Everything went off at 4.15 followed by a knock at the door so we were all up and ready to go at 5am. JJ drove us to Heathrow and we checked 13 bags including instrument cases - an enormous amount of gear giving us a £300 excess. Then Neil and I drove the van to Barney’s hotel to find them waiting outside, Max waving madly. They had had a brilliant time only slightly marred by the cost of the meal the two of them had had the night before, plus a mars bar and a coke, giving them a £90 bill after paying for the rooms. The rooms were cheap but airport hotels get you on absolutely everything else. Barney drove us back to the airport and we sat down at last for a very large coffee. Only one little cloud on the horizon. Just before we left had an email from the Canadian promoter, Mark Morrow, to say he might not be able to meet us at the airport and giving us the name of our hotel and directions to it. He is supposed to be supplying the vehicle with which we will accomplish that. So emailed back to ask where we would find said vehicle and then had to leave before the reply came through. So sitting here in the plane – not sure what will happen when we land – can’t connect with internet up here either. The steward said they still had gas lighting on the plane, it was so old. Think he was joking. Funny that all media for the tour were contacted at least one month ago, with a tour itinery so they could see when we were contactable . Many did their interviews then but quite a few left replying for interviews till the day we were leaving – even asking us to change our flights so we could do the odd radio interview on our way to Canada. They have no idea!!!!. All feeling sleepy but adrenaline still surging around so perhaps will have to wait for nod- off time. Arrived In Newark at 11 am – an easy flight except for the coming down bit during which I thought might see my breakfast once more. Then the long snaking queue to get through passport control at Newark, finding 13 pieces of luggage and the way to Terminal C aided and abetted by a very nice porter to whom we gave a huge tip. Then Canadian customs – the check in girl immediately saying what we didn’t want to hear – that we needed visas to come into Canada. We had gone into this in England and had been told that you only needed visas if you were playing in pub,s not concert halls. We thought that was odd but we had letters to prove it, so she quickly capitulated and we waited for the next thing. We were allowed to take a huge amount of handbaggage so I was surprised to see a very small plane – just 3 seats wide – all the large bits of handbaggage were put into the hold. I was still feeling slightly ill from the descent into Newark – didn’t feel much better after take off. Landed in Ottawa and straight into the longest snake queue I have ever seen. Took an hour to get from one end to the other – could see the baggage piling up on the carousel. We got through that easily enough and once again loaded up four trollies with the instruments, and thought we were home and dry. Was not to be. Suddenly we were told we needed a carnet and to get one we had to apply in writing etc etc. The guy was shooting a lot of questions at us and we really felt he would stop us because of this carnet. Luckily his superior turned up and said all Ok – better to get a carnet anyway but we could go through today. Felt like hugging him but might have made things worse. So out into the Canadian sunshine to meet Mark – patiently waiting. Next trial was at Thrifty Car Hire. The designated mini-van looked far too small for all our luggage.

But one of the employees refused to be beaten and almost single handedly loaded the instrument cases into the van, with Mark taking a few of the suitcases. And then we were in the hotel having been traveling for 16 hours. Had a meal with Mark and then slunk into bed to toss and turn for a few hours making tea and wondering whether we were awake or sleepwalking.

May 8th Day of first gig in Canada. JJ has had a toothache for a few days so decides to see a dentist. The tooth is pulled and he has a nice whoosy sort of feeling for the rest of the day. After the dentist we head for Barrymores in Downtown Ottawa. Was more like a rock venue. Had a large standing area with two seating levels back from the stage.

The sound crew wanted everything up too loud – Tom nearly blown away when he touched the bass. Kept the drums and bass up at the expense of the keyboards and guitar. In the end got it almost right. It is difficult for sound guys to get it right if they don’t know the music of the band they are wiring up. Ideally should send a CD well before. Try to give as much info as possible on the set list but it can’t be easy. The dressing room left much to be desired but Mark had put some light bites plus drinks in there. It is difficult for Neil to get his head together for the show sitting on a hard chair with noise and clutter all around. He manages but it’s not in any way ideal.

TUESDAY 9TH Next day after breakfast we had a couple of hours drive north- east to Montreal where all the sound guys spoke French to each other and English to us –totally bilingual – was impressed.

Club is in a salubrious area surrounded by strip joints and fast food outlets, broken pavements, holes (caverns) in the road. Walking quickly looking for salady sort of places passing hobos, long low (gangsta)cars, rank smells, festering food- could imagine millions of rats just waiting. Then suddenly up near the university with a chrome and glass shopping mall-which I thought might have salady sort of things. But no, inside the smart chrome and glass , was the same junk food as outside. Makes me scream to think that nothing that is ever said or publicised about junk food gets through and people still eat it in preference to anything else. And another thing while we are on the subject. With all this wealth around how come the pavements don’t get mended, the holes in the road don’t get filled. The empty and derelict shops don’t get refurbished. How come salad bars don’t appear which give you a choice of a light French (oil and lemon ) dressing instead of the gloop that is generally served. Where are the shops selling food that is good for you. JJ has a theory that by leaving things in the sort of state they are in downtown Montreal, people will want to get out of it and become part of the consumer society so that they too go out and buy something they don’t really want. (echoes of Rory Motion and The Drainpipes here). I am not so sure-all it does is to make me depressed and want to get right out of that place as well as right away from the malls and every thing else associated with this uneven, barbaric and decadent society.

Much later one of the crew tells me about the nice areas of Montreal – an old town with cobbled streets etc but unfortunately we wont have time to see it. Back to the club itself. Nightclub- smart inside – black and shiny, low lights, security guys. An audience of about 30 – well I would think twice about coming to see Neil in this area. Where could you safely park or even walk?. But as usual the fans were enthusiastic and great fun to talk to- one who wanted Works in progress on vinyl – put him in touch with Japanese fan. Another who had one gap in his Bonzo collection and was hoping we would be bringing all the LPs with us – put him in touch with Danny Barbour. Neil and I had a good suite in the hotel with many rooms where we could do our things without disturbing each other.

WED. 10th

A long drive to Toronto today – at least 6 hours so up and off at the crack of 10am.

Mark had meant to go to Toronto early but realised we hadn’t sorted the van out so he waited to take some of our luggage. Great guy. All took turns driving – Neil getting us out of Montreal and me doing the last - getting into Toronto- stint, aided and abetted by Tom who practised a spot of back seat driving which infuriated the by now tetchy and irritable me. Realised we were all getting irritable – understandably, but felt unreasonably angry. Then met Mark’s wife Ellen and after a bit of girl talk realised that after the enormous task of organising this tour, what I needed was a spot of female company. Males and females are different – did you know that? Of course you did – its just that what with all this ‘we’re all in together’ sort of psuedopsycolological codswallop that’s around, you get to feel that maybe the we should all be the same. Mo This gig was different from the moment we arrived. It was a Concert Hall –The St Lawrence Centre For The Arts -with proper dressing rooms and a spacious green room with sofas, tea, coffee and a thai meal provided by Mark and Ellen. The sound check was quick and efficient- with a good balance. The merchandising area was in a well lit foyer – the house manager couldn’t do enough. From the moment the doors opened you could feel the difference. A huge number of fans walked straight in and bought the tee shirts and the CDs and were so happy that Neil had at last come to Toronto. From the moment Neil walked onto the stage the audience were right with him – latching on to every word, getting every joke and joining in with every request to do so. What a spirit lifter.

Neil stayed on for about an hour and a half talking to fans, while Tom JJ and Mark, his son Adam, and I worked like crazy to get the gear out of the dressing rooms and off the stage in under an hour. There is a union curfew of one hour or four hours and you have to pay for the extra time. All done, then back to hotel feeling a huge lot better than we did earlier in the day.

THURSDAY 11TH
And a long drive to Windsor – around 6 hours and the weather has changed. Thought it was too good to last. Blustery and rainy- we drove and stopped as usual, but this time using the time not driving to doze. Arrived at hotel and walked around corner to venue – The Capital Theatre. A nice space with a raised stage and seats. The dressing rooms were fine and, as usual, Mark had provided food – this time wraps and fruit – blueberries and strawberries and doughnuts. The sound check went well enough although was not the best they have had. From the moment the doors opened it was obvious there was not going to be a big audience. Today had been the funeral of a very popular young police officer who had been shot while on duty. This sort of violence had never happened before in Windsor and in every shop you could see memorials and obituaries. The mood was definitely down. But this was not the place for Neil anyway. Small theatres are one thing, but towns like this where Neil and all he has done would be unknown, rely heavily on fans coming over from Detroit for an audience. Most had done just that but the fans who did come had to put up with the worst sound the band have ever had. It was as though someone had decided to screw up the gig and moved all the settings on the sound desk. The guys could not hear each other or themselves, the bass was loud then quiet. Neil’s backpacker sounded like a completely different instrument. All the guys came off stage in a fury. The sound guy did not attempt to explain, just sat in the stalls watching us load the equipment. Then came out to shake hands!!!!. There was little point in even beginning to say what they thought. Neil will never come here again or work with this guy ever – he obviously is either completely incompetent or a guy with a grudge or he just doesn’t care. The nice thing about the gig was that the Strickland family – very old friends - arrived in force – seven of them sitting right in the front row. Good to see them all. Back at the hotel the bar was still open so we were able to relax and talk about other things. Tom got them to play his Big Strides CD and stayed up cavorting while the rest of us hit the sack. Poor JJ only had 3 hours of sleep that night as a partying Tom bought a bunch of friends up for a drink.

FRIDAY 12TH
JJ definitely looked grey today. Very quiet as we drove to London. We had been invited to have supper with Mark’s wife Ellen’s mother and father, who lived in London, but by supper time JJ had a migraine and took to his bed. The hotel was Ok - new with large rooms, a swimming pool and Jacuzzi. Neil zizzed while I swam and then Tom Neil and I drove into London for supper. Had found to our huge delight that our sat nav worked in Canada. The first time Neil tried it there was no satellite signal and he began to think he had installed the US and Canada programmes wrongly. But today we tried again and it worked – taking us right to Art and Sandra’s house. Could see as we stepped out of the car that they were gardeners- very interesting young planting in the front. Turned out that Arthur did all the gardening and was taking his time with it working his way from the front to the extensive back garden. He is also writing a book which he said would be published at some time between 2006 and 2066. They are Jews and this was the Sabbath so they treated us to various small ceremonies plus gefilte fish etc and it was a fabulous break from hotels and venues. Once back we rented Syriana, struggled to keep up with it and slept. At least I did. Neil tossed and turned woken by the air conditioning and a low buzz that pervades the hotel.

SAT 13TH
Nice to wake up in London with a gig in the same town – time to stroll, walk for coffee. Problem was that the hotel was in a new bit of town – miles from anywhere else, except motorway and a low furniture and carpet mall. Risked life and limb clambering over central barrier to find nothing worth looking at and no-where for coffee and clambered back unhurt except for pride. Thought again about the US with limited gas. Can any of you imagine how you would get to the shops. I have often tried to walk to the shops but never managed it – skyways, highways, and parkways with a severe lack of sidewalks make it difficult for the ambling shopper. This is the problem with staying in hotels – when we ever manage to stay more centrally we find all sorts of small specialist shops – near McCabes in LA, down town Chicago, Seattle- the list is endless but on this tour we seem to be confined to the outskirts – a bit like landing on the moon. London is one of those nice places when you find the good bits and one of the good bits was around the Aeolian Theatre.

This place had been refurbished and was run by total enthusiasts. It is a music school as well as a performance area. The sound guy was experienced and helpful as well as being a really nice fellow. He offered to tour with us and we so would have liked him to come. The seating was around small tables and the hall was almost full. Once again the audience joined in with gusto and their was a huge queue waiting for Neil to sign CDs at the end. This was to be our last gig with Mark and Ellen and we had to say our goodbyes. They are terrific people. I know this wasn’t exactly the best tour financially for them but they did everything they could to make the Canadian tour worthwhile.

SUN 14th
No gig today – just a long drive back to Ottawa to catch the plane to Newark on Monday. The drive was pretty ordinary – only rained for the last bit. Most of the time Tom was on his computer

writing his blog and setting up his website. He is not making a rude sign here, just asking for two sugars. Neil resting and JJ and me driving. Arrived at hotel around 5. Quiet evening and sleep.

MON 15th
Arrived in good time – all luggage checked in. US customs did all the passport checks etc so it would be quick to get through at Newark and having got through without incident we settled down for short wait. But storms over New York area meant that we had a four hour delay before a smooth flight so we arrived at the hotel too late to take the ferry over to Manhattan. Had to content ourselves with slowish food and a little alcohol. Tom and I caught up with our various blogs while Neil Sudokued.

TUESDAY 16TH
Woke up to torrential rain over New York so went back to bed to wait for it to clear. Finally bracing ourselves for a quick splash across the road for breakfast. JJ and Tom took the ferry around midday. Neil and I left it till around 3. We were calling in on agent Robert Rowland and friend Bill Kates. Bill works for XM satellite radio and showed us round his new office. Saw a beautiful new Pro-Tools console – then showed us the mother of all Pro-Tools – 48 tracks and pretty colours – none of this black and steel. Much more user friendly in creams, blues, and pinks. The studios were fabulous – small talk studios and huge orchestral ones – one with a 10m window looking straight out onto Central Park. Cocktails were in order and the day slipped nicely away. Even the trips back and forward across the Hudson on the wrong ferry didn’t bother us unduly particularly when, on the last trip heading back to Manhatten we met JJ also on wrong boat. He had left Tom in a jazz bar. I had a quick worry over whether Tom would make it back before the ferries stopped – but he was there for breakfast so all OK.

Bill & Alley Kates

WEDNESDAY 17TH
Walked to SST depot in Weehawken to pick up a Ford 350 truck – lovely thing, big and black with all round windows – dark back windows so instruments couldn’t be clearly seen. We had hired one of these on the last trip for a gig at Pierpoint. We drove it back to hotel to load up and then headed off to Sellersville Theatre in Philadelphia with a quick stop at our hotel in Allenstown. Sweet little theatre – actually holds 350 -but has been lovingly restored. Good sound man, tiny bar etc. The audience were what we call a ‘suffolk’ audience -in that they were fairly quiet during the show so you couldn’t be sure they were enjoying it till the end when there was thunderous applause. All very thrilled that |Neil had come to Sellersvile. There were about 150 in the audience. He signed for ages afterwards sitting down to a cold risotto while being interviewed at around 11.30. Back to hotel – no bars open so bed.

THURSDAY 18TH
Back to New York for a gig at the Cutting Room. Have been there before after the show at Dillons. Good to come back for a gig – nice space and excellent sound guy. A Lot of friends turned up among them Louis who we met on holiday with Roger McCough in Deja. Also Bill Kates and Alley Ernst, and Carol, who came with us to Coney Island visit last year. Ian Wilkes turned up with his family – nice to meet his wife this time. The gig went well – the audience joined in with gusto. I went to buy supplies for the long journey to Lewisburg –on the way to the next gig at Cleveland. Thought it would be a couple of hours but turned into a four hour marathon with all of us taking turns at driving. We pulled into Lewisburg around 3.30am silent and exhausted, cursing the makers of sat nav.- gave up hope of them ever contacting us again.

FRIDAY 19th
Up earlyish because it became clear that cushions would be needed for the long drives ahead. Found a Wal-Mart and bought all sorts of little things we didn’t really need but that somehow made us feel better. I was still driving from last night in my head so had to sleep for the first part of the journey till a coffee stop brought me to life very slightly. Neil JJ and Tom fine. Arrived at Cleveland too late to check in at the hotel mainly because of the queues of traffic going to the baseball game – the final!! Seemed like all of Cleveland was going there,-wondered if we would have an audience at all. Didn’t feel much better when we looked at the outside of the gig. Seemed to be right out of the city and not the sort of place people would notice.

sorry – camera decide to do something of its own here-was 5pm!

Also started to rain. However the manager let us in and the hall was a fair size- he was enthusiastic, although he said if he had realised the Cleveland team would get into the final he would have asked for another day. So we were not expecting much. In fact there was a good sized audience – obviously Neil’s audiences aren’t sporty. A great sound – one of the best so far- and loud responses from the fans. Afterwards back to the hotel.

SATURDAY 20th

Today Chicago – The Abbey where Neil played solo about two years ago. It has certainly been smartened up on the outside at least. Last time Neil’s piano became unplugged – this time nothing went wrong. A great place – lovely people. Ken Thornton was coming to join Neil and the band for a few numbers at the end of the set. Also Vet Ken was there – haven’t seen either for a long while – really good to see both. Vetken always gives a hand with the merchandising so I can have a break. A photographer who was there last time, took photographs which he downloaded the ones from 2 years ago plus the new ones onto two CDs. He is a great guy -have yet to look at all of them –just a few below.

Neil leaving the stage with Ken to the right

Again nice after the gig to meet up with Howard Johnson. Howard works with John Cleese – Neil met him a few years ago and good to touch base again. After the gig and another cold meal for Neil we drove out to the Sofitel Hotel near the airport. Really good place – a cocktail bar still open – in fact carried on well after we had gone to bed. Big spacious rooms – still no guest laundry – wondering when we will ever be able to change our clothes.

SUNDAY 21st
Neil and I had a really good breakfast via room service- $25- so suggested Tom and JJ did the same. $100 later 2 fat cats strolled down for the drive to Bloomington. They had had a bit of everything on the menu- wont need to eat for the next 24 hours. At least it is not a long drive – 3 hours max- 4 with no sat nav. The gig was in a Youth Centre –we could get onto the internet there. We met Ellen who had organised it all with her 9 year old son Nathaniel. We have an extraordinary film of Nat. singing Eye Candy. Lovely boy. Ellen had put out some fresh veg. and dips which was a real relief from all the stuff we have been eating. The audience was about 80 but all loud and enthusiastic. There was a support band – Busmans Holiday - who were good. The sound was OK – difficult hall to deal with. The evil moment came when we would have to leave Bloomington for Columbus in order to get to Newark to take the car back and catch an early plane to San Francisco. The four hour drive to Columbus took 51/2 hours. We got lost so near to the hotel. Instead of turning left – the map quest instructions told us to turn right to Groveport. We were so tired we didn’t even look left – if we had we would have seen the hotel. Instead we drove up and down small roads looking for it, finally hitting the freeway again. We tried to get to a Comfort Inn on the way but overshot that too. It was getting on for 5am and we were wondering if it was worth going to bed at all. We pulled off the motorway at exactly the same place we had first come off it and this time we looked left and saw the hotel. We were tired and frustrated and trying not to blame each other. All slept.

MONDAY 22nd
Only good thing today was that the Tom Tom company phoned and gave us a code to connect us up to sat nav again. Oh joy Oh joy. Drove all day – weather good, so drive not too bad except that we were tired. None of us can believe that we are having to spend so much time in cars, airports, service areas etc etc.

We all took turns to drive – had one stop then Neil took over and, seemingly on remote, did the last 3.5 hours in one go so none of us had anything to eat. The hotel in Newark did not even have room service. JJ and Tom managed to get a take away pizza but I was so angry that Neil had not done his 1.5 to 2 hours we had all agreed on, or stopped, that I felt better not eating anything just to spite myself. The problem is that with this sort of tour you do go a bit doolally as we say in the UK. A bit spaced, a bit desperate. Neil and I wonder why we are doing something so physically and mentally gruelling when this is never going to make any money – might break even if we are lucky. Everyone who sees the show is knocked out by it but Neil is going out for less than he did 20 years ago!!!

TUESDAY 23rd
And the problems didn’t end there. We got to the airport by 6 the next day to check in, and tried to manage a bit of humour but the check in girl was having none of it. She looked at the 13 bits of luggage we had and at the motley group of tired individuals in front of her and decided to give us as much trouble as possible with the result that we paid almost double the excess baggage we had paid on the way over and when Neil complained, she put a sneaky‘ssss’ on our boarding cards which meant we were all searched. They found nothing except four tired and stupefied individuals all thinking that at least our instruments had not been touched. Little did we know – but more of that later. We stumbled onto the plane and dozed most of the way. Into Budget Cars to claim our 15 seater to find that they would not take the last two rows of seats out which meant we couldn’t get the drums, so took a Dodge Caravan. That turned out to be too small so ended up with two cars rather than one. By this time we all needed a bit of space so it was probably a good idea. Then a dash into San Francisco to the Villa Florence – a hotel as nice as its name. Neil was whisked off by Tom Sawyer,( the manager not the book), for an interview while I scoured the streets for a launder mat. Things were getting desperate clotheswise, JJ resorting to just buying new ones.

Nice to get back to Cobbs Comedy Club – had a good time there last tour when (Rutle) Ricky Fataar turned up and did a few numbers with Neil on stage. Many fans remembered and were hoping to see Ricky again but we think he is in Paris or touring with Bonnie Raite The guys unpacked their instruments and this was when we realised that some dumb clucks had in fact searched through them, damaging Tom’s bass and JJs drums. Kevin, the assistant manager at Cobbs saw the damage and wrote us a confirmation of it which we will send with a letter of complaint to Continental Airlines. This brought our already flagging spirits down several notches much relieved by the fans who had a great time, loved the show and the addition of Tom and JJ. Everywhere fans were saying how good it was to hear Neil’s music properly. But apart from that both Tom and J have a stage presence which is their own and they add this to the show- go and see it if you possibly can asap because both Neil and I know there can’ t be another US tour unless it is run on completely different lines– i.e. enough money and enough time between gigs. Neil is not 30 any more - he feels that on this tour he is saying a big thank you to the fans who have supported him for years and he is now looking forward to a long period of writing and recording. Back to the Villa Florence where the guys decided to have a drink at the next bar while I negotiated the lifts, the room key, the layout of the room, finally falling fully clothed into a deep slumber.

WEDNESDAY 24th
All have been looking forward to this part of the tour and we started it with clean clothes – JJ's were still wet but he hung them over the back seats to dry on the journey. Tom told me that the reason Buddy Holly had taken the plane which crashed and killed him was because he was trying to get to the next venue early so he could get his clothes washed. Had never heard that before- can understand the desperation though. Anyway today we were going on Highway 1 – it was a beautiful day – we had space in the cars – birds were singing etc etc We stopped after a couple of hours at a place JJ remembered from way back-Fishermans Wharf Monterey. We found a tiny café down on the jetty and had a fabulous lunch – calamari steaks, crab and all things nice, plus the ex-drivers had Bloody Mary's– JJ and I who were to take the next haul had water- but very nice water!! all were served by a beautiful Polynesian- looking woman.

This camera is still a mystery to me – why is everything brown??
The rail was in fact blue, the water turquoise and the rest of the wood a deep watery brown.

See how lifted our spirits are………

Same day quarter of an hour later – same camera setting etc etc another brown study- this time of JJ looking out across the ocean. Actually I quite like this sepia coloured one – wish I could say it was deliberate, but I have to admit it was a happy accident. We left FW in good cheer and the rest of the days drive through redwood forests, over huge escarpments looking over the sea was one of my happiest American moments. Soooooo beautiful. We stopped for the night at a wooden motel with an outdoors hot tub. Too late for the restaurant, we bought supplies from the shop and bottles of wine from the bar and had the most beautiful evening. Neil Tom and I had not explored the place, so when JJ suggested a climb down to the river metres below there was only one taker. Having had a couple of glasses of wine I was quite ready for a steep descent to a babbling brook JJ lead the way behind the huts and there …was a staircase leading easily down to the river. Hilarious – this is the sort of thing JJ does. Once when we all went to a Mexican restaurant to eat, J started rolling a cigarette. He took his time and then lit it. We looked in disbelief-‘What’s the problem’, he said – ‘I’ll smoke if I want to’. We expected someone to come rushing over but in fact jj had asked for a smoking area when he got there before we arrived. Hmmmm……..stress????

Strange not to have pics of the babbling brook or the landscape – shows what exhaustion does but I do have a picture of a blue jay – never seen one before.

The night ended up with all of us walking down to the river meeting a group of friends camping there with a log fire and some fruit juice laced with vodka – a country poteen. Singing songs and meandering back for a few hours in the hot tub.

THURSDAY 25th
Woke up amazingly – not sure how much we had all consumed, but enough for a family of alcoholics for a week. Needed coffee but that was all. Reluctantly left around 11 and did the rest of the amazing drive stopping here and there till we got to the flat bit. One amazing sight was the elephant seal sanctuary. Rounding the corner above the bay we saw literally hundreds of seals lying still on the sand. My first thought was that they were dead or dying but realised this was just a giant seal bask. On the next beach it was people – here it was seals. Every now and then a tail would flip or a giant head would rise up then flop back onto the sand. What a sight!

A little later we hit the freeway and ended up driving straight into and out of Santa Barbara, deciding to get to Santa Monica so we could stay somewhere for three nights. Another very long drive. Could not get into the lovely Inn on Venice Beach were we were to stay the next two days, so fetched up at the Jamaica Inn – a mile along the road. Neil and I came straight down to the bar for a large cocktail to find a group of Flamenco dancers. A bit too energetic even to watch, so back to the room overlooking an inlet, some banana trees and palms.

FRIDAY 26th
Moved to The Inn and had lunch in a brilliant Italian restaurant near the sea – all peeling painted walls and dark metal work tables. Space heaters and friendly waiters. Heaven was all around. Then we wandered along the beach before Neil headed back to rest before the show and I wandered on for shorts and a cool top – at last we had some measurable heat. Checked into McCabes 29 around 5.30. Lovely to be back there and lovely to meet Laurie (of the website) and friend Garret again. Laurie was the one who found the Inn at Venice Beach when Neil did a solo gig nearby a few years ago. They have always been great fans and great people. The show went well and after we had drinks with L +G and Ian Wilkes who arrived with a colleague. Finally closing time and we went back to the Inn turning the sat nav. off and using Neil’s internal compass to get there.

Sat 27th
A non- travelling day. Total bliss. Jj and Tom decided to go to Hollywood for the day but at midday their car was still in the parking lot. I went for a bike ride and around 12 Jon Konis came with his wife Layne to interview Neil -a long interview – Neil interviews really well. How he remembers half of what he is talking about I don’t know. He is a living example of the benefits of copious amounts of alcohol, cigarettes and very little exercise of any kind – seems to make him sharper. People like me who do things like exercise, who don’t smoke and suffer from hangovers if they drink, have trouble remembering their own names, let alone what they did in July last year etc etc. Another ‘speak for yourself’ situation, I know and I am. After they left we went to meet one of our favourite people Emo Phillips – who lives in California about an hour away from LA. He was with his beautiful girlfriend – Kipley and her mother visiting from Chicago. We all went to that Italian restaurant I told you about. It was sunny and lunch was a dream with Emo reminding us constantly why we both liked him so much- a really funny self effacing guy. After a couple of glasses of wine Neil was ready for a zizz before the show. Emo strolled along the beach for half an hour then we all went back to McCabes for the show. Lots of friends turned up Jon and Layne, Laurie, Emo, Bob Harris, Ian Wilkes who, incidently had been showing JJ and Tom a good time in Hollywood. He had taken them to a variety of interesting bars encouraging them to drink because ‘Neil could always do the show solo if necessary!!!’ Well excuse me! Ian is a great guy and told me that himself. JJ and Tom turned up relatively sober and the music was really good that night. Maybe a couple of glasses before the show loosens things up. After all the goodbyes had been said to the nice guys at McCabes, people came back to the hotel for a drink and a chat-probably wont see any of them for a couple of years. So good to see them then.

SUNDAY 28th
Had slight worries about the very late night last night because we had to drive from LA to Tuolumne for a gig in the Black Oak Casino. Decided to get going by 8am – people had been telling us that it took 8 hours –long boring drive etc etc. But it was easy and a really good drive. In the end it took about 51/2 hours with two stops. The roads were clear, the sky blue etc. Neil and I arrived at the hotel around 3.30 to find no Tom and JJ – had expected them to get here first. Didn’t start worrying till it got to 5pm – sound check time. Neil started to plan the solo act again. Had phoned the gig twice to see if they were there. The last time I phoned the manager answered and confirmed they were there but the bad news was that there was not a piano. He was ringing around to friends to try and borrow one. So Neil started to plan a show without the piano – so calm – really impressive. Have noticed that about Neil – he is like oil on troubled waters when these sort of things happen. You cant do anything about it so why get hot and bothered. Leaves me to do that. As soon as we got to the Casino we knew the evening was not going to to be easy. We waited for at least half an hour to get someone through the windy and highly secure corridors of the casino to let us and the instruments in. The security girl outside could not seem to grasp that we needed help to move the cases. Eventually a guy called Nic came to let us in. We asked why Tom and JJ couldn’t come and it was soon very clear. We were led through these ‘Alice in Wonderland’ corridors twisting and turning past kitchens and cashiers till we arrived to the stage area. The noise from the machines was phenomenal – how would the audience hear Neil – we wondered. OK for a rock and roll band but for someone who talks his way through the set against this din of machines and punters- what was going on. What the hell were TCI – our agents in New York doing booking Neil into a place like this. Tried to think maybe the noise would stop when they went on stage but it didn’t. Have to say Nic and Brent, the sound guy, were great and did their best to make us feel OK but they couldn’t do anything about the noise etc. This was, after all, a casino. And the piano? – Ok for a family evening but not for a pro.performance. At least it was a piano of sorts and we were extremely grateful to the guy who lent it but it was not up to the job it has to do ie the roar at the end of Cheese and Onions etc Anyway the result was that Neil did one set and gave up any attempt at the talking parts of the show – and left out any of the bits which needed a good piano -sad for the real fans that were there. So apologies for that but blame the agents. We heard that there were small theatres around which would have been ideal, but walking through the brain dead – all linked to their machines with plastic cords- I was even more sure that there is a massive and universal plot to keep people from thinking so that the ‘powers that be’ can do what they like. Fast food to kill their bodies and reality shows, casinos and soaps to kill their minds. Neil and I flew out as soon as the set was over. Had intended to have a meal with J and Tom as this was the last gig but could not stay there for a minute longer than absolutely necessary. Two fans Mike –met years ago at Beatlefests and his wife Rebecca saved the day by giving Neil a bottle of wine, a piece of cheese and some crackers – never has food been more welcome.

View of back of punters from stage.

MONDAY 29th Needed to get yesterday out of our hair so decided to go to Yosemite. Was a long drive but totally worth it. We had a ball. Sun was shining-most holiday makers were going the other way –huge queues in the opposite direction but we spun through the mountain roads till we got to the Groveland, where we thought about having a coffee but took this photo instead, eager to get to Yosemite.

Finally we made it to the Ahwahnee Hotel where sadly we couldn’t afford to stay but we could afford lunch after which we wandered by babbling brooks, under huge oxygen giving and resinous redwoods. Marvelled at the waterfalls tumbling 100’s of feet, had cocktails?? Yes really!!! and did silly things on logs

Then, after Neil Tom and I had a few more cocktasils JJ drove us home beautifully, catching a brilliantly orange and pink sunset at every twist and turn. Bliss oh bliss. Finally we got to the very Best Western to find a karaoke in full swing. Could not repress Tom who likes the sheer exhibitionism of singing something he can’t remember in the wrong key. No actually he was very good-everyone else said so. No really he was. Wish I had a picture of it. He had bought a swede leather hat at the Chinese Camp shop/garage earlier today and wore it for the song. There were some goodlooking girls in the bar and though Neil and I left as soon as we could safely stand up, we feel sure that the hat will be the making of an evening to remember for Tom.

MAY 30th And now a day off by the pool catching up with all the emails so we don’t have a torrent of them coming through the ether when we get home.

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