Well, we arrived jan 9 after a 7 hour delay (due to London weather) and a 10 hour flight and a 1 hour drive to Milton Keynes. Actually had a good chicken meal to go with the very turbulent flight. We checked in our hotel and had some pints at the hotel bar. the bartender, Ian, was a nice bloke, as well as Corrine, the waitress. the next day, the strings and horns arrived and after breakfast we did a rehearsal in the the conference room of the hotel then headed to Stony Stratford (5 minutes from Milton K) for a rather excellent curry! after that, we (the band, minus the Singer) went back to the hotel bar and Dawn was working. And she flowed us some serious drinks including irish whiskey. We all got a bit wobbly. She seemed a little too friendly so we called it a night and bid her goodbye.

On the day of the show, jan 11, we went to rehearse around 10 am..it was very cold and there was some snow on the ground on farmland I saw out the bus window. The rehearsal went ok…unfortunately there was a problem with some equipment and we waited for hours doing nothing. After the rehearsal, I took a short nap at the hotel….then headed back to the Stables where the show was to take place. Although I thought it was a pretty decent show, there were sound problems but hey, it was the first show, right?

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and then Rusty Daddyo Ringo and our buddy, Richard Meehan, were at the bar and Dawn was buying some drinks. Chapple and I said NO WAY and made a b-line for our room! The next day, jan 12, was a day off….we hung about bristol a bit and then watched the football games (Raiders vs. Jets and SF getting an ass-whuppin by Tampa Bay)…after the game, I made a mistake of going to a few speak easies with the bartender, Peter, a crazed Swede. AND WHY would a swede live in bristol anyway?

The next day was show day, Jan 13, and I was a tab bit hungover. But rehearsal was LONG LONG LONG but the show was great, in my opinion…and the Bristol crowd were amazing. we even debuted a new song, THE ANTHEM. Also, been passing the time listening to Jay Donnellan’s new record still.

Well, the librarian is kicking me off the computer now. today’s a day off in Bristol. some of the crew are going to BATH to site see. I am gonna chill and probably just sleep. Better diary next time, I promise. Not many computers this close to Wales! (only kidding!)…and I almost forgot, the amazing Mel Cicero was in the 6th row or something like that…it was great to see her there…hope she enjoyed the show…she said she’s gonna write it up…cheers to all… next stop, Royal Festival Hall, London.

Mike Randle