FRIDAY, 21 SEPT.

Got up about 9am and rang Hannah. It was about 11pm in L.A. She’s been hanging out with Lucy Squeezebox and they been getting coffee and hitting Finn Mc Cool’s for pints and shopping at the Promenade. I got some coffee after that and had breakfast again with Peter Murphy (last diary i mistakingly said we’d had dinner when it was in fact B’fast) and we chewed the fat on stuff and he wax’d on Instanbul, which is where he lives and has lived for quite some time now. Peter is an interesting and very REAL , No Bullshit kinda bloke.

So we sound checked about 2pm and finished a little early, about 6pm, so me and Todd went to the music convention next door and checked it out a bit. it was very boring. I grabbed some beers and chilled. Then, backstage, all the artist had dressing rooms but it was alot of charing like Marianne faithful and Beth orton and it was totally cool. Russell and Robyn were chilling with me and we were just chatting about music and stuff, just having a blast. I think i got on best with Badly Drawn Boy, who seemed to always have creative thoughts brewing under that Tea Cozy of his.

There was an Artist Buffet set up but they forgot the coffee so i rode the organizers until it showed up. Show time was soon upon us and it looked like about 4,000 people in the audience. I saw Brummy Jim, Tina her son Jim, Liz and her husband, all in the front row. There was also people yelling “Peter” and “Russell.”

We opened of course with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band and the opening chords were quite delicious. People were screaming it seemed and the London Sinf. were spot on. Daddyo’s drums were pounding and Chapple’s Bass was booming and Todd’s keys were jangling and there was Rusty screaming “It was 20 years ago today!” Then, as we sang “Billy Shears” Jarvis came out as Billy and sang With a Little Help, doing a marvelous job.

And so on all this went and it was truly lovely and everyone, band, pop stars, Sinfony, conductor, arrangers, organizers, concert-goers, EVERYONE had fun and yes, a Pleasant time was truly had by all.

After the gig, As Tina points out, we headed to a Seafood place that was about a 15 min. walk from our hotel. The food was great an d Tina allowed me to use her mobile to call Hannah, as there weren’t any phones at the festival if you can believe that.

On our walk back to the hotel, Jim Winters and I noticed some Hookers who were quite fit. Wound up drinking in the Lobby till 3am with Rusty, Daddyo and Badly Drawn Boy, who really liked Baby Lemonade and expressed a desire to play with us again. With that I was off to bed, the show finally behind me and a soft pillow ahead of me.

Mike Randle