This was turning out to be one of the happiest
tours I can remember. Even with such a tight schedule, early flights,
and long coach journeys, we were having a good time. I got to visit
art galleries and places of interest that I never seemed to have
time to do in the past. I tried to make sure I had time to say hello
to all the old friends and fans that had supported us for so many
years.
We also did a lot of laughing at some of the situations
we found ourselves in. In other words, even if things were not right
we always looked on the funny side. Some of the Hotels were not
exactly ideal for our various needs on the road. The most common
fault was refurbishment work in progress; drills that you thought
would come through your wall at any time; rooms with no baths, not
good for drummers after a show; hotel restaurants that closed before
we finished a gig; hotel restaurants that were closed for our early
morning starts; hotels with no restaurants at all.
One morning Warren invited Mark and me for breakfast
in his room where he had a kitchen. He had got supplies in the day
before. He made us fabulous omelettes and with my filter coffee
set up it was the perfect start to another long day.
One journey was a five hour coach trip. There
was a toilet on board but the driver had lost the key to it. I tried
picking the lock with no luck. We were on a motor way in heavy traffic.
By the time we got to our destination we were naturally dying to
get off. However the driver got lost and eventually after going
round the city centre in circles for thirty minutes. Erik jumped
off the bus and, running through the oncoming cars, hailed a cab
to lead us in. The concert was next to a big football stadium and
all the roads were closed for a big game that afternoon. The only
way to get to the gig was to be led in by police motor cycle escort.
Erik was often getting lost at airports,
taking us from one check in point to the next. With the sound of
a cockeral echoing through the airport lounges (that was Eriks
phone ring tone), you couldnt do anything but laugh. Yes,
happy times.
Warren cooking breakfast.
La cuisine de Warren.
Breakfast is served.
Trying to pick the lock to the coach loo
with out luck!
The road went on for ever
Erik trying to hail a cab to lead us to
the hotel.
Police escort to the gig.
Bruce: "Are we there yet?"
Erik: "We are at the wrong terminal?"
Ground crew: "You're not on my computer"
Bunny Warren, our sound engineer sits
alone working on the front of house monitors. Not many people
realize the time and effort that goes into getting the best
sound possible for the evenings' concerts. Even in places that
were never built for music with the most difficult of acoustics,
Bunny would very calmly get on with solving any problems that
arose to give us (and you) the best sound possible.