No rest for the wicked - Hightail it into the smoke with the Williams boys where we played a superb set at The Lexington, Islington in front of a star studded audience, Josie Lawrence, Kevin Rowland, Nick Talbot etc was good to see Oliver Darling there too who gave us ample support....

PEPPA PIG WORLD!!!!!! ROCK 'n' ROLL !!!!

Great day today, rehearsals have gone super smashing great with the Pete Williams Band, great bunch of guys and great music, we're only doing a few gigs but I'm really looking forward to them.
I also heard from the Imelda May camp that our Royal Albert Hall gig has now sold out! Does a day get any better!?

Wonderful to get back home, here I am with beautiful daughter Tallulah relaxing in the garden...

Ok, we finish off in L.A for our 4th appearance on the Jay Leno Show, the main guest was first Lady Michelle O'Bama, so snaps were frowned upon, straight from the show we skiddaddle over to LAX Airport and enjoy our 10 hr journey home, It's good to be going home for a decent break, here are some leftover snaps from our trip....

I can imagine to anyone reading this blog that It looks like I'm in the states twiddling my thumbs - I can't argue with that, to a certain extent thats exactly what I'm doing, It's a promo tour which means as a band we get to play a couple of songs every couple of days, Imelda and Darrel have been rushing about doing acoustic stuff but for our part it's the waiting game, Promo tours are crappy but have to be done, I'm aware that sounds spoilt but nothing beats actually gigging.
In Denver now, 1 mile up in the mountains doing a very important radio show that I can't remember the name of,....Wow the people here are irritatingly enthusiastic about everything, very annoying, saying that, everyone had a great time.

SCARY SKIES!!!!

Wake up in New York, I'm starting to get used to this, Eggs Benedict and a bucket of Starbucks and I'm ready for the day of exploring, I found some great music shops around Bleecker street just off 7th Av south, notably The Music Inn, really quirky shop with very unusual instruments in, stuff I'd never seen before, I could have spent a day just working through the Ukes alone.
Pictured below is the famous Hotel Chelsea/Chelsea Hotel, I couldn't believe I actually stumbled upon this - many many many great writers, Artists, Actors, Musicians have lived in this building, Kerouac wrote "on the road" here, Arthur Miller wrote "Death of a Salesman" Dylan Thomas died here of pneumonia although I don't think that's any reflection on the Hotel, other notable residence: Charles Bukowski, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Mark Twain, Tennessee Williams, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Thunders, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits to name but a few, This was also the building where Sid Vicious murdered Nancy Spungen, although again no reflection on the Hotel...
Its been closed for the past year for renovations as it's been bought by a real estate tycoon, all permanent residence policies have been terminated ready for the swish new look Chelsea Hotel, It gives me a sinking feeling.

Dave, Trev, Tech overlord James and Monitor guy Rich kick back with a couple of cool ones - Hell yeah, high fives all round!

Tour manager Brent and Tech Overlord James just love listening to Daves colourful stories...

Off to Philadelphia where we were interviewed by Michaela at World Cafe Radio, She was lovely and had plenty of great stories to keep us amused, we then headed back to NY where we bid Tech overlord James goodbye for this trip.

Gotta siiiiiing, gotta daaaance......
A.M - Today we performed Inside out and Mayhem on the Rachael Ray daytime NY TV show, most eeeeexcelleeeent.
P.M - Darrel, Imelda, Dave and myself went to see The Artist at East Village Cinema, It's one of the most incredible films I've ever seen, I'm thinking it's movies like this and Hugo that will save the Cinema, Movies that are a must see for the big screen and not because of big stars or special effects that are easily transposed to DVD......just my opinion x