As the tour rolls on, soundchecks become less and less necessary. Once things are settled in, the band often decide to forgo them altogether. Sometimes, though, they fancy fiddling with some new material, as was the case here. Gravity was a song in the works for the record that would become X&Y.

Of course, the song was eventually given to Embrace, who had been very kind and encouraging to the band in their early years. They made a quite wonderful version of it – but like your first James Bond, this version will very likely always be the “real one” for the folks that were around the band as they wrote it.

This recording is extremely rough, of course. The sound is just from my tiny camcorder. I’m not even sure if this wasn’t actually the first time they’d played this with all four of them together. It’s loose and rambling – but it seems to marry with its surroundings just perfectly.

This was a quite spectacular setting for a show and a typically wonderful Italian crowd (some of whom spent the whole day in the square and can be heard clapping politely at the end of the tune). If only all touring days could be as idyllic…

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