Don’t get too close, readers. I’m full of cold. Being ill on tour (OK, I know, it’s only the sniffles and a sore throat…) is a pretty rubbish experience. If I had a sensible job, I would have called in sick and spent the day under the duvet feeling sorry for myself. That’s not really an option in my line of work, so instead, I’ve turned up to a cold and draughty arena and felt sorry for myself here. Really, I should get the juicer going in catering and load up on healthy vitamins. Maybe later. For now, tablets, vitamin water and self pity are the order of the day.
So what’s been happening here? Well, we finished up in Birmingham. The third night’s crowd are memorable particularly for a rather excellent bout of Mexican Wave-ing (if indeed such a term exists) before the show. Then, after two glorious days off, we arrived up in Glasgow.
The SECC in Glasgow is where we started the UK arena shows on the Rush Of Blood tour. It all seemed very huge and grown up back then. The show that we have today is immense in comparison and the band on stage are no longer finding their feet and learning their craft. They now seem very comfortable, confident and capable on an arena stage. Of course, the one thing that hasn’t changed is the Glasgow crowd – ever reliable as some of the best voices on the planet. They’re in fine voice this evening and not only belt out the biggies like Fix You and Viva, but they’re singing melodies from within all the songs – not just the vocals, but the guitar parts too. Good work folks!
We get back to our rather splendid hotel, a grand old manor house, and find that there is a wedding party in. We’re all sitting around the bar for a swifty when someone’s acoustic guitar comes out and the voices are off again. Will and Jonny shyly decline an invitation to give them a song, but this doesn’t dampen their enthusiasm one jot and they’re giving it loads deep into the night. There’s definitely something in the water up here….
Right, I’m going to find a flightcase to curl up on and I’ll catch up with ya again in a couple of days. Meantime, I should leave you with a quick tale of Roadie glory. Bash is Will’s drumtech. He’s been with the band for a very long time now and is one of the most colourful characters on the road (which is saying something…). In Bash’s younger (and more single) days, the back lounge of the bus was referred to as “Bash’s office” for reasons we’ll draw a veil over for now. So when this leg began and the ‘core crew’ found themselves on a “star bus”, the choice for who got the insanely oversized bedroom at the back was obvious. Here’s Bash enjoying his new home….
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