Hello all - so we arrived into Christchurch yesterday afternoon. Think Fiacre said it had been 48 hrs since we left Dublin, luckily it only felt like 36. LOL We left Dublin Sunday afternoon as it was in the midst of another downpour, yes I know why leave all that? We arrived to LHR for a quick 4hr wait, met up with Jelle, then off to Sydney with an hour layover in Bangkok. We love Quantas! For these long haul flights their massive 747-400 has an amazing entertainment system. Movies, Documentaries, TV programs, games etc. That made such a difference. We all had books to read but it helps to know you can take a break from reading and have something else to occupy your mind. I watched a documentary: Made in China, Where Mardi Gras beads come from, the movies Fracture and Half Nelson, TV shows Simpsons, Family Guy and Cheese Slices; a fella visits different parts of the world, shows how certain cheeses are made then shows a few recipes, I saw the ones on Gorgonzola and Parmiggiano-Reggiano.(drool) Spiderman 3, Zodiac, 300 and Space Race are some of the other selections I hear were watched. Books amongst us, I'll have to ask around but I know the Bob Dylan Chronicles is among us as well as a few Bill Bryson titles, "Down Under" and "A short history of nearly everything". Our layover in Sydney was only a couple of hours, time enough to have a lovely breakfast at Wagamama, noodles in the morning, yum! We flew into Christchurch around Noon and it a was gorgeous view, mountains then snowcapped mountains then the amazing azure waters, such a sight.

We met up with Glen at the hotel. He had flown over from the States, was on the same flight as Dylan's band. Mr B has his own set of wings. He also filled us in on his adventurous quick tour in the U.S. with Marketa. Sounds like people are really getting it now and are open not just to the film and soundtrack but to the Swell Season project and The Frames, yeah!

Dinner at Arjee Bahjee, serves Indian fare in a Wagamam type setting, lovely stuff. I'd recommend the Dahl Bhat and Spinach/Onion Bahjees. It was an early night for all, the jet lag settled in as we dined. So off to rest the heads in lovely soft pillows.

oh so where did I leave off.... right we're off to Ghent. I remember it fondly from the tour in February. Our last day with the Bellx1 boys :( The trip over was easy and not too long. We arrive to a dry but cloudy town. We arrive with plenty of time to check in and go for a wander. Rob, Colm and I hit the streets meandering our way around. The whole town has been taken over by 2 or 3 festivals so there are carnival rides, stalls of food, drink and retail therapy items. After a good while the big dark clouds start to roll in and luckily at this point we're on our way back to the stage to meet the others for dinner. Just after we arrive to the dressing rooms the skies open up and let it all out. aahh just like back in Ireland for the past several weeks. A lovely dinner and a bit of time to relax. The band just on before is Au Revoir Simone, based in Brooklyn "triple keyboard action" as their myspace says... Au Revoir Simone, we met Erika and Annie, nice folks making sweet music. The rain seem to be holding off, but about 3 songs into their set another down pour. But the crowd held out and they continued to play. Would have been lovely to be at home with a big cup of tea listening to the rain and their tunes. Just about the end of the their set the rain stopped. It was at least an hour before the lads took the stage but the audience came despite the rain and seemed to embrace it. It went from light sprinkles to full on downpours throughout the hour long set. After the gig Fiacre and Simon packed the van and Fiacre was off, hoping to catch a 2am ferry. So we stayed on for a few drinks and nice chats. Thanks again to Jan for looking after us. :) We got back to the hotel too late for more lovely beverages but that's best as we've got an early start to the day to get back to Dublin. x cherie

We arrived on Friday evening, Fiacre met us at the airport and brought us to the hotel. Good man, he'd driven all night and had only an hour to put his head down. We're staying very near to the Botanique, very nice to know the area a bit already. After a late dinner we walked about 15 minutes looking for a place to have a few more drinks and found ourselves around the corner to Cafe Central. No need to look further and there was even a few chairs for us to occupy. The beers here are quite lovely and seeing as I'm not having to do the driving, I'll enjoy enjoy enjoy.

Saturday afternoon we head to the Dour festival, the lads play at 5pm. Not sure the name of the town but it's very picturesque. Must be very cool town folk as the music goes on until 5am each night. When we left Ireland it was pissing rain and maybe 15-17C, today we've got partly cloudy skies and 30C !! yahooo... have been missing the summer weather so I won't even begin to think of complaining about the heat. Once the gig starts the clouds have gone and the sun is beating down on the stage. Luckily it's nothing like Coachella but i imagine the band is feeling the temps. The set was an hour long and sounded amazing. Gerry was in great form and the band really gave it their all. After the set we went to catering and enjoyed a bit of food and bevs. Back to the hotel and settled ourselves in the lounge to try a few of the selection of Hoegaardens, Lefes and Chimays. Sunday: Everyone off in their own directions. Rob and I walked over to a kebab shop that we visited when we were here in February. The make a really yummy falafel. After a long walk taking in the neighborhood we met everyone back at the hotel to have an early dinner. We dined alfresco at a local grill, nothing fancy but pretty good fare. I had a really delicious mixed green salad topped with Goat Cheese & Pine nuts on Toast, most everyone else had steak and chips. Not a crumb left on any of our plates, so a very successful dining experience.

Our reason for the early dinner was so we could get back out to the festival to catch Wilco. We didn't make good time like we thought so we missed BRMC who was on just before. Was nice to be able to say hello to the lads in Wilco before they took the stage, hadn't seen them in a quite some time. They played an amazing set, you couldn't wipe the smiles off of any of our faces throughout. Definitely worth the trip back. yeah Fiacre! also a big thanks to Jan for helping us both days. We're back to the hotel but too late to get the one night cap in. So off to bed and up tomorrow to drive to Ghent. The lads don't play until 10:30 so hopefully we'll get a chance to walk around Ghent, it's a really lovely town. will have to get my fix of pomme frites with mayo... not a healthy move I realize but when in "rome" eh?!! ;-)

ok so up today to have a bit of breakfast and check out the shops. rob and I heard Season 3 of Deadwood was out on dvd and the price was right, so off we went. Great Success! and rob found many old jazz musicians on dvd as well that he rarely sees and I picked up The Science of Sleep, too good a deal to pass up. A lovely hot and sweet waffle along with a pint of raspberries and a pint of blueberries and we're set. Back to the hotel to meet everyone and head to Ghent. It's warm and sunny here but have heard rumbles of rain in Ghent. That's ok as we've been delighted with the sunny skies we've had these past few days.

ok I know ... I still haven't sent in the diaries for the UK and Austrian dates.... sorry folks, so many distractions. So here's a few bits before it blends into the past tour memories.

We really enjoyed our time in the UK, the London gigs were outstanding, Leeds Varieties is always a pleasure and Four Day Hombre, well what can I say but lovely lads and lovely tunes. Johnny from I AM KLOOT supported on a few dates as well it was an honor, what a talented man. Thank you Sean for the beverages in Glasgow and for all who had me quite busy at the end of the night. Manchester and Brum, two totally different types of venues and gigs, but both amazing in their own. Julie, so cool of you and the family to make the trek over, thanks for all the love. And the road trip ladies, well you bring the sun where there's rain, thanks so much! And Sparkeandfade, that shirt does look good on you... I miss it so. oh and we watched the Pixie's dvd "Quiet Loud Quiet" and the documentary In the Shadow of Motown about the Funk Brothers. On our first night in London, Rob and I walked past the HardRock in London just as Aerosmith was finishing up a set and dashing into their limos. So rock n roll.

Austria, ah beautiful Austria, Dornbirn is our first stop, strange little industrial office park, but the snow capped mountains in the distance are just so breathtaking. Bernhard Shurer supported and we had a great night. Met lots of friendly folks, even a fella from Liechtenstein came over to see the lads and buy a shirt. Linz is our next stop, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linz Sadly we didn't get out to see the town but we did get to have some really nice weiss beers after the gig with some new and old friends. oh and Longital has joined us again, Sina and Dano make such beautiful music, please do check them out, they are on www.myspace.com/longital as well as their own site and google them for other links to them.

Graz for a day off, sweet!!

Ghent - Feb 18th - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent or http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/mag4/art20050401/htm/dest_gand.htm

This is my first time here and I'd checked out a map Rob bought back from their time there back in Nov of 2005, so I knew I wanted to get out and walk around a bit. What a beautiful city to wander around. Unfortunately it's Sunday so most places are closed but there's so much amazing architecture to see that we're quite happy just to do that. "Much of the city's medieval architecture remains intact and is remarkably well preserved and restored. Its center is the largest carfree area in Belgium." We walked past the Belfry of Ghent, Sint-Baafs Cathedral & St Nicholas' Church and could see the Gravensteen castle in the distance. We continued on to the Sint-Michielsbrug bridge, which is said to be one of the most photographed views in Belgium. A good time to stop for a coffee and enjoy the scenery before heading to the venue. Tonight they play Vooruit, a beautiful building with a gorgeous bar/cafe downstairs that is full of people of all ages listening to a dj spin some big band. Later when we come back in there's a guy with a bright red mohawk playing accordion with kids running around on the stage behind him. I read Vooruit was build in the early 1900's as a community center, in the 40's it was taken over by the Nazi's. It eventually was abandoned and in the '80's some like minded folks decided to bring it back to life for the community. One can sit all day reading a book or having a coffee or just people watching. There are a few different venues inside of various sizes. It's our last night with the BellX1 boys, miss them already. My merch table is in a strange spot tonight so i'm not able to see what's going on but I can hear pretty well. It sounds like all is going great. Even hear Paul singing Flame towards the end of the night. I'd say that's another lovely night in Belgium. thanks to all who did come by the merch table to say hello and pick up a few things. It's always nice to see familiar faces and meet some new ones.

We've got a long drive ahead tonight, so after a few drinks there are many rounds of goodbye hugs and wishes with Paul, Dom and Dave.

Eindhoven - Effenhaar - I hear the venue is fairly new but only in structure, there had been a venue in the same spot that had occupied an old factory. And what a place, 5 floors of back stage, offices, artist lounge, dressing rooms, a cafe on the ground floor and plenty of stairs to get the heart rate up. All that and a very organized and friendly crew. The gig was wonderful, even though there were some chatty folks in the back the audience was overall giving loads of love. It was great to see Helmut, Tim, Menno & his Mrs. (the dutch film crew that did a documentary a year or so ago). I'm sure the set list has been posted on the msg board already, but in case the 2 solo bits didn't get named, Colm did "Blue Shoes" and Rob did "First Time Again" off of his record. Inge, thanks for coming out and bringing friends, hope to see you again next time we're around or somewhere out on the road.

Feb 17th - The Hague - Par Von Troj
We've arrived for the band to be taken away to another radio gig. It's the Chinese New Year today (year of the Pig) and there's a parade in Chinatown just a few blocks away. I went for a stroll to check out the neighborhood and to see if I could catch the parade. What I did get to see was not so much a parade but a ceremony sort of blessing the shops on the block. The firecrackers roared so loudly it was deafening. So the venue is a big place that has a club starting just after the gig, so it'll be another night of being out in the lobby and missing the gig. It was great for me to see so many familiar faces even if it was just for a quick hello. By now you've all heard that it was a rough start to this gig with a few too many chatty people and some fella who had some issues that he brought in with him. But from what I hear from both audience and band the night was turned around and all's well that end's well. Mirco it was good to see you and your family and always, thanks for your kind words. Annemiek thanks for the link to the Swell Season write up and for spreading the word. Nika safe travels to you and see you soon. The lovely folks at Velvet Music came out tonight to sell Frames cds. The lads did an in-store at their shop back in Nov. of 2005 I believe. If you're in the Hague or any of the other NL towns where they have shops, please do check them out. Their website is www.velvetmusic.nl They also bought a box of Rob's cds, so that's the place to go if you want to pick one up. They pride themselves on their selection and I have no doubt they can help ya with anything you're looking for.

Viewings of late - The Proposition, Das Boat, Mulholland Drive, Saints & Soldiers, The X Prize w/Burt Ratan, Family Guy (a lot of FG), 40 Year Old Virgin, Prairie Home Companion and a Top Gear epsiode where they go to Florida buy cars for $1,000 and drive them to New Orleans.

Feb 13 - Groningen - Venue, Oosterport
I had a quick wander around in search of a card shop. I took a right instead of a left and missed out on the center of town. But I did find a small shop that still had Valentine's cards and while it was in Dutch it looked like it said what I wanted to. I did check later with someone to make sure and it was all good. Since I missed out on the city center, here's a bit of wikipedia info: The city was founded on the northernmost point of the "Hondsrug" area. The most ancient written document pointing out that Groningen's existence emanates from the year 1040. However, the city already existed a long time before that year, for the oldest archaeological traces found are believed to stem from the years 3950-3720 BC and the first real civilization in Groningen has been traced back to the third century. And - Groningen has been called the "World Cycling City" since nearly 50% of journeys within the city are made by bicycle. The city is very suitable for those who want to get around without a car, as it has an extensive cycle network, good public transport services, and a large pedestrianized zone in the city center.

Thanks to Sinead and Donal for bringing a few friends and for the Hoegaardens. While I didn't see the show myself I could hear most of it. BellX1 sounded really lovely, as usual. The room was pretty cool as well a great size to still have that intimate feel. We ate at the venue so I've no recommendations, maybe Sinead and Donal can make some suggestions.

Feb 14th - day off Amsterdam, all I'm saying is go if you haven't. So easy to get around and so much to do.

Feb 15th - Paradiso - Nice old church turned venue, great staff and a very happy audience. Mirco, thanks for coming out so much. Not much to say here, it's only my second time here and while I don't get to see the gig I have a great night anyway. There is a club on after the gig so it's another late night for most. I've seen quite a few folks at these last few gigs, Nika, maybe you should blog about your mini tour. Eoin came in just for this gig, hope you had a good night and your time at the airport was ok. Mirco, thanks for the kind words and support.

Feb 16th - the lads get up early and are taken away to do 3FM Radio things. The rest of us head to Eindhoven. We're at Effenhaar which is near a major train station, for all those travelers out there, it's one to keep your eye on, easy enough to get to. There's a bit of a shopping area close by with loads of bars and restaurants and as it's the Friday before Shrove Tuesday or what I grew up calling "Fat Tuesday", there's lots of decorations and folks wandering around in costume.

Groningen - Feb 13 - I'm in Groningen for the week on holiday so it's nice to catch up with the lads at the oosterpoort. The oosterpoort is a purpose built music centre and theatre. The Frames are playing the medium-sized hall today and the sound is just great (think vicar street, but smaller and with tiered seating). Bell X1 are up first and get a good reception from the crowd.

The Frames come on about 9.30pm and play a great set (setlist) - the version of star star brought me back to a vicar street gig in late 2000 - tonight's version was as good if not better... the crowd were amazing tonight (glen missed the cue to restart when he paused mid-song at one point due to the pin-drop quietness). The encore sees colm dedicate his solo song (blue shoes) to mic and gets a great reception. The music continues and I'm sure folk would have stayed all night if the band had kept playing!

Afterwards we chat to some of the local folk we know (hi to paul, jan and martine!), catch up with cherie and grab a copy of rob's new album (very nice!) and one of the tour posters (designed by a guy (whose name escapes me right now) in chicago). After a little while, colm creeps out and chats to a few folk, followed by glen a few minutes later. No sign of rob, joe until nearly everyone is gone, but they eventually come out and sign some CDs for the folk still there... Johnny has picked up a dose somewhere along the way and pops off to doctor straight after the show before retiring to the comfort of the tour bus (look after him if you see him!).

The rest of the band retire to the green room along with sinéad, our dutch friends and myself. Topics up for discussion are "why are dutch folk so tall?" and "renewable energy sources" which being tech-savvy folk goes on for a while... andy's birthday cake (still a little left) and a well-stocked fridge are the after-show spoils. It's getting late, so the guys pakc up their things ready for the tour bus and we say our goodbyes...

Luxembourg - Feb 12 - We're driving straight to the venue, unfortunately that means not seeing any of of the town. Rockhal is in some sort of industrial park, it looks like an old cement factory or steel mill and lots of construction sites around as well. the venue itself is only a year or so old, it's a huge building with 2 rooms, one that holds about 6,000 the other maybe 500. Tonight after dinner we surprised Andy with a birthday cake, Happy Birthday Andy!! I'm in the room for the gig and it was really nice to catch BellX1 as well. It was a good crowd and from what I could hear there where quite a few Luxembourgers there. I was told there are lots of Irish ex-pats in Lux. I did hear a few accents and during the gig noticed there were a few over zealous Irish folks up front making themselves known. All and all a good night. Hopefully next time they will all get a chance to see the town itself.

Feb 9th - We arrive in Antwerpen in the afternoon, the venue, Petrol is a bit out of the city center in an industrial area. Shipyards and the river are just across the road. We all headed into town on the hunt for hood, coffee and delicious Belgian beer, pretty much in that order. I've not been to Antwerp before, really beautiful old town area, Groenplaats is where we're dropped. I was stunned when we walked into the small square facing the Cathedral of Our Lady, so big and beautiful. Because it was getting late in the afternoon we didn't attempt to explore before deciding on what to eat. There were 4 italian places surrounding us and when you've got a party of 9 it can be tough getting seated, so Italian it is. While later I'll wish I had explored a bit only because we saw many other lovely restaurants, the Pizzas were scrumptous, nice and thin and cheesy. After we go to a small whiskey bar/cafe for coffees. Thanks Natalie for the recommendation. A bit of wandering around looking in shop windows and generally strolling we stop in a cozy looking bar, Fortuna I think it's called. It looks like you could be in your Grandparents basement, a small half circle bar in one corner, wood paneling on the bar and the walls, brocade tablecloths, a shelf full of kitten figurines and lace curtains which had kittens on them as well. I was surprised not to see a real kitty curled up somewhere. Realizing from the taxi ride in that we weren't too far we walked back to the bus. After writing a few postcards, that will most likely travel with me for a few more weeks, I'm back to "Curb Your Enthusiasm". The Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, is on downstairs, Rob and I had seen in it in the theatre so I skipped this viewing. During a "curb" break I go down and catch a scene where my brother-in-law is an extra, so cool to see him on the tv. A few of the lads have gone into the club, I find out later the SuperSuckers played then several DJ's, Goldie spinning drum and bass well into the night. Simon said the last dj was scheduled for 5am.

Feb 10th - a big shout out to my GrandMa who turns 91 today! Happy Bday!! I hear the sun was shining for her. Can't say the same for us, woke to a rainy day. But as it was a pretty late night for most, today's destination is only the venue. Showers, laundry and internet are on the agenda. Ya just have to love venues with all that and a kitchen! Anyone out there dreaming of designing, owning or running a venue, bands will love to play your place if you've got those bits. Of course top equipment & a great sound are more of a priority but showers and laundry are such a luxury for touring bands. Kitchens are great as well especially if you've got a staff that need to get in early and stay throughout the night. I imagine catering for staff and band saves time and money, as well as being a bit healthier.

Another late night, The Frames not on stage until half 11 or so, finishing about half 1. I was in the same room but it was a huge space that was divided by a DJ booth and black drapes. I unfortunately was on the opposite end of the room. I could hear the loud bits and see a little at the start but my side slowly filled with club goers waiting for the DJ to start back up. There was a movie screen projected on the wall that played Barbarella over and over, think I saw it 3 times by the end of the gig.

After packing up a few of us stick around for drinks and people watching. When we got back to the bus Simon was watching Wilco's documentary, 'I Am Trying to Break Your Heart and even though I've seen it a few times I stayed up, not a smart move, it was about 8am before I got into my bunk, not a good night to do that as Brussels is an early load in.

Feb 11th - Which I missed, overslept by an hour or so, oops. So with a bit of a headache and not too much sleep I make my way into Botanique, wow what an amazing building and gorgeous sculptured gardens out front. Walking through the hall to the Orangerie room is like being in a Conservatory, it's lined with large palm like plants and water features with goldfish. Playing in the Rotunda room tonight is a band called The Long Winters from the States. I met John briefly, he and Rob were talking about New Orleans, I guess they had been down there in October. And he spoke fondly of seeing loads of NoLa musicians in Austin at SXSW last March.

I've attempted to add clicky links so that those interested will read further on the places we go, as we are on a large touring bus we don't always get a chance to get into town until it is time for load in. Ok, get out your Atlas and you'll see we are traveling from Plzen to Dresden, the venue is the Star Club which is not in the city center, it seems to be pretty far out. I think the area is called Briesnitz. It's pretty residential so there's not much in walking distance. Rob and I walked a bit to a church, the postcards read 'Kirche zu Dresden-Briesnitz, so my guess is that's the where are in. There was a cemetery on the grounds, so we had a stroll around, it's always interesting to see the different tombstones and variety of ways graves are decorated. Part of the grounds overlooks a river, not sure if it's the Elbe river or a tributary. We had a quick look inside the church. It has a huge pipe organ, but no luck to have stepped into rehearsal, there was someone locking the place up so off we went. Back to the venue to the arrival of 3/5 of the BellX1 boys. Dave, Dom and Paul will be supporting for the next several dates, as most of you probably know from Claire's newsletter.

Feb 8 - Hamburg Logo Club - Rock 'n Roll since 1974, great little rock club, seems to be across the road from a university, loads of students about. Really nice bookshop across the street, popped in for a few postcards. Today it's pretty cold - I know nothing compared to what it's been like for our friends in Chicago and the Midwest but it finally feels like winter, started to snow just before the doors opened and now a couple hours later I was able to sneak a peek outside and everything was covered in a blanked of white. Tosh (sp?) from Logo said it's only their 2nd snow this year - considering global warming I guess it's no surprise. The staff at Logo have been most welcoming and tonight the crowd is amazing, small but dancing. It's great to see people so moved by the music they are taken somewhere else for a couple hours. As we've got the day off tomorrow, after the gig there's no rush to leave and Tosh was kind enough to let us stay and enjoy a few lovely Erdingers, the guitar comes out and gets passed around. A nice lil session before we head out into the snowy night. Before boarding the bus the snowballs begin to fly, that's not a fight I'll be any good at, so 2 snowballs later I'm on the bus. Wishing now I'd have been able to get it on video. Geraldine, a new friend from Australia, hadn't experienced snow before and was delighted to catch the snowball fight and help decorate a snowman. Rob's devilish side came out and his contribution to the snowman was a carrot, let's just say there should be plenty of giggles for anyone who walks by in the morning.

The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada is on tonight. There's also been quite a bit of Futurama on the go.

Praha - The Archa - amazing room, lovely people and half liters of great beer for less than a euro, what more needs to be said. I have yet to be able to hear (Longital) Shina and Daniel's set, but did catch some of their soundcheck. Really beautiful. Glen said Czech surrealist filmaker Jan Svankmajer came out to the gig and some of the lads had the chance to meet him. An honor indeed.

Plzen - The band is playing as part of a month long festival called - 27 Smetanovske Dny - about 4 events a week, music of all genres, theatre and film. www.smetanovskedny.cz it's mostly in Czech, but worth a look around. they will be posting photos from all of their events in the next couple of weeks. Jana and David our festival reps meet us at the venue to take us to our hotel. Yes, tonight we leave our home on wheels for a nice little place with a bar and restaurant downstairs, which is always a plus. Karla is a wonderful barkeep who was happy to serve us all large glasses of the local specialPilsner Urquell and try to convince us it's actually good for you. Hotel Plzen I think it was called. Tonight Jana tells us there is a theatre event, "Baroknípera" - which is Petr & Mat.j Forman (Milo.' twin sons), Milan Forman (no relation) and 2 others, one on the organ, the other doing lights. This "opera" is a puppet show with a bit of comedy troupe thrown in. Johnny, Colm, Rob and I take her up on the offer. The theatre is behind an American West themed restaurant-saloon, which you have to walk through. We had a bit of time before the doors so Jana recommends another local brew, Grambrinus, more of an amber look to it, very smooth, very nice. Once those are finished, we went inside and were greeted by Pavla, one of the Festival directors. She introduced us to Mat.j who was very gracious and sincerely delighted that we had come out. We took our seats, not long after they began to work the room, talking to the audience and messing with the press photographers, running around posing. They addressed the audience before beginning the play, asking in Czech if there was anyone who didn't understand what they were saying. A woman seated in front of us turned and motioned that we should raise our hands, at the same time one of the brothers spoke in English, asking the question again, we raised our hands. He asked where we were from, Colm replied Irska. They asked if we would like to feel at home, we say yes and out comes a tray with 4 whiskeys which were passed back into welcome hands. After a toast they go on a bit more in Czech with some English, explain a bit about the premise of the play then the lights go down. Maybe try to wikipedia it and hopefully they'll have a bit of info.. . We have a program from the festival but it's all in Czech. After they allowed the audience to try out the puppets, of course we had to have a closer look ourselves, we'll get some photos up soon.

Jana met us after for a beer then we walked back towards the hotel to meet the others for dinner. On the way we came upon Stara Sladovna, a restaurant that specializes in many grilled beasts. Seeing as it was getting late the lads were famished and thought it'd be worth a try. Quite possibly the sign that read 'sucking pig' had an influence, yes I know it should have said 'suckling pig' but no. Jana said it's a popular place with tourists, but it's no chain restaurant with neon lights quite the opposite, the sort of place Hagrid would frequent. Dark and cozy with a nice fire going, wood beams throughout with large wooden tables and benches. A large platter is ordered between them. A few beasts and loads of veggies come out on a huge skillet. I had veggies and salmon, delicious. During dinner Jana gets word from Fiacre that they are going bowling. So after we've cleaned our plates we're off to meet up and "throw some rocks". A ten minute walk and we find Simon, Andy, Joe, Leon, Fiacre and David in the midst of a game. (Glen has stayed behind in Praha to do a TV interview with Marketa about the film 'Once',Sundance and generally what he's up to these days)

Jana offered to take us to the Pilsner Urquell brewery the next morning, but most of us were pretty wrecked from the late night in Prague so we passed. Sleeping in will be our morning activity.

The venue is Peklo, a community center with a big ballroom and in the same building is the Gen. Patton Memorial (On May 6, 1945, at the very end of World War II, Pilsen and Western Bohemia were liberated from Nazi Germany by General Patton's 3rd Army; the rest of Czechoslovakia was liberated from German control by the Soviet Red Army. )

Tonight I couldn't see the gig but from where I was it sounded amazing. Colm did a piece, Blue Shoes, and I heard Marketa singing, believe that was a new song. Tonight was our last night with Longital until we're in Austria. They are off to Poland to do some gigs then we'll see them in Linz March 1st.

Today we're in Brno, just arrived at Fleda. Looks like the sun is breaking through the clouds, should get out for a walk before the clouds and rain return. But first a bit about the last few days.

Munich turned out to be great start to the tour and as always, it was really good to see Berny. Mexican Elvis supported tonight, definitely worth checking out. We drove overnight to Cologne, well to just outside then drove in around midday. Simon scouted out the neighborhood for food and reported there was plenty of falafel and a bit of pizza to be found. Rob and I walked a bit and found a lovely little place, Falafel Salem, delicious! Later Colm told us he was photographing a church down the street, went in to find that it's now being used as a venue and got to hear a bit of pipe organ rehearsal. For dinner the venue sent us down the street to PhongLan, a lovely Vietnamese restaurant. We were lucky they have menus in english and the waiter spoke a bit as well. I really admire those with multiple languages whether it happens from necessity or desire to learn. I should have had a shirt made saying, "Sorry, I don't speak (insert language), English or hand signals please. I'll have to look it up for the 6 or so languages we'll be dealing with, next time there's internet I'll get at least that much. Too bad there's not a 24hr pill to swallow that would enable us to fluently speak whatever the local is. (or if you're into the Futurama sort of view, a chip that we could insert in our head or neck) Yes that sounds lazy, but my intentions are good. So many folks complain about english-speaking "waters down" foreign language and culture. This would help maintain dialects and languages, well that's my take on it. Anyway, Franz Kasper played support tonight and from what I could hear he's worth another listen. We've got his recent cd at home and now have, "the new rockin chair, introducing violin violence". I look forward to it. It was good to see some familiar faces tonight. Meredith we haven't seen since Seattle and Portland, just happened to be in town this week for work. You just never know where you'll run into people ya meet while touring. Oh and we got our tour posters, they were designed by Dan MacAdam in Chicago and printed in Dusseldorf at www.slowboyrecords.de Thanks to Andreas for driving them down to us.

After a bit of socializing with old and new friends we head out to Prague. Tonight we watched some Family Guy and the Borat film.

Day off in Prague, wandering the streets for food and it's nice just to be able to get out and walk around without a time limit. And what a beautiful city for it. I know I raved about it last time I was here with the band, but here again, for anyone who hasn't been, it really is worth the trip. I'm sure it's changed over the years as are most european cities, but if you avoid the trendy shopping bits you'll see amazing architecture and feel the history all around.

While at lunch Rob found out his solo cd had been delivered to the Archa, so we walked over and picked them up. We're delighted to finally have it in hand, it's been a long time in the making. We're selling them at the shows and will sort out a way to have it available via his myspace page and hopefully the Frames website as well. yeah! Colm, Johnny, Rob and myself went for dinner at a little place near the Archa, Chalupka I think it's called. Nice, inexpensive food, pastas and some mexican fare and some lovely beer. hhhmmm now to remember what it was, Johnny remembers it was Krusovice, very easy to drink. Andy and I watched a bit of Mash then a few episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Johnny has season 5 with him. That Larry David is a funny man, but it's definitely something you have to get warmed up to. Or not as I'm sure his sense of humor is not for everyone. Later I went down to find 'The Young Ones' on, was so hard to pull myself away and get into my bunk, but it was late and I wanted to get up for the drive into Brno.

Back to Brno, again Colm, Johnny Rob and myself head out in search of food and a bit of sightseeing. It's Saturday and pretty quiet, we're about a mile away from the center of town so a brisk walk to warm us up. Another beautiful city with gorgeous architecture and amazing cathedrals at almost every turn. We'll post some photos up eventually, maybe on the The Cost myspace page, I'll check with Donal to see what he thinks, that way Joe or Rob can put them up as we go along. We'll let ya know. So Johnny goes off in search of a phone card and phone, while Colm, Rob and I stop into a small Italian Cafe. A bit of pre-curser to our time at the end of the tour in Italy. Caprese Insalate, lasagna, pizza, tiramisu, lemon pie and a few cappicinos later we're satiated and ready for the walk back to Fleda. Supporting tonight and for the next couple of nights is Longital from Slovakia. I couldn't hear them from where I was set up, but figure if they are with us for these dates and later in Austria and Italy, they must be something to check out. They told me they sing in Slovak, but have translated their lyrics to english on the cd liner notes. Well for their recent release, not sure about the others. A great night full of really nice friendly folks. I recognize a few myspace faces, not placing the names straight away but Rob sorted me out. Back to the bus for me while most of the band stayed inside to chat and enjoy the night. Simon had 'Almost Famous' on the tv, so I was sorted for the next hour or so. Once everyone piled back on the bus, it was a call for Borat again. Not everyone had seen the previous night's viewing, so off into the night we go with the antics of Sacha Baron Cohen. Johnny's watching some old Seinfeld episodes and lends me the Curb Your Enthusiasm. My 2 viewings of Borat were enough for a bit and that would have been Johnny's 4th.

Here we are back in Praha at the Archa. All are in getting showers and setting up for later. I'll stop this now so I can count in my shirts and maybe find a wifi signal with which to send this.

Ciao for now. xo cherie

Happy Bday to Lisa in Cork and to my Sister, Brandy in Chicago. And I know there's one more I'm forgetting from my myspace friends.... sorry. I'll send this now while i've got an internet connection.....more soon xo che

hey all - it's been awhile. So here's to the start of 5 weeks with the band in Europe. Salute! We had a pretty good day of getting to and through Dublin airport, seems the time to fly is mid to late day, otherwise my experience is that it's pretty rammed esp at the ungodly hours prior to 7am. It's great to see everyone together again, I know we were all just at Vicar St on the 14th but it's been a good long time since we've gathered for an extended tour. It's been fun listening to Glen's adventures in Park City, UT at Sundance. We're all delighted that John Carney's film was so well received and that Glen and Marketa experienced such enthusiasm as we've seen in the reviews online and in the papers sent to us from family and friends back in the states. We flew to Frankfurt and reminisced about the last time we came through and poor Gerry was held up in customs over a digital camera he bought for one of his kids. Still not really sure what that was all about. Anyhoo, we meet up with Tim our driver and he delivers us to our home on the road which tonight takes us to Munich. A big thanks to Claire for sorting us out with a lovely home away from home. Our first stop is to the Axxe road side restaurant. For those who aren't experienced with these type places in europe, well it's no BurgerKing/Pizza Hut/Taco Bell stop, whew. (yes i'm talking to you americans that know about roadtrips where there's nothing but a waffle house in sight as well as the above mentioned) Now I'm a veggie so most of these euro roadside restaurants don't much appeal to me as they do the meat eaters. Simon and I are outnumbered in that particular situation, but we're not moaning, just staying. ;-) oh but don't worry about us, there's plenty of lovely cheese sambos and chips (frittes) on offer. I'll do my best to get the lads to contribute to the diary but there are no guarantees, after all they've got work to do.... so in the meantime y'all are stuck with me. Claire suggested I write about the restaurants/food we partake in, and I'll be sure to let you know about the lovely things and strange ones too, if that happens. I will say at this point that our Lampy, Andy Taylor, says that he's a bit of a connoisseur of snacks, so I'll quiz him on what he's finding along the way. Today we've really enjoyed some seasame "gold fischil" that he picked up at the garage. Like the cheesey gold fish(shaped) snacks but a lovely toasted sesame. For tonight's tv entertainment we watched some Fr Ted, a few Black Adder episodes and The Castle (australian film). well that's what I saw, the documentary - making of Dark Side of the Moon was on while I was typing this and possible some other bits.

A big thanks to you all for coming out and supporting the lads this year, we've met some incredible people along the way. A special thanks to you who came by to get merch or just to say hello, you're all stars in my book! I missed the Point gig and last European tour but i hear it all went great and that Big Al was a rockin merch dude. Happy holiday and best wishes for a happy and healthy new year. See y'all on the road! x che

We'd like to thank everyone who donated to the Katrina Relief fund on the N.A. tour. A huge thanks goes out to Josh Ritter for giving away his tour single for donations.

I'm down in N.O. right now and it's all very overwhelming to see this first hand. I don't know if pictures or words will every be nough to explain. The good news in all of this is that there are so many people who want to rebuild and who are doing what they can to make sure it happens.

We raised just over 1,200 USD. A portion of that will be going to the Red Cross. The rest will be going to family and friends who have been affected by the storm. One friend, Stephen, who was living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with his two kids was lucky to be able to evacuate west to Lafayette, LA to his Mom's home. Sadly when he was able to go back to check on his house and business, they were both gone. In the end we're just so thankful they were able to leave.

I could go on, but i've got to go - take care and again, thanks to everyone for their monetary and moral support. xcherie

It's great to be in Chicago, but being the end of the tour, it's sad as well. Rob and I woke up on the drive in, it's been a few months since we'd been in Chicago and we were excited to see it again. After finding our way to Lincoln Park, slowly everyone gets up and out for breakfast at the Pancake House just down from the Park West. I don't even know what the rest of the lads did this afternoon, hopefully they got out and wandered around. It's a good area for that, the lake isn't too far of a walk and there a loads of shops in every direction. Tonight was an early gig, the doors opened at 6:30, so my afternoon was busy with getting ready and talking to family and friends. Tonight is also the first night of the Baseball world series, which the Chicago WhiteSox are in and hosting. Not being a diehard fan of either team, what the hell, Go Sox! What a fantastic night - thanks to all of you who came out tonight, said hello, bought shirts, cds and just made it an even better night than we could have asked for. Rob's family were out in full force, my Mom was flown up from New Orleans and lots of friends came out too - it was magic. See y'all next time!

Hello Cleveland -- tis a chilly wet day and the Beachland Ballroom is a bit removed from a lot of action. But, there's a great record shop just a couple doors down with a cool kitty named Vinyl and a sandwich place across the street run by one of the nicest women i've ever met. I was out in the lobby tonight, wasn't able to hear the details of the show, but sounds like all went well. I did catch a small bit of Fiacre getting on stage and singing a Dylan song with the lads. oh and it's Josh's bday! Cathy, thanks for stopping to say hello. Oh and there was a fella that was in the line to get Josh's autograph, who was spreading the word of a singer songwriter named Tristan Prettyman. I haven't checked her out myself, but, he was going on about how fantastic she is and how she and Josh should work together. He had a few beverages in him, so I think that's why he wouldn't let up about it, but it worked, since I've remembered her name. Thanks Cleveland, you do indeed Rock!

Toronto -- this time around we're at the Phoenix. Strange location, obviously an old club but once inside it felt great. The night would be good, and it was. I met some really nice folks and heard some good stories. Josh had a great set. The lads and the crowd were on fire, what a rockin gig. It'll be nice when the band can go to Montreal and Toronto with some time off to explore both of these fine cities, such a shame to hit and run. Til next time -- thanks!

Montreal - We crossed the border into Canada without any trouble around 4:30 am. Some of us stayed up watching dvds, The Family Guy - Stewie movie and then The Mighty Wind. the sun was rising giving light to the surrounding landscape the leaves have started to change up this way, it's a beautiful view. time for sleep. later that night after walking around St. Catherine street and doing a bit of dvd shopping we stay up watching Season One of Twin Peaks, not realizing Season Two would be hard to find. It's been too long and I don't remember the 2nd season, but i'm told that's ok - we're not missing much. ah well.

Wednesday we're at the venue Club Soda on St. Catherine's - there are strip clubs all around, and i'm told the transvestite clue across the street, Cafe Cleopâtre is infamous. Not much going on today except load in and soundcheck. Sam joined the lads on stage tonight for Happy, sounded great from where I was. Thanks Montreal, was a nice evening.

Hi all - we're in Cleveland and I'm out in the foyer, Josh is playing (it's his bday!) and i'm hoping to catch up on the diary while i've got some time.

Oct. 15th Philadelphia - TLA South Street - it's a beautiful day in Philly. South St. is bustling with Saturday shoppers. There are so many food smells and shops to look at it's almost an overload to the senses. Rob, Gerry and I go looking for food. We pass one philly steak place that has a queue around the corner, the smell of grilled onions was overpowering but nice. We decide on the 4th St. deli, the sign claims that's it's Famous. This is one of those east coast delis with sandwiches that are anywhere from 4 to 8 inches high- crazy amount of food, everyone leaves with leftovers. A big thanks to Laris for dropping off much needed tour shirts. We'd also like to thank Sarah and Mrs Phipps' for those breakfast cookies. They were a big hit and they do go quite well with beer. happy bday rb... Next stop, NEW YORK CITY -- yahooooo

Oct 16th - NYC - Irving Plaza - we arrived into the city around 5am, got the rock star parking spot outside the venue - which in Manhattan is pretty amazing. Rob, Glen, Larry, Fiacre and myself were pretty wide awake and being NY we knew we could find something open. Glen lead us to Veselka on 2nd ave - nice ukranian diner open 24hrs - can't imagine working this shift, while there are plenty of regular folks coming in at this hour but there will always be the ones that are ending their night out, slurring or talking louder than necessary, anyway.... back to the bus for us just before sunrise and straight to bed. Up just before load in for a quick walk to radioshack. I'm off to Dojo to pick up some dinner... they've got this great dish, tajiki tofu. yum. while in NY it's almost a law that you have to have at least one slice of pizza, so I save my tofu dinner for later or tomorrow and grab a slice on the way back to Irving Plaza.
Oh what a magical night... great gig, great crowd. Ladies, always good to see you, safe travels and hope it's not too long before we see ya all again. Off to 5th st. for a few after gig beverages. ppy bday db

Oct 17th - Sommerville, MA (Boston area) - think the full moon has had an affect on things today... Rob, Glen and I walked around in all the wrong directions trying to find the Rosebud Diner, which was just a couple of blocks from where we got coffee. I've not been to this venue before, it's pretty cool, a seated theatre downstairs and movie theatres upstairs. wishing I could take the off for a an hour or so and see Broken Flowers. Tonight the lads played first, being that there was no bar and was seated it lent itself to be a more sedate crowd - which isn't a bad thing. I wasn't in the room but i know the lads enjoyed the gig - I didn't get to see Josh's set either but was pleasantly surprised to see him end it by coming out into the lobby with his band in tow. Reminds me of Peter Himmelman, except that Peter takes his crowds out of the venues and into the streets for a song or two then leads them back in again. That always makes for an interesting evening.

just down the street is a great photo/camera shop, we all descended upon it like a hungry pack of wolves. lots of darkroom supplies, oh if only Wexford had a shop like this. after a bit of running around to do boring old banking and fedex business, I wandered around a antique mall hoping to find a little something for Rob's bday. unfortunately nothing really caught my eye, maybe philly will offer something up. we're at the State Theatre tonight and wow what a crowd. thanks so much to all of you that came by to say hello and share your stories. nothing against the State Theatre, but maybe next time we come through we'll be at the 930 club, i keep hearing such good things about it, fingers crossed. Rich, thanks for your trust, hope you got your shirts. bruce, you're a star!

Thank you to the staff at Mississippi Nights, you guys rock, we had a great time.

Oct 10 - On our to Atlanta we've got the day off, so we're stopping in Memphis. First thing in the morning we got up and went on a tour of Graceland (compliments of Fiacre our fearless leader).
I had already been to Graceland years ago, but it was first for all the lads. It was a bit crowded and they've got audio tours now which can be good and bad. My advice if ya have the option is to go in the winter time, there are far fewer people and you don't feel as much like cattle moving through the place. It's an amazing place, very modest for as flash as Elvis got in the mid-seventies. It feels like a home. After that we head down to the Beale St. area for the rest of the night. Rob and I went to Sun Studios then down Beale street to the river to watch the sunset. It's hard not to think of Jeff Buckley as we look out on the Mississippi. He's been on our tongues for a couple of days now. Glen did a bit of wandering around down there as well. Colm and Dermot had an interesting afternoon, they were approached by a guy who said he'd show them the hotel balcony where MLK was shot. Once they got down there, Jessie Jackson was just about to give a speech. Seems he was trying to gather up New Orleans evacuees to take back to N.O. to get them working. Was hoping to get Colm or Dermot to write a bit themselves about this, no luck so far.
Later that night Rob, Glen and myself went to the movies, wanted to catch Wallace & Grommit (so sad about the studio fire), but we went to see FlightPlan instead. Wishing we had seen W&G.

We've got the Band of Brothers DVD boxset with us and we've been staying up late getting a few episodes a night... so that leads to us not getting up very early and not doing much of anything these next few days aside from loading into the venues and eating.

Oct. 11 Atlanta - The Earl -- tiny little place with a cool restaurant up front. Personally I didn't get anything done today except for having a lovely coffee from down the street. I know, lazy... but staying up really doesn't lead to getting up early. A few of the boys went down the road to a music shop, always on the lookout for some new addition to the gear. I had followed them in for a quick peak and encountered the sweetest shop cat. But back to the venue to get set up and settled in. Jo-Anne, it was great to see you and to meet Troy, we missed you along the way, but know we'll see you again before long. I've met several new "friends" tonight, had a PGA pro come up and tell me how he and his friends had just been to Ireland and a young lady had given them a list of band to check out, the lads being the first then Turn, Mic Christopher, BellX1, Mundy and i can't remember the rest. So they bought Set List in Dublin, listened to it everyday then got home and saw the gig listed in the paper 2 or 3 days later. The energy is contagious to have people so genuinely excited to be at the gig. Every night I get to meet folks that feel this way and I'm thankful that I get to meet them. All the different stories of how people find out about the lads is so cool.

Oct. 12 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
Another late one last night watching DVDs, so today is again just about loading in and setting up. I've not been here myself and didn't know which way to go so I wound up staying on the bus catching up on emails. For dinner we did walk down to the Spotted Dog for a bite. They've an excellent menu, especially for tofu/ veggie lovers. It's a late one tonight, Josh doesn't get on stage until 9:30, which puts the boys on at 11:00 - even so, great turn out for a school night.

Oh Lawrence, KS -- thank you! What a great night. Last time when we were in town with Damien Rice, there was a post show feast and karoake session at a Japanese/Sushi restaurant on Massachusetts. There wasn't enough time for all of us to repeat that experience, but Rob and I went down for a pre-gig meal and it was as good as we remember it. Thanks to all of you who came by and said hello, see y'all next time.

St. Louis, MO - it's Sunday and there's a Rams football game on today, lots of folks in the parking lots listening to the game, cooking out, just enjoying the day. the venue is Mississippi Nights - love the location, right on the river, lots of cool buildings to entice a few of us to take the cameras out and have a nose around. Looking out on the river reminds me of being in New Orleans, just love being near water in motion.

I'd like to say thanks to Randy & Shannon Bacon for coming out again, was good to see you both. Check out their site www.randybacon.com - they've got a cool photo/art gallery in Springfield, MO - and they have bands - so any of you traveling through, do stop and say hello or if you're band will be going that way, get in touch, who knows maybe there will be a gig in it for ya.

Things to do in Denver on your day off - well it was a beauty of a day for laundry. I know, very exciting stuff, but it had to be done. While on the hunt for a good spot for dinner, we were standing on a corner of the 16th street mall and i was pleasantly surprised to be tapped on the shoulder by a friend from Louisiana. She had just moved up on Sunday. She and her boyfriend were having dinner when she spotted Rob. The chances of being on the street corner at the same time, wow. It's not often that it happens, but so cool when it does.

Oct 7th - another beautiful day in Denver, morning starts around noon for us, a quick stroll for a coffee and Glen doing an interview with a paper in Montreal as we walk back. We head to the neighborhood of the venue. Nice day for a walk around before load in, found a nice park with a lake. A few restaurants and a guitar repair shop across from the Bluebird Theatre served us well. Dinner at Mezcal was fresh and tasty. My pre-gig Margarita hit the spot. I tried looking up the history of this venue as it does look like it's been around for some time. Some did tell me it was an adult film theatre at one point and either before or after that a general movie theatre. I imagine at one time there was some actual stage theatre happening here. Anyway, it's a deco looking little theatre with a cool neon marquee and a great staff. Thank you Anne. Jeff & Karen, Jessie & Paul and Brett - it was great to see y'all thanks for coming out. A big thanks to Cindy of KRFC for her overwhelming love and continued support for the lads - you rock! And of course, thanks to all of you in Denver and those who flew in to be with us tonite. Amazing stuff.

Oct. 8th - Lawrence, KS --- we have been so blessed on this trip with great weather and today is no different. this is our 2nd time in Lawrence and it's just as cool as we remember. there were a few more people out and about today, there were few art openings and a football game so there was great energy on the streets. A perfect day to wander aimlessly. Tonite we're at the Granada.

I have to say to anyone who has not been out to the North West of the U.S. try to get there, it's just so beautiful. (especially all of you living in the states) The light is amazing. Boise was bright and crisp and as the sun went down the colours were stunning on the surrounding mountains. Thanks to all who came out to the instore, we really had such an amazing day at The Record Exchange.

We drove out of Boise last night so we missed a great deal of splend, but when I got up today we were in Wyoming. It is so breathtaking. The rolling prairies, mountains in the distance and huge sky. More of the same going into Colorado. We're in Denver earlier than expected, so we're headed out for a bite to eat and maybe a bit of bowling... oh yah.

Sunday is a day off - after a marathon drive we wake up in Portland. Being a Sunday, it's a nice quiet day, a walk around looking for food... we stop for brunch at the Virginia Cafe. Later that evening Colm, Rob & Glen go to see Colm's cousin at the Symphony for a bit of Bartok & Beethoven.

Oct 3 Monday - another beautiful day in the N.W. -- stunning really - we're back to the Aladdin Theatre. I was out in the lobby for this gig, but from what I heard and what I was told - it was a stellar night. Going back to the Aladdin is a pleasure, the room & the staff are wonderful. And it was good to see some folks that were at the gig back in March and came back to see us with new frames friends. After the gig we load out with a bit of time for a few drinks next door. Being a school night, it was pretty quiet, but it was nice way to end the evening. There were a few folks from the gig, 2 of which came over to thank the lads and told us they'd be driving to Seattle the next morning to go to the Showbox gig. Thank you Autumn for saying hello and happy y'all had a safe journey.

Oct 4 - it's tuesday and we're stopped just outside of Seattle at a truckstop for breakfast. Nice bunch of folks working there, and one of the waitresses was Dora - thanks for the chat and warm hospitality. Our next stop is KEXP - very cool radio station. One of the staff had his pug puppy, Rufus, with him. He was so so cute. Hoping y'all got to catch the set live, if not I'm sure they archive all the in-studio guests, go to www.kexp.org.
Tonite we're at the Showbox just a block from Fisherman's Wharf. There wasn't a chance to walk around this time, well I didn't, except to get to the postoffice. The lads did go out for Indian food, which from Rob and Dermot's gushing review was fantastic. During the gig Glen told a tidbit of being at dinner, I guess the place was empty except for themselves and one other table which turned out to be The Mars Volta, but there wasn't any exchange between them. wish I had been there, just may have gone over and invited them to the show, why not, right?
the Seattle show was, as some say, awesome. the lads really had a great gig - i was lucky enough to be in the room tonite. the audience was amazing, the energy was uplifting.
thanks to all who came by to get shirts or just to say hello - afterwards we went to the Alibi room for a nitecap, again Autumn is was lovely to see ya again - please tell your friend thanks for driving up and hope y'all had a safe journey back home.

A big thank you goes out to all who have contributed to our Katrina Relief Fund - tonight I met a guy who was telling me about driving big rigs of supplies and instruments down to displaced musicians. Said there were 24 truckloads of donations. It's wonderful to hear the good things that are going on surrounding this disaster.

Oct 5 - just yesterday morning we got confirmation that there's to be an instore happening in Boise today. We're all delighted to go back to Boise. First stop breakfast then the Old Boise Guitar Company, the lads can't pass up a guitar shop. The instore is at The Record Exchange, one of the coolest record stores in the U.S. and the staff are outstanding. Thank you Joy and Jill for having us and for the sushi. We love your shop and look forward to getting back to see y'all.

woke up to a cool cloudy San Fran - lucky for us the Fillmore is in a neighborhood with a good size thrifty and other little shops and eateries, so that's the day pretty much. Well, Rob, Glen and I did take a long walk in search of some camera shops. On this tour, between all of us we've got various cameras - digital, 35mm and 120mm. We're always on the look out for 120 film and lenses. The Bob Dylan special has been the DVD of choice today & tonight, great stuff.
the Fillmore, what an amazing venue. the thousands of bands that have come through here... wow, a great vibe and beautiful room. I'm sure the message board has been flooded with gig info, but I must say what a delightful set. When Martin from Calexico stepped out from the shadows and started to play, chills went straight up my spine - fantastic!!!

not much to say as we rolled into town just in time to load into the El Rey. what a great looking venue. It turned out to be a lovely day (as in it was much cooler than days previous), even though the wild fires were still burning just miles away. we did get to see some old friends and familiar faces, always a delight. was great to see some of the crew from the video shoot and the young lady who co-stars with Glen. the lads had a great time and I think it showed. What a difference when you're able to see a band enjoying the gig as much as they audience. thanks again to Tricia from KCRW for the heartfelt welcome.

we're here for the day, Glen's got a video shoot tonite. Too hot to do much of anything. Found a few shops to peruse and Larry's hotel has a pool, so a nice swim should help to cool things off. The shoot is to take place between 8pm-8am on a beach not far from here. As this is an independent project, who knows when it will be done and what will come of it. I'm sure Claire will keep us all posted. I'll send in a couple of pics. The lads went down to give Glen a bit of moral support and I went down later to check it all out. The crew were a good bunch of people. Really looking forward to seeing what comes of a long night.

We're back in Tucson, another scorcher of a day. The heat is amazing, I've never felt anything like it. Glen likes to describe it as having a hairdryer blowing in your face. I wouldn't go that far but considering it's been over 100F these last few days, it is a bit much for those not accustomed. Chicago Music Store gets another visit from a few of the lads. I went back to ITL for a iced soy latte, oh how i miss them while i'm in ireland. There was a great used clothing shop next door that I found a few goodies in. Luckily the venue was in that same neighborhood, oh and there is amazing Guatemalan restaurant just a few doors down. Plush is on 6th st. & 4th ave. with a super cool staff. met loads of locals and transplants, really enjoyed this place. This was our first night with Josh and his band, I wasn't in the room but from what I could hear it was a great set. Thanks to all who came out, we look forward to getting back.

As you all know, there was much local drama the few days leading up to the ACL fest. Fortunately for Austin, Hurricana Rita changed course. Unfortunately for SW Louisiana and parts of SE Texas, she hit them pretty hard and has caused much destruction for area. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of those affected.

Sept 24th, Austin, Tx
Saturday we're early onto the festival grounds (well all except Glen, he had to fly into Dallas this morning) The temps are already in the high 80s and climbing, but it's a beautiful sunny day. 15 minutes before they are due on stage Glen arrives, WHEW!!
The lads go on, welcomed by a nice crowd that grows by leaps and bounds as the set goes on.
Fair play to all for standing out under the blazing sun. What a great festival, the food, the music and the people. Highly recommend it. Later that evening a few of us went to Stubb's to check out Wilco - a fantastic gig, they sounded amazing and looked to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Be sure to check the message board for all gig reviews... i'll leave it to you all as you're so good at it. We are delighted to have Larry driving the bus for us again, we are indeed in good hands. While Simon's out there playing with Mundy, we've got the pleasure of having Dermot out with us to help the lads out. Don't be surprise to find a few diary entries from him.

On our way to Arizona it's pretty sedate, several episodes of season 5 of the Soprano's, a night of bowling in Silver City, NM & plenty of mexican food. Monday we spent in Tucson. Glen & Fiacre found a great place for brekky, Cafe Milano - delish food and coffee. We moseyed on down to Chicago Music Store for a nose around then wandered around on 4th ave. Met a girl in ITL coffee shop that worked in Sine years back, knows the Gearys - small world. We didn't do much else as it was 103F & shade was sparse. Fiacre had come across a very nice and helpful taxi driver who recommended a spot for dinner - yummy mexican place. Joey Burns met us out, it was good to see him and catch up. He & the Calexico bunch are hitting the road here in the states later this week, be sure to keep an eye out for them in your town.

Sept. 27 On to Phoenix, it's another hot day. En-route we watch a few more episodes of the Soprano's. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get to Phoenix early enough to have a look around. Tonight we're at The Rhythm Room. Great crowd, was nice meeting y'all. Thanks to all who came out to support the lads. A local fella, Swordfish kindly filled the support slot. I hope I got that right, I know that's what the sign said. He was entertaining and had some really good songs. After loading out and talking to a few folks we're headed out, back to Tucson.

ooops, thought I forgot eh??

well, no way! our time in the UK was fantastic. Cherry Falls supported the lads on all 5 dates and were a lovely bunch. Do check them out at http://www.cherryfalls.co.uk/ and in a town near you when you can, they are worth it. Hopefully their new record will be out very soon, if not already, check your favourite record shop.

Liverpool was lovely, Rob, Fiacre and myself made a point of getting down to Albert Docks to check out the Beatles museum. We"ve all seen the anthology, so pretty much knew what we were in for, but it was a nice outing. Walking back to the hotel we stopped at the Cavern for a nose around and a coffee. The gig was at the university and as you all already know, was great. The lads had a wonderful night and the audience was outstanding. A fab beginning to this tour.

The next day was a day off in London and coincidentally, Glen and Claire"s birthdays. So a relaxing day and a lovely dinner with a few cocktails to finish off the evening.

Now onto Shepherds Bush Empire, another great gig and fantastic crowd. Lots of familiar faces from near and far, always a welcome addition. Joanne, thanks for your help!
I didn"t get to see this gig, as I was in the lobby, so you know where to get this info. :)

That night we headed off towards Edinburgh and woke somewhere in the countryside. The drive up was really beautiful. As most of us had read The DaVinci Code, we were curious when we saw the signs for Rosslyn Chapel. Being that we had the day off we had some time to leave the main road and go check out the Chapel. When we arrived there was a wedding that was just finishing up, so we grab a pot of tea and wander around til they"ve cleared the chapel. Was a beautiful day and nice to be outside soaking up the sun. After checking out the chapel there was delicious food to be had in the local pub, so off we went.

While driving into Edinburgh we had to do a bit of driving around the city as one of the main bridges was blocked off (found out later, it was a jumper), lucky for those of us that were up and looking around, it was nice to see alot of the city. The Architecture is amazing. After parking the bus, a few of us went off in search of a pint or two. Found a nice enough place, think it was called the Blue Blazer or something like that. There were many signs on this place, but I think that was the BB. Hours later and many laughs, it"s time to turn in.

Queens Hall - lovely venue, not sure of it"s original use but an interesting set up indeed. The singer from CherryFalls, Joe, is from outside of Glasgow and had a good bit of support here tonite. Loads of love throughout the night. I was in the lobby of the bar so I didn"t get to see this gig, but could hear it and got many reports that it was grand. Thanks to all who came over to say hello. And of course to buy shirts.cds and bags :) I"m looking forward to getting back to Edinburgh for some time on my own to walk around and check it out. Very nice vibe there.

Off to Leeds, another overnight drive. Oh and we did find out the jumper didn"t jump.

Leeds Varieties Theatre, wow!!! what a cool place! Quite a history here and what a great room to catch the lads in. I read that Houdini and Charlie Chaplan performed in that room. Not on the exact stage as they"ve since replaced it, but still.... very cool. I"m not sure how much the elderly ushers enjoyed the volume of the gig, but I did see a couple of the ladies bopping their heads along now and then.

Cambridge - not sure what part of town we were in, but the venue was in a strange looking complex that had a few restaurants, a cinema, fitness center, hotel and bowling alley! oh I was so wanting to get to that bowling alley..... some of the CherryFalls lads got in a few games, but I blew my chance and missed out. After being in the theatre setting of the past couple of night it was strange to be a the Junction. They had the lads in the annex building, but it turned out to sound great and the audience was amazing. We had a great time and got to visit with some old friends as well. Thank you Cambridge and a really big thanks to CherryFalls, rock on !!! See you again, maybe at T in the Park :)

Those 5 gigs came and went so quickly, but they were amazing and the energy put out by the audience and the lads was superb. If only we could capture it and bottle it... what a seller that would be.

So, no tours til the fall for me, it is festival season... have a great summer and see you out there!
check the dates page for all the places you can catch the lads....
xxche

So Italy, well let"s see. We flew into Bergamo, just outside of Milan. We arrived the night before and stayed outside of the city. Not much to report, except we did find some yummy pizza down the street. Nothing like the real thing. We met our local tour rep Braz and driver Matriciano who will be with us for the next few days. Braz was kind enough to bring us an Italian phrasebook. His english being limited and our italian being even more so, we"re in for a fun few days of hand gestures and speaking slowly :)

We drove into Milan in the early afternoon and I hate to say it, but the parts of the city we drove through were covered in graffitti tags, it was just ugly. Very unfortunate for us, that"s about all we got to see. Just about every building from the ground up to about 6 feet were tagged. And it was never creative graffitti, just tags, terrible. Hopefully the next time we"ll get to other parts of the city.

The first gig was at Rolling Stone for RockTV. The lads played 2nd for just 20 minutes. 4 quick songs and Milan is history. Thanks to all who made the trip, I spoke to a few folks who traveled an hour and that might not seem a long way to most, but for 4 songs, that"s dedication!

We piled onto the bus early in the morning and settled in for a good long trip south, next stop Roma. Books on this trip: The DaVinci Code is still making the rounds, The Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester and How mumbo jumbo conquered the world by Francis Wheen. The landscape is lovely, rolling hills, farms with grapevines and snowcapped mountains in the distance. Between Florence and Rome there are quite a few mountain passes and valleys with beautiful and at times crumbling villas. Quite a bit of Splend!

We arrive in Rome in the late afternoon, drop our bags off at the hotel before getting to the venue. The hotel is outside of the city center and looks to have had it"s heyday at one time in the past. Quaint lobby with lots of dark wood and marble and the room walls covered in pink fabric with garish looking furniture. It"s nice to see not all independent hotels have gone the way of the Ibis or Holiday Inn same look, different town. Anyway, sorry off track there.

Again it"s unfortunate that this a quick trip and there"s no scheduled sightseeing to be done and sadly on the way to the venue there"s no accidental sightseeing either. So those who haven"t been to Rome have now only seen the many apartment blocks and traffic that is modern day Rome. One day they"ll get back and get the historical bits in as well.

MardiGras is our support for the next 2nights. Very kind and talented people.

Jailbreak is the venue and from what we"ve been told has hosted many a good live band.

I met quite a few irish and american folks tonite as well as italian. Everyone very pleasant and happy to have the Frames in town. Thanks to you all for your support and we hope to see you again in Rome if not elsewhere on our travels.

Back on the road the next morning and headed to Reggio Emilia, well close to there. The venue is Tempo Rock in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, but is huge and expects to have 2000 bodies in it by midnight. Wow! The town is Gualtieri, I believe, and it"s known for Palazzo Bentivoglio and being home to Naif painter Antonio Ligabue.

So the club consists of a huge dance floor with a stage in the middle and 3 or 4 rooms satellitting off of it each with their own style of music. There was a very supportive crowd for the lads and despite being in the middle of this huge club with their backs to "hard rock/metal room" with music blasting out of the open doors, the gig was fantastic. There were loads of kids coming in throughout that were drawn in to the center to catch what was left of the gig. A great night in the end.

We did get a day in Milan before heading to Liverpool. Rob and I took a tram to the city center and wandered around the Sforza castle then over to the Duomo. Sadly for us, but good for it, it"s covered with scaffolding while they check the facade and do repairs. But we did take the stairs to the top and enjoyed the view of the surrounding city. Birds do have a fantastic view of our world.

Thanks Italy !!!! I miei ossequi ~ buona fortuna

Glaz d"art -- thank you Paris..... we had a lovely evening and hope you did too.

After arriving in Paris after 8pm a few of us headed out for some food and vino. We walked up the steps to the Sacre Coeur in the rain, ducked in for a few moments of silence then headed around the corner for a bite. We sat outside and watched to rain come down in buckets around us.

We arrive in Frankfurt and are driven to Koln for a TV festival. After the storm we arrived to in Perth we were delighted to be blessed with the warmth of the sun. Today"s line-up: lads on first, The Zutons, Urge Overkill, Turbo Negro, Int"l Noise Conspiracy and Garbage.

The first 3 bands played for 40 min each and the last 2 got an hour. Being a really long day everyone headed back to the hotel after Turbo Negro. Rob and I stayed to catch a bit of the last 2 bands, but by the 2nd song of the Garbage set we where knackered and headed back ourselves.

travel day Perth to Frankfurt via Singapore

[ouch! - ed]

Mark heads home and we fly to Perth, on our flight - G.Love & his special sauces, John Butler Trio and the Geelong Aus football team. Upon our arrival there were loads of kids and film crews to greet the team. While we had heard it had been 42 degrees C the week before, we walked out into 12C and lashing with rain. I think it made the lads a bit homesick. The gig is in Freemantle in an old aviation hangar of sorts. While the lads set up I went for a wander to a market a block away. Was pretty cool, had loads of food stalls, but also clothes, jewelry, handmade soaps and whatnot. Nice way to spend a rainy couple of hours.

Thank you to all who came out tonite. there was a great crowd and the staff was really fantastic. Again, apologies to those wanting shirts, i was down to the bare minimum. But now we can direct you to the site down under that has those shirts I couldn"t carry around.

http://shop.lovepolice.com.au/theframes.products/

wow... let"s see, where did i leave off... LA was fantastic, the weather was gorgeous, the sun, the palm trees, ah what a sight. there were even a couple of star sightings; Johnny saw Dabney Coleman then later on he and Fiacre bumped into Harry Dean Stanton next door to the venue. I imagine there"s been a few postings on the message board about the gig, so i won"t bother with that bit, except to say it was great to see you all and thanks for your support and warm smiling faces. Claire has joined us for this part of the journey, I imagine you"re all missing having her on the msg board, but don"t fret she"ll be in touch soon.

It"s our last night with the bus so after the gig we"ve got to get back to the hotel and sort through our personals, not something anyone looks forward to. The nice bit is the bus will meet us in Austin, so we don"t have to fly with everything.


16 March 2005 :: travel day for us - LA to Dallas to Austin
the star sighting for the day is Brian Wilson and he"s on both our flights. If he hadn"t been pointed out to me, I think I would have just thought, hhmmm that guy looks familiar.


17 March 2005 :: SXSW
wow this is fantastic, we"ve arrived into town with gorgeous sunny skies. these next few days the lads will play 5 times, but all should be great, weather is good, food& drink are plentiful, people are friendly and all are happy to be in Austin.

We"ve loaded into the Blind Pig for the first gig, Glen and Joe interview with MTV for 20 minutes then we crossed the street to the Old Pecan St. Cafe (?) to have a bit of brunch. Mr. Geary stops by to check in and say hello, then pour onto the street and bump into the BellX1 boys.

People watching is a great past time this weekend, so fun to see so many in the middle of the day in their night time "rock" gear. the afternoon rolls on, the bands running a bit behind today but that"s not surprising, over 1300 bands in 4 days there"s no way all can be on time. 6th street is the main drag, with some of the venues being just blocks away.

Rob and I go for a walk and come across Electric eel shock, they are playing a venue that"s open to the street and there"s a big screen tv in the front of the bar as well... they are a japanese hard rock/metal band and they are kicking out the jams, the drummer is naked except for a sock and the crowd is loving every second of it. we stop for a couple of tunes and move on. the energy of that band is contagious, we walk away grinning ear to ear.

The Nationals play just before the lads at The Blind Pig, from the few songs I heard they were something to check out for sure. they are a NY based band and will be touring the UK and Europe in the next few weeks, keep an eye out for them. I think they said they"ll be in London on April 19th... not sure of the other dates.

We"ve got Thurs night off, so after the gig all start to wander in different directions. Some of us went back to the hotel to freshen up then back into the city for some food. Aside from Simon and myself, most of the group is in search for BBQ as it"s something that"s well done in this town. Fiacre, Colm, Johnny, Rob, Simon, myself and Howard (overcoat records) hit Stubb"s. It"s on Red River just off of 6th street. Many a bbq"d beast is served. I went for a few veggies that were fantastic. Pure coincidence I look up to the bar and see a friend that I haven"t seen in years and was hoping to find. Rob and I saddle up to the bar with Chris and have a drink and catch up, the lads finish eating & settle on going back to the blind pig for a few beers. We meet outside and there"s another star sighting, Elijah Wood is standing on the corner with some friends. Fiacre wanted me to be the "american", go up and snap a photo....I"m just not that way, but i did try from a distance, no luck, it was too dark out. So off to the blind pig for a few drinks and trying to map out the rest of the evening. there are soo many band playing and at the same time, M. Ward, Supagroup, John Doe, BellX1, the list goes on and on. We stayed at the pig for a few then headed to (venue) to catch the bellies and hope to get in across the street for a song as well. Rob had no luck getting into The Parish to see M.Ward even with his wristband, so we ordered shots and beers and enjoyed the Belly gig. Gav joined us for a few as well, Idlewild is playing Saturday night.


18 March 2005 :: Emo"s and Antone"s
Emo"s and Antone"s are on the agenda for today. The lads played an afternoon set outside at Emo"s, followed by Calexico. What a great way to spend the afternoon nursing hangovers. Yummy bloodymarys :)

Next off to Antone"s for an early evening load-in, the lads aren"t on until midnight, so there"s time to get to the hotel to rest and refresh. the gig was great, Calexico had an amazing set as well, they had Neko Case, Susan Cowsill and Nicolai Dunger guest vocal at various times throughout. The night ended around 3am, off to bed with all of us as it"s another 2 gigs tomorrow.


19 March 2005 :: SxSW - trade show
leisurely start to the day, collect the lads around noon and head to the conventions center for them to play a slot at the tradeshow. Well rested and in good spirits they played a fantastic set. I wandered downstairs to check out Flatstock, it was 80 poster artists from around the country, possibly around the world, but don"t quote me. First one I see is Jay Ryan out of Chicago, Rob and I are big fans of his work. I also came across Swamp, Lindsey Kuhn & Dana Buck out of Denver. They are old college friends of my sister so it was great to catch up after many years and see what they"ve been up to. They do gig posters, skateboards and all sorts of merch. Keep an eye out for them as they will be touring Europe, festivals and gigs. My head was spinning from all the art, there were so many cool designs.

check out the book "The art of modern rock" it"s the second volume, the first covers Elvis to Punk and the second picks up from there and goes to now. there are so many amazing artists out there doing their thing, very inspiring.

After the convention center all wander at their leisure to RedEyeFly for the final gig of the weekend. They will be playing outside and there"s no room for gear until the set so Claire and I take off in search of a music shop to get a few bits. By the time we get back the rain has come and it"s a downpour complete with thunder and lightening. Not exactly the kind of weather ya want around all the electrical equipment. So we get soaked waiting for the previous band to finish and trudge through the puddles to get gear in. By the time the lads came on the rain had stopped and the sun came out. Nicolai joined Glen for a couple of tunes, the energy from him is incredible.

go to http://sxsw.buzznet.com and check out camera phone photos submitted by fest goers

to be continued...

Crescent City, CA - it"s been a bright, sunny & breezy sort of day. Not much going on today except having a bit of yummy mexican food, walking around the harbour and watching a bit of telly. After dinner we"re back on the bus, soon we"ll be hitting the road, to wake up in San Fran. Tonite"s presleep viewing turns out to be The Shining. Not long after leaving Crescent City, Glen calls out to come check out the view, he"s spotted some of the giant sequoias. As we"re winding our way south we come to a stretch of road just along the ocean, a thick mist of spray crosses the road and we can see the waves crashing on the rocks. Luckily we come to a spot where Larry can pull the bus over. A few of us are still up and hop off to soak up the night sky and the roar of the ocean. Back on the bus to continue down the slow winding coastal road. Larry is telling Glen and Joe about one of the giant trees on this road that has a gift shop built in it. Don"t know if we"ll see it, but it just may show up in a dream or two. Good night all :)

this time round we"re at the Aladdin Theatre. But first, the lads have an instore at Music Millennium. What a gorgeous day and great little neighborhood. The instore was packed. the lads and crowd really enjoyed themselves. They had Mark join them and played "it beats me". After the lads signed and shopped some headed back to the venue and some of us stayed around that neck of the woods, drank a bit of coffee, caught some wireless and just enjoyed sitting and watching people go by. I found out later that Bob Dylan"s manager was at the instore, originally to catch Amos Lee, who was opening for Bob and Merle Haggard that night at Portland University, but stuck around when he heard The Frames were playing next. He was kind enough to extend an invite to Glen and the lads to stop by the Dylan gig. Fiacre was able to sort out a way for some of us to head over and catch a few songs before the boys had to be on stage themselves. While we were at that gig, Mark was on stage at the Aladdin, charming the crowd and having a fantastic set.

A great night was had by all, before during and after the gig. Thanks Portland, see you next time. :)

we wake up in Seattle,have a wander for coffee, wireless and a bit food, then off to KMMT radio station for the lads to play a few tunes. Next stop the Crocodile Cafe. Great club, really good food and a fantastic staff. Tonite as people began arriving there was an excitement in the air; it"s the weekend, the weather is nice and spirits are high, the makings of a great gig. With the show being sold out, there was barely enough space to get everyone in the room. Those that were on the outer edge had a hard time hearing over the bar noise, but overall everyone had a great night. After the gig, it"s a quick beer and on the bus to head out to Portland. Good night Seattle.

after a long wait at the BC border we"re on our way to Richard"s on Richards, just in time to load in, soundcheck and have the doors open. Mark had a nice size crowd, but not necessary one that was listening. Don"t get me wrong there are plenty that were, but the few that weren"t were very noticeable... like the saying goes. "you can"t hear the ones that are listening". It was a Thursday night, start of the weekend for most. The lads came on and despite the chattiness of a few, they gave it socks and had a great gig. Thanks Vancouver.

After the show we pack up and head back to the border, get the bus" satellite system to work just long enough to see a few seconds of the lads on the Carson Daly show... yeah!!

This morning find us driving through Idaho and into Washington. The weather is warm and the landscape breathtaking. Our first stop of the day is around 10am PST in Moses Lake, WA. We fuel up with Starbucks coffee and Edwalla energy fruit juices, then back in the road. We"ve stopped in Bellingham, WA, time to eat and bowl. A bit of mexican food then off to "throw rocks". Gerry has scored the all time high so far, with 5 strikes in a row and final score of 192! Go Gerry! Simon, Rob & Joe all did really well tonite too, all over 130.

Larry has been driving all night and most of the day, destination of the day is Billings, MT. I woke around 9am, headed to the back lounge to check out the scenery of North Dakota. Stunning landscape and even saw a few buffalo in the distance. On into Montana, big sky country indeed. We arrive to Billings and head straight into the Sunset Bowling alley. We were in just in time to get an hour in. Simon, Rob, Gerry, Joe, Johnny, Mark and myself rolled a couple of games. Rob & I were wishing we had our bowling balls with us, but they had to stay in Chicago for this trip. Mark"s first time out and he did fantastic. Simon"s goals of at least one strike and a speed of over 20mph were lived out. Gerry had the highest score of all of us with 126. Again, check out Mark"s tour diary for his perspective of this bit of R&R. The evening was spent doing laundry, checking emails, showering and playing a bit of soccer in the carpark of the hotel. For most, steaks were in order for dinner, and i"ve heard nothing but good things about them. It"s midnight and we"re back in the bus, on the road, headed to Vancouver. First viewing of the night is Garden State...

We wake up in Minneapolis a few blocks from the 400 bar. The temps have dropped again, but luckily no snow. After a bit of grub, Rob, Glen, Fiacre and myself head to St. Paul to KCMP for a live interview. This station is fairly new and part of the Minnesota Public Radio. Originally they were going to do a few songs, but time did not permit on this visit, so it was a quick few minutes with DJ Mary Lucia.

400 Bar - thanks Tom for having us, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. 9pm Mark got up to an almost full house and they gave Mark their full attention. All ears ahead tonite, the audience and band were having a great time.

Since we"ve finished Carnivale, we thought tonite we should go straight into some comedy. The battle ensued over if we should watch Shaun of the Dead, Pootie Tang or Bill Hicks. Pootie Tang won out for the first viewing.