Philadelphia / Saturday / 1630

just finished soundcheck, so i have time to upload the NYC photos. when you see them you’ll (hopefully) understand why I say it was the most spectacular place i’ve ever had the luck to play. It’s not often you get to look across the East River to Manhattan, as the sun sets and the Empire State / Chrysler Buildings catch the light… and it was a great show, too! Love NYC / Love Brooklyn.

I love this – flowers growing out of gun barrels.

Dear Santa Pt. 5

this one is now clickable

Manhattan, 2.30am (also clickable)

Philadelphia / Saturday / 1400

i’ve got some catching up to do… i’ll try to make it work chronologically. will do New York later on…

Merriweather Pavilion, Maryland

i can honestly say this was the hottest gig i’ve played.

Matt setting up the lights… he does play the drums, too – have you noticed how good the timing of the lighting changes are?

Another clickable one for you…

we had a day off in Washington DC – i went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to see some of the Apollo moon landing stuff – it’s utterly amazing, though depressing to see how much of technology is designed for military use. the more modern parts of the museum’s collection seemed to be entirely dedicated to the art of killing.

this is the capsule that brought the lunar astronauts back from space. it’s so much smaller than i expected. amazing.

Dear Santa pt.4…

Washington DC / Wednesday / 1130

Boston was great – huge crowd! we had a lot of fun and it was nice saying hi to lots of you afterwards. we’re in DC for the day off today – it’s a lovely place to be, but it’s really hot (forecast 34C / 94F) and humid. think a big museum or gallery might be in order, assuming President Obama doesn’t invite us round for dinner and a jam.

this derelict, condemned dry dock has been a favourite of mine for photos for a long time. many’s the time Rob and I have broken into it, day and night. seems like the demolition is moving ahead pretty fast, though, as the massive cranes that used to dominate have been removed, and the huge dam / gate at the far end is starting to leak – water was being pumped out constantly. It’s a massive monument to a time when Boston was something different, I guess, and it’ll be a shame when we come back and find an apartment block or warehouse where it stood, but if it makes jobs and homes then i guess it’s a good thing. ramble over…

the big white tent is the BOA Pavilion, where we played… i could hear Fran Healy playing and the crowd loving it as i wandered around.

this one is clickable…

Boston / Tuesday / 1827

into week 3 of this tour, with a great festival – Osheaga in Montreal, and then a quick trip to New York City – always a pleasure!

Montreal

K’Naan was in town…

i checked out a bit of The National

NYC