Richard sends a blog from Chicago…

Hello from sunny Chicago (or “Hog-Butcher to the World” according to Wikipedia). I fell asleep on the bus last night to the dulcit tones of Bill Hicks, and slept like a blog. We got here around 9am and Scott and I headed straight off to one of the best vintage drum stores on the planet (Steve Maxwell’s). Chicago is the home of Ludwig drums, as played by Ringo Starr (though the factory is now condos).

Anyway, we had a look at some great old kits (it’s half museum, half shop) and I went for a wander down the Magnificent Mile as Scott had to get back to the theatre to get to work setting up for tonight’s gig. I ended up in a Borders store which seemed very familiar, in fact I think we might have done an in-store there a while back. We’ve been here so many times it feels like a home from home. We all went to see the Cubs play on a previous visit, and Scott and I went up the Sears Tower, so it’s somewhere we have been tourists as well as playing shows.

It’s great getting to travel so far and wide – we’ve seen more of America than most Americans will see, not to mention Europe, Asia, South America, Australia… it’s days like this, when you see a train go past on one of the elevated railways, or drive up Lakeshore and see Lake Michigan, that you realise how cool it is being in a touring band, and how far from home you really are.

The last couple of shows have been great – proper sweaty rock shows – my favourite kind of show, and tonight’s should be just as much fun.

I’ll try to post some photos soon – I have 38 rolls of film to get developed, so if anyone can recommend a good place to take them in Detroit I’d be very grateful.

Richard