I can't believe it. We're having breakfast in last night's venue in Fort William. After some of the band's drunken antics it's a minor miracle we haven't been chased out of this town with a pitch-fork! The people in Scotland are just so nice to us. Even after we spill their free whisky on the floor and slime onto the staff. It's quite incredible.

Tuesday evening was the Mull gig. What a place that is. It's weird that after two days here we've almost become immune to the beauty of the surrounding areas, but that first glimpse of the Mull landscape yesterday morning was pretty fucking breathtaking. The gig was properly special too - it felt like the whole town had turned out to see us (a crowd of 35 strong!). I don't want to speak too soon but the Scots seem to be unbelievably receptive to our music. It's like a strange breath of fresh, enthusiastic air.

Last night's show was no less fun than Mull. Greeted by smiling faces of all ages, we gave the best performance we had in us. Chris had the bright idea of plugging in some disco lights he found at the sides of the stage. Unfortunatley for Ben and Sam, the sides of the stage was actually inches from their faces. And Sam, who would still get hot in the Himalayas, was literally mopping copious amounts of sweat from his glistening forehead.

We're on to Inverness tonight, which isn't too far to go, but since my 30 minutes of Internet access is about to run out I shall take my leave. Toodaloo

Joe

It’s amazing how certain things on the first leg of our tour have sort of moulded into one long, continuous memory. I’m writing this a week after our gig at the Water Rats in London, and I can’t seem to remember where we travelled from that morning. I’ve just this minute looked at our list of tour dates and realised it was Brighton, but it just goes to show what a tour does to your head!

We’ve played Water Rats several times before and always enjoyed it; last Thursday was no exception! The place was full and since we only knew about ten of the people there it meant we were playing to an audience made entirely of potential new fans – or a load of guys who’d hate it! Either way it felt great performing to a packed house, especially after the modest turn-out in Brighton. It was either the sheer numbers which spurred us on to play our best gig of the tour so far, or just the excitement of the impending “Home Gig” aboard the Boat in Liverpool that gave us the extra lift that we all craved.

Friday morning was sticky. After a horribly early start due to the foul stringency on parking in London, we got started on our journey home. A stop at the delightful services in Stafford provided a frankly unmissable opportunity to purchase some warm humous, stale ciabatta and bottled tap water. Yum yum.

At about half 3 we arrived at our final venue. I’m not sure how to describe this boat really. Having driven past it numerous times coming out of the Mersey Tunnel, it’s just so hard to believe you could play a gig in there – and for 150 people – but the place is like a Tardis. In retrospect I’m slightly concerned that the band got upstaged by the fucking boat, but in any case, I can’t see many people forgetting that gig in a hurry!

As that annoying kid in the 80s Bernard Matthews Turkey Drummers advert said, “It’s good to be home, mum.” – if only for a short while.

So the short journey from Southampton to Brighton was over. After being tortured by passing various Football fields complete with proper goals and nets, the seaside appeared. We checked our bags into the Labyrinth of a hotel and bounced over to the Pier for some amusements. After losing a veritable fortune on the Donkey Derby, decided not to get anymore 10p's from the sour faced yet strangely attractive 'Arcade bird'

We eventually found the venue. Dressed in a beautiful shade of beige. Devoid of signs, posters and even windows.… god knows how anyone was going to find it. We sound checked and proceeded to choke down some of the driest chips known to mankind.
The line-up of the bands was also a strange one. One band that had more in common with Motley Crue and Guns 'n' Roses than We ever have/will. The other band decided to turn up with 'Lucy Hitler' as a manager and a full van of flightcases of invisible equipment. Wasn't exactly the busiest of shows on the tour so far, but entertaining all the same.

We then made our way to a well known chain of southern hemisphere bars in search of a cheap pint. We noticed a suspicious group of tutu wearing young ladies who we decided were employed by the bar to 'entertain' the drinkers… that was until we spotted their friends… After being turned down entry to a bar for not having I.D. to prove we were YOUNG enough to get in…. honestly…. We decided to retire to the hotel bar, were Sam proceeded to lose his passport behind the lav while having a sit down visit.

So it's on to the Water Rats in Kings Cross. See you all there…

Ben