The true backbone of the touring entourage is in the kitchen. Darin Wey and Neil Smith ensure not only that we are all well fed but that we enjoy truly excellent cuisine on a daily basis. The challenge is in resisting some of the wonderful dishes presented each time we venture into catering. I look upon it as a test; fail and you luxuriate in the cuisine, pass and you keep your shape but miss out on desserts. Another essential part of our touring process is the sublime team of drivers. Just like on the Shangri-La tour, we have two squadrons of Mercedes S-Class cars to deliver us from hotel to plane to venue etc. Alex (pictured) was one of our drivers on the last tour and it's always great to see him...absolutely.
Checking out of the Baglione in Verona couldn't have come soon enough for many of us as although Verona is a beautiful city, the comfort offered by the hotels always seems to leave a lot to be desired. My bed was down right crap and many times I heard the phrase 'is not possible' muttered by the hotel staff. There is always a humorous side as I discovered when I held the lift doors open for the porter but he wanted me to take the lift without him and in a confused manner said 'close this lid'. So in the back of my mind I was really looking forward to the hotel bed at the Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt which is where we were heading after the show at the Ahoy. It didn't let me down.

After checking out of the Baglione hotel we were out at the airport in minutes and being taken through the VIP door straight to a waiting bus ready to take us airside. A swift flight to Rotterdam and straight to the Ahoy. As Danny said, "you can't have a bad gig at the Ahoy", the crowd is always fantastic and sure enough..The meet and greet was fun once again and we met Emmylou's biggest fan (Cathy) once more. Seeing her beaming face in the front row during the show makes it worth doing this alone.

The show was great and we felt that the set that we played in Verona which was a little shorter flowed much better and we decided to repeat it. btw. please don't e-mail me about this, thanks. Once more there were lots of cameras and below are a few snaps from you folks. Cheers.