After another relatively early night, I woke two minutes before my iPhone alarm as so often happens for me, maybe something about the action of actually setting the alarm triggers an internal biological alarm clock which seems to be as reliable as clockwork..so to speak. I had arranged with Marco another visit to the fabulous Foro Italico tennis club for some more midday torture in the summer heat on the tennis court. I'm sure the temperature today was hotter and so liquid intake was of paramount importance. Danny, Pete, myself and Marco knocked balls about for 45 minutes or so and that I played a set with Marco. He trounced me 6-1 and I'm sure he gifted me the one game, nevertheless, I thought I played some decent shots and my return of serve combined with zero double faults, I was happy with the improvement in my game. As always, I am reminded that losing a few pounds would help. Marco also said that my playing with a pro racket doesn't help, so I'll be off to buy something a little more forgiving soon.



After cooling down at the club, we all bundled into a cab and showered back at the hotel. we all then decided to fuel our hunger with a visit to Lagana. That's right folks, Lagana...our favourite restaurant. A group of us left the hotel and walked for 20 minutes in the sweltering heat of this city. Our old friend and owner, Mimmo was there to greet us and no sooner had we sat down, the dishes started to arrive. The essence of this restaurant is simplicity combined with quality. Most of the dishes are so simple but only the highest quality ingredients manage to make it onto the tables and the results are staggering. A perfect example is the focaccia with figs. Lightly toasted focaccia bread with peeled raw figs, just spread them on and bingo! I'm not sure if anything quite so delicious has ever passed my lips.



 The starters kept on coming thick and fast...fresh tomatoes with chili, mozzarella balls from heaven, celery and cheese cubes (strangely good) roasted aubergines, deep fried calimari and zucchini with lemon, parma ham, a simple sauerkraut dish. Then came the pasta dishes, firstly a Bucatini all'amatriciana then a hand-made pasta dish with a dryish sauce made from cream, pepper and a pecorino cheese, Cacio e Pepe. We staggered back to the hotel de Russie and with four hours before call time, a siesta was on the cards. I made it to the room and out went the light and so did I. For two hours. Refreshed but still pretty full, we left for the venue at 7pm. The Auditorium Parco Della Musica is only a mile or so away from the hotel but the Rome traffic did it's best to stall proceedings. The venue is a modern complex comprising of three indoor concert halls surrounding our small 2,000 seater amphitheater. Clearly the acoustics were considered when they designed the place and we all had a good feeling about the gig.



Colin attended to my B3 which had developed a bit of a growl. It turned out to be a horn driver in the Leslie which had blown.





We were onstage promptly at 9:15 and once again the evening heat was intense. It seems like every show is getting hotter and hotter and I wondered how the crew coped in the afternoon sun as they loaded in. Each and every one of them looked drained and they all had tide marks on their t-shirts from the incredible amount of sweat generated. The only way to protect the gear from the sun was to erect a tent system and keep the guitars away in the flight cases until the last possible minute. I dread to think what that sun would do to the acoustic guitars. We also heard rumours of a problem with the backline crew bus air conditioning unit. The LAST thing they need at this point in the tour where the venues are getting so hot. we were all sweating on stage by the end of the first tune and I looked across to see Danny completely drenched.

A great evening and another wonderful audience, the customary runner to the hotel and a few drinks in the bar before our weary bodies cried out for bed, well mine did anyway.