It's unfortunate that Iceland seems to be bearing the brunt of another wave world wide acrimony. As the volcano mercifully enters a calmer stage, authorities there say the plume of ash is now showing signs of subsiding. Transatlantic flights look like resuming today but all those who have suffered cancellations are faced with extended stays in their current location, including my family who have managed to secure a flight home on May 2nd!



Today's day trip to Phoenix started with trepidation as we gathered in the hotel lobby for departure, we received news from Aaron, our pilot who said that there was an issue with a fuel pump on the aircraft. We sat and had coffee in the bar. The delay was short-lived and we hopped in the cars en-route to Van Nuys airport for the one hour flight. One of the drivers exhibited extreme wah-wah tendencies and Paul had to 'have a word', which seemed to do the trick. It's one of our tour pet peeves, it's amazing that something as simple as the ability to drive smoothly seems to evade a large percentage of professional limousine drivers. The guy we had in Phoenix didn't quite exhibit the full wah-wah but he did have an on/off switch for an accelerator. At least his use of the steering wheel was adequate and we arrived safely.



With over a thousand movements per day, Van Nuys airport is the busiest general aviation aerodrome in the world and being there always reminds me of the time I spent here with my wife at her parents house nearby.



Mark signs a few things on arrival



Both Matt and Richard have family connections with this city and they had quite a few guests between them. As for the show itself, possibly not one of our best but we all really enjoyed it, the crowd were most responsive, I think there was an element of tiredness in the whole outfit especially after the two LA shows which can be quite draining no matter how well you prepare.

Catering today was once again a winner. The tenderloin steak was divine.



Some Mark Knopfler 'flyers' were left on the table in the dressing room, presumably as keepsakes for the band. Very nice except they quoted the name of Mark's latest release as being the 'Lucky You' album. Oh dear.

Mark sound checks his favorite guitar, the '58



Tim on his cell



As we leapt into the cars for the runner, we clearly had the same driver as he switched the accelerator to the 'on' position and we lurched forward. Mark shouted "steady now" at the excitable chauffeur, thankfully he eased off but it was still essentially on/off all the way to the airport. Diane, served up a delicious curry on the plane for the flight back to Santa Monica. we were all pretty tired and looking forward to out much needed day off. The crew will be traveling to Denver so not quite a day off for them, they will have the evening off there though.