A day off in Chicago is a much cherished affair as we enjoy our last full day of luxury at our favourite hotel. Most of the band agree Chicago is America's finest city and every time we visit it gets better and better. The people here just seem to be very friendly, positive and willing. Some of the chaps had the opportunity to re-visit Wrigley Field, and once again, one of the Cubs' Monday evening matches coincided with our day off. Maybe management factored that into the schedule? Matt knew someone connected with the club and managed to organize it for some of us to go to batting practice. Pete returned with one of the solid maple bats used in the practice session...broken!



Danny and I opted for the full tennis day and I went ahead and booked 2 afternoon hours on a court at the ridiculous East Bank Club. I say ridiculous as I've honestly never seen a larger city-central sports complex. Securing the court was an exercise in patience. I'd asked the ever-efficient hotel concierge to get on the case days ago but they met with some resistance as the club doesn't allow advance bookings. At $30 per hour and $25 membership fee per player, you'd expect it to be good and it was except that I guess they don't exactly encourage non-members and it took an age for us to actually get through the over zealous signing-in process. Ah well, we got on anyway and enjoyed the facility. As we walked to the indoor court at the heart of the complex, we strode excitedly in our colour co-ordinated Nike tennis gear past the biggest gym I've ever seen. Apparently comprising more than 25,000 square feet of cardiovascular space and more than 450 pieces of cardiovascular equipment.

Once we'd got back to the hotel, showered, had a spot of pasta lunch across the street and a quick cuppa in the room it was nearly 5pm. Time to think about dinner. I'd had my mind set on a steak for the last four days and was determined to make the most of what Chicago can offer. I researched a few places within walking distance and decided on the Capital Grille. I called round to see who was up for it and booked a table for eight. The Grille did not disappoint. Most of us went for the  Delmonico Steak - A hearty, juicy, bone-in ribeye with flavor as big as its 22-ounce size but to be honest, everything was spectacular. Mark had the waitress choose a suitable Cabernet and she came up with the goods. The dessert menu was waived hopefully and all of us said "no", five minutes later the table was adorned with Key lime pie, coconut cream pie, sorbets and a creme brulee. Ah well, it is a day off!

Even though it didn't feel like we'd over-eaten, when you've that much meat to digest, sleep can be difficult and the next morning most of us were feeling it.



A beautiful day in Chicago as we once again attempt to solve the 'well it came out of the suitcase so it's gotta fit back in' puzzle and check out of the wonderful Peninsula. Our driver, Victoria, struggles once again through the Chicago metropolitan traffic and off to Midway airport bound for Ann Arbor. The trusty flight crew in full - Bryan Lipson, Dianne Shea and Steve Hutchins.



Another town we've never visited before to the West of Detroit it's a beautifully clean and friendly University town. we'd had word that the venue was 'tight' but nothing prepared us for the actual reality. "We've done smaller" I hesitated to suggest.



It was to be a busy afternoon and the band arrived earlier than normal as Mark wanted to spend some time with Mr. Saggers adjusting guitar strap lengths. This is because he was planning to do the show seated. Unfortunately, two days ago, Mark woke with a pain in his left side (pelvic area) which was worse when standing or walking. We had a contingency stool ready to go for the last show in Minneapolis but I guess the adrenaline was enough so that he didn't require it. Today however the problem seems to be a bit worse so the stool is in position. Because of the difficult load-in, the crew boys weren't ready for us until after 5pm (we also lost another hour as we travel Eastwards) so after Mark had spent the best part of an hour, deciding which knee was best to play which guitars, the band sound-check was behind schedule. We wanted to run a few things, one of the endings was modified and some lights issues resolved. All this meant that a pre-arranged meeting with the guys from Reverend guitars was delayed severely.



Ken Haas, Steve Yankee, Joe Naylor, MK, RB and GF



Ken Haas from Reverend had contacted us a while back and offered to bring some guitars down to the venue in Ann Arbor for Mark, Richard and myself to check out. The boys were very patient and waited in the very cramped catering area in the basement until we were ready. There was literally no room at the side of stage even for them to stand and watch us. We did eventually manage to find a small space in the production office to have a look at their newest guitars and we were all most impressed. The Flatroc is a great all-round blues guitar and I'm sure Mark, Rich and myself will find uses for it. reverendguitars.com

Backstage, we usually have a couple of dressing rooms for the band and a wardrobe room where the three wardrobe cases reside along with a wardrobe lady who is there to iron, press, wash anything that we need for the performance. Of course today, that all went out the window and in fact the wardrobe cases couldn't even get in the building so when it was time for me to go and grab a shirt and jacket, I rather comically had to walk down the alleyway to one of the two huge trailers (trucks) which transport the equipment. Dave Hall kindly opened the huge truck doors and climbed inside as I directed him to the appropriate garments.

The dressing rooms were also extremely tight, in fact there were not enough seats for the whole band to sit down but it really wasn't a problem as before we knew it, it was time for Matt to brew the Ginger, lemon, mint and honey tea and for us to get ready for the show. Matt generally does this an hour before we go on stage and when the tea has been sufficiently 'steeped' we prepare our larynxes by doing our customary vocal warm-ups. Pretty soon we walked down the narrow back stairs to the stage where we usually wait just behind a curtain before bouncing on to the stage but of course no room, so we all huddles at the bottom of the stairwell with Mark sitting on a chair. We were onstage and four songs into the show before Mark apologized to the audience for not being able to perform his usual pirouettes this evening as he has pulled..'something' in his leg. He managed admirably and Mr. Saggers was dutifully, particularly careful with each guitar changeover.

Everywhere you look on this crew there are remarkable characters doing their job above and beyond the call of duty and I know I do tend to harp on a bit about them and how fantastic they are, but to a man, they are. Today was yet another case in point, particularly as whilst the band were enjoying the day off in sunny Chicago, the crew were traveling the how ever many miles it is between Minneapolis and South-Eastern Michingan. They didn't get here until around 3pm so it's hardly a full day off for them. But do they moan? never.

Mark made it through what was a great show and although the theatre was very small, the audience seemed to really relish the band's performance. One consequence of these tight stages is that the keyboard risers tend to get pushed out to the wings a bit and my in-ear mix was strangely disjointed and remote. Nothing I couldn't adapt to of course but it's interesting to me how literally every show has it's own sound even though we're using this technology. Since there are so many open microphones on the stage, the possible sound combinations are infinite. If it's particularly bad of course, Kerry will sort it out before we even put our earpieces in at sound-check.

Soon, we were back in the air and Dianne was dishing out Buffalo wings from the place round the corner from the venue together with what is left of the delicious Leinenkugel's beer.



 A short flight to Toronto, our base for the next few shows, and we wait to see what the customs officials have in store for us. They cleared us to disembark within moments as Steve had phoned ahead and given them our details and they seemed happy with this. Into the cars and off to the hotel in this ever expanding city. Toronto is the ninth largest in North America and driving in from the airport, it was really noticeable to me how much development there has been since we were here two years ago. The place is almost unrecognizable. The hotel bar was open late so a few of us headed there for a nightcap. A long three city day for sure.