As we left the luxury of the Peninsula hotel, I wondered if today's day trip to Philly was going to be trouble free in terms of traffic. Friday afternoon in New York City has the potential for frustration and the journey to Teterboro via the George Washington bridge could be a long one. It seemed pretty easy going in the end and we were there in around 40 minutes. Mark had very kindly offered a ride to Pieta and Bo as Bo had been following us, driving vast distances across the US in a small rental car and the journeys were taking their toll. We all made them feel welcome on the plane and you could see after the first journey that they were completely refreshed. Pieta and Bo are quite simply two of the nicest folks you could ever wish to meet and it's been a delight having them around, not least for their beautiful music as I'm sure anyone who has seen them at the shows will testify. Dan and I are compiling a short documentary on them before we have to say goodbye. We will miss them in Europe. It will be very sad to say goodbye to Tim O'Brien too, he's been a wonderful addition to the line-up and a great new friend.



We flew into Philadelphia on final approach low above the Delaware river and into the Paulsboro refinery airport (that's what it says on google maps!) and Mark reminded me about the inspiration for the song Sailing to Philadelphia. He got it as we were doing just this, coming in to land here but at the time he was reading a book about Mason and Dixon and the vast distances and spirit of the two pioneers caught his attention. "They bought ketchup to Britain from a prior trip to South Africa too you know". Not many people know that.

Upon leaving the aircraft, we spotted a few fans heralding signs, as we got closer we saw the messages. 'Get well Soon Mark', nice enough...and 'No Wah-Wah driving please'. Hilarious. Mark asked our driver if he'd heard of wah-wah driving. He hadn't. Good. Luckily he complied unknowingly. Mark is still struggling on with his pinched nerve but will be seeing specialists in London as soon as we get back.





The journey through typical Philly traffic to the Tower theatre was not too bad and we pulled gingerly into the narrow alleyway. Straight up to the not-so-luxurious dressing rooms but at least today we had couches. (we didn't yesterday) I remember the Tower quite well from the 2001 tour but had forgotten about the noise the rooftop air conditioner makes. The dressing rooms sounded like you were aboard an aircraft, still, the staff here were wonderful and very friendly. The house lights system was something to behold. I'm not sure which ones turn off the house but I understand it's most of them.



Ben Byford sports a new jacket



Richard and TC do some guitar maintenence



wardrobe



A taste of home. Steak was on the menu and Cod was spotted returning the tour mustard to the bus.



The show itself was fantastic but the audience was spectacular. A REAL atmosphere here on a Friday night in Philly. The after-show runner was a leisurely affair as the leading driver took an age to pull away, horns were honking. We made it to the airfield safely and climbed aboard for the NYC express. Dianne served ribs once again, not quite up to Kansas City standards but good nonetheless. The drivers at Teterboro had overlooked a late soccer match at the local Giants stadium and we hit traffic immediately, then learned of a closure to part of the Lincoln tunnel so we turned around and headed for the George Washington bridge. They had closed off the lower level so the queues were insane. It took us an hour and a quarter to get back to the hotel, by which time we were all pretty much asleep.