The last break in the tour heralds the final leg and for me, being able to go home felt like a real luxury; especially as the weather at the moment is really nice in the UK. Apart from seeing the family again, I had my mind on getting in the sea and maybe dong some SUP'ing and fishing. I managed all of the above and this morning I got out on the board for an hour and a half and dropped the rod in for a while too. I sort of kid myself that I'm not upset that I didn't catch anything, not even a bite but the truth is I'd have loved to walk home with a bag full of Mackerel, even if I wouldn't have had the time to throw them on the barbie. So I got home, put the kit away, showered and kissed Laurie goodbye and was off towards Northolt for the final time. Being a Friday in mid summer,. the M25 was no picnic and Dan and I were stuck for 45 minutes but we made it just in time for our 2pm take-off slot. We were airborne for 3 minutes before Daniella served up the seafood platters. Delicious.



 The 2 hour flight took us to Verona airport where we met up with Bernie and his team for the one hour drive to Padova, well actually a place called Villa Contarini,  a  patrician (post Roman Europe) villa veneta in Piazzola sul Brenta.



We arrived at the venue at around 6pm I think, a typically sleepy, rustic Italian town just 45 kms due west of Venice. We knew it was hot but soon realized I wasn't quite prepared for it. I was wearing jeans for one thing! Mistake. Shorts from now on as Italy is embraced in a heatwave the likes of which I'm sure the British Isles has never seen. With the forecast predicting hotter temperatures, I'm sure we're in for an uncomfortable few days, thank goodness the shows all start late when the heat subsides. Even though we'd stuffed ourselves on the plane, most of the band wandered off to catering which was situated almost across town in a huge warehouse sort of building inside which the temperature must have been a hundred degrees, and the kitchen..well who knows. All I know is  Angus, Chris and Mike REALLY earn their money on days like this. Most of the crew spent the four days off at a hotel on Lake Garda and had a wonderful time. A few also went home including my keyboard tech, Colin (Alfie) Barton. We arrived today hearing his tale of how he almost got himself arrested this morning as a grumpy train ticket inspector failed to acknowledge his ticket and demanded Alfie pay an extra 10 Euros. This goes against Alfie's logic and he refused and the fight ensued. The inspector was on the phone to the police when Colin took a 10 Euro bill out and threw it at the man, along with several well known expletives! Thankfully, Colin made it.

Whilst hearing about all this in catering, it was all I could do to resist a bowl of Moules Mariniere. Mistake. Now bloated and HOT for the gig, I waddled back to the air conditioned portacabins for a lie down. It really is pathetic how after 25 years of touring I (and I'm not the only one) still cannot seem to say no to delicious food. Thankfully, the Italian promoter had arranged really quite luxurious backstage facilities, right behind the sturdily built stage, and all was well for the 9:30 show time.

Mike and Angus serve up the Moules..



Dave Hall kitted out for the heat







waiting patiently as show time approaches..



We eventually went on at 9:45 and played a 2 hour show. Our first Italian show of 2010 and I'm quite sure we've never encountered such a wonderful audience here before. The all seated crowd included many families and young'uns all clearly lapping up the music. By all accounts, the sound was great and the band certainly had a great show. Of course, we are in Italy now and there are some who will always blatantly ignore the no-filming policy. All I can do is ask them to enjoy the show with everyone else and NOT to film. In particular, one chap who has put the live Simfy recording to his crap footage up on YouTube. Yuk. GET A LIFE. There I said it.

We came off stage, fulfilled, walked calmly to the waiting cars and were Police escorted out of the town for the one hour drive back to Verona airport where we had to wait for the ground crew to find us a bus. Once that hurdle was crossed, we were on the plane again bound for Rome and possibly our favourite hotel of all. At 3am we rolled up to the hotel and I made Dan and Rich a quick bedtime cuppa. A very long day and a guaranteed good night's sleep.