After waking early again to the sound of crashing waves in Santa Monica, I still feel that I haven't quite kicked the jet-lag yet but there's no point in trying to get back to sleep so I open the curtains and watch the early morning surfers for a while. Then it was time to attack the diary in bed as we're on wi-fi in this hotel. I'm a real sucker for West coast Eggs Benedict and room service soon delivers along with an absolutely massive glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (at least a pint). I suddenly remember that Spain are playing Russia in the Euro 08 semi-final and find it's live on the telly, well done Spain, 3-0. Then I notice the sun is out and there's time for an hour or so by the pool before our 3:00pm departure call to Van Nuys airport once again. 3 limos appear outside the hotel, an Audi A8, an R class Merc and a Lincoln town car. Mark decides he wants to travel in the Town car, this turned out to be a big mistake. Now I'm perfectly aware that we've been spoiled rotten by our wonderful drivers in Europe but of course that system just isn't possible to implement in the US as the distances are too great so we use local limousine companies which means we're constantly coming across new drivers. The self-assured gentleman in charge of today's Lincoln was..how shall I put this...utterly rubbish. In his haste to keep up with the cars in front he lurches violently back and forth displaying what we call severe wah-wah throttle technique. Bernie, Dominika, Mannfred, Fabian etc. I know you're reading this with your head in hands! We miss you. The driver who was fired 5 minutes after he dropped us off sweating and nauseous at the plane, had literally no sense of how a passenger feels as he careered and scythed his way through traffic on the semi-busy 405 with wreck-less abandon. We ask politely that there's no need to remain in convoy but he continues his suicide quest and for the first time on this tour, I'm unable to look. We're soon welcomed on-board the plane and on our way over the desert to Vegas. It's very hot and therefore a lot of thermal air movement means turbulence, not heavy but consistent, just to add to the nausea caused by the drive. By the time we arrive in Las Vegas, the outside air temperature is 109 degrees and we lurch our way to the gig in another town car although by comparison, this driver is great.



Vegas is a fascinating town and I'm always awed and appalled at the same time. New buildings sprout upon each visit and I always wonder in amazement at some of the fact about this place. For example, did you know that there are over 1,700 licenced gambling establishments here, there are 197,144 slot machines in the city, the average visitor spends an average 3.9 hours gambling per day, there are 124,270 hotel rooms, 315 weddings per day, over 15,000 miles of neon tubing in the downtown area and 15,000 pillow cases are washed each day by the MGM grand hotel!

We had time for a brief soundcheck today but just as we took to the ice-cold stage, Dave's FOH mixing desk decided to crash. No sound check as it took about half an hour to  switch over to the spare. Yes, I said spare...actually the computer was replaced. I can't over stress the importance of carrying spares on the road and this is a perfect example of the wisdom of our intrepid crew. So as it turned out, Jesca got her soundcheck as we don't really need ours.

The sound boys struggle to replace the desk computer whilst Simon franticly but gently coerces his Grand-MA desk into talking to the cut-down lighting rig.

BOOT-UP and it works.

A fun gig and always a reminder of the club gig atmosphere. Lots of well lubricated, excitable fans down the front, a bit of a fight towards the end of the show as one guy falls on another in his exuberance but nothing out of the ordinary for this remarkable town.

One piece of VERY good news to report, John McCusker is on an aeroplane bound for LA. We look forward to welcoming him back into the band tomorrow!