We woke up in San Francisco to an almighty din coming from the streets below. The 2008 Gay pride parade was underway. After a while catching up on the computer and a ridiculously overpriced breakfast in the hotel (the last time I'm doing that) I grabbed the camera and was out in the streets enjoying the remarkable atmosphere. This town knows how to throw a party! Anyhow, it was a late departure for Jacksonville as the crew drive was another long one, what made things worse for the guys was that the backline bus broke down. Only for a few hours but it meant that the boys didn't get a chance to watch the Euro 08 final between Spain and Germany. Pete, Paul, Danny and myself watched in my hotel room, the best team won we all agreed, well done Spain.



At 4:00PM we were in the cars again on the way to Oakland airport for the one and a half hour flight up into Oregon and Medway airport. Along the way we really noticed the smoke from the wildfires still burning here in Northern California. apparently there are still over 900 separate fires still raging. when we landed there was a quite noticeable mist (seen above) caused by the smoke. Also it was 96 degrees, quite normal for this time of year here.



The fires rage on.



Mount Shasta stands at 14,175 feet and is the fifth highest peak in California. Shasta has an explosive, eruptive history. There are fumaroles (openings in the earth's crust which emit steam and other gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrochloric acid etc.) on the mountain, which show that Shasta is still alive. During the last 10,000 years Shasta has erupted an average of every 800 years but in the past 4,500 years the volcano has erupted an average of every 600 years. The last significant eruption on Shasta may have occurred 200 years ago. I guess records are sketchy!






I remembered the delightful little town of Jacksonville from the last tour and when we were greeted at the airport, the very same driver picked us up and remembered us very well. No sound check, for obvious reasons so I wandered around the delightful venue with Danny chatting to some of the locals who were there. I met some lovely people including a geologist and a couple of ladies on their way to Alaska on a fishing trip. We eventually found our way to the merchandising stand where of course my CD is on sale. I thought I'd maybe try and convince a few folks to part with a hard earned $15 confidently in the knowledge that they wouldn't regret it. I signed a few copies there and then, something I've never done before but the atmosphere here was so laid back and friendly I could've stayed all night.



Dan and I shot some footage 'Jacksonville' can be seen now on my HD video page

The show was quite a contrast to the chilly stage in Berkeley, the temperature remained in the mid nineties on the stage all night, the crowd was quite literally laid back as there were many families lying on their picnic blankets with hampers of food and wine. It was so relaxed it felt like we were playing in someone's living room, really nice. We had a wonderful show and Mark engaged in more banter than I think I've ever witnessed.
Here's an example - Mark: "Do you have Mosquitos here?" Random Guy: "We have Dragonflies" Mark: "I don't care about Dragonflies, Its the MOZZIES! You know its the female ones that get you. This went on for quite a while.

We enjoyed the evening immensely and when we left the gig in the cars with Bob, our driver I noticed the air temperature was still 85 degrees. We drove back across the countryside towards the airport and twice smelled the familiar smell of skunk. The animal not the weed, we got talking about fishing, hunting and Alfalfa and pear farming which is what they get up to here.  We were soon aboard the plane with drinks and sushi waiting, looking forward to our first day off of the US tour in San Francisco. A very well deserved day off for the crew I think.



A few shots of the Pride parade this morning....