Each day off we have is usually necessitated by travel distances and the crew were ‘overnighting’ to Hamburg where I’m sure they made the best of their town for the day. For the band, “One of life’s true pleasures, a day off in Amsterdam” as I put it yesterday, lived up to its hype. It [...]

Ah well, it was inevitable I suppose. I got up this morning, in Brussels, to make a cup of tea to discover that housekeeping had removed my travel kettle and tea mug from the room. An innocent enough mistake, but no less frustrating as I interrogated the maids in the corridor in vain. “No English [...]

Here in our hotel, there’s a yellow spin bike in the gym that I’ve been taking an interest in. Not an actual Peloton, the one I fell in love with at the Beaumont hotel in London, but it’s really good. I told Jim, who was midway through his 1-hour uphill walk next to me on [...]

Belval is an area to the West of Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg which was once the home of the country’s steel production. As I’ve mentioned in previous diaries, when production was abandoned in 1994, the Belval works became derelict. A project of regeneration which started in 2001 has seen 18 years of steady growth and [...]

Rhône and Saône, the two rivers that converge in the heart of France’s 3rd largest city. It was the Romans who initially recognised that the strategic location at the convergence of 2 navigable rivers made it a natural communications hub. Lugdunum, as it was known then, can be translated as ‘Desired Mountain’. The original foundations [...]

The PreSonus interfaces in the rack Blimey, what a day.  Over the many years we’ve been coming to Paris, we have enjoyed extended stays in hotels and often made it a ‘hubbing’ point. This time we’ve chosen Lyon as a base. Whenever there are large events on in Paris, which is often, hotels ramp up [...]

Hygge, unless I am mistaken, is a word, often used in Denmark, which means ‘hug’ or ‘cosy’. They say the Danes are the happiest people in the world, and who would argue. Quality of life, a stable economy, good education services and high levels of social safety all contribute. Also, environmentally, Copenhagen kicks dust in [...]

Summer storms seem to have settled into a pattern this week on the flatlands of Denmark’s largest land mass. Last night’s storm was getting ready to make a repeat appearance. Herning, Herning, have we been here? I thought to myself. Once the strange looking box appeared in the distance I knew we had. It was [...]

Looks like we've outstayed our welcome - Stage manager, Dave Hall Grand Hotel get togethers happen more often than you’d think. The event that was in full swing when we got back to the hotel after the Stockholm show last night was in fact the Polar Awards after-show party. By wonderful, ironic co-incidence, the person [...]

Lyssna, is the Swedish word for listen. It sounds almost as daft as a chef or restauranteur explaining that his diners ‘eat’, but our audiences really do seem to listen with intent. The crowd at the packed out giant golf ball Globe in Stockholm was no exception. According to John Ashton, our chief rigger, the [...]