Letterman

What a day yesterday was. Letterman runs a tight ship and from the moment we arrived we were busy preparing our stage for the show. It's a bizarre experience because as soon as you step on to the set you see how things differ in real life from what you see coming out of the TV set. Firstly, the set is small along with the New York skyline props that you see in the background. Secondly, it ain't so shiny in person either, which worked wonders for quieting my anxiety that my usual dishevelled appearance would be broadcast all too accurately to 6 million disgusted viewers!
After several sound checks and hair and make up we waited anxiously to be called to the stage. The call came and after bumping in to Rob Schneider on the stairs we took our places on the set, prepared for our introduction. The song flew by, the audience cheered and Letterman seemed to enjoy it; a job well done.
Now we look forward to radio shows and a couple more gigs before returning to reality on Sunday, I have a feeling I will have more stories before then though. Big thanks to Joyce and Debbie who sat in the front row of the circle cheering me on, it was great to see your faces up there.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6jPQhqzloRM%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player&feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=6jPQhqzloRM&gl=US

NYC

Back at last! We are being treated like kings here at our hotel in New York and are geared up excited for Letterman tomorrow. I spent my morning with my godmother on the upper west side feeling very nostalgic in my old regular summer haunt and Joycie must be thanked here for her strawberry waffles and coffee (real star treatment I must say). The afternoon that followed was a rehearsal for Letterman and James treating us to pizza (yet more star treatment from the star himself!).
At this point though I am beginning to fear reality and fear the prospect of going home. I am over half way through this tour which seems to make the time fly even quicker than it already has. However, I get a strong feeling that after tomorrow things may heat up big time and I could be back on the always-surprising, never-disappointing road before long...

NYC + Viper Room

I'm currently updating from somewhere up above the Nevada desert as we fly towards New York City. I'm somehow performing this task after a one hour sleep last night due to a slight bit of excess after our gig at The Viper Room. The gig was great, probably the best so far for me, which is lucky considering I was informed of Ringo's, Iggy Pop's and Joe Walsh's presence after we finished the show. I can maybe accredit my good mood also to the fact that we were able to spend the morning on Santa Monica beach.
Right now I can't get over the landscape below me and feel fortunate to be able to take in the breadth of America on a clear day. Whether it's the novelty of touring or not I can't tell but I feel more so than ever that I need to spend some serious time out here (let's hope for more US dates after letterman!).
Finally I give a shout out to some people who took me up to look over LA from under the Hollywood sign at 4am in the morning. I hope to see you soon...

Devil's punchbowl and other misdemeanours...

Today has to have been the longest day on tour so far. An early rise at 5 to play on good day LA (fox's channel 11 morning show-http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/good_day_la/james-mccartney-performs-on-gdla-20120126) was the start of the 13 hour day. After that we drove a couple hours into the desert to the devil's punchbowl; an almost lunar landscape marrying huge boulders, streams and desert land together in a rather trippy dream-like recess high in the Los Angeles Forest. It was an amazing location for a photo shoot with a friend of James' which, I'm sure, will yield great results. After a long drive back into the city underneath golden pink, sunset lit clouds we went for a few well earned drinks (cocktails in my case) and hit the hay, ready for the infamous Viper Room tomorrow.
Finally, I must apologise for over using my vintage photo app but it does get some cool results...lots of love to all, hope you're well!
T

LA

LA is hilarious. Bigger, more ostentatious and brighter than I remember. We're staying at a hotel called The Standard in West Hollywood on sunset. It's decorated and set out like some sort of late 60's early 70's coke nightmare and I almost expect to bump into Hunter Thompson's ghost whilst walking through the lavender coloured hallways littered with ironically placed exit signs.
Finally, if you ever get the chance to fly from Salt Lake City to LA on a clear day like today, you'll no doubt be as dumbfounded as me by the landscape...
P.S. Check out the AC controls...

Big day

So, the trip finally ended after 27 hours of travelling at the Hyatt Escala Lodge, Park City (check it out online). This is, without doubt, the best hotel I've experienced on any gig. A short sleep in a gigantic double bed later and we were off to the first gig at the fender lodge. This was then followed by a jam-packed gig for the ASCAP music cafe. Feeling very fatigued, we then returned to the hotel and have wound down with a swim in the outdoor pool (in the snow) and a slob in the hot tub...
Luckily we only have one gig tomorrow and lots more time to sleep tonight than last night. Hopefully some of these photos will convey the feeling of pure relief upon arriving here and how spoiled I am on this gig...
Oh and apparently they don't think too much of their sandwiches here...

Utah...finally!

Over 24 hours of travelling later and here we are. I hadn't realised that we actually have two shows to play tomorrow and we still have a car ride to the hotel to go...I have ingested just about as much caffeine as is humanely/biologically unsafe and am in the odd limbo of dealing with numerous time changes and trying to prepare myself for the shows tomorrow (sound check call will be at 9.15am!!!)...
My only photo for the day is of my shoes which have brought me inexplicable joy throughout delays, turbulence and fast food burritos...shout out to alex and t & f slack shoes...

First post

Ok so here's my first post. I get the feeling everyone will become familiar with many of the 'grim' aspects of travelling around with bands by my photo choices. But it's not all doom and gloom by any stretch of the imagination, I just find certain bleak/difficult/tiring moments kind of perversely funny.
We just did a really fun show with Pete Molinari in Belfast last night which kind of kicks off two weeks of touring madness. I'm spending my last night at home tonight before heading off to the US with James McCartney and it's a short one at that; the ill-favoured flight time will have me up at around 5am.
I'll be posting as regularly as possible in the hope that anyone who comes here can get a feel for touring (if you haven't already!).
So, here's the room-with-a-view in Belfast; I'm sure there's going to be more where this came from...
T