West to East
March 2022

Frankfurt show
Photo © Chris Simmons

Utrecht show
Photo © David Clay

It's been an extraordinary Northern European tour, making our way by road from West to East...

We took the Euro Tunnel from the UK to France, and immediately headed to Antwerp, Belgium. It was great to play there again after all this time, and a lovely place too with its winding streets and old buildings.

The next stop was Utrecht, Holland. Fabulous crowds there at the shows!

On to Frankfurt, followed by Hamburg with band on fire and ecstatic crowds... and then across to Berlin. We stayed directly opposite the East Side Gallery - those amazing paintings on part of the old Berlin Wall. Several have a peace message which is so pertinent to what is going on today.

Both the Berlin and Dresden shows had a terrific vibe. Dresden is an amazing example of a phoenix rising from the ashes. Those beautiful old Gothic buildings have been so well restored that they still look centuries old...

We continued our journey into Poland. Seeing a convoy of Red Cross vehicles pass by really brought home the nearby war in Ukraine. We're hoping that convoy reached its destination okay. We spoke to people who had seen a lot of women with children on trains, many clearly afraid they might not see their husbands or sons again. Konrad Sikora who works with the Polish Red Cross has ensured our Red Cross Ukraine collection goes to the right place. Many thanks to all those who contributed to the collection during the tour. For anyone who wants to donate to the the Red Cross Ukraine campaign, the link is:
https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal

Both Polish shows in Wroclaw and Warsaw had a fabulous atmosphere, playing to such appreciative crowds. Jo and I also took the chance to walk around the old town of Wrocław with its magnificent square and ornate, characterful buildings leading to the river's edge...

I never cease to wonder at the rich variety of cultures in Europe, and the warmth of the people in every country. Let's hope that peace and compassion will prevail again soon throughout the whole of the region.

My thanks to the band and team, Solo and all promoters for a very special tour...