Westward bound - June 10

Show at Falls Church
Photo © Ben Fenner

A happy gig

Brian at the wheel

Falls Church, Virginia was the most southerly spot of the tour, certainly the hottest place so far! Judging by previous experiences, I find when the summer kicks in it really does over this side of the pond.

Sauntering through local streets we bumped into half the audience and had a quick dinner with promoter of the Nearfest show, Ray Loboda and his wife. At show time there was a palpable excitement from the crowd who made me feel that we were already blowing kisses and doing encores... a great gig in a historic part of America, where North meets South.

The Palace Theatre at Greensburg PA proved to be an equally enjoyable gig, with a rich and full stage sound. Amanda does a great job of doubling the guitar solo of Every Day plus adding extra harmonies that enrich the part. The album original had two guitars on it (my guitar double tracked). This really took off... Finally we all encored with the best complete version of Firth of Fifth we've ever done. The crowd loved both our performance and Renaissance's - smiling faces all round backstage.

Heading westward, some serious driving followed over the next couple of days, accompanied by the not so serious fun of band antics in the vehicle. Rob managed to turn each of us into zombies on his I phone zombie app! Forested hills gave way to big skies, intense sunshine turned to thunder and lightning. Riders on the Storm always was my favourite Doors Song, with its dark atmosphere.

At Elkhart in Indiana we had a breather in the evening. As we walked outside we were surrounded by a chorus of frogs, crickets and the fleeting lights of fireflies... a moment to savour magic in the heat of the night before mounting our white hot chariot of fire for the final part of our journey to Chicago.

Soundcheck Greensburg Palace Theatre

Diner on the road

Storms brewing