Dublin, Ireland

An early bag call and check out in Manchester. A mission while there was to try to find a University of Manchester t-shirt for my middle son who attended UM for a semester but failed to bring back a shirt and now regrets it. By 10 this morning I was packed and dressed with Manchester's sidewalks under my feet. I was told there might be a slim chance of finding a UM shirt at a shop about a 20 minute walk from the hotel, but no luck and there wasn't enough time to get to the collegiate shop on campus at the university. So, it will be an internet search.

The reason for such an early Manchester departure/Dublin arrival was the England vs. Paraguay World Cup match of great import to the vast majority on this tour and less so to the Septics. We arrived at 1:30 in the afternoon at the gig where a TV was set up in catering and the pitch of the room rose and fell with England's performance. As for me, I drifted in and out of the game, opting to take care of some computer stuff and quietly practice. By the end of the match there were many happy Brits.

Here's a quiz; remember the extra wrinkly shirts I mentioned that I'd purchased in Hamburg about 10 days ago? The ones that are supposed to be that way? When I walked in to wardrobe tonight to pick out what I was going to wear, our wardrobe mistress du jour was beaming with pride because she'd ironed them all so perfectly. Not a crease in the carload. I didn't have the heart to tell her she'd got it completely wrong. So, it was a less than casual look tonight on stage.

Tonight's gig at The Point was great. What an audience, so giving and appreciative. The band was in grand form and thrived off what we were getting from the crowd. So many high points including a stellar fiddle solo from Stuart in Red Staggerwing tonight. Faux pas of the night award goes to yours truly who, during This Is Us, decided to have a meander around while playing, accidentally mid-tune stood on the on/off switch to Emmy's guitar and cut it off. I wasn't sure if I'd done it or not and didn't want to stand on it again to correct an error that I wasn't certain of making in the first place. Complete balls up. Anyway, apologies were made during the first walk off and I will make certain that doesn't happen again. Apart from that it was a stellar gig.

A runner to the Legacy and it was off to Paris where we will spend the night and have a day off tomorrow. A sidewalk cafe is in my future.

So long,

Richard