Milwaukee, Wisconsin

As we were approaching Midway airport for the flight to Milwaukee this afternoon, we got word that the Milwaukee airport was completely fogged in and we would have to be diverted to another landing strip or go by cars to Milwaukee. After much discussion on the tarmac, it was decided that we would fly to the Waukesha airport and drive 40 minutes to Milwaukee. The flight itself was about 25 minutes and Diane managed to serve a sushi lunch and collect it all before touch down. Waukesha was pretty socked in as well; by the time we broke through the fog, we were nearly on the landing strip. We piled into cars and off we went. I'm sure Waukesha is known for many things, but the thing that immediately comes to mind is it's the birthplace of guitar great Les Paul.

We arrived at the Riverside Theatre just after 5 o'clock and walked on stage for sound check. The Riverside is another one of those great old theatres from the jazz age. I'm enjoying playing these places so much, even the larger ones are intimate and the sound is so good. The catering so far on the entire U.S. tour has been remarkably better than in previous years and tonight was no exception, freshly grilled steaks, shrimp etoufee, vegetables in risotto and an espresso bar with barrista preparing fab lattes to order. After dinner I wandered up to the VIP lounge that was completely deserted and practised for an hour, then time to get ready for the show.

Tonight's show was really great all the way 'round. I don't know what else there is to say and it probably gets boring to read the same thing day after day, but MK and band were firing on all 12 cylinders tonight, as was the audience. We really love these midwest show, the people are so great to us and the house couldn't have been better...a fantastic gig. Hats off to Guy who an hour before the show was suffering with a migraine headache, you would never have known it, he was his usual brilliant self.

A drive back to the Waukesha airport and a short, turbulent flight back to Chicago. Diane had plenty of ice cold Lienenkugel beer, spring rolls and chicken satay. Back in Chicago and arrived in my room at 1. A relatively early night, can't wait to hit the sack.

So long,

Richard