Bergen, Norway

Woke early. Too early. 6:00 after going to bed at 3! Put the TV on (a very unusual move for me at any time) as our own Guy Fletcher was doing a live performance of a couple of songs from his new album Inamorata on the early morning live TV program. Well I searched and searched and couldn't find him, finally giving up about 6:45 and mercifully went back to sleep for another few hours.

A spectacularly beautiful afternoon flight to Bergen, flying over rugged mountains covered in snow, then opening to breathtaking fjords and forests. We arrived at 4 and spent an hour in stop & go traffic to the gig. We all somehow remembered Bergen as a quaint, sleepy little resort town from the last time we were here in '05. We'd played in a funny little wooden sports facility then, scarcely larger than a high school basketball auditorium. Turns out that Bergen is the second largest city in Norway! Tonight's gig was at a much larger venue called Vestlandshallen, an indoor football arena. They packed the place to the maximum of 8,000. A bit of an echoey old barn, but our ace sound man Dave Dixon wrestled it into something manageable and it was a good night for all. My stomach's been giving me hell all day but magically when you get on stage, it's the best medicine in the world and you forget whatever's bothering you and get into what you've come to do.

Another runner to the Legacy for the short hop back to Oslo where we are basing. Linda, our hostess, had mountains of sushi and sashimi that arrived on platters the size of small third world countries. With the stomach still letting me know this virus is still very much enjoying it's residency, I decided to eat very little and spare (swear?) off the after show gin and tonics. Well, there's always tomorrow, but for tonight it was back at the hotel around midnight and off to bed.

So long,

Richard