Toronto, Canada

A good day off yesterday spent practicing and seeing my friend Joan Besan of the band Prairie Oyster who I produced an album on back in the 90s. We went to Danforth Street, Greek town, for a dinner at Pan. It's an unassuming little restaurant that's fab. For starters we had saganaki, flaming cheese brought to table and put out with the juice of a lemon. I had a braised lamb shank that fell off the bone, served on orzo with tomatoes, mushrooms and carrots. After dinner we ended up at her son Sunny's flat and he turned me on to a couple of groups that I will seek out, Depth Charge and Slowdive.

Today was an easy one, some coffee and a workout, back to the room for a bit of reading, practicing, a nap and get ready for the gig. A wonderful venue, Molson Amphitheatre, a recreation complex with an 8,750 capacity outdoor performance stage. The weather was mild and breezy and the audience was good. We've been enjoying the outdoor shed shows since being in America; they're very relaxed, the crowd is always in a party mood and it all says summertime. Tonight was no exception.

As we're staying the night in Toronto and another day off here tomorrow, we didn't do a runner but hung out at the gig for a couple of hours after the show, had a little reception and a few drinks with some fine folks. Toronto's a great city and the only thing it lacks is mild winters.

So long,

Richard