Day 6 - Birmingham Academy 2:

It's always deceiving waking up in Birmingham. We always park the bus 
underground in a carpark, so there is no natural light to help wake you 
up. I think I finally surfaced at about 12:30 feeling very weird!!! I 
hate sleeping in too late, it leaves me feeling worse than if I haven't 
slept at all. A good old scrub in the shower will sort that out! Now, 
once again, the urge to feed has come upon me! Tom, will and myself go 
on a hunt which almost ends in tears! We scour around the vicinity 
looking for somewhere to sit and eat. The fast food options aren't very 
appetising today, so we're looking for a nice cafe. We end up in the BHS 
cafe. After a brief exchange of words (in what sounded like a foreign 
language) with the chef, I'm handed cottage pie with chips, covered in 
gravy, with an additional rhubarb crumble with custard. Now, bearing in 
mind I didn't ask for this, I have no idea how I received it. Anyway, I 
pay up, a hefty eight quid or so, and then proceed to try and stomach 
this.............food?? Not sure if that's the right term. I'm not 
usually a fussy eater, but this was pushing it! Well, I can't really 
complain, there are plenty of people out there who would've been very 
happy with that meal.

Back to the venue, where I find that my lovely lady has made the trip 
from London to Birmingham to surprise me, and then I also find Tom and 
Bren receiving back massages...........nice! Apparently it was the 
perfect remedy for a few muscular twinges and some pent up tension.

Gig o'clock.........we hadn't sold out this gig, and were therefore 
surprised to see so many people packed into the top room awaiting the 
start of the show. As soon as Contact thundered out from the stage, we 
knew from the crowd response, and the general vibe in the room that it 
was going to go really well. Also, after the technical issues the night 
previous, we just wanted to crack on with this gig and put it all behind 
us.............how interesting then, when we have yet more technical 
problems through 'Do No Wrong'. Fortunately it was quite trivial, and 
didn't really affect anything too much.

The gig ended on a high, and it felt nice to have a fair few autograph 
hunters and well wishers. All in all a great gig, which put us in a 
great mood for a party, which was perfect timing really, as we had a day 
off afterwards!!!!!


Day 7 - Day Off, Leeds:

Well, after having a lovely old time on the tour bus, I welcomed the fact 
that we had a hotel to stay in today. It was the perfect place to 
recharge our batteries, and just chill out. We all headed out for lunch, 
and ended up in a Hogs Head, where myself, Will, and Bren ate something 
that should be illegal. It was called The Ultimate Burger'. Just for a 
laugh, this sounded fun. But it wasn't. We desperately wanted wheelchairs 
after eating this monstrosity. Basically, this burger consisted of: 
6oz beef burger, 6oz chicken burger, cheese, bacon, onion rings, and 
salad. Then, they gave you a mammoth amount of chips to boot. The result 
was a semi-dead like feeling, where you were still aware of what was 
going on around you, but your brain and body were somehow unattached, 
and you couldn't react, speak, or move. The best I could do was dribble. 
I will never, ever, ever, eat another one of those.

The hotel we stayed in was great, there was however one slight problem. 
The toilet door was opaque. You could make out shadows and colours 
behind this door. Therefore, for example, If say, Will sat at the hotel 
desk, and glanced to his left, he would be able to make out me, somewhat 
prone on the toilet doing what comes naturally. Slightly off putting, 
for both of us!

I think we finally turn the TV off at about 2:30, safe in the knowledge 
that we don't have to check-out of the hotel until 2:30 pm the following 
day. lovely!!!!!


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