It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

To quote one Robert Allen Zimmerman...
It feels weird to think that as I write this that I won't be doing any more Nero shows. They've been such a prominent part of my life for the past month that it's become a bit like second nature to me now, my average day would typically consist of -
a) Load Car - Type into Sat Nav the Nero postcode for the day
b) Load-into Caffè (from as near as possible) - watching out for parking inspectors
c) Find nearest/cheapest available parking (not forgetting to pay!)
d) Go back to Nero - set-up gear
e) Perform
f) Get email addresses!! (to avoid manager's wrath)
g) Load out
h) Grab a take-away Caramel Latte and drive to hotel/home
....I know what you're thinking - how very rock n'roll :)

As I look back, my last week was typical of the whole tour really, there were some really memorable shows/places and some funny audience members!

I finished my last blog on my way to Hove. That was a good show, some people who had seen me with Ben Montague and Lotte Mullan at the Cellars in Eastney back in December had come along for the show which was nice to see. They had also learnt the words to most of the songs off 'In the Wake' which was an added bonus :)

The following day was my first day off in a while and I got to spend it watching Wales beat Ireland at rugby which is always nice (unless you're Irish of course!)

The next day it was off to Belfast and a 5am wake-up call to get to Gatwick in time to catch my flight. I always get a buzz when I go to the airport - the feeling of going somewhere new and exciting (even if it is only to Belfast ;)) I have to say the people of Belfast are some of the friendliest people I've had the pleasure of meeting, a year or so ago me and my oldest chum went for a 'lads' weekend away to Belfast on one of those 1p flight-deals and we had a wail of a time, drinking Guiness mainly....but yet again here the hospitality was top notch.
Upon arrival I headed to the BBC to do an interview/session for the brilliant Ralph McLean. Ralph's been a big supporter of the album and it was great to finally meet the man himself having heard him play me on the radio a few times. We chatted about all sorts of music from 'Drive by Truckers' new album to the Belfast music scene and Bruce Springsteen mentioning Pete Molinari...
The interview will be going out this Wednesday at 8pm
Listen online here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z2n9g
Afterwards I headed to do my two shows there - again a lovely attentive crowd in the first one. Sadly at the 4pm show I had no amplification of any kind and though I tried an unplugged set it was clear from the off that it was a no-goer so I had to ditch that one! Nevermind - it was during my time there that I stumbled upon a review of Ron Sexsmith's latest offering "Long Player Late Bloomer". This record would be the soundtrack to my final week of Nero shows. It is a truly beautiful record and it isn't surprising to hear that he has drawn admiration from his peers (Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello are all fans!!)
So in every cloud....

And so I reached the final stretch of the tour and my six London shows!
Anyone who's done a London show will tell you they're always a bit peculiar, it's as if due to hectic way of life here everyone's that little bit less patient and therefore harder to please!!
I kicked off on Tuesday with Trafalgar Square - tourist central :)
and then duly followed that up with Camden on Wednesday, Chiswick on Thursday and Westbourne Grove on Friday. Not much to report on these shows really apart from the usual. It was, however, nice to see people there who'd made a specific effort to come out and see me and in turn made the whole thing seem a lot more worthwhile.

And so to Saturday and Piccadilly. The grand finale/swansong if you will...
To begin with I thought things were going to go really pear-shaped. Having unloaded the gear I duly went in search for a parking space..4pm was fast approaching and I was still in Soho crawling/weaving my way through a myriad of diversions and one-way streets. Luckily I managed to grab myself a parking spot and run back to the Nero only 5mins later than scheduled. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was not only very busy but that a lot of friends had also made the effort to come down. The show was a success and a perfect way to end the tour.

Which brings me to now and the question of what lies next in store??
Well, more gigs, conventional night-time ones now though me thinks.
Keep checking the website for more information.
So thank you if you've come along to one of the shows - it really has been a pleasure playing to you all, from Edinburgh to Hove to Cardiff to London, it's all been an enlightening experience. Hopefully I'll see you all again soon and next time you're in a Nero, listen out for me....!!

Al x