Well the weather is turning out to be have a huge influence on the course of this tour. The worst storms and torrential rains throughout England, Scotland and Wales in more than 50 years have hampered us from day one.

Reading. Hexagon Oct 30th

It started at Dublin airport the morning of 30th Oct as singer Leslie Dowdall, tour manager / 'front of house' sound engineer John Munnis, onstage sound engineer Mark Kennedy and I attempted to fly to London to join up with the rest of the band for the first show in Reading's Hexagon Theatre that evening.

A journey normally taking two hours took almost seven as delays at Heathrow pushed the airline schedules back time and time again. By the time we arrived at the venue everyone was fairly wrecked..not the best way to start a tour!

In spite of this and the fact that it was the band's first gig since Cahersiveen in Kerry on August 6th, the pressure brought a lively gig out of us. It's great to play again with Liam (Genockey ..drums), Ian (Maidman...bass, electric guitar and vocals), Steve (Fletcher..keyboards and vocals) and Leslie ( backing vocals). It was like we had played the previous evening. Christine Collister, our opening act is a wonderful singer and guitarist and complements the show brilliantly. The audience was down a little in numbers but made up for it in enthusiasm. This has unfortunately turned out to be a feature of one or two of the shows tour as storms and flooding is making many roads impassable deterring many from venturing out.

One other nice thing at Reading was that I got to meet for the most some long-lost cousins of the Brady clan. The internet is a wonderful tool in re-uniting families. More are set to come to the London show.

Coventry, Warwick Arts Centre Nov 1st

This was my second time to play this venue, having played here during the Spirits Colliding tour of UK in 1995. A great night, band even tighter as we changed the set around. I decided to start on my own singing Helpless Heart at the piano, a song I haven't sung in ages.

• Marriage Made in Hollywood
• Nothing But the Same Old Story
• Trick or Treat,
• When Leslie joins us for:
• I Believe In Magic
• Sea Of Love
• You're The One
• Believe In Me
• Nobody Knows
• Travelling Light
• The Island
• Crazy Dreams
• The Long Goodbye
• Oh What A World.

We came back after a noisily demanded encore and I did a solo version of:

• The Lakes of Pontchartrain,

followed by the band returning for,

• The Homes of Donegal and
• The World Is What You Make It.

A lot of fun!

Paul Brady

York. Barbican, November 2^nd

Shortly after we left Coventry the morning of Nov 2 we knew we were in for a rough ride with the weather. Flooding was getting more widespread and roads were closed which forced us to make lots of detours. We arrived in York around 2pm and found much of the city centre under water...pubs by the riverbank with water half way up the building.

Incredible. The rain was incessant.

We couldn't even get the bus to the hotel. There were boats in the road opposite.

That evening I changed the set and sang as the opener 'Minutes Away, Miles Apart' to a small but dedicated and noisy crowd who had decided to brave the weather and have a good time.

The band is getting better each night and I'm having an amazing time on stage. It's always completely different. We decided to change Sea Of Love and Nobody Knows which previously we had done to a sequence and now wanted to play completely free. Much better. Not so many bells and whistles but lots more 'feel'. Also started to rehearse 'Love Hurts' at the sound check. It falls together quickly and we decide to do it that night.

The gig is so much fun and all the changes worked out fine.

On to Glasgow!

Glasgow Nov 3

We headed off to the north leaving a forlornly flooded York behind us and before long were in trouble ourselves as road after road was closed because they were impassable. We kept zigzagging and at one point even had to drive south to get to Durham. Crazy. There wasn't a lot to do except sleep on the bus. We arrived in Glasgow around six and first off I had to do an interview with Radio Scotland's 'Country Music Show'! Definitely a first for me. But it was fun and I got to talk about my times in Nashville. The Fruitmarket is or was literally that....an old market building with stone flag floors and it now was set out in round tables and chairs and the vibe was brilliant. It was the biggest crowd so far on tour. The weather in Glasgow was nothing like down south and people were out for a big night. A Glasgow audience is special , really noisy and lively and lots of young Irish there too. The band loves it when people give of themselves instead of leaving it all up to us. I started off with a solo rendition of 'Blue World' which I hadn't sung in ages. Band comes on. We change the order round again and do Love Hurts again too. By the middle of the gig the crowd are on their feet and it's a bit of a dance party from then on in. Definitely a Celtic evening! We have a

couple of days off after this so hair gets let down a bit. Meet some more cousins.. on my mother's side this time. We have a few drinks backstage and then it's off into the night. Ian and Liam have to go south tomorrow to do their Robert Wyatt shows in Brighton and Oxford which were set up ages ago so the rest of us have free weekend. I fly to Manchester and stay with my friends the Pimms in their Derbyshire country hide away.

Wonderful break. Sleep.. and walks in the hills and home cooking!

Manchester Nov 6^th

The Lowry hall is a brand new theatre, very hi-tech, sci-fi, purple and orange. I joke that half way through the gig we're all going to take off to Mars or somewhere..there's this space station vibe to the place. It's a difficult gig sound-wise as at the soundcheck the sound was great but when the crowd arrived all the bottom seemed to vanish and things sounded thin on stage. Still we worked round it and a hugely enthusiastic crowd made it work good. I started this one off with’Minutes away Miles Apart‘, the first time I did it on tour. I really enjoy singing that song.

Loads of people want to say hello afterwards. Nice.

Sheffield Nov 7^th

Rain Rain again and flooding. We're playing in the ballroom of the City Hall and it's a strange gig. Started with Good Love for a change. Takes a while to get going but by 'Trick Or Treat' it's happening. Lot's of calls for Arthur McBride tonight but I don't want to do it this time out. 'The Lakes Of Pontchartrain' is where I'm at. 'Follow On' and 'The Homes Of Donegal' are really special tonight. Liam is so in the pocket it's scary. Ian is getting more out there on guitar. Each gig is totally different and by now I'm letting everything be spontaneous and it's a blast. Roll on Cardiff!

Cardiff Nov 8^th

St David's Hall in Cardiff is a big one and the sound is great.. not a huge crowd unfortunately but I guess I need to visit Wales more often. It was nice crossing the border today. I've played here/ been here so seldom and it is a very different vibe to England. What's great too is the response from people to the gigs on the website guestbook. Each day there's loads of feedback. We've just started selling stuff on the site and people are going home after the gigs and ordering records and leaving nice comments! There's a realy good feeling in the band at the moment just as we're moving into London.

London Shepherds Bush Empire Nov 9th

I'm really tired today. Stayed up a bit too late after the gig and paying the price! Still that's what tours are about too. I'm never going to be a good boy for too long, I guess. Sleep all the way to London and still feel wrecked! Soundcheck is difficult and by six I'm wondering how I'm going to get it up for the show. We had hoped to have a rehearsal with guitarist Mick Taylor who's going to play with us tonight but he's stuck at the other side of London and it's rush hour. We decide to busk it. Short rest in the hotel and it's back to meet the newly discovered long lost cousins. That gets emotions moving and soon I forget how tired I was. Mick Taylor arrives.

Christine Collister does a great set.

On I go and this time start a solo 'Duncan And Brady' ...again ages since I sang it. The place is hopping with some really energetic fans down front who want to get up straight away. On stage sound is great tonight. Finally feeling it's working just as we're finishing! I'm suddenly energised again and feeling like throwing things around with arrangements. Steve is in top form tonight and the Island is special.

Then it's Travelling Light and Mick Taylor is on. Things suddenly move up a gear as the added uncertainty of what's going to happen makes the whole thing get real. This is what I love best, when we have to invent it as we go. Mick starts slowly feeling his way and suddenly at the first solo takes off and the place starts coming apart, people on their feet. Yes, Yes!

From then on things move up a gear and I feel like I could go on all night.

Mick comes back again on The World Is What You Make It which turns into a salsa groove with everyone dancing. Amazing. I finish, or so I think with Minutes Away but no one is going home and I really want to bring Mick back out...but what to do? I drag ' Can't Stop wanting You' out of the rafters and we get into this thing which is amazing. Band are having so much fun. And suddenly it's all over. Definitely the best gig of the tour and really the reason why I do this stuff. Beats anything else I can think of!

Thanks to Liam, Ian, Steve, Leslie, John Munnis on Front of House sound and Mark Kennedy on monitors, Tim our driver and to all you people who came out to party with us! We hope to see you soon!

Paul Brady