Yesterday was a memorable one. Started the day with a jaunt around Bristol, home to Massive Attack and Portishead, and as I was soon to discover ... Banksy (above). It's incredible to round a corner in a fancy new condo-encrusted neighborhood and find yourself staring at a church built in the year 1200. Some of the buildings had age-old facades that disguised shiny new skeletons just behind, remnants and reminders of the bombings these towns bravely withstood during The War. History is all around us, and our drives between British towns are so eye opening it makes it really tough to fall asleep. In a good way.

We piled into our little van, packed in shoulder to shoulder as usual and headed on to storied Manchester. As for epic personal moments, we listened to The Clash while driving through the drizzle and the stunning English countryside and I could feel my soul vibrate.. incredible time. One of many so far. We arrived in Manchester and stopped in to meet our host Bernie and her lovely family, and then Ajay took us into the city to check out the home of Manchester United and to do some record shopping. As for the show, it was a really good one. The crowd was very generous and open, and we relaxed and played pretty well. Bo Koster sat in with us for 3 songs and I got chills and couldn't stop smiling. What a thrill to be so far from home (4900 miles or so?) and look over and see our brother up there with us laughing and killing it. It's a true pleasure to be traveling with this group of guys. Tremendous touring party we're with right now. 5 bad-ass musicians, and complete gentlemen. We ended the night at a pub called Big Hands with all the whole group, finally getting some time together to catch up, converse, and blow off some steam. I was also able to find some soul-subsistence..................... two ice-cold Negra Modelos.

On to Malahide Castle and my first trip to Dublin. We'll have a night off there tonight are a 3 hour ferry ride. I look forward to doing some exploring tomorrow morning before the show. Then, a castle? It's there that we'll catch up with lovely Zoran Orlic, the lovely Frames fellas, and the lovely Young Family and crew. CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!