THE LAST THREE

Swansea.

First we had the morning after, urgh! The breakfast at the Premier Inn just about hit the blood stream as I started to drive back but I didn't get that much sleep. Fortunately the drive to Leicester is less than 30 minutes.

My mum had stayed over to look after our daughter and for some strange reason I had said that I would cook Sunday lunch. Once home I had about 2 1/2 hours to do the lunch and get ready for the drive to Swansea. I think the food did the trick as I started to feel much better.

The drive to Swansea was hideously long but we arrived on time, the venue, Sin City was a real dump and a vert apt name, The first thing I noticed was the smell and how sticky the floors were. The Goo sound guys had set my gear up so we had a quick sound check. Paul and Andy the promoters were there and were quite apologetic about how few people were going to be there.

We went on at 8pm and I actually got a few boos only because they thought we were Kajagoogoo as we walked on. They soon warmed to us though, especially after Sarah announced it's quality not quantity that counts, that got a few laughs.

We shared a dressing room with the Kaja guys so had a few laughs at the shapes Steve was throwing, obviously his tartan trousers were giving him punk legs. Brian the manager is quite a serious guy but the guys were managing to get him smiling as they were pretending to be Diva's. Nick asked him to take the set list down but as he reached for it Nick said "oh dear I've dropped it" when he bent down Nick lifted his kilt so poor old Brian got to witness the same as me from the previous night.

We left pretty early after the show and decided to get some food, we drove around Swansea centre for half an hour looking for somewhere suitable. We had both imagined eating nice fish 'n' chips at the seaside but it appears Swansea isn't really that sort of place.

Music kept me awake on the drive back, Sarah discovered some new music Rex The Dogs album - 'The Rex the Dog Show' so this was blasted through my cars system.

London

As already well hinted at, this was a skin of your teeth moment.

I'm pretty good with check lists and I was already to go, I'd texted Sarah and said pick you up at 3pm, she replied make it 3.30. So I'd got myself ready to go for 3pm and sat on the sofa and decided to check my emails with a bit of time to spare. At 3.20 I set off to get Sarah. An hour and twenty minutes later we were at Watford when for some reason it dawned on me my laptop was still at home. Looking at the clock it was 4.50pm, I did a quick turn around at the next junction and started to head back to Leicester. We called Brian the manager to tell him our dilemma, he didn't sound too pleased but that was because all of the the Goo gear was stuck in a broken down van on the other side of London. I called Zoë to see if she could grab my laptop and meet us on route, we managed to meet her at junction 20, only one junction away from Leicester but it still saved us a precious 30 minutes.

The drive back to London was frantic and we made it to the venue at 7.45pm (we were on at 8.00pm) The Kajagoogoo guys gave us a cheers and we were helped in Wout / Ben and the promoter Paul. The stage set-up was even more buttock clenching as my Apex keyboard stand decided to jam so that meant stick a few bits on the floor. I don't think a pre-gig drive and set-up has ever gone so badly.

Sarah's first glimpse of the stage and venue was when she walked on, but still the set went OK and we got a good reception. A big thanks to Ben for selling the merchandise, we did quite well.

There was a small party afterwards for guests and we met a couple of friends of Limahl who really liked the set, they worked for Gaydar radio and will be playing some of our tracks.

Southampton

Everything was checked at least ten times before we set off today, never making that mistake again.

We arrived on time for 5pm and had a quick look around the venue. We decided to stay and get ready at the venue rather than heading back to the hotel. Again we shared a dressing room with the Kaja guys which was good being the last night.

Tonight had to be the night that my remote starting of the set didn't work, it had worked perfectly for every other show but decided to fail on the last night, in-fact it was actually the master volume that had been turned down which was odd. Sarah put this down to a spooky experience as her mobile had also lost it's charge!

Sarah was pretty nervous as her dad was in attendance tonight, the first time he'd ever seen her perform. But the set went well and as always it was over far too soon.

After the Goo set we had a good old drink and chat with the guys and they invited us to play with them in December. We've also had offers from Nick and Steve to play guitar and bass on our next album so you never know we may have those guys on stage with us in the future.

I had been quite sceptical as to how much I would enjoy the tour but I have to say I had a great time. What was also good was meeting lots of new people that gave us some great feedback and comments and more importantly bought out CDs.

Roll on Bedsitland.

THE LAST TWO

London   There's one golden rule, when you rely on your laptop for the whole, entire gig and that is 'don't forget your laptop'. So guess what happened...?  The laptop was left snuggling up on Matt's sofa at home, thinking it had got the night off, while we merrily drove all the way to London...sans laptop. OH DEAR!   Wonderful, slow-motion moment of realisation when this 'slight hiccup' dawned on Matt.  His hand went to his head, and an animal-like groan came rumbling over to the passenger seat....and so we turned around and drove all the way back home. Luckily, Matt's wife Zoe came to our rescue meeting us on route with the laptop.  This saved us precious minutes so that we made it back to O2 Academy by the skin of our teeth (I had to get ready in the car!!)  Such a bizarre experience for me - I literally got to our dressing room, changed into my costume and walked out on stage.  I had no idea where my mic was, what the venue was like, how it would sound or how many people were there!  Just walked out, to be met by hundreds of people looking at me and hoped for the best! Hahaha...good job I've got nerves of steel (!) There must have been something in the air, because the Kaj had also had a bit of a 'mare, with their equipment being stuck in Hackney and Jez having taxi-traumas. Anyway the gig was great, although a bit of a haze.  We sold loads of merch (thanks Ben!) and had some amazing feedback, media interest and suggestions for future gigs. Thank GAWD we made it.   Southampton   The Brook was a nice venue - friendly staff and (thankfully) a straight-forward and relaxed get-in. Again, a bit of a family affair for me with Daddy coming to watch!  He hadn't seen me sing in public since I was about 9 years old,  Think he was impressed ;)  This was my favourite performance of the tour, nice sound, great crowd and Spider-Dan shooting video...oh I do love poncing around in front of cameras! Chatting to the owner's girlfriend after the show, and this venue is apparently haunted :)  Some interesting spookiness did happen; The battery on my phone completely drained whilst at the The Brook, and this never happens.  The battery on Dan's camera also mysteriously drained, and we had the only occurrence of Matt's remote iphone starting system not working.  In actual fact, this DID work but somehow the volume on the laptop, which was set up on stage, had been turned right down?!  Spooooooooky.  Send in Most Haunted (pleeease!) We partied with the Kaj after the show, to celebrate a successful end to our tour,  We all got a bit squiffy etc. I'm sure at one point Stewart walked in looking a bit smashed and smoking a cheroot (!)  I had a really interesting conversation with Nick, about dysfunctional families, meditation, addiction - all light-hearted stuff haha, but very cool.  Meanwhile Jez was doing a brilliant human-fruitbowl impression and I enjoyed sipping beer and nibbling on his succulent grapes. Think we got back to the hotel at about 3am - I got the big bed HURRAY! Really chuffed as we've been invited to play with them again at their Xmas show at "The Stables' near Milton Keynes on December 16.  Looks like a great theatre venue, owned by Cleo Laine. I will finally get to perform Tears and Tinsel which we've performed live only once before.  The boys have suggested me dressing as Santa's helper - but I'm opting for the Dame Edna Christmas tree outfit with extra-shiny baubles.   A big thank you to NKers (old and new), Kajagoogoo, Brian Coles, all the crew and friends and family who came to cheer us on.  Sarah X