And so it continued…..I’m writing in the car on the way to our final date in Norwich after which…Boo hoo…the tour is over 
Here’s a little round up of some of the gigs we’ve played since I last wrote…
Basingstoke. What can I say. Lovely lovely gig. Sold-out theatre and a standing ovation? Could get used to that.
Cheltenham. We played to fifteen people but ten of you knew the music well and thats the main thing! It was so nice to see someone singing along to Freewheel at the end. “This one gets played in Morrison’s” we told them tongue in cheek about Cliche…(it does you know) ..”what… in the lift?” said the completely drunk man at the front…who’d also earlier piped-up that we should play Peterborough…cos he loved Peterboroug… haha random..
In York we played in someone’s big kitchen! Met people who’d been listening to our music since the Halflight years and a family who brought along their ten year son who wouldn’t stop playing the CD. 10 yrs old?!!? I’d happily drive to York twice a year just to play to any ten year olds who feels something for our songwriting. i know how much music effected me at that age so it feels amazing to be able to be a part of those years.
Wow Birmingham was cosy! Hot and squashed but the best of the tour! We heard some fantastic stories. One Dad who had made it to the gig told us how his 3 year old was a big fan and always had us on in the car then apparently, one day in a Costa Coffee at the airport, Cliche came on the soundsystem and he’d exclaimed ‘Paper Aeroplanes!!’ Wow…3 yrs old!? Pretty impressive listening skills. I guess at that age you drown out the boring conversations and tune into stuff that’s more enjoyable. Another lovely moment was from a lady who’d never heard us before but felt so strongly touched by Winter Never Comes that she wanted to tell us. Her sister lost a loved one during the winter and now always feels compelled to leave at that time of year to escape the cold and the sad reminder of that time.…powerful stuff. We feel honoured to connect like that.
London. OK, here’s the thing. They’ve never done a gig in the Cinema at Riverside Studios before…and it was ALL my idea. And that meant, major stress! Combining live music with short films and all that. If it went wrong it would also be ALL my fault. But thankfully it all went off with only the smallest of glitches and we’re chatting to Shira the lovely Cinema programmer about curating another event. Get in touch short film makers, if you’d like to have a film screened at the next one.
Penryn, It’s funny that I rave about the places that remind me of home. A cafe that overlooks the estuary facing towards the open sea. We have beautiful scenery in Pembrokeshire but we could really do with a lovely cafe/bar music venue with a view as dreamy as this. I’m convinced I want to move there now. What with friends I forgot lived there turning up and getting fed some awesome home-made veggie food this is gig we’d like to do again. We stayed in a Travelodge again that night. Somewhere 2 hrs in the direction of Leicester. Desolate, minimalist, horrible lighting but reassuringly consistent. And occasionally costs just £19.90!! The next day, while deciding which album to play for my turn behind the wheel.. Rich ran off into the trees behind the ‘lodge and came back minutes later with a bag of apples! Expect apple pies on the merchandise table, next tour 
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Leicester. A friendly, skilful soundman/ person (why aren’t there more women?) is essential to a smooth running evening and we’ve been lucky almost everywhere, especially in Penryn and at the Musician. What a nice music venue. Just a good old dark space with a stage and a bar but the perfect size to watch your favourite band in and a nice atmosphere even when empty… the kind of place I could play forever until we were selling out 3 nights in a row at £20 entry!
So, onwards to Norwich’s The Bicycle Shop.
It’s been uber cool to meet some of you and meet some of you again, Hoping you’re there when we return. xx
