Tetris, Touring and Tinder Gold

So it’s been just over a year since the last instalment of The Grand Tour – mine and Chris Tavener’s touring show that we’re slowly taking around the world. Last time we did mainland Northern Europe and this time we’re branching out to the Emerald Isle with The Grand Tour: Second Time’s a charm.

We’re currently sat on an Irish Ferry with a pint each waiting for the boat to do it’s thing and transport us over the Irish sea to Dublin and then for my hands and legs to do their thing and to drive us into Northern Island to the tours starting point – Belfast. Japan have just knocked Scotland out of the Rugby World Cup and Brendan Clayton has just downloaded Tinder Gold and we’re about as ready as we’ll ever be for The Grand Tour Round 2.

Joining me on this 10 day run is Chris Tavener, a satirical songwriter and all round hardworking good egg from Northwich in Cheshire and my trusty photographer, social media addict and best pal Brendan Clayton – the exact same trio that tried their utter best to make a mark on Mainland Europe last September. Here we are; one year on, one year stronger and (possibly?) One year wiser.

Chris and Brendan rocked up at my house at 9.30 am this morning with familiar looking bags that were soon crammed in tetris style into my VW Polo. Chris had just been to the airport to drop off his now girlfriend – possibly the greatest victory of last year’s tour (see Berlin blog post) who was going to China for 2 months and Brendan had been working through the night taking pics in nightclubs; a job that I used to do for extra cash (something that I don’t particularly miss!!) I’d left my packing to the last minute the night before and had stayed up most of the night so I spent the journey to the ferry port in Holyhead exercising my ability to fall asleep on the backseat of a car. We rocked up, boarded to the tune of Westlife’s Greatest Hits (of which it would seem, there are many.) – Brendans contribution to our maiden voyage to Ireland; and headed to the bar.

I’d had a really nice run of gigs leading up to tour to get me warmed up. The first was on Thursday at a small pub in Stockport; a friend John runs some small nights there that always have a nice audience in. I played second on the bill and played a surprisingly tight set that flew by. I was in auto-pilot but it was nice to get playing again. It had been a little while since I’ve been gigging hard as I’ve been writing and recording lots of songs. I came off stage and made some new friends and sold a couple of CDs and chatted to a couple and their daughter who were raving about the venue we’re playing in Belfast on Monday.

Yesterday I played a lovely gig at The Museum Of Science and Industry in Manchester for The British Porphyria Association. It was an event for people with rare genetic conditions and acted as an opportunity for them to meet other people with the same condition. I’d got the booking after someone saw me play in a small cafe in Heaton Chapel back in May. It was a cute gig and I played for an hour and a half with my cousin Mike. We played the happiest tunes I had and some (a bit sketchy but better than expected) covers. We came off stage and sold 4 CDs and signed some autographs for some lovely people who were all in very high spirits. Mike got a girls number and we packed down. It was generally a really nice night and put me in good stead for the Irish Tour that was looming.

We disembarked from the Ferry and drove up to Belfast with only a couple of minor blips – I was asked by a customs officer what nationality we were and panic answered with “We’re Bringlish!” and then realising we didn’t have enough change for the toll road whilst sat at the kiosk (Brendan found some Euros in his coat and all was fine!) We checked into our AirBnB in Belfast around 8pm on a rather sketchy looking street in Belfast and headed into towns for some beers and food. All in all a fairly quiet night to start it all off! It was a Sunday and most places were closed. Travelling’s super tiring as well, and we’d been travelling since 10am. So yeah, we called it a night after two pints and a burger (which was especially filthy, Pablos Belfast – if you know you know.)

So yeah, here we are again; Tomorrow marks the first date of my second tour outside of the UK! Touring is always a fun experience, and I have no doubt that Ireland will be great for us. I’ll be updating this every day while I’m on tour and will do my best to keep it going while I’m at home. So stay tuned – I’ll be spilling all the inside scoop. It’ll be honest as hell, hopefully uplifting and fun and I have absolutely no doubt there will be many funny stories to share. SO yep. Here we go! #FollowTheGrandTour