"The hospitality in this country is as warm as the weather. "

Back on the road, back in the game, back to the grind. We're a few days into a full UK tour supporting the Kaiser Chiefs. They're probably one of the biggest bands in the UK right now and it's a full production tour which means they travel with their own lights, sound equipment, stage and catering. Not counting our bus they have one band bus, three crew buses, and six trucks transporting everything and everybody. The load-in and start building the stage at 6am most days and usually don't finish breaking everything down until 2-3AM. I can't even imagine how many hours some of the production guys are working. The arenas we're playing are anywhere from 5-12,000 people which makes it the biggest shows I've ever done, aside from some of the festivals we've played. We're a bit like 2nd class citizens here, which is understandable but takes some getting used to--it's their show and we're just here to play and stay out of the way. It's super professional though and everybody has been really cool and helpful. In a way it's kind of boring though, but not in a bad way, per se. It's just not the same unpredictable excitement and craziness you'll have on your average US club tour, which is great purely from a work perspective. Everything flows and the show goes well and you're in and you're out and you're done. It becomes more like work: you go into a building for eight hours, you do your job well, you kill some time bullshitting with your co-workers, you eat lunch (or dinner, as the case may be) and you go the fuck home...to your bus. It's not a shit job, but it's still a job.

In the UK a bachelor party is called a Stag Party. It's basically the same thing we do in the states--sometimes it's just one night, sometimes a full weekend of drunken, rowdy events etc. But over here there just seem to be so many of them going on every weekend. Hordes of ladies trudging luggage into our hotel this afternoon; gangs of drunken, horny dudes chugging beers in matching t-shirts egging each other on. We had a couple beers at Hooters earlier and they were everywhere. There was even one table of ten or so dudes in matching bathrobes. It's quite the ritual.

Which way do you look when you cross the street? It's just something you never even think about until you end up in a country where people drive on the left (UK, Japan, Australia, etc.) Thankfully they write it on the street at the edge of the crosswalk sometimes ("LOOK RIGHT"), but I'm still surprised I haven't been nailed yet. I've also noticed that in these countries people are more likely to walk to the left when they're coming toward you on the street, on the stairs--pretty much any time. Once I get home, I have to remind myself to stay to the right in similar situations.

Oh, did I ever mention how the El Camino is still big in Australia? It's not called an El Camino...but it's a god-damned El Camino, and people pimp them out n' shit. It's ridiculous. Also, thank god we left before all those crazy forest fires.

British girls wear too much make-up.

We're in Nottingham today with a day off. Show tomorrow at the arena down the street, then onto somewhere else equally gray and Britishy.