CRISPIAN'S TOUR DIARY - FEBRUARY 2008

On the road again... travelling across Europe in the stinking magic bus.

We cast off in Belgium. The first night spent resting at the edge of the Expo centre. Very James Bond. Simon's photo of Paul and I better illustrates the size of the thing than the photos we were trying to take on our puny phone cameras.



Brussels is not the centre of all rock and roll in the galaxy, but the Botanique is a pretty beautiful concert, botanical gardens and goldfish ponds, which you don't get at most gigs. A good crowd too, thanks folks.



Next up: Utrecht, Netherlands. We play through a thick haze of blue smoke that hangs over the audience. Must have been some crazy incense or something.



Then on into Munich, south Germany. At 9.30 in the morning, the hotel foyer was jammed full of pale, bald, drunk people speaking in the weirdest accent you can imagine. After a couple of moments we realised they were actually talking English. Aberdeen were playing Munich at football, so the whole of the city was teeming with tanked up kilts. Even the most hardened drinkers in our party were horrified at the amount of booze this lot were putting away. How is it possible to watch a football match after you have consumed 35 gallons of German lager? I'd be seeing triple and running to the loo every 5 mins? Maybe the stadiums provide open urinals underneath the stands so fans can watch the match while happily pissing away beneath their sporrans. Och aye!

Our new management company is accompanying us on the tour (travelling separately, by train), to assess the overall situation for Kula Shaker in Europe. Things started well. They were pulled aside and frisked at the train station in Munich. Nobody is quite sure what it was that alerted the suspicions of the authorities, they say they weren't doing anything out of the ordinary, but they were treated to a few hours of Bavarian detainment, in a police station, which must have been fun. Rubber gloves and all.

The night of the show was WUNDERBAR. Not for Aberdeen, though - they lost 2-0. The gig has a space theme decoration and they made a life size Battlestar Galactica Viper plane which kept Harry busy through soundcheck.



I hear Dave Grohl made a wildly funny speech during the Brits awards.

I mentioned it to Paul. He rolled his eyes, and muttered something about "drummers".

Anyway, we're in Italy now. The sun is shining, everything is multo bene

Ciao Bella