9am, Crazy Mocha, Shadyside, Pittsburgh, with a big cup of sweet chai and an obscenely unnecessary peanut butter cup cheesecake that I saw here yesterday, but figured at the time that a sandwich and a salad with a ton of raw garlic in it was a wiser option just before a concert
We got back around 2am from the aftershow party last night at Annie and Pete’s, and I still woke up early enough to get myself out and be here for the café opening up.  It was a good show I think: all Chris’s research paid off, the actors were good, everyone played well, almost everyone got a chance to show off, and the audience at Synod Hall went nuts: that’ll do.

a quiet moment in rehearsal

making faces backstage: DG, Chris, Kris, Nick, Andy, Alison

Nick gets the prize for the most spectacularly wrong drum intro ever, after an unexpected brain fart while changing instruments to his less than ideal military side drum: we’re hoping that this moment will eventually appear on YouTube, with the inevitable Nick Halley clockwork automaton appearing on the market sometime afterwards, reproducing the moment in all its glory. But his effortlessly classy frame drum solo later in the show more than made up for it.

'Do I have to play this thing?'

Looking down at the sugar-and-dairy-fest in front of me here reminds me that before rehearsal yesterday, Alison and I went for a late breakfast at Pamela’s which was a similarly full-on culinary experience. The combination of their hotcakes (hot pancakes), which are saturated in butter, and their home fries, which to the Scottish palate are a bit like cheesy salty stovies fried in butter until there are crunchy bits, was quite sublime (along with eggs bacon and syrup of course … and whipped cream, and some token big fat blueberries for vitamins). We agreed that living here would lead us both to be clinically obese within a couple of months.

later, flying to Philadelphia There have been storms in Philly today so all the flight times are messed up. Wonder if I’ll make my connection home or be diverted via Heathrow. I know which one I’d prefer…

Even after the peanut butter cup cheesecake, which took me 80 minutes to finish while dealing with my email inbox, Alison and I returned to Pamela’s again today for only slightly less enormous amounts of food for lunch. She reckons that this is food you would never cook for yourself as you’d look at the ingredients lined up and say ‘I’m not eating that’. But for someone else you’d think ‘They’re going to love this’ and heap in the butter.

 late breakfast/early lunch

home fries in closeup

There was just time to say goodbye and thanks to our wonderful hosts Russ and Kathy before our cab took us to the airport.Staying in a calm home within walking distance of the venue and some good eateries makes being away from home much easier and more enjoyable.