LONDON,  Wed 12 Nov 2016

Strange times in the world. My prediction is that Donald Trump is going to do a Brexit and sweep the vote from under Hillary’s nose. We watched the second debate on Sunday night – where I also fell off the wagon, having done 12 days – not bad for a sober stint on a tour. My comment that ‘he is obviously awful, but she is just rubbish’ rang true with left-leaning guitarist Klaus, who I’ve shared a few good politically charged conversations with since joining this band.

Oh yeah, the band – it’s all going great. They’ve been so welcoming and helpful. And there’s none of this ‘new guy has to stand at the back’. Whit challenged me last night, telling me to get in the middle of the stage more, and that he likes having another frontman in the group. He’s been making me sing ‘local’ songs every night. This is easy in Glasgow (Proclaimers) and Sheffield (Human League), and not so easy in Barnstaple (errr… The Wurzels). It’s London tonight, I think I’ll do Waterloo Sunset. The fans are being incredibly welcoming, and I think are slightly confused by this bloke in the Cali surf dude rock band with a Yorkshire accent.

Lost one of my best friends the day before this tour started. It’s a long story, and it’s getting longer. It’s incredibly sad. After a year of losing some of the greatest figures in current world culture, known by millions, to lose one of the greatest figures in your own life, known by dozens, is a strange and awful feeling. I will miss him every day.

Everyone has been incredibly supportive though, and this band has some of the best people around them that I’ve ever worked with, on both a professional and a personal level, so that’s good.

Heading into a post-Brexit Europe tomorrow… it’ll be interesting to see how the dust is settling.

Tschuss, au revoir, adios

Chris.