adrienne's Tour Diary

The alarm went off at 9 a.m. and Dan put the snooze on. Chris G was sleeping in the hallway space on the bed in front of the bathroom with the shower that we could not figure out how to turn on. Chris W, Dan & I slept in the triple room with the tiny TV, tea kettle, and 3 tea cups.

After the show last night we stayed awake for a few hours telling jokes and drinking the rest of the canned beer, after the teens left to drive to the coast and go swimming. I asked them, "But won't it be cold?" They said, "Yes!"

Since we didn't know how to use the shower, it took a lot less time to get ready. We packed up the van, said our thank yous and goodbyes to the White Hart, and then walked across the street to the stationary store to buy a Sharpie pen and some masking tape for merch organization. Then we went to the grocery store and bought water and stamps for postcards. Everywhere we've been, postcards cost about a dollar each, for the regular size, so we've yet to actually buy some. Everything' s more expensive here.

In Ipswitch, after Dan entered a gas station through the exit and we were accommodated in this maneuver, luckily, by a local person who waved us on, we learned that a tank of gas is $100! Diesel's a little more expensive here than unleaded, and our van uses diesel exclusively.

We ate lunch in the cafeteria at Tesco, after it won out over Burger King and Pizza Hut, all in a superstore complex where Chris G bought a speaker, TravelSound, from Currys, to hook up to our iPods so we have a soundtrack over the diesel engine and the occasional shouting of: "Wrong side of the road!!" I found an Ellen Degeneres audiobook on G's iPod, so she's been talking nonstop to us for awhile.

At Tesco, apparently the UK's version of WalMart, there were quite a few options for lunch. CW got the chili con carne. I ate leek and potato soup with a biscuit roll. Dan had the pasta bolognese and CG bravely (rashly?) chose the fisherman's pie, with broccoli and carrots. One of the carrots was in the shape of a "C." Ellen sounds like the lady from the Haunted House at Disneyland, but not spooky, at least not in the same way. At Superstore junction we also bought batteries, which are about 3x the price they are in the US, and some power adapters for the guitar pedals and such.

Finding The Windmill was challenging and took some time, with Dan behind the wheel and the rest of us trying to figure out what street/s we were on and where right turns were possible. Unlike in Saxmundham, we were listed outside as performing that night, which was reassuring. We met St. Joan and Plans and Apologies & loaded our stuff inside. The dog from The Windmill website was on the roof and I tried to get a picture, but it disappeared before I could find my camera in my cluttered bag.

After sound check we walked down the street to pick up some dinner and decided on Curry Paradise: Korma, tikka masala, saag paneer, naan, rice, pompadom, samosas. We were assured by the take away that we would find "tiny spoons" in the bag to eat with, but there were none, so we scooped the super delicious food with the naan and pompadom. It was so perfect.

St. Joan went on first and were very good--Anna has a great voice. Plans and Apologies came on next and reminded me a little of my faves, LA's Pine Marten--with 7 people on stage and about half with microphones it was hard to tell who was doing what. We played next, and I'm still trying to figure out this Fender Twin Reverb business. Why doesn't the footswitch seem to do anything? Perhaps one of the tubes was loose. The amp is connected to a powerbar that has "Broken. Do not use" written on it. It's in use anyway. We must have gone onstage at 10 or just after. The nights end early here, earlier than the 1 a.m. set times in the US.

After the show we got directions from the bartender and Chris W also used his computer antenna deal to get maps from the web, but despite all of this preparation we still got very lost, winding through some very posh areas, however, which was educational. An area that we think is called Barnes was very wooded, with houses like the one Professor Emeritus Cornelius Brown was living in illegally in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. At midnight my friend Shoma, who I haven't seen in 10 years, called from Norwich and, because she'd gone to school in Ealing, was able to guide us towards Sarah's. During the journey Ramona called and we chatted--we've only been here a few days but it's really cool to hear from people back home. We finally found Sarah's, unloaded the van, and passed out.