chrisg's Tour Diary

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May 7, 2005

May 8, 2005 - The Phoenix - Manchester, UK

As I've described earlier, there are many differences between things in the US and the UK. There are the obvious ones (accent, driving, diet), and then are are ones more subtle. The one I'd like to talk about now is the absence of the sanitary paper toilet seat, or 'pull up then pull down's as we call them. Actually, we've found that there are many states in the US where these are not provided as well, so I guess this is a California vs. rest-of-world phenomenon. Now I don't consider myself a germ phobe, but the lack of these prophylactics has caused me to spend many minutes pondering this subject. Are Californians a dirtier people in general, and therefore we need to protect ourselves from one another with these devices? Is the toilet seat not the hotbed of disease that I once thought it was? Or maybe there's another procedure in these other places. Perhaps it is customary to apply Purel to one's rear after evacuation. Or maybe you aren't supposed to sit on the seat itself, but just hover above it. Hmm??

But enough of that. We played in Newport, south Wales last night. I was a little sad leaving the buzz of London. As it was, we didn't wake up until noon because of the late night. But after getting some tasty chicken kebabs, we headed out.

The drive was almost identical to the one that we took to Bath, just a little further on the motorway. After paying a $10 bridge toll (!!!!) we entered Wales. Owain and Lee, our kind hosts for the evening, met us at the club and helped us load things upstairs to Le Pub. The place had a cool layout, with the music area upstairs and then another bar (with a great jukebox) downstairs. After running through a brief soundcheck with the most attractive soundguy I've ever encountered, we ate and hung out with the drummer from Panel, the other band playing that night. A really talented band, they are much harder than us, which always worries me a bit. When this has happened to us before (a lot in the Mid West), I convince myself that everyone in the crowd is there just to see hard rock, and will hate us. Well, I couldn't have been more far from the truth. People were dancing and clapping and yelling. What a fun night. I need to get over myself.
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adrienne has a diary entry for this date as well
This entry is part of the Euro 2005 tour
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May 9, 2005
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May 7, 2005
© 2005 Citizens Here and Abroad ·  · Photography by Jason Koxvold