DAY ONE
GLASGOW – NEWARK

Caroline:
Having packed my coffin-sized suitcase and stumbled down three flights of stairs at 6am, we got in the splitter van, mumbled the usual courtesies and abuse at each other and headed to Glasgow airport, bound for New York City.
We created a bit of chaos at the airport trying to check in all our equipment, which took us an hour.
On the plane I sat beside a lady who was going to visit her daughter. She commented that a band had held up the queue for ages. I just smiled sweetly, but then she produced a copy of the Sunday Herald, spotted a picture of us, and starting shouting “that’s them.” Needless to say I owned up at this point and apologised profusely.
When we got to New York, I was exhausted and opted out of drinks on the lower east side to stare out of the bus window at the Empire State building thinking “How did I get here?”

Rab:
Flew into Newark. Dan, our driver, turned up and took us to Manhattan. We decided to take the Lincoln Tunnel on the advice of Dan’s cousin. We ended up getting pulled by the police because the satellite on the bus might have been too big. Turns out it wasn’t. Ended up out all night and had a near miss with a taxi when it nearly ripped my leg off.

DAY TWO
NEW YORK

Caroline:
We got up relatively refreshed, had a shower in the nearby hotel, scoffed a McDonalds breakfast, then hit the streets of New York, looking for music shops and birthday presents for Dean. We were successful on both counts, although at one point I tried to pay with Euros. I thought it was an easy mistake to make but the shop assistant looked at me as if I was a freak.
Afterwards we went to the Tick Tock diner for some food. None of us could finish more than half the portion – talk about supersize me! In the diner a guy started screaming four-letter obscenities. I was a bit shaken, my overactive imagination thinking “we’re all going to die”, but, alas, he left without too much grief.

Rab:
Decided I wanted a digital camera so I could annoy everyone on the bus. We headed out to get Dean some birthday presents too. We went into a deli to get a drink and Caroline decided to pay the guy with Euros. She’s a nugget sometimes. Took Dean out to a proper American diner for dinner. Some crazy guy came in screaming and was dragged out by two waiters. Very funny. Ended up out in Greenwich Village.

DAY THREE
PHILADELPHIA

Paul:
We left at noon for Philadelphia and our first gig this side of the pond, as well as to meet up with James who, due to “visa problems”, aka going out with Carl Barat and Mark Ronson, flew in late.
Before soundcheck we went to see the Museum of Art. Being the culture vultures we are, we didn’t go in – the sole reason we went was because it’s the steps Rocky runs up in the film. We played a really cool bar called the North Star and it was excellent. We couldn’t have hoped for a better first show in the US.

DAY FOUR
NEW YORK

Paul:
We had a photoshoot/interview for a magazine so we headed to the photographer’s apartment to get ourselves looking vaguely okay. The interview was fun. The girl doing the video was from Lithuania and was impressed that I knew where Vilnius was. I’ve not got great geography skills – it’s just I’ve seen Hunt for Red October and that’s where Sean Connery’s character came from (“I wash born in Vilnoosh”, still with a Scottish accent). After that we went back to Radio City, where we were supporting Echo and the Bunnymen. We felt really at home on the big stage. The Bunnymen were stunning and Ian McCulloch gave one of the best vocal performances I’ve ever seen.

DAY FIVE
BALTIMORE

Paul:
We left New York while everyone was fast asleep and arrived in Baltimore mid afternoon. The gig was fantastic. I think we’re all enjoying playing to smaller crowds again, and being able to see the whites of people’s eyes as opposed to the flashes of cameras we’ve become accustomed to back home.

DAY SIX
WASHINGTON

Paul:
Half of us had a hotel room in Washington which looked like something out of My Name is Earl. The other half, including me, had passed out on the bus. Washington is beautiful and has so many wonderful landmarks you could spend a fortnight going round them.
The gig was the busiest one so far over here, about 300 I think. A few technical hitches aside it was the best one yet and the second night in a row the crowd have sung Daddy’s Gone back to us. Afterwards we drove through the night back to New York. The roads are so bumpy it’s impossible to sleep, like getting a severe kicking.

DAY SEVEN
NEW YORK

Paul:
I slept in and missed a radio session. The last night of the tour saw us at a place called the Mercury Lounge. Our friend Angela Mcluskey supported us. You could have heard a pin drop in the venue as people were listening so intently. It was good to finally do our own show in New York. The crowd were incredibly welcoming and again sung everything back to us. We’re off tour now and locked in the studio recording our Christmas album which will be finished in a Romanian castle. Looking forward to the holiday season and see you all soon.