I've been back a wee while now - adjusted back again to home life.
The whole tour was a joy, from first to last. Many special moments where the music really lifted off, many great times meeting friends and fans, and also lots of hilarity as we travelled. From sharing a bottle of wine as we set out on the Eurostar to sharing a jug of Amstel at Bristol Airport we looked out for each other, enjoyed each other's company, and represented fully.
At the very end of the last gig in Toulouse, Michael put one sweaty arm round me then corralled the rest of the band into a hug as we bashed out the last chords of Sister. I do hope someone got that photo.
We haven't made much money - but we pretty much covered our costs. That is as good as it gets, at this level.
There are a couple of things we will look at for next time
1) better detailed planning of exact location of every venue - we did well, but we could do better
2) we stayed with friends / promoters every night. It might be worth looking at a hotel or two next time.
3) we need to make a bigger noise about having a vegetarian and pescetarian in the band - people who do not eat meat are unusual in France. (everyone did their best to help once we made things clear)
We couldn't have done the tour without the support of our friends in France, in particular Bernard who set up a lot of the tour and drove - his brother Christian & his wife Fabienne, Jes, Thierry, Manu, all of The True Faith, all of The Dick Tracy Lords, The Jerry Spider Gang ;the promoters and bar-owners - JB, Malik, Eric, Lo from JSG, Pif & Frank and all at Le Rad. It is an honour and a privilege to take our music to a country where people really get us.
2 Scottish gigs set up - The Parlour, Leith on Sat Nov 10th, and Cumbernauld Sat 8th Dec.
I hope we'll have a Glasgow show confirmed soon - most likely date is Dec 28th.