Delirious - The Final Tour

So the news came out that Delirious would be touring the UK for the final time this November. Shocking news yet understandable. On hearing this, I started talking to my best mate Andy 'Wig' Whitaker about how we could really go out with a bang as far as seeing our favourite band was concerned. We discussed going to the final gig in London as one of the must-see gigs of our lives, and going to our home gig in Leeds as we would usually do. We are both musicians and have been in a band together before, touring small venues up and down the country for weeks at a time. We always used to talk about how different a gig could be from one night to the next and wondered whether being a spectator for two identical shows in a row would yield different experiences of the two nights. The 'two gig' idea soon became, 'let's go to Belfast too, we have never seen them outside mainland UK before!' and a few days later we had somehow talked ourselves into doing every date of the final tour. It seemed like a great idea; to squeeze every last bit of enjoyment out of the band that had supplied the soundtrack to my life since 1995.

The original plan was to do all the dates with Wig and drive home after each one, [with the exception of Belfast where we would need to stay over] allowing me to work a large part of the next day in Yorkshire before leaving work in the mid afternoon to travel to the next show. This was all part of my bargaining ploy with my boss [and brother-in-law] that would mean I would not have to take time off as holiday, but just a couple of hours off each day instead.

This plan went out of the window almost as soon as we bought the tickets; responsibilities and engagements kept arising for Wig in that week and it became apparent that he would not be joining me in Edinburgh, Bristol or Leeds. So, I would be on my own for some of the gigs which is fine, and I could still work for the business remotely on my laptop as I traveled about, but the main problem was that in my 27 years I have never learned to drive - so yes, the lion's share of the tour will be on good old public transport....... crikey.

This page is the unfolding story of my experience on the road, following my favourite band around the country, on trains, planes and automobiles. I'll also be reviewing the gigs on here as we go along...

And so it begins. I've been at work this morning, tying up some loose ends before we travel up to Newcastle to catch the plane for Belfast. It is good that we are flying in and out of Newcastle, because when we come back in tomorrow, I will already be half way to Edinburgh. It is also good because the business has an outlet at the Metro Centre, where I spend one day a week anyway - so, move my usual day from a Thursday to a Wednesday, and I am still on the right side of the boss.

We arrive at Belfast International at about 17:00, only to find that it is not quite as close as we had first thought to the venue or the Travelodge we booked. In fact, Belfast International is 45 minutes outside the city. What we really wanted was Belfast George Best Airport; this is what happens when you book in a hurry! With the rain and wind beating down, we try to find the bus to take us somewhere near the city. Great start...

So we get to the hotel to drop my bag off. I'm traveling light considering I will not be home until the early hours of Saturday morning but here is a top-tip: only take old underwear and t-shirts so you can bin it when you are done with it, thus making the load lighter every day - I bet Ray Mears would not even think of that!

The Waterfront is thankfully just up the road and to my utter amazement, we just 'walk in' at 18:50, 10 minutes before the doors are due to open. This was just bizarre, I mean, not only did we not queue, but we walked straight into the auditorium, right up to the barrier in front of the stage. What is going on here?! I have never got into a gig early and got to the front without queuing for at least 30 minutes [usually in the freezing cold]. Either this is going to be a small crowd, or the good people of Belfast are so cool that they are all going to be fashionably late...

'Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome from 1992, the Cutting Edge Band!' and on they came to a very low-key stage of simple lighting, a plain white back-drop curtain and minimal drum kit arrangement. This was a deliberate and cleverly low-key entrance; very different to the all-singing, all-dancing portion of the show that the crowd are expecting later on. Even the styling of the band was played down, not the usual wardrobe craziness, it is all plain t-shirts and trainers here...

This opening set is a step back in time, starting with the fantastic 'I'm Not Ashamed'. I really had forgotten just how good Stu G's guitar sounded on those early tapes, and it took me right back to the Grapevine Festival in 1996 where I first properly saw the band live for the first time. Next came 'Louder Than the Radio', from the EP 'Cutting Edge Fore' and then into 'I Found Jesus' with a cunning segue into 'Come Like You Promise'. There was bound to be a few segues on this tour - just how do you choose from a back catalogue of well over 100 songs? After these opening few songs, Martin Smith complete with pink jeans spoke to the crowd for the first time: "We'd really like to thank Delirious tonight for letting us open for them..." which barely raised a chuckle from the by now slightly bigger crowd. This is the first time I've ever been to the first night of any tour and crowds take time to warm up, but I can not help but think this crowd is not only a little smaller than expected, but also a little colder, perhaps they will warm up later. Then the Mandolin came out, which can only mean one thing 'The Happy Song' in it's original form too, complete with hand claps and slide guitar, not the revised version of a few years back. this really is a nostalgic support set! I think most Delirious fans would have guessed the Mandolin making the show, but who could have expected the next song 'Shout to the North'?! - certainly not me! This is obviously just as nostalgic for the band too, as I spied a massive folder of lyrics by the base of Martin's mic stand, but who can blame him? I saw Paul McCartney a few years ago with a huge video screen for lyrics. Now that guy has a back catalogue and a half.

'Thank You for Saving Me' as Martin explained was written when he was just 19, and this is one that has really stood the test of time over the years, still being sung in churches all over the world on a weekly basis. For this song came an acoustic guitar that had not been seen for a few years; Martin's black Yamaha APX [there you go guitar geeks!] and just the slight reverb sound of him picking the opening bars of 'Thank You...' took me back to the 'Live and in the Can' days. Just brilliant. I saw Martin play this at the Grapevine Festival in 1995, on August 30th, the night of the infamous and life changing car accident. The final songs of the opening set ran quickly into each other [I Could Sing of Your Love, Did You Feel the Mountains? segued into the 'Dance in the River' tag] and then ending with 'There is a Light'. The band walked off to the Live and in the Can recording of the Lord's Prayer which is still just as powerful as it ever was. Rather strangely though, this does not have a 'solid' ending, so there was a slight 'do-we-clap-now?' moment at the end. Still, a fantastic start and the crowd had warmed up slightly too.

The break between sets allowed me to look up at the venue behind me. The Waterfront really is a pretty looking venue, and being purpose built for music the acoustics are very good too. I suspect this is one of the larger venues on the tour, perhaps this contributed to it being short of absolutely rammed full.

The main event is announced from back stage and from behind the white backdrop appear five silhouettes and Martin sings a refrain of 'All This Time' in free time, before Stu G bursts into that swooping electronic riff of 'Bliss' [full marks to the guitar tech at this point operates Stu's pedalboard for him whilst the band remain behind the backdrop!]. The curtain falls like a parachute and for the first time the crowd really explode into life. Delirious appear and have transformed themselves in the interval into the brilliantly styled five-piece with whom most fans will be more familiar. Martin in a custom 'HM' jacket, Jon in a sharp suit, Stu G with the iconic kilt and Evans and Tim sitting on symmetrical risers with trilby-style hats - they really do look like a band that have sold all those records now. They rattle through the opening numbers - the recent 'God is Smiling', into 'Heaven' and 'Solid Rock' [which contained the best drum fill of the night!] and then into the disco-mirror-ball-lit beauty of 'It's OK' which was written for all struggling d:fans, as Martin explained.

The middle part of set contained some brilliant lighting and video work, some of which fans have seen before and some of which is brand new for these last shows. 'Sanctify' allowed the crowd to relive the Wembley gig of 1997 [I think?!] complete with football shirts and then we went back further to the brilliant 'Obsession' with Stu G commanding the song on eBow before he took his 'King of Fools' solo with some resonator slide blues guitar which went down very well. The next three songs again come from three different periods of the band's life: 'Rain Down', 'Deeper' and 'Paint The Town Red', all accompanied by some great video work on screen. The band were really hitting their stride by now and the crowd appeared to go up a level as Martin introduced 'Inside Outside' as their unexpected German radio hit. Man, this is a long set and very few bands could pull this off, keeping the crowd's attention for this long in addition to supporting themselves for six nights in a row with no rest days!

The final songs of the set are condensed down by more segueing, the moving 'Jesus Blood' [which Martin sings as well as I can remember him ever singing anything before] into 'King or Cripple' a short solo refrain of 'True Colours' then 'Majesty' into the extremely apt 'White Ribbon Day', written for the city of Belfast back in the mid-nineties. This was perhaps the highlight of the evening, when the band played with the most freedom, and the crowd moved from just singing into full worship. I wait to see if 'White Ribbon..' will make it on the other sets later in the week...

As the band finish the set with 'My Soul Sings' Martin was clearly fighting the emotional implication of what the band were doing. 17 years of a journey, now taking the final few steps. A video of compiled interview footage preceded the encores, starting with the brilliant 'Kingdom of Comfort' [which in my view is their best song for some time] and the band had transformed again, this time into a white theme, with a 'crowned' Martin taking the throne as he did in the previous UK tour. The next two encores are 'Stare the Monster Down' rather unpredictably, and 'History Maker' rather predictably. 'We've written some good albums, played some great shows, but it's never been about us... it's always been about you' says Martin as the familiar intro to 'History...' starts and now the crowd really went for it, perhaps sensing that these were the last few moments of their personal Delirious stories. One final farewell encore remained as each band member appeared on the screen in turn to offer their thanks to the fans. Of course, the final song was 'Investigate' with its simply superb lyrics, building suspense and that guitar solo. A superb ending.

What a fantastic venue, and a good crowd in the end who definitely took a while to warm up but this was opening night after all. There were a few band slips here and there [the ending of 'Rain Down' being a choice moment] but nothing that the majority would really notice. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens to the sound of the band over the week.

It was then back to the Travelodge and an early start back to Newcastle and on to Edinburgh. It is a shame I will only get to see Belfast in the dark. Everyone has told me what a great city it is, so I will have to return one day.

This is a long review I know. They will get shorter as the tour goes on and setlists get repeated I promise!

Wednesday morning brings an early start, checking out of the Travelodge at 6:30 and getting a bus back to Belfast International. Everything goes without a hitch and we arrive in Newcastle ahead of schedule. It is all very fast this local flying lark, especially when you have no bags to check in. Wig kindly drops me at the Metro Centre on his way home so I treat him to a McDonald’s breakfast [I know how to really impress people] and I settle down in Costa coffee for an afternoon of typing emails and making phone calls. I get to Newcastle train station to start the next leg of the tour only to find my Edinburgh train is delayed by an hour – no way I’ll make the start now but hopefully this will be the exception, not the rule as the tour progresses. I find a café to try and pass the time and write up some of this blog. An elderly chap with a strong Geordie accent comes in and sits just opposite me. I look up and its only football’s own Jack Charlton! This is going to be a memorable week I can tell already…

I finally get my train, a bladder-bursting 3 cups of tea later. The poor guy I sit next to has obviously also been delayed all the way from London and he has just flown in after a holiday in Jamaica. He will have had a 48 hour trip by the time he gets home to Edinburgh. It seems I have very little to complain about...

So I finally got into Edinburgh Waverley station, 90 minutes late and made my way to the venue – thank you Lord for the iPhone, it is so useful when you have no idea where you are! As I walked down the famous Princes Street with Edinburgh Castle lit up to my left, it struck me that there is a place on earth more wet and windy than Belfast.

I got to the venue I joined the back of the very small queue and made my way inside up the stairs to the cloakroom [why cloakroom? – when was the last time anyone actually asked to store a cloak there?!]. The Cutting Edge Band was firing through ‘The Happy Song’ and I could tell straight away that this crowd was far more ‘alive’ than in Belfast last night. Even through the double doors it sounded really pumped. This is more like what I had expected in Belfast but these are two very different venues. The Waterfront is a ‘Symphony Hall’ type of affair, modern, exposed wood everywhere, huge ceilings and a deep, wide stage – the HMV Picture House is what you would call a ‘proper’ rock venue; an old theatre, intimate, sweaty and cramped. I guess most of the remaining dates will be in this style of venue, at least I know Leeds is. That suits me fine if this is what a difference it makes to the crowd.

The Cutting Edge set was slightly varied from the previous night, with the inclusion of ‘Find me in the River’ but most of the set was the same – the ‘I Found Jesus/Come Like You Promise’ segue and Martin lighting the candle for the final ‘There is a Light’ refrain. The other differences to note were Jon’s wig – yes, he had a wig – I nod to his pre-scalped days, and Martin singing a spontaneous chorus of Matt Redman’s ‘You Never Let Go’ in between the ‘Thank You for Saving Me/White Ribbon Day’ segue. One last point to note was Martin’s fumbling of the ‘Thank You..’ lyric. This made me feel particularly smug because as a worship leader I have stuffed up those lyrics countless times, it was nice to see the great man do it too!

The main Delirious set tonight was identical to Belfast but the delivery was different in places. For example, due to the cramped stage there was no big white backdrop and silhouette start, just a simple walk on. It was clear to see by comparison to Belfast how much of a squeeze it was on stage, it must have been a production nightmare. Tim Jupp’s piano had to be lifted off the front of the stage in the turn around, the band could only enter and exit stage from one side, and the guitar racks that are usually off stage were almost on stage for Lee the guitar tech. The throne did not make it onto the stage either for ‘Kingdom of Comfort’. A simple chair was used instead. I guess the throne was too big to fit through a door somewhere. Either that or they lost it on the way and it is now floating in the Irish Sea!

I spent most of the evening in front of the huge stack of PA and I can definitely speak with authority when I tell you that the mix was absolutely superb. I swear my jeans were flapping at one point and my ears are still ringing 4 hours later as a write this! Full marks to the techies on this one.

In my opinion, this gig was poles apart from Belfast – the crowd seemed to have more confidence which is a strange thing to say but it is kind of a truism. They needed no encouragement to clap and whoop when Martin was talking, and when he made a similar comment to the one that dive-bombed in Belfast, he got a big cheer and a laugh. This is exactly the kind of thing that intrigued me into doing the whole tour in the first place; what a difference a crowd makes. I think a lot is to do with the more intimate venue, the crowd response ‘bounces back’ to the stage much faster and as a performer you can read the audience much more accurately. You could actually see the band thriving on the atmosphere and when they do that, everything is just better. I saw the Christmas gig at Shepherd’s Bush Empire last year and that was a real up-for-it crowd too and Martin’s talky bits were brilliant. When he has the audience in the palm of his hand like that, I think he is absolutely world class at telling a little joke or anecdote. He makes everyone in the room feel like he is your best mate - something you can easily take for granted but is just as much a skill as singing or playing. And Ishmael [yep, the legend that is – shameless name-drop there!] once told me that Martin is a naturally shy chap and used to struggle with talking to a crowd. Astonishing.

So a great last gig for Scotland. The people of Edinburgh did themselves proud tonight, cheering, singing, laughing, whooping and worshipping their socks off [and apparently, their pants off too – several pairs of Y-fronts were thrown on stage, some with messages attached – mad these Scots or *a-hem* Jocks – every pun intended] but by far the best part of the night came in Rain Down. In the intro, just before the main groove really drops [you know where I mean] Stu G replaced the usual three notes with a Highland jig [that really famous one the name of which escapes me] and I nearly split my sides. It was obviously unrehearsed because band laugher took until verse two to subside but I am not sure how many of the crowd clocked it. Still, it is great to see the band enjoying themselves, they are certainly finishing strong.

I’m staying just up the road tonight in a student flat with the extremely hospitable and kind-hearted Lizzie [a summertime employee of ours who is studying in Edinburgh]. Blimey, they are a studious lot here – they were all revising when I arrived – obviously not doing Mickey Mouse degrees like I did then! Must go, the time is nearly 2am and I have a very early flight to Bristol. Really missing my lovely wife now and I am only two days in – cannot wait to see her after the Birmingham gig on Friday when she comes all that way to pick me up. What a woman.

Apologies for the bad photo, it was taken on my iPhone [come on Mr. Jobs, a two mega pixel camera, seriously?] - I left my proper camera in my cloak.

Bristol. The earliest start of the tour for me, getting a taxi from Lizzie’s to the airport shuttle bus service. Everything ran smoothly, leaving Edinburgh at 08:25 and landing in Bristol at 09:45. This was the first time I had ever flown on my own; usually I let Mrs. James kick me in the right direction at airports so I was pleased to get it right myself. That was the last time I will be flying this week to my relief.

‘Welcome to this EasyJet flight 568 from Edinburgh to Bristol International, passengers sat in rows 15-20 are required to pedal during take off, if you are unwilling or unable to perform this task please speak to a member of the shiny-faced cabin crew…’ Although these flights are fairly cheap it is the connecting shuttle busses and taxi journeys that bump it up – you would think by now that we would have learned to build our cities closer to the main airports…

I had never been to Bristol before. According to Jeremy Clarkson it is the best-built city in England and judging by last night’s decibel levels, it will need to be too [ears still ringing]. First things first, I found the venue so I know where I’m going later on. The outside of the venue doesn’t give much away but I expect it to be a bit like Edinburgh last night. One point to note – the band’s tour bus was parked up next to the venue with all the curtains drawn – ah, they must be absolutely knackered but they have had more sleep than me I would imagine, but then again, I am not doing what they are doing every night and these are long, long setlists.

I walked around to find a McDonald’s for free WiFi so I could get some work done. I had the pleasure of meeting Rachael in Bristol this afternoon, a fellow member of the Delirious fan’s online forum. She bought Wig’s spare ticket for the show tonight as he has a gig of his own to play in Yorkshire. Rachael is clearly a die-hard fan. She will be at Bristol tonight, Birmingham and London but unlike me she is going home in between every gig, all the way back to London which is perhaps more crazy than what I am doing! But good on her – I’m told that she is well known by the band themselves for being such a fanatic, so good work there. I had been alone with my own thoughts for nearly two days now so I was really grateful for Rachael’s company that afternoon or I think I may have started to go a bit loopy.

Incidentally, Wig text me this morning to see how things were going and also to say that in the gym today, he met Gareth Southgate who thought he actually knew Wig from somewhere. –‘Alright mate, how are you doing? Haven’t seen you for a while’ As if this is not bizarre enough [and coupled with the Jack Charlton experience yesterday in Newcastle] I had no sooner put my phone back in my pocket when I walked through the middle of a BBC Three location shoot for the ‘Being Human’ drama series – apparently I might even be on as an extra if they use that take. Utterly surreal. What on earth is going to happen next?

A day to kill in an unknown city takes along time to pass, especially when you have had only four hours sleep and you are trying to keep yourself awake. I moved from one branch of McDonald’s to another and threw in a Costa every now and again for some variation as I worked away on the laptop. By five o clock I thought it was about time I got a proper meal in me so found a pub opposite the venue and ordered a decent meal. I looked around the place for a table but the place was pretty full. I eventually settled on a booth tucked away in a corner. As I sat down a voice to my left said ‘mind if I join you?’ - It was Jon Thatcher.

PINCH ME. He must have seen me as I scoured the place for a seat.

‘How many gigs are you doing then ‘cos you were there in Belfast and Edinburgh right?’ he asked.

‘All of them’ I said.

‘That’s mad, you’re crazy, thanks so much!’ – ‘Haven’t we met before?’

We had. In 1997 at the Grapevine festival and he seemed to vaguely remember to my amazement. These guys must meet thousands of people every year - perhaps the ‘bass player’s alliance’ has something to do with it, but still… We talked for a little while about how he was feeling:

‘What is the general mood in the camp like then?” I asked.

‘Really, really weird but OK. Just really strange. Weird.

I could tell he was struggling to find the words to describe it.

‘We are excited about the future though’ he said.

He and Stu G are moving out to Nashville to start another band and have a few things in the pipeline it seems which I cannot wait to hear about. He later introduced me to Stu G and Evans and we got talking further about the blog and they asked me if I would be willing to do a little interview to camera later in the week as part of the documentary that Damo [one of the tech/support crew] is making. Gulp… ‘Can you do a little bit now for my blog?’ asked Stu G – Gulp again. So I fumbled a few words as he pointed his mobile phone at me. I cannot think that I came across very well, but time will tell as I think it may appear on Stu G world. I am not really looking forward to watching it but never mind. It was one of those think-of-all-the-right-things-to-say-afterwards moments. In my defense I only went in that pub for some food, not an interview! But anyway, I exchanged mobile numbers with Damo and arranged to meet up before the London gig on Sunday. Somewhere in all of that my food had arrived and gone cold. It was the best cold all day breakfast I had ever tasted!

This really is getting ridiculous now. I might meet Elvis or Lord Lucan tomorrow.

Ding-ding round three. A proper rock gig queue was formed outside the venue and this had a good feel about it already. There is definitely something to be said about keeping a line of fans out in the freezing cold for a while – people are more excited when they finally get in - a very different experience to the ‘walk straight in’ scenario at the Waterfront on Tuesday – which I should add, was not a bad gig by any means. I know I have been giving it a bit of stick at various points but it was still a very enjoyable night.

The venue was good. Intimate as I had thought, but a more modern take on the old theatre style of last night’s Picture House in Edinburgh, though the layout was essentially the same. The crowd seemed to be closer to the stage as the main standing area was quite shallow from front to back. The steep-sided balconies looming down over the stage further exaggerated the intimate setting.

The Cutting Edge set tonight was exactly the same as the opening night. I stood as near to the centre as I could to protect my ears after last night’s battering in Edinburgh. The opening ‘I’m Not Ashamed’ sounded bit funny to me mix-wise; very, very bottom heavy. The bass pedal notes of the intro made my internal organs jump about, but it was all sorted by the second song: ‘Louder Than the Radio’ [which is still one of my favourite CE songs and I was glad to hear it for a third time in a row today]. The front-of-house PA was a different combination of speakers and subs for the third night in a row, which may be contributing to the different sounding mixes. The main speakers tonight were a venue installation, flown from very high up – which may not sound great towards the middle – front of the venue where I was.

As the tour progresses, this opening set has become increasingly free and spontaneous in parts, with Martin taking the lead and the band following, rather than feeling like a slick, well-rehearsed machine. It really is back to the old school way of worship leading and despite 13 years of professional touring and recording, the band have avoided becoming robotic but rather have managed to hang onto their worship leading instincts. One point to note tonight – that black Yamaha acoustic continued to cause tech issues with pops and spits in the opening of ‘Thank You for Saving Me’ and I am beginning to wonder if will make it all the way to London. Still, a good support set and the Lord’s Prayer recording at the end seriously moved some people around me. Job done.

As the main set does not seem to be changing from one night to the next, I will share some other bits that I keep remembering. I feel it is important to stress just how good the band sounds. I have overlooked this until now but I will try to explain: The bass is a solid hit-you-in-the-heart thump, not a mushy mix of sub-tones. I love that. The lower toms of Evan’s kit are also precise and even when the cymbals are really crashing about in ‘Obsession’ they never flood the mix but rather they blend brilliantly with the array of thick pad sounds from Tim. And then there is Stu G’s attention to detail with his tone and sounds, as if each song has been carefully thought about – which guitar? – what amp? – what settings?

On the Stu G theme, I should have mentioned that his solo ‘King of Fools’ has gone really well every night, changing the atmosphere of the night and taking it up a level by talking to the crowd and getting them going. Tonight he told them that the Edinburgh crowd was really loud so they would have to do better, and they did. In my opinion, Stu G has always had a good voice, but nothing particularly remarkable, but on this tour and ‘King of Fools’ in particular he actually sounds like Stu G – he has a signature sound and could be the front man of a band if he wanted to be. ‘King of Fools’ is not an easy song to nail. It is very low on some of the verse lines but the chorus is high enough to require falsetto. The guitar arrangement is not easy either with a mix of slide and finger picking, yet I have barely heard a fret buzz or intonation issue in ‘King of Fools’ for three nights now which is so much harder to do than it sounds - the mark of a great musician, making you think it is all so easy…

Unfortunately, ‘King of Fools’ was my last song tonight, as I had to catch my 22:00 train to Birmingham but needs must - marathon not a sprint and all that. I can only guess that the set was the same as Belfast and Edinburgh, it was certainly looking that way.

I’m staying with Mr. JJ Wheeler tonight, one of our drummers from church. He is studying for a Jazz degree at Birmingham Conservatoire and is a supremely talented musician who practices six hours a day and deserves success. I got to Birmingham New Street Station [I am now completely done with planes and trains – hurray!] and found JJ. We walked the 45-minute journey to his flat via the Yardbird Jazz Club and got back at about 1:00. So it is student digs again for me but I am really grateful to him for putting me up as it has saved me a 9 hour overnight coach trip back to Leeds or another costly Travelodge experience. For once, I will be waking up in the same city as the gig tomorrow so I can afford a lie in. A day to remember, I am absolutely shattered.

As it turns out, student digs for Conservatoire students are amazing  - I had a room to myself, with a shower in it - Hallelujah! I remember having no shower at all in one of my student houses and the carpets were so far away from the skirting boards that they were better described as large rugs!

After two nights back in Yorkshire, Wig is joining me again tonight. Cannot wait to see him, as the original plan had been to do all of this together as partners in crime. He will be in London with me too for the final hurrah.

I checked Stu G’s website today with gritted teeth [www.stugworld.com] to see if the impromptu interview in the pub yesterday had made it on. Thankfully no, it had not. It was obviously as bad as I had feared! Instead, there was an extremely funny Thanksgiving related photo. You MUST go on there and have a look!

Day four – Birmingham [say it in a Big Brother Geordie accent for affect!]. Doors were 6:30 tonight, which caught me out a little; all the other gigs had been 7:00 so far. Wig had Sat-Nav issues too, which delayed him further. I went for a quick curry over the road in the Koh-i-Noor. I normally would not have a curry before standing in such close proximity to others but I figured that I could not smell any worse after four days away from home.

We just caught the end of the Cutting Edge set. What a venue Birmingham is, and what a crowd. This must have been the biggest venue so far aside from the Waterfront and it was absolutely packed, shoulder-to-shoulder right across the standing room – fantastic!

The main set was slightly different to the previous three gigs. New Model Army were playing one of the venue’s other rooms tonight which could account for the early doors and also the early curfew time of 10:00. So here’s the full set for those who have requested it:

ALL THIS TIME [SLOW CHORUS ONLY]

BLISS

GOD IS SMILING

HEAVEN

SOLID ROCK

IT’S OK

SANCTIFY

OBSESSION

KING OF FOOLS [STU G SOLO]

RAIN DOWN

DEEPER

PAINT THE TOWN

JESUS BLOOD/KING OR CRIPPLE/TRUE COLOURS

MAJESTY/MY GOD REIGNS [CHORUS]

INVESTIGATE

KINGDOM OF COMFORT

STARE THE MONSTER DOWN

HISTORY MAKER

MY SOUL SINGS

Points of interest tonight: Evans' 'Solid Rock' drum fill mentioned in the Belfast review seems to be getting longer by one beat every night which Wig [a superb drummer himself] greatly appreciates! I had only heard Evans twice before this tour and have really enjoyed his playing - there is a juicy rumble of a fill in 'Bliss' too, just after the vocoder vocal section.

On very rare occasions, I love the sound of a band so much that my beaming smile turns into full-on laughter because I simply cannot believe my ears. The last time it happened was for Israel Houghton’s rhythm section a couple of years ago. 'Obsession' was one of those moments tonight. It was beautiful and could not have sounded better if mixed in a studio - the nearest thing I have ever heard to ‘the perfect live sound’ from start to finish. Stu G’s eBow parts were quite stunning and the band played with a passion that was a cut above any other part of the tour so far, they just seemed to lose themselves for those 5 minutes. I think I will cry if they play it like that on Sunday in London, I nearly lost it tonight actually. It has always been not just my favourite Delirious song, but my favourite song by anyone. I am not even sure why, it just does something to me – powerful, dark, haunting, majestic, perfect. They also ‘lost’ themselves in Investigate. I love watching Jon Thatcher in this song. He usually stands fixed to a spot for much of the set, but in this he plays that bass like he’s wrestling an alligator, twanging that fat, fat E string. I love it.

Generally, there were a few slips again and some vocal tuning issues in 'Monster' but as an audience member, I would trade perfection for passion every day of the week, especially this week.

One final point on the gig – what an audience tonight! They were sublime and have just taken Edinburgh’s crown by a short head in my opinion. There was several amazing a capella moments tonight - 'True Colours', 'Majesty' and especially '..Soul Sings' right at the end. Again, the band fed off this atmosphere and they are really letting their hair down now, which is rather an inappropriate turn of phrase given 4/5 of them let their hair right down a while back! Stu G sung backing vocals into one of the overhead mics whilst stood on the drum riser and then grabbed a stick and smacked a cymbal – great to see. So nice one Birmingham - I had only been to this city twice before – once to play in the British Open Brass Band Contest at Symphony Hall and again to Edgbaston to see England v South Africa. We got royally spanked on both occasions so tonight has adjusted my memories of the city for the better.

After four days away from my wife, the longest we have been apart in our 2½ year marriage [ahhhh] I was so glad to see her tonight as she picked me up. It was all the way home to Harrogate with a tea stop at Woodall services. I had been keeping a cup-of-tea tally for this trip, but lost count this afternoon somewhere around the 37 mark – you have to drink a lot of tea to justify saying in McDonald’s for 6 hours a day! I will be happy to be in my own bed tonight.

Leeds tomorrow, my home gig at a great venue, formerly the Town and Country Club, now another O2 Academy. We drove through Leeds on the way back so Kim knows where she is going tomorrow as I may already be there. No tour bus outside yet despite the tea stop and our own very slow getaway from Birmingham. They must be really sensing the end now, just 2 shows to go and there was a few watery eyes on that stage tonight. Martin must be over his worst fears of protecting his vocal chords too by now but he has sung his heart out for three hours on four consecutive nights. Roll on tomorrow - people of Leeds: Birmingham have set the benchmark, let us give the band a northern send off to remember...

Just two more to go then, starting tonight in Leeds. I had some bits to do for work today and a small piece of video edit for Church tomorrow. Then it was a short train ride over to Leeds in the afternoon. I had cheekily emailed Jon Thatcher again yesterday to see if he would agree to meet up again at some point over the tour. He had kindly placed a link to this blog on the main band website but all the things I wanted to speak to him about just did not spring to mind after our unexpected meeting in the Bristol pub. He emailed me back on Friday to say that he ‘would love to meet up again in Leeds’ – I could hardly believe it! This would be a much better chance to pick his brains, and in my home city too.

Awaiting an email from Jon to see where and when he wanted to meet, I made my way over to Leeds early in the afternoon. David my boss had very kindly allowed me the whole day off as a ‘chance not to be missed’. I got to the venue to see if anyone was about but it was all pretty closed up so I sent another email to Jon to tell him I had arrived. In the meantime I got something to eat in the Walkabout bar next door to the venue and settled down for the afternoon’s rugby. Four and five o clock came and went and still no word from Jon. I was beginning to believe this was not going to happen and on top of it all I had started to look a bit like a stalker! He would inevitably be far too busy to meet up in London on Sunday too and with him moving to Nashville next year, perhaps I would never get the chance again. I got into the extremely packed gig and waited for my wife Kim and a small party she was bringing from Harrogate. Then out of the blue: contact from Jon. The email simply read:

‘Can I buy you a pint after the show?’ I replied with ‘Oh, go on then….’

I swear I have looked at that email 50 times since. He even text me his mobile number so we could hook up afterwards but my phone battery was on its very last legs and was about to pack up. Typical, I thought – your boyhood hero texts you then your phone dies! I quickly ran to the bar during the Cutting Edge set, asked for a pen and scribbled his number right down my arm as solidly as I could and tried not to sweat too much or rub it off by mistake. When Kim arrived I grabbed her phone and entered his number. Very strange feeling: ‘JON THATCHER – SAVE NEW CONTACT?’ Yes, I think I will save that one actually.

I have been to quite a few gigs at the Leeds venue over the years including 3 Delirious shows [the best of which being d;Tour 1997 and also a great Ben Folds Five gig many years ago] but I tell you I have never ever seen it that packed before. There were people actually pressed up against the back wall, it was a brilliant turn out by the northern contingent. The set was very similar to last night in Birmingham with the very welcome inclusion of ‘My Glorious’, which came sadly at the expense of ‘Heaven’ at number four on the set, but you cannot please all the people all of the time I guess. My wife underlined this theory during ‘Stare the Monster Down’ [one of my very least favourite Delirious tracks] by turning to me and saying: ‘This is one of my favourites!’.

This crowd seemed to have just a little more energy about them than Birmingham, but only slightly. The a cappella parts of ‘Majesty’ were football-crowd loud. Other standout memories of the night were Stu G’s comical offbeat intro to ‘Paint the Town’, a huge sound and passion from the whole band in ‘King or Cripple’ and a perfect mute at very end of ‘Investigate’. This was the best that the mute thing had gone all week – it was so tight, as if the engineer just hit the master switch. The only other thing I really recall was the constant cheering for encores. It was like a wave that never dropped until the video played on the big screen. This I think is the most brief review of the tour for two reasons – I had my wife Kim, my sister Lucy, my worship pastor, another Kim and my old mate Eugene with me so I was looking at them a lot to share their enjoyment with them. The other reason for the short review was that my mind was flying about meeting Jon afterwards. He had offered me a pint and I rarely drink beer so I was slightly nervous about getting tipsy in front of one of my heroes. A couple of strong pints are usually enough for me, let alone when I am this tired but when Jon Thatcher offers you beer, you drink beer right? – To be honest I would have necked a pint of engine oil if it meant getting to meet him.

After the gig, Kim was playing taxi service for the Harrogate crowd [bless her cottons] so I stayed in Leeds and walked the Coach station to double check my leaving time tomorrow for London. I had to kill an hour whilst Jon was occupied after the gig, then the text came: ‘I will be in Brown’s’. I had never heard of it and I know Leeds reasonably well. I thankfully found it and found Jon in there. As far as I was concerned, this could be the greatest night of my life. Mr. Tim Jupp was in the bar too and on the table was a chap called Mowf [not sure on the spelling], his lovely wife Michelle [I think – sorry Mrs. Mowf if this wrong!] and a pint of Peroni waiting for me. Stu G joined us five minutes – turns out he is a Guinness man and I was thankful that Jon was not – that stuff really does make my head spin. Mow was a great guy, a fellow bass player too – I had actually seen him play at a midnight signing for ‘It’s OK’ at Manchester HMV years ago, filling for Jon who was at a wedding. I remember being so disappointed that Jon was absent that night, but everything for a reason – I had something to talk to Mowf about tonight, 10 years later. We talked about Delirious gigs of the past and guitars mainly, my favourite subject. So there I was, talking to my favourite bass player in the world, and arguably one of the greatest guitarists on the planet about our respective guitar collections; showing each other the pictures on our phones. I kept pinching myself at regular intervals.

So what are they like these heroes of mine? Stu G was very tired I could tell. I think he was looking forward to the tour bus, but we talked about the ice cream trade I was in, his future life after the band and the city of Nashville [Kim and I were there on Honeymoon in 2007]. I asked him what he made of the Leeds crowd: ‘They were great but the on-stage energy was better in Edinburgh and Birmingham…’ so there you have it, from the horse’s mouth. Jon to my surprise is quite different to his on-stage persona. He was the heart-and-soul of our table – laughing, joking and telling stories about gigs, family and guitar gear. He also insisted on getting the next round in despite protests from Mowf and myself. He seemed to be the kind of guy that everyone would want as a mate. Further discussion was around the points of my mad week on public transport, the weird and wonderful Delirious wardrobe 1996 -2009 and Ripley Ice Cream, the family business. Jon had been ‘researching me’ [his words] ever since Bristol. ‘Yeah, I know all about you man…. You have been stalking me so now it is my turn!’ Touché!

I asked Jon about their final tour week: 'Are you not sick of the sight of tour buses now after the last 17 years?!' 'No way!' he replied. 'When this is over I think it's one of those things I will miss the most about touring. It's a weird dynamic because although you are in this tiny space with 15 others, it's nice getting into bed because that's your space and yours alone - you can let the rocking motion send you to sleep. The only really annoying thing is when some joker nicks your duvet in the middle of the night and you have to search the bus for the culprit in only your boxers!' Not the response I had imagined then...

As the time came for them to catch the tour bus to London, everyone necked their drinks [except me, I am weak at this sort of thing] and we headed back to the venue. What a night, and what a thoroughly great bunch of people I had the company of. As we left Jon said the immortal words:

‘Stu G – we can get Owen into the after-show tomorrow can’t we?’ I nearly fell over as Stu G nodded. ‘And Wig too’ he said. Unbelievable. There really are not the words so I will not even try to express the emotion; the English language is completely inadequate at this point. Let me just say I am still a bit weak in the knees now.

I had missed the last bus and train back to Harrogate a long time earlier in the evening but I hardly cared as the taxi fare ticked on passed £30. I stopped feeling guilty about the cost of all this a few days ago, the MasterCard will take care of it from now on – this certainly is ‘priceless’.

In other news, Wales got spanked by the Aussies at the Millenium Stadium and the impromptu interview with Stu G and Jon in Bristol had made it on to Stu's blog... www.stugworld.com. Not as bad as I thought after all...

I did not sleep very well last night after the events in Leeds but it was up early for Church – we rent a screen in an Odeon cinema and you feel like you have done a full day’s work before noon on a Sunday with all the humping of gear up and down stairs but thankfully we have fantastic tech team that do the bulk of the work, week in, week out. To my relief I was not leading worship too. I did not have the voice after all these gigs! Rather fitting that ‘Majesty’ was on the set this morning too. After worship I slung my guitar down and legged it across the road to Harrogate train station [Yep, I thought I was finished with trains too, but no]. I made the connection for the 561 coach to London with 4 minutes to spare after I literally sprinted across Leeds. I vowed when I graduated that I would never use National Express coaches again [the 561 was my frequent coach to and from London] because they are dreadful, the worst way you can possibly travel in the UK in my opinion – Hot, sweaty, slow, and being rude, obnoxious and unfriendly is a pre-requisite for getting a job as a driver – but this was one instance for which I was willing to make an exception as a train would have been an extortionate £110. I made it to Hammersmith, got some free Wi-Fi in Pret and waited for Wig as the scores of d:fans flooded past. We were in for quite a night.

The queue at the venue was the longest I had ever seen anywhere before a gig. It snaked around in front of the doors before disappearing around the corner, stretching for 8 blocks or so. The outside of the venue was a hive of activity more in keeping with a film premiere than a band finale. When we finally got inside past the TV camera crews and all the mayhem the Cutting Edge set was already under way. We took our place at the back of the room under the balcony and took it all in for a moment. This was a venue full of true die-hard fans and in many ways, this was the band's own home gig as there has been no South-coast date on the tour. Songs were being applauded after just a couple bars of intro - the opening didgeridoo loop of 'Did You Feel the Mountains' raised a particularly large cheer. Throughout this week, I have been able to say 'at least I will hear these songs 4 times more, three times more, twice more....' but this really was the very last time for me and everyone else. There was an extra special feel to the Apollo; with its huge stage and massive ceiling and the crowd were full of 'last chance to see' expectation and hype. This was perhaps the closest thing I would ever see to those early days of gigs in school halls as they played the classics of what Martin calls 'the people movement'. '..Mountains..', 'Not Ashamed' and 'I Could Sing of Your Love' and dare I say it, 'The Happy Song' had been played by the band for the final time - perhaps now the mandolin deserves a full and proper burial in Martin's back garden - incidentally, the tired black Yamaha acoustic had made it right through the tour as well. The most memorable part of the set was 'Dance in the River' where the Delirious kids joined the band on stage, resembling a school choir - I think I counted 17 kids on the stage between the 5 band members; all I can say is that there must be something in the water down Littlehampton way... and to think these CE songs were written well before many of these kids were born.

The final main set was surely going to be the best of the tour, particularly as this was being recorded for DVD and the Christian TV networks. There were two huge cameras at the back of the venue, a roving camera man on stage and crane in the audience to get those sweeping shots of the crowd. The set started as it had in Belfast behind the huge white curtain and as it dropped after the intro to 'Bliss' it was clear that the production was not going to disappoint. They had really pulled out all the stops for this one - green lasers flashed around the room and the video screen and LCD video wall were much bigger than at any other show. It was as if they had been trying out all these elements over the previous five shows to get to this point, playing all their cards for the final show and for the DVD.

This was essentially the same set as the great gig in Leeds last night and they nailed most of these songs as well if not better, when it really counted. I had wondered if the nature of a 'must-get-it-right' DVD recording would add unnecessary pressure to what was already an emotional night but it did not seem too - rather it spurred them on I think. 'Solid Rock' was again brilliant and had been so all week, especially as it contained that drum fill and the choruses sounded so much bigger than on the recording. During 'Deeper', one opportunist fan stood on the crowd [Smith style] and gave everyone a ‘come on!’ signal, waving his arms about and whipping up the entire room into a mass of cheering and clapping. It was like watching a member of the England cricket team’s ‘Barmy Army’ stand on his chair and lead the chants. The band were visibly amused and almost seemed to encourage him further - later in the show Martin presented him with the megaphone used in ‘Solid Rock’ – what a souvenir for that guy! Imagine having a megaphone on your mantelpiece at home, and explaining it to visiting guests... ‘Ah, well, funny story about that…'

I have not spoken a great deal about Martin in this blog so I will try to sum up how I feel about the front man on the tour and this final night.

These gigs have consistently been the best vocal performances I have ever heard from him. He has sung for a total of 18 hours over the six dates and he has barely showed a single sign of fatigue. He was nervous apparently at the beginning of the week about losing his voice and rightly so. It has happened to him on several occasions in the past, and when it happens once, you are conscious of it possibly happening again. I could not have imagined the disappointment and irony if his voice had not quite made it, he must be relieved and thankful that it never became an issue. Martin's voice has become 'the sound' of Christian music over the last 15 years or so - as iconic as Keith Green in the 70s, Graham Kendrick in the 80s and 90s and Darlene Zschech of more recent times. Few people have had such a unique voice that you only have to hear a few seconds and you know it is them. Martin Smith has this quality in abundance. It must be one of the most recognisable voices in the world; a one-in-a-million voice. It can be the sweetest thing you have ever heard [on this tour, in 'Thank You for Saving Me', 'Find me in the River', 'It's OK', and the opening lines of 'Jesus Blood'] - in contrast however, his Southern twang means it can also be a harsh hit-you-between-the-eyes sound that cuts and soars through the mix [think about the ending shouts of 'Paint the Town' and the choruses of 'Bliss' to name a few]. He carries so much passion that at times it is better described as 'shouting in tune' rather than singing. His mic is always very loud, allowing you to hear his breathing even from the back of a gig, which adds to the atmosphere in the quieter numbers. Martin's voice may just be the single thing I miss the most about Delirious, and watching him sing ‘Majesty’ with his young daughter clinging to him with her arms around his neck was a memorable moment. Purists would find faults with his voice I'm sure [there are occasional tuning issues, he frequently gets in a tangle with lyrics, etc] but as far as I am concerned, he is one of the great guitar band vocalists of all time, and always will be regardless of the band's obscurity in secular circles. He nailed the stage presence elements tonight too, perfectly copying his actions on the Wembley video to 'Sanctify' with his 'SMIFF' England shirt and singing right up to the cameras at key moments.

A word for Stu G – he was absolutely on fire for this tour not least for tonight’s performance. The sets have been weighted in his favour too, with plenty of opportunities for him to really open the taps and go for it – most notably in ‘King or Cripple’ where we only heard one verse each night before the band broke into instrumental sections. He has played the eBow on this tour with a control that I have never seen or heard from anyone before and his fast runs coupled with his trademark long delay sounds have made both ‘Obsession’ and ‘Investigate’ my favourite songs on the set. I have taken a deep breath every night before his 'Investigate' solo when Martin has screamed 'do you want the fire? - here it comes!' Another great moment has been the last few phrases of of the same song, where both Stu G and Martin are playing their Les Paul’s high up on the neck so you can barely tell the two apart. The ‘King of Fools’ solo spot has been a highlight too, always taking the crowd up a notch. Stu G has been the most consistently energetic band member on stage, dancing, rocking and standing up on the drum riser. His opening riff to ‘Bliss’ has been a jolly fine moment, taking me right back to the Mezzamorphis tour of 1999. It was a pleasure to meet such an unassumingly brilliant musician over this week, a true master of his craft and arguably the band’s one ‘superstar’ player that could grace any stage in the world.

Tim has been great too, particularly with the more exposed piano parts in the CE set and his huge wash of pad sounds have been largely responsible for the anthemic sound of songs like ‘Obsession’, ‘Investigate’, ‘History Maker’ and ‘Sanctify’ – I could go on. His playing can easily go unnoticed because keyboard players are traditionally not the most interesting to watch but his array of sounds have been brilliant this week and I cannot remember a single bum note from him over the six dates - he has definitely been Mr. Consistency. All this is evidence to me that one of the secrets of the band's success is that 'equal-sum-of-its-parts' notion, that each member adds their own simple element to make a sound bigger than their own.

Undoubtedly the biggest cheer of the night came for 'Investigate' when Martin welcomed original sticks man Stew Smith. We had heard the rumour that Stew would play but being left-handed it would not be as simple as just sitting-in on Evan's kit. Instead, he was pushed on from the wings on a big riser next to Evans and the two played simultaneously in perfect symmetry - Stew taking the verses and Evans joining for the big choruses. How weird this must have been for him gurning away behind the kit with his familiar flailing arms and all that passion. Full marks again to the engineers here: it was mixed really well and avoided sounding like the '1812 Overture'. Aside from the final bows, there were more cameras out in the crowd for this moment than in any other part of the show.

Being at all six shows has allowed me to remember huge chunks of the gigs, with the sets and speeches to the audience not really varying from one gig to the next. I can even remember the Switchfoot songs as the crowds have come in. Nevertheless, Martin did go 'off script' a few times tonight clearly getting caught up in the emotion of this last time on stage. My particular favourite anecdote of his over the week has been the story of them starting with cassette tape releases - he joked that Dolby B was for the people and Dolby C was for the rich crowd in the balcony - well Mr. Smith, my tape player had 'auto-reverse' too! He spent the latter parts of the gig thanking everyone from stage crew to wives and kids. The encores again were 'Kingdom of Comfort', 'Stare the Monster' [which suffered technical issues with Stu G's vocoder part and unless they can somehow overdub, I cannot see it making the DVD] and then 'History Maker' in which Martin gave his final rallying call to the crowd, explaining the 'Fabula est Vestri' moto - 'The Story is Yours' and 'this is not the end, this is the beginning' to great cheers.

After the final encore, it was team-photo time again as all the wives and kids came back on for a final bow and received flowers as every camera in the room was trained on them. The applause was continuous until they finally went off stage and out of sight. Then it was the exit music of 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' from 'Life of Brian'. I loved their decision to use this song as they had all week; it is so fitting and will get up the noses of some of the sandal-wearing-super-spiritual mob that would be horrified to hear this song at a 'so-called' Christian gig. This crowd dispersed very slowly and reluctantly. I do not think anyone could quite believe it was over, a little like the feeling of being knocked out of the World Cup, yet strangely with a sense of calm and peace about it too. At this point it really dawned on me just how fortunate we had been to be invited to the after show, Wig and I still had that to look forward to at least which filled the 'empty' feeling somewhat.

The aftershow party was obviously one of the most surreal experiences of the week, and not quite as I had expected. It was very low-key and only 150 people or so. I was humbled as I looked around the room to see that family, lots of kids and crew members past and present made up the majority of the guests. Wig and I felt slightly awkward and privileged about this – we had met the band only a few days earlier and here we were sharing this close personal company. We mingled as best we could, and I found Damo who had asked me back in Bristol to do a small piece to camera about my experiences of the week for the documentary. I felt it went better than Stu G’s interview earlier in the week but I guess time will tell.

Jon came and greeted us with that beaming smile of his and introduced us to his angelic daughter Wynona, who confidently informed us she was 8 ½ years old. His son Marshall was asleep on a sofa in a contorted position that only a toddler could find comfortable. He later introduced his charming American wife Kristen to us and we chatted about her homeland - one of my favourite subjects – and the reality of moving to Nashville. We then met Evans and congratulated him on the last two years. I had briefly spoken to him in Bristol and as I thought then, he is an astonishingly quiet and gentle soul considering he is a drummer. Wig got the photo of his life with the drummer he greatly admires. His girlfriend’s father spoke to us for a while too. He is a jazz musician so I was pleased again to have a common ground to talk about [if I had to go on Mastermind, jazz history or American culture would be my specialist subjects!] so here is a plug for his band: www.our-dad.com

We caught up with Stu G briefly too and thanked him for the week. He introduced us to his parents and they told us about walking his dog and their extensive knowledge of the Queen back catalogue as that is apparently all Stu used to play when he was learning guitar back in the day. Comically, his father has a big white goatee beard in homage to his son! Towards the end of the night we were introduced to Karen, his wife who was extremely approachable, confident and friendly. We talked about ice cream and their new life ahead. She told us how they were both taking all of December off – the first month they have had completely clear of musical commitments since he joined the band in the mid-nineties.

Tim Jupp was in deep conversation with the band’s old manager, Tony Patoto for most of the evening; comparing notes I guess. Jon introduced us to him later and kindly played photographer for us.

Martin and his wife Anna had their hands full all evening with their six children and it just felt wrong to intrude. It was a shame not to have met him properly but I cannot complain given the events of the week and given they had to travel back to Littlehampton and take the kids to school in the morning. They must have been shattered. Rather sickeningly, the couple do not look any different to 10 years ago, and apparently having kids ages you…

We made our exit after a quick chat in the empty foyer with Lee Slater, the guitar tech for the tour. We spoke about his days in the band Steve and how much we loved their ‘Falling Down’ album – Wig had it in his car CD player for about three years…

As we left, Jon came to say goodbye, I thanked him, shook his hand one last time and promised to hook up in Nashville one day. Whilst we waited for a cab, I turned and looked back at the venue - the name of the next show had been changed already – the Delirious live experience had left the building, and that was that.

There is not really anything to add that will better explain how crazy this week has been. I have been EXTREMELY fortunate and not the only person to go the extra mile this week - when I think about the couple in Edinburgh who flew in especially all the way from Singapore, Rachel Inglis the massively fanatical supporter I met in Bristol, the Spanish couple I met in Birmingham and the scores of real die-hard fans who are all way, way, way more deserving than me to have had this experience.

So, a few thanks to.....

- My wife Kim for understanding why on earth I would want to do all this and letting me hammer the credit card for all the travel. I have a lot of making up to do.

- My boss David for allowing me huge chunks of this week off even though he does not really 'get' the Delirious thing.

- McDonald's, Pret-a-Manger and Costa branches up and down the country for the 50+ cups of tea and the free Wi-Fi.

- Google Maps for the iPhone, I could not have done it without you.

- Lizzie, JJ, Brendon & Sarah for putting me up in Edinburgh, Birmingham and London.

- Wig for driving to three of the gigs with me. I would not have wanted to do this with anyone else aside from my wife. He has had a hard time of late so I was pleased this came as some tonic to him it is much deserved and he has loved it.

- The good people of the Delirious fans online forum [www.delirious.org.uk] for the emails encouraging me to do this blog. I have come to enjoy the discipline of keeping it up-to-date after each show.

- The big man upstairs - for allowing this week to run smoothly. I have spent a whole week on public transport, sleeping on sofas and generally living out of a laptop bag and I did not lose a single travel document, passport, my wallet, phone, keys or anything else important to the trip.

- And of course to Delirious, for the last 14 years I have followed them and for the last 6 days in which I have seen some of the best gigs of my life and taken my lifetime tally to 32 gigs. Particular thanks to Jon for agreeing to meet me and kindly inviting us to the party tonight. I wish the whole band all the best with their future endeavours - I am sure God's hand will be all over it as it has been over the last two decades.

I started this week as a nostalgic exercise in getting the final few nights of enjoyment from one of my favourite bands. I have ended it by gaining a great friend in Jon Thatcher, a man that was my boyhood hero, and a great inspiration to my musical journey. I am knackered, behind in my work schedule and skint as a result but I would not have changed anything or done any of it differently. Thank you all for reading, it has been a pleasure.