I've been thinking about this one recently. Baby number 1 is due in a few weeks and I've got 3 shows coming before he arrives. Then my life is going to change in a big way.
It's made me think of my touring journey throughout the years, and this was show number 1 for me. 2006 is a strange year for me, a year full of joy and devastation. My mum passed away in the August and her funeral was the day before I flew out to Lisbon for the shows. Those five shows in September - Lisbon x2, Paris, Verona, and Milan were strange, powerful, healing, a distraction of sorts from the proper grieving I hadn't done yet.
But when I got back a few months to the April, mum was sick but doing OK, and I remember she was the first person I rang when I snagged tickets. And one morning she asked me to nip to the shop for the paper and when I got back she had a massive grin on her face. She asked if I wanted a surprise and then she handed me the envelope with the tickets. They had been posted while I'd been to the shop and she was excited to hand them over. It's a small memory but a wonderful one.
The show itself was wonderful and of course I told my mum all about it when I got home. That April with the show and album buzz was a beautiful time. It all changed a few months later but I grateful I have those memories.
2006 PJ and my mum will be linked together forever in my mind, which is a good and bad thing I guess.
Anyway, cheers to those who attended this special night.
2006: London Astoria, Lisbon I & II, Paris, Verona, Milano
2007: Wembley, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
2009: Manchester
2010: Belfast, Berlin
2012: Manchester I & II
2014: Leeds, Milton Keynes
2018: Amsterdam I, Prague, Krakow, Berlin, Barcelona, London 2022: Berlin, Budapest, Krakow, Amsterdam II
I really enjoyed the show and being at the Astoria, seeing friends and showing some lovely Portuguese folk around London.
It was also my 4th favourite of my 2006 shows, but only because Marseille, Reading and Verona were all very special shows for me. Remember the Avocado album had leaked just before, and lovely to be the first to hear live a couple of these songs in effectively a club gig. A happy day!
Comments
It's made me think of my touring journey throughout the years, and this was show number 1 for me. 2006 is a strange year for me, a year full of joy and devastation. My mum passed away in the August and her funeral was the day before I flew out to Lisbon for the shows. Those five shows in September - Lisbon x2, Paris, Verona, and Milan were strange, powerful, healing, a distraction of sorts from the proper grieving I hadn't done yet.
But when I got back a few months to the April, mum was sick but doing OK, and I remember she was the first person I rang when I snagged tickets. And one morning she asked me to nip to the shop for the paper and when I got back she had a massive grin on her face. She asked if I wanted a surprise and then she handed me the envelope with the tickets. They had been posted while I'd been to the shop and she was excited to hand them over. It's a small memory but a wonderful one.
The show itself was wonderful and of course I told my mum all about it when I got home. That April with the show and album buzz was a beautiful time. It all changed a few months later but I grateful I have those memories.
2006 PJ and my mum will be linked together forever in my mind, which is a good and bad thing I guess.
Anyway, cheers to those who attended this special night.
2022: Berlin, Budapest, Krakow, Amsterdam II
I really enjoyed the show and being at the Astoria, seeing friends and showing some lovely Portuguese folk around London.