Most of the venues on this UK jaunt are deliberately off the beaten path. Last night we played in Lancaster Library (cue humorously propped books on stage i.e. song-writing for dummies, piano — a beginners guide etc…). On Friday we play Full Sutton maximum security prison at the request of it's deputy governor, Gareth Sands. It houses some of the most difficult and dangerous criminals in the country. It's a few miles outside York. Russell, our agent, reassuringly mentioned in the email with the offer that they've only had two serious full scale riots in the past. I really hope the gig goes well and that they enjoy our songs.

The Wireless Festivals were fun. We woke up in the bus on-site at Hyde Park. We could have been in Reading. Air were great. So were The Bees. Album tracks can be hard work at festivals let alone brand new songs. Never the less, an out-of-tune guitar for Big Sur aside, we pluckily reintroduced ourselves to the festival circuit. We kissed some babies and then rushed to the Proud Gallery in Camden to play our second gig of the night. At half eleven that night we almost cancelled it. Half the gear hadn't arrived from the festival. The other half wasn't behaving itself. It was a chaotic mess. It was easily one of our best gigs.

The Leeds leg of the Wireless Festivals was a typical British outdoor affair. Leeds had been poured down upon for four days. It was extremely wet and muddy. Festivals without the sun are a true test of the human spirit. Thankfully the northern crowd were great despite the elements and responded enthusiastically to the The Midnight Choir and Nothing Changes Around Here. The contrast between the London and northern leg was marked. Gone were the free skin products and sun glasses. Gone were the free hair cuts. Also gone was the glossy wooden finish to the backstage toilets and framed random pictures of men in top hats hovering over the sinks.

Conor