18th September 2019 – Berkeley CA

Hearst is a name which reverberates through the publishing world as William Randolph Hearst Sr. made his name developing newspapers and media. His flamboyant methods emphasised sensationalism and human interest stories, the journalism we all know today. His life story became the core inspiration for Charles Foster Kane, the lead character in Orson Welles’s film ‘Citizen Kane’. The Greek Theatre in Berkeley, on of the most magnificent in California is know officially as the ‘William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre’ as its construction was financed entirely by Mr. Hearst. It opened in 1903.

Every visit here is memorable for so many reasons. The audiences in this part of the States are tremendous, the exclusive promoters here, ‘Another Planet’ are hell-bent on making sure all artists have a great visit and the catering in the basement backstage area is seriously second-to-none.

Across Elliott Bay, the haze this morning was thick and rain was in the air. The outside temperature had dropped noticeably since yesterday, it was time to leave Seattle. We’ve had an amazing 6 nights here, drunk quite a lot of beer and had far too much fun… and it’s flown by, as everything seems to lately. A sure sign we are having the time of our lives.

Readying bags, I zipped up my brand-spanking new Briggs and Riley Spinner case. My previous one actually developed a rare crack due to extreme baggage handling (not Peter) so I emailed them and they immediately sent a replacement. One of many reasons to buy Briggs and Riley bags. Lifetime Guarantee! If they can’t fix it, they replace it. No quibbling. We left the hotel at 2pm and headed to Boeing Field airport and got on board the plane for our trip down to Oakland. It felt like a long way compared to recent short hops to and fro.

Sliding into the SUV, Mark and I headed off, briefly stopping for a few fans outside the airport gate, running with their LP’s for Mark to sign. Mark obliged as he always does when possible but there were the inevitable e-bayers in amongst them, Peter asking one guy what his favourite song is, he simply couldn’t answer.I’ll say no more. Soon we were at the gig, straight downstairs for soup and a barista coffee courtesy of Berkeley’s own ‘Peets’ coffee. Delicious. Sound check was swift and we prepped ourselves for an early show. 7pm I believe it said on the tickets. 

The gate count was only 50% at 6:50 so we held until 7:20. Even then the place wasn’t full but Mark decided we would go on and play out the intro a little. Mark, enjoying being quite chatty with the audience this evening and in between verses in the first sone, he singled out the lone guy with a camera light on. It’s amazing, even though he was filming, he didn’t realise it was him. The rest of the crowd respected the band’s wishes and filmed without the ‘headlights’ on for the rest of the night. And what a night it was. This place totally rocks. It was all over too soon of course and we were back in the cars and on our way to the airport leaving behind a din I’ll never forget. We could have played all night. Back onboard, we headedSouth once more, bound for LAX and a short drive to Santa Monica where our beloved Casa Del Mar hotel awaits. Our penultimate hotel stay of the tour. What a day.