Bob Dylan – Mark Knopfler 2012 USA Tour

21st Nov 2012 – Brooklyn

November 21st, 2012|0 Comments

Thanks Giving. This amazing, resilient city has of course recently suffered once more, this time at the hands of god. Life came grinding to a halt on October 29th as the 'super-storm' Hurricane Sandy tore [...]

20th Nov 2012 – Washington DC

November 20th, 2012|0 Comments

Hats Off. Today's diary entry starts live from the tour bus. Our only daytime journey of the tour from one city to another meant climbing out of bed at an ungodly hour. Actually, 10:15am is [...]

19th Nov 2012 – Philadelphia PA

November 19th, 2012|0 Comments

Singing Sign   'There are three things you don't want on the road...Head ache, Stomach ache and Greg Lake' goes the ancient rock'n'roll joke but today, one of them got me. Most likely it was [...]

18th Nov 2012 – Boston MA

November 18th, 2012|0 Comments

Lobster Lure. The final day off of the tour landed us in Boston and for me, an irresistible urge to re-visit the Legal Seafood restaurant conveniently located next door to our hotel. I'd managed to [...]

16th Nov 2012 – Montreal QC

November 16th, 2012|0 Comments

FolkStream Fiasco. We wake to another beautifully crisp morning in Ontario and with the temperature slowly rising to a balmy, no a sultry ten degrees. We check out of our newly crowned king of hotels, [...]

14th Nov 2012 – Toronto ON

November 14th, 2012|0 Comments

Old and New. It's not often we get the opportunity to stay in a brand new hotel. The Four Seasons in Toronto is exactly that and has only been open for five weeks. As the [...]

13th Nov 2012 – Detroit MI

November 13th, 2012|0 Comments

Fabulous Fox. Sunglasses were the order of the morning today, not because of any self-induced morning-after situation but simply because it was SO damn bright. The repercussions of that Popeye grease injected chicken-part gluttony last [...]

12th Nov 2012 – Grand Rapids MI

November 12th, 2012|0 Comments

Bus Plane Bus. After two, yes two whole days off in Chicago, we are experiencing a typical early Winter weather phenomenon. Whilst Saturday was touching upon a balmy and humid 70 degrees with scattered thunderstorms, [...]

9th Nov 2012 – Chicago IL

November 9th, 2012|0 Comments

Sweet Tooth.   To say that we've been fortunate with the weather on this trip is an understatement. The chaos and terrible devastation on the East Coast caused by 'Sandy' and the cold weather systems [...]

8th Nov 2012 – Milwaukee WI

November 8th, 2012|0 Comments

Leinen-Kugel. Groggily, we woke this morning after a late check-in to the Milwaukee Pfister hotel. As I opened the laptop I thought about our intrepid crew boys who more often than not, don't have the [...]

5th Nov 2012 – Madison WI

November 5th, 2012|0 Comments

Barack Bowl Guy Fawkes night means little to folks in Wisconsin but this evening back at home in the UK, families will be out braving the Wintery elements, warming themselves beside a bonfire and watching [...]

3rd Nov 2012 – Omaha NE

November 3rd, 2012|0 Comments

Poultry Potlatch. Based on the hotel breakfast options in Tulsa yesterday it was with trepidation I picked up the phone to make this morning's breakfast order. A very polite girl who announced herself as Jessica [...]

2nd Nov 2012 – Tulsa OK

November 2nd, 2012|0 Comments

24 Hours In Tulsa A building boom in the early 20th century gave Tulsa one of the largest concentrations of art deco architecture in the United States. The Mayo is a typical example and an [...]

1st Nov 2012 – Grand Prairie TX

November 1st, 2012|0 Comments

Diamond Snap. I find myself writing more about days off than days on at the moment. I think we're starting to get used to this Dylan schedule. Certainly the last few non-show days have been [...]

29th – 30th Oct 2012 – Denver CO

October 30th, 2012|0 Comments

Mile high Waking up on our first morning in Denver I soon felt the effect of the high altitude. Hydration is everything up here for touring muso's and crew. I couldn't get enough water down [...]

27th Oct 2012 – Las Vegas NV

October 27th, 2012|0 Comments

Gold Gig. Today was our first 'three in one' day for a while, cities I mean. Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Denver. Departure time was a leisurely 2pm so there was time for a stroll, [...]

26th Oct 2012 – Hollywood CA

October 26th, 2012|0 Comments

The Bowl. Without wishing to rub salt into the weather wounds of those back home enduring what is by all accounts a pretty dreadful October, the weather this morning in Santa Monica was forecast to [...]

24th Oct 2012 – San Diego CA

October 24th, 2012|0 Comments

The 405. You don't hear many complaints coming from the band as yet another day off looms large on the sunny, hot West Coast of California. It appears that L.A. is under the influence of [...]

22nd Oct 2012 – Santa Barbara CA

October 22nd, 2012|0 Comments

Good Life. The first of three luxurious days off in Sunny Santa Monica involved much catching up with family and friends. The weather has been continually gorgeous during our trip down the west coast but [...]

20th Oct 2012 – Sacramento CA

October 20th, 2012|0 Comments

Claw Hammer As we check out of the San Francisco Mandarin Oriental hotel I leave behind all thoughts of the 'E' word.. Not so much fear as an unnerving curiosity as to what it might [...]

19th Oct 2012 – Berkeley CA

October 19th, 2012|0 Comments

Magic Mist. Every time I walk into the hotel gym, I find another band member in there and this morning it was Jim rounding off his uphill marathon of torture on a Life Fitness treadmill. [...]

15th Oct 2012 – Portland OR

October 15th, 2012|0 Comments

Ubiquitous Omnipresence. This morning breakfast is a healthy affair, I thought to myself as I tumbled homemade granola into the greek yoghurt and dressed it with a liberal helping of fresh blueberries and honey from [...]

13th Oct 2012 – Seattle WA

October 13th, 2012|0 Comments

Rain Love. The Pike Place Market on the Elliott Bay Seattle waterfront houses the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. 10 million visitors inch their way through the market each year [...]

10th Oct 2012 – Calgary AB

October 10th, 2012|0 Comments

Bass Bin The sound of church bell ringing woke me this morning. Bell ringing in downtown Calgary?...on a Wednesday afternoon? On the hour there was a minute or so of ringing, fine, but at midday, [...]

9th Oct 2012 – Edmonton AB

October 9th, 2012|0 Comments

Ice Bath Bus life can take a bit of getting used to and the vast distances covered across North America are greatly different to the drives we've been used to recently in Europe. Our hardened [...]

8th Oct 2012 – Saskatoon SK

October 8th, 2012|0 Comments

Give Generously Day off - Saskatoon. Today's diary kicks off on a more somber note. Donny Silva, one of our beloved bus drivers in the US has suddenly found himself in a battle for his [...]

6th Oct 2012 – Regina SK

October 6th, 2012|0 Comments

Love and care     You don't travel far in Canada without thinking about how cold it can get here and whilst it is only mid-October, this early cold snap seems to have heralded the [...]

5th Oct 2012 – Winnipeg MN

October 5th, 2012|0 Comments

The Balmy South. As temperature differentials seem to be the hot topic of the week, Winnipeg has an extreme hemiboreal or humid continental climate with temperatures ranging from 42.2 °C (108 °F) to −47.8 °C (−54.0 °F). [...]

London Rehearsals – September 2012

September 9th, 2012|0 Comments

Olympic Blues. Here is one of life's little mysteries - So much has happened in the last ten months, in London, let alone the world. With the Queen's rain-soaked diamond Jubilee celebrations, the heady euphoria [...]