Have you ever seen "The Mysterious Cities of Gold"? It's an French eighties cartoon that we all loved when we were young, and one which we talk about all the time, especially the theme music, which is wonderful. It features three kids trying to find an ancient Aztec city, and they travel around in a huge flying Golden Eagle. check it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7puhQpBGrI If you look near the end of the vid you will witness this fabulous golden eagle.

That is exactly what our Tour Bus now resembles as it swoops in and snatches the four of us from our slumbers to whisk us to Dundee. Not that Dundee is a Mysterious City of Gold, more Mysterious City of Meh. Sorry, but it is a harsh place, quite industrial and uninviting. However, it's also one of our favourite gig towns, we always get an absolutely fantastic reception here, so we're really looking forward to it.

There's a drive of a couple of hours to contend with, which we while away by reading trash magazines and taking the piss out of no hopers like Keira Knightly, Pete Doherty and Jennifer Lopez. We arrive at Fat Sams to find they are still loading in the PA, so we run upstairs to check the stage out. It's a frankly bizarre layout: a two tier affair with some odd railings on either side of the stage, which could make it a little difficult to set up. No matter, we have an uncanny knack of making anything work, so after the PA is in, we set up, then get a quick sandwich and hang about on the internet until it's time for check.

It sounds unbelievably good onstage, the only problem being that Ailidh is a little boxed in by the aforementioned railings, but she's got a lot of room to move up onto the riser thingy too, so it might be pretty good anyways. We finish up soundcheck, and as the Victorians arrive to set up, we head round the corner for tonights meal: below average pub grub. Shucks, our unbroken run of amazing dinner has been broken by Dundee, but frankly, it has to be done, our wallets have been taking an incredible pounding of late. We sit and watch videos on Q music channel as we eat, there's still the occasional good amongst the mountain of bad, like Radiohead's new one for example. They probably made it for about £20, and it pisses all over the £20,000 videos that preceed it.

After all that, we skip back round to Fat Sams in time for a beer and a bit of FANGS. David bumps in to his cousins LEE and CHRIS, who he's not seen since they were little. We all crash into the venue to watch FANGS play. They're rocking tonight, and there's already a decent bit of audience in, so they go down well. Meanwhile we're also hanging 'round with Victorians, seeing as the tour ain't got long to go, and we feel like we're going to miss them terribly. They bound up onto the stage and play one of their best shows of the tour. It's a great sound too, and it makes us feel like our show is going to be special too. David jumps the stupid railings to join them for the drummage, and it goes down brilliantly.

We have an illegal smoke in the back den before getting our clothes straight and make up on, quick drink of wine, then downstairs for a gig.

It's all a blur, the audience are unbelievably great, we've been away for so long, but Dundee have definitely not forgotten about our little band. We are humbled. There's loads of young people dancing up the front, which always tickles our nodes, and the venue is packed with folk shouting and cheering. All the new stuff goes down very well, so we're really pleased by the end of the show, but still no encore. We feel like this is one of the best shows of the tour without a doubt, THANKS DUNDEE, WE LOVE YOU.

Afterwards, the venue clears out, and we hang around in a daze, reeling from exhaustion and elation. It's been a great night, however we need to hit the road back to Glasgow, we've got a day off tomorrow and i believe everyone shall lie in bed all day. Might go to a gig lol. So we'll see you in a coupla days, and remember Dundee:

WHAT GOES ON THE ROAD STAYS ON THE ROAD AY? see you up the front ETC.

S & D really love you!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

5TH DEC ABERDEEN MOSHULU
6TH DEC GLASGOW GRAND OLD OPREY

Dragged screaming out of our own beds, we hit the road to Edinburgh at about midday. It was a very late night so everyone's really feeling the tiredness burn into their very souls. It doesn't take long to get through there, but we've got a few bits and pieces to do. The venue Cabaret Voltaire is like many clubs in Edinburgh - an almost subterranean series of cavernous arches, stripped bare sandstone walls, and a dank atmosphere. It sounds unpleasant, but is actually really cool. The stage is in the main archway, and it's quite a small room, so we've no idea how on earth they'll pack the 270 sold out audience into tonight. It's gonna be really hot.

Upstairs through a floor which is still a building site, we have a pretty big dressing room that's got a fireplace and some Ikea throw pillows. We meet the gig rep Nick, who makes sure we've got everything we need, then we head downstairs to set up the stage and start soundcheck. Everything flows pretty smoothly, it sounds good enough on stage, and there's room not to break down our kit and amps afterwards for the openers.

We hit the Edinburgh cobbles up to the Royal Mile, and it bloody freezing. We're on a mission to find a place called Wannaburger, on recommendation from Campbell Mcneil. Jeez it's good, the best burger of the tour, and probably making it into the top ten meals too. We've eaten well this tour, and it really helps. It's hard to eat a lot when you're nervous as hell before a show, so if the food in question is really good, it goes down easy. No Burger King shite for us lot. Except Scott, who seems addicted to the beanburgers.

Speaking of nerves, we're like lickle jitterbugs, it being the first Scottish show and all. Everyone is jangling, especially David, and we need some distractions to stay away from the beer that is quietly chilling in the corner, giving us the "eye". Luckily, our first opener tonight FANGS are just about to take the stage, so we pile down to the front. They are a three piece from Glasgow consisting of drums/bass/vox. It's really dirty rockabilly-ish shout alongs, with rumbling low end and bizarre noiseless drums. Jane sings "I wanna drink, I wanna drug."and we instantly know what she's saying. They sound like they're playing in a diving bell, and you're listening to them through the comms pipe. They are dead good.

The Victorian English Gentlemans Club fight onto the stage, and batter into the Scottish audience, without even looking up. It's a really intense performance, and the polite Edinburgh folk just dunno what to make of it at first, but soon warm to the hooks. Another great performance, and they end the set with the usual proto-metal drumbiosis to cheers of delight/derision.

Edinburgh audiences are usually slightly more reticent to us than their Glaswegian counterparts, which is no slight on them at all, it's just because we're not from 'round these parts we reckon. We are all pretty scatty with nerves tonight, we've got a lot of people in that we know. It's easy to play to an audience in some far flung place where no-one knows your name, and a lot harder when half the faces near the front are ones we've known for years. Weird that. We want to be that bit more special for them. After a coupla beers/smokes, we're ready to get up and rock, so after a bit of entrance tape malfunction, we walk on and belt out BROKEN BONES and REBEL WITH THE GHOST. It's a good start, people are starting to get a bit wild, as far as we can see. The room is packed, and we can't even see beyond the first few rows because the ceiling is so low slung. We can hear 'em though, so it must be alright. We whizz through the set at record speed, and there's a lot of cat calling and friendly banter.

We end with the triplet of CHAINS, JOHNNY CASH and HOUSE IN MY HEAD, the audience go mental, and are really great. Thanks you guys. It's so warm it feels like we're breathing in molten alloy. Sweat is pouring liberally from every available pore, and we beat it quickly upstairs to cool off and have a post match breakdown. We end up meeting loads of pals, and head back down to hang with them and catch up. There's a bit of a curfew vibe going on, so we have to split our time between that and getting all our gear out to the Golden Trojan Horse. What a good night.

Before long, we're back onto the M8 for an hour or so's drive home, then bed, and then up to get to Dundee tomorrow. It's weird being at home without actually being off tour yet, almost harder in a way. We see our houses at the dead of night with the gig still ringing in our ears, and can't really appreciate it properly cos we have to get up early and whisk ourselves to the other side of the country for another show. And we can't even trash the place, that would just be fucken mental.

HEY YOU. What goes on tour, stays on tour. "SEE YOU UP THE FRONT". etc etc

Lots of Love Your Sons & Your Daughters.
XXXX XX XXXX XXXX XXXX X XXXX XXXXXXXXXX

3RD DEC DUNDEE FAT SAMS
5TH DEC ABERDEEN MOSHULU
6TH DEC GLASGOW GRAND OLD OPREY

Photos by Dominic Carlyle-Parker

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfcpuk/sets/72157603062448296/

Today is a hard start: We drag our stench ridden and gin soaked bodies out of bed, and wash them up before hitting the road to Carlisle. Joanna heads off early to meet her friends and attends a Saturday Matinee theatre performance, directed by our friend Steve. It's the 1st December, and we feel a bit Christmassy, so as we swing into town, hopes are high that there's a Christmas Market on, selling fine food and mulled wine. Bingo, there is, and we have a fair bit of time to kill before we load in. We wander around, drinking a reparative mulled wine, and Adele, Scott and Ailidh buy a superb greek lunch box with Grilled Haloumi, Dolmates and Houmous.

We head along to the venue, and wait inside the van for a while until the venue is open. It is bitterly cold, and we reckon this is more like GLasgow temperature. Carlisle is a very nice town though, not at all what we expect. Around the corner from THE BRICKYARD, there's a castle with high walls, which are lit ominously with purple and scarlet lights. It's already dark at half three, and we just want to get into the place and chuck all the gear on the stage.

Soon enough, the promoter arrives, and we lift all our mess up the stairs into the venue. What an amazing place. If the BRICKYARD were in Glasgow or Edinburgh, it would instantly become very popular. The stage is quite big, but shallow, with no pillars or anything to break sightlines. The PA is stacked high either side, and there's really nice decor and seating. We start thinking it's going to be good, Saturday night and all, so we get on with soundcheck and it goes really well. We're wondering what the audience will be like however, because there's a BANNED list up on the wall in the kitchen by the dressing room. It is three sheets of A4 with about 20 odd photos on each, showing the most mental collection of scary bastards we've ever seen. There's even quite a lot of women on there. The staff have written comedy things on some of the mugshots too, such as I LIKE COCK, and RIP THIS ONE'S DEAD. *SHUDDER*.

After the soundcheck is done and dusted, we hang around in the dressing room, and then phone the local Pizza Express to book a table for 8.30pm. It's the last one, so we're really lucky. We head along and have some Romana pizzas and wine, it's really good, as ever. Pizza Express is like a safe haven on tour, where you know exactly what you're getting instead of taking a gamble on some shady looking emporium in an unknown town. Garlic Oil Hmmmmm.

We're all a bit tired, but excited to see what Carlisle will bring for us to tonight's performance. there's a first on band tonight who sound like touches of Sonic Youth crossed with Kasabian. It's actually really quite good, and there seems to be a sizeable chunk of audience down to see them too. They go down well, and then get packed up quickly so the Victorians can get on with their show.

The audience are definitely quite spicy tonight, it's almost like there's a barracks nearby, there's a lot of drunk boys in for a good time, swaggering through the audience with tray after tray of shooterz. While the Victorian English Gentlemans Club play a brand new song, a huge looking muscle guy chucks his sleeveless shirt on Emma the drummer, shouting "Cover yourself up!" The security guy by the stage looks a bit twitchy, as if he knows this could all kick off any second. The VEGC finish up though, and it's really fine despite the edginess of the proceedings.

We're unconcerned, just looking forward to a good night. Adele meets a 72 year old man who's been to see us a couple of times before. His name is Bob, and he has 5 daughters who are all big music fans too. He follows John Peel and heard us through that. He's really nice. Cheers for coming Bob! After a wee beer, we head through the bar side of the venue, to the stage and get up to see what Carlisle have got for us. It's another town we've never been to before, so it's always exciting to play to brand new ears.

It's great, we can all see the whole venue from our high position, and we roll out the set quicksmart. It's definitely fairly rowdy, someone asks Ailidh to "GET YER FANNY OUT". She thinks about it for a sec but then politely declines.

We play RAMA LAMA tonight, and it takes things to a higher level. From then on in, it's plain sailing, we rock oot, playing TASTE THE LAST GIRL, DANCE ME IN and HOUSE IN MY HEAD, and have a jolly time. Cheers cheeky Carlisle. Afterwards we head out to the merch stall, and we're overwhelmed by well wishers and people wanting their records signed. It's really nice. We meet Bob again and his 5 daughters, who are all big fans. Thanks!

We have a wee load out beer as we get all the garbage out into the by now Tarnished Golden Wagon of Fun, and then head all the way home to GLASGOW! We're in our own beds tonight, and as we drive over the border, a great WHOOP is heard somewhere on the M74. We're having a bit of a party in the back, almost as if it's the end off the tour. It's the end of the English leg anyways, so we'd like to say this: THANKS FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS ENGLAND. YOU'VE HAVE BEEN VERY GOOD TO US. WE'LL BE BACK TO SEE YOU ALL IN FEBRUARY HOPEFULLY.

signing out from our own beds at 4.30 AM, only the Scottish Leg to go!

Sons & Daughters are home and we love you!
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

2ND DEC EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE
3RD DEC DUNDEE FAT SAMS
5TH DEC ABERDEEN MOSHULU
6TH DEC GLASGOW GRAND OLD OPREY

Dominic Tour God has some new photos up on his flickr site. Go.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfcpuk/sets/72157603062448296/

Newcastle is a lovely city, it feels really safe and has a lot of great architecture, as well as some of the friendliest folk. It's aesthetically a bit like Edinburgh, but as much tourism. We spent the day yesterday driving up to the city, it took about 3 hours or so. We're all really glad of a night off, and some great food. We stop in the Crown on Side Street for a pint or two before securing a table down the road in Vujon. It's voted the best curry place in Newcastle. We can see why, it was bleeding awesome. We have Monkfish, Lamb Chops and Garlic Spinach. Afterwards we head back to the Travelodge and deal with the bottle of Welsh Vodka that's been rattling round the back of the Golden wheels of Steel since Cardiff. You wouldn't believe me if I told you it was actually very nice.

Today, we're heading into town at 2pm to pick up Joanna from the station. We hit up a Greggs while we hang around, eating Corned Beef pasties and Macaroni Pies. When Joanna arrives, we meet a presumably homeless woman with a ferret on a lead. She wants a pound off me to take a photograph. The ferret is really friendly and cute, except it likes sniffing my crotch a wee bit too much, so we leave. We head back to the hotel quickly to get a paranoid wash, and then head into the venue, where we meet our friends Kate and Steve. Joanna leaves with them while we do what Campbell describes as "The worst load-in in Europe". He's not wrong. We have to do it in three stages: Into the loading area, through to the downstairs bar, then up a flight of stairs and then to the back of the venue. Sair hands later, we discover that this venue THE OTHER ROOMS, is rather nice. The dressing room is a spacious bar downstairs, and there's a cool smoking balcony.

We start setting up the stage quickly, it's right in the corner of the room which always means one thing. BASS TRAP. It's great for a drummer, but not for anyone else. However, we get on with it, soundcheck is ropey but it'll be quite good. We get chatting to a guy called Chris, he's repping the show, but also he tells us about his band that are first on tonight called KNEIVEL. They sound interesting. It's all vintage keyboards and drums, no guitars.

We all head down after soundcheck and have a sandwich or two, while David heads off to meet his mates in a place called SALSA BAR. Kate, Steve, Sarah and Steve are there, as well as Joanna. It's a wicked place. We have a giant plate of potato wedges and 15 different dips for them. Soon, we're all back in the dressing room, having a beer and chatting nonsense with the other bands. Kneivel have a really good show, it's a friday club night tonight, so the atmosphere is electrical, and the audience are packed into the stage already.

the Victorian English Gentlemans Club fight their way through the throng to the stage and proceed to seethe with incandescent rage. We pile upstairs, but it's so rammed we have to squeeze over to the side where the sound isn't so good. There's a lot of chatting, and it's hard to see the band, but they play a blinder anyway, and David jumps up to play the drum finale.

We repair downstairs for a warm-up, and a chat with our friends. We manage to sneak outside for a quick fag, then we head back upstairs to start the set. It's a young audience tonight, rowdy with anticipation. They urge us on into a wild set, and while there's a lot of chatting and shouting, it's great. Unfortunately there's a couple of extremely cheeky Scots up the front shouting unspeakably rude things, but Adele takes the pish right out of them, so it's quite good natured. We plough through THE NEST and ChAINS, hardly stopping for a moment. It's insanely hot onstage, there's only about four lights pointed at the stage, and they're all the same temperature as the sun. Phew. At the end, we can barely breathe with heat exhaustion, and we all look like we've just stepped out of a sweat shower. It is a great show though, thanks very much Newcastle!

We get packed up afterwards and then do "The worst load-out in the World" through the club crowd, who're all loved up and don't seem to realise that they need to step aside for a second or risk getting an amp rolled over their toe. All the instruments are loaded downstairs and into the Golden Torpedo, and then we get invited back to Steve & Kate's beautiful house for a game of BOWL OF FUN. This involves choosing 5 names each, splitting into two teams and playing against each other for points through 3 rounds: first is EXPLAIN THE CELEBRITY WITHOUT SAYING THE NAME, second is EXPLAIN THE CELEBRITY THROUGH CHARADEs, third is EXPLAIN CELEBRITY USING ONE Word. The names are all contained wiuthin said Bowl Of Fun. The girls team win of course. It's a fun end to a brilliant night, but a late one - we get thrown into a taxi and head back to the hotel, stinking of neat gin, and needing bed. Last hotel stay of the whole frickin tour, Goodnight!

Remember loved up people of Newcastle, What goes on the road stays on the road. "SEE YOU UP THE FRONT!" etc

S & D loving you. XXX

1ST DEC CARLISLE BRICKYARD
2ND DEC EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE
3RD DEC DUNDEE FAT SAMS
5TH DEC ABERDEEN MOSHULU
6TH DEC GLASGOW GRAND OLD OPREY

Hull's got a pretty bad rap, and as we drive in we hope that maybe this is all an elaborate smoke screen to keep out all the crazies, and instead is a coastal nirvana where the beer is free and plentiful. It certainly seems that way as we drive in, there's nice buildings, and a big fountain in the centre. We stop off at BBC Radio Humberside to do an acoustic session, only to be told we're a day early or something. Yipee, time to go to the shops. There's a bunch of vintage kinda shops round the corner, so we split off for coffees and charity shopping. Hull is nice so far. After an hour's wandering, we get back to the Golden Chariot and head round to the Lamp. As we walk in, it's being painted, so we have to watch our jackets as we load in all our junk. David runs off to get his hair cut by a cheery wee lady round the corner. She does the whole lot in 5 minutes with some thinning sissors.

The stage is tiny tonight, and the PA is very small. Campbell reckons we'll be going back to our skiffle roots this evening. While the gig is being set up, we hang around and look at the internet in the comfy seats. The venue itself is really nice, they have several areas for hanging around, pool table, great beers and a smoking area outside.

We have a fairly brief comedy soundcheck, it actually sounds ok. The stage is tiny though, so we have to strike all our gear off. After the check, we are sat down in a dining area at the back for some Chicken or Veggie curry, and some seriously al dente rice. It's ok, but we're all left feeling a bit hungry. We have quite a bit of time to hang around now, so we spend time out on the smoking deck talking about how funny Germaine Greer is, and then we have a few games of pool with the veggies. We meet the first on band who are nice, and soon they're onstage. There's not that many people into the venue yet unfortunately, so applause is a bit muted.

Next up it's the Victorians, who play great despite there being not many folk to bounce off of. We're all in for moral support anyway, and it turns out cool. The people who are there seem to like it. We are all pretty drunk tonight, full of fun, so we get up to play. There's 80 odd folk in, and we hit the stage like a rocket. We're playing everything super fast, it's quite hot too, so we're sweating and gritting our teeth. The audience dig it I think, and when we come off there's lots of people to speak to and we sell some shirts. Someone asks Ailidh if we take credit card...i wish.

Afterwards we head off back to the Lodge in the Great Golden liner, and we have some bourbon and shoot the shit. Tomorrow, we have a super day off and we're gonna drive to Newcastle, and find the best curry shop in all of Northern England. Hmmmm curry.

We must remember WHAT GOES ON THE ROAD STAYS ON THE ROAD. See you up the front! Etc

Love from Sons & Daughters
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

30THNOV NEWCASTLE THE OTHER ROOMS
1ST DEC CARLISLE BRICKYARD
2ND DEC EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE
3RD DEC DUNDEE FAT SAMS
5TH DEC ABERDEEN MOSHULU
6TH DEC GLASGOW GRAND OLD OPREY

Everyone is looking forward to a day in York. It's surely one of the nicest towns in the UK. Also, we got some friends coming tonight, Sarah and Steve, who incidentally were at our first ever gig in Glasgow. We drive in with a bit of time to go to the shops, and we wander round the labyrinthe streets, looking for records or vintage clothes. We end up with half an hour to spare, so head into a pub called the Golden Fleece just around from the venue. It has been open since the 1500's, and inside it's way off level, making us feel a little giddy.

We head back to Fibbers and set up the gear, it's a funny little stage with crash barriers and a squint drum riser. The poster says: "HOTWIRING COUNTRY AND SCOTTISH FOLK TO VOODOO ROCK N ROLL, WITH SONGS THAT DRAW FROM PARANOIA AND LUST - FILLING A SYRINGE WITH THE DARKEST SONGS OF JOHNNY CASH AND NICK CAVE". Guff. We played here once before several years ago with Franz Ferdinand and Dogs Die In Hot Cars. It had been a great show, so we have fond memories. The walls near the back have some really good line drawings of various rock stars, including John Lydon, Jim Morrison and Frank Zappa. We have a decent soundcheck, and as we finish up our pal Steve arrives. Adele and Ailidh have a real hankering for a french bistro meal, so we go for a wander to try find somewhere that fits the bill. We end up in this really fancy restaurant called 31 Castlegate, and it's really delicious. David has confit of pork belly, Ailidh has fillet steak, Dominic and Adele have sea bass, and Steve has beef loin. It takes a while to come, so we don't hang around too long once the meals are finished.

Back at the venue, the first band are on already. The venue is already packed, and the audience seem to be digging the band. Scott goes to play some guitar in the dressing room while David meets Steve's friends. Adele and Aildh are starting to get ready too. The Victorian English Gentlemans Club step onto the stage and unleash holy hell upon Yorkers. It's one of their best nights of the tour so far, really intense.

Our friends Sarah, Sophie and Stevie arrive just before we get ready to go on, and it's good to see them. It's strange when friends you haven't seen for a while arrive somewhere on tour, it's great, but makes the nerves play up. We're all jittering a wee bit, which can mean only one thing: RAWK is about to occur.

We end up having a really great time, the audience are tremendous, and it seems very busy. There's a bit of dancing, and some really good chat. We are off inside an hour, so we have a tiny bit of time to talk to our pals before they're huckled out of the door by the impatient security. We load up really quick and head off to the hotel and a have a quick nightcap with Campbell and Dominic. We're all knackered, so everyone goes to bed in anticipation the dreaded HULL.

Well, what goes on the road stays on the road, and we'll see you up the front! ETC

Lots of love S & D. x

28THNOV HULL THE LAMP
30THNOV NEWCASTLE THE OTHER ROOMS
1ST DEC CARLISLE BRICKYARD
2ND DEC EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE
3RD DEC DUNDEE FAT SAMS
5TH DEC ABERDEEN MOSHULU
6TH DEC GLASGOW GRAND OLD OPREY