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June 28 I found a nice little Cuban cigar shop first thing today and collected a few Monte Cristo No.4's - just to pass the time here and there. We played in Philharmonic Hall here in Liverpool - this is Elvis’s hometown as well as Beatle town. There was a nice homecoming for him; I think the review has been posted in the news section, so you can see we fared well. He and I seemed to be in a string breaking contest; he busted two and I broke five. All third strings, illustrating an obviously bad run of .029's. I contacted D'Addario and new strings showed up the next day. Wonderful service! We have some testing to do when I get back home. June 29 Anyway, while in Liverpool I did take a taxi ride past some houses which are said to be where the young Beatles lived, then went down to the river and took the Ferry Cross the Mersey, just like the song [Gerry and the Pacemakers, also being Mersey boys who were managed by Brian Epstein]. On the ride I kept hearing this guy singing to his little girl; I hope she enjoyed the song. I find that these Grayline Tours are cool in most towns if there is time to spend, and the guides clue travelers in pretty well with information that might be helpful if you want to explore independently in the future. They keep me from chasing my tail into places where I maybe should not go. Liverpool is a lovely place and, as with most old industrial cities, it has been cleaned up from the time when it was a boomtown for shipbuilding. June 30 We bused to Gateshead/New Castle to play The Sage, where I was last with Transatlantic Sessions on the Road this past February. Time allowed only a brief hotel stay, though my room offered beautiful views of the many bridges into New Castle. Of all the times I have played the Sage, I do not think I have made it into New Castle once. That is my loss I suppose. July 1 Up early this morning to fly to Dublin, which has always been one of my favorite cities. Years ago Béla Fleck and I came here as guests of Maura O'Connell. We would play a few gigs together and just have a great time traveling around the beautiful green countryside, stopping at the colorful old pubs where the sessions would last late into the night (until the gendarmes would finally come in and chase us all out). This time Ireland feels very different to me, for many reasons. The Euro and its influx of short-lived Celtic Tiger dominance have left Dublin seeming a little less Irish to me. I am sure if I were to simply travel to the West Coast of Clare I could get it all back, but I am bothered that the change has been so drastic. It is almost as if an Irish-Flight has occurred. Perhaps much of this has been for the better, but cultural restoration takes a long, long time. This the first time in a long while Elvis has played Dublin. It was cathartic I suppose, and difficult but successful as we played for almost three hours to a very enthusiastic audience. That much has not changed here. Now, on to my favorite city, Glasgow!
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