Colchester, Essex, Wednesday: another leg of the 3-man acoustic tour comes to an end. I was pretty weary next morning, adrenaline running down etc. But now ready again. It’s always an adventure out there and on-stage, but some nights it’s even an event. Had some precious musical moments recently, with Barry and James letting off improvised mayhem night after night. We got into some rather ethnic rhythms and tempos (jazzy, at least) on Sling It! and Sebastian in particular. The respect shown by audiences to the guys for their musical brilliance brings much pride to me. Surround yourself with the best, and some glory will rub off on you, I reckon! It’s a privilege to be part of it up there. The standing ovations gave all the team (including Roger Searle on lights, Andy Linklater on sound and Shop on stage-duty) a real glow. The crew all know their contribution is considerable and highly respected by me. They are all pros at the top of their game. That’s why it looks so good and sounds so good.

Strange (to me) how so many are writing these days to my Facebook, rather than the Guestbook on the official website. It’s thrilling to read their kind words, of course – maybe Facebook (which I never actually see – it’s run by a professional) is easier for them to open? Rachel checks in regularly and seems to be copying over the messages, so I do see them all eventually.

Adam Houghton comes back on drums for most of the year’s dates, but Stuart will play Cambridge Big Weekend, July 9th. Maybe the latest dates haven’t been added to Live Dates yet? July 2 Chichester Rock Festival; July 9th Cambridge, Parker’s Piece; July 24th Cockermouth Rock Festival...I plan to ease off in the autumn. Want to get down-under, a few weeks’ of promotion is being prepared in Melbourne and Sydney.

My son will be married on May 7th. His best man is ready to scramble his Tornado somewhere in southern Europe at the moment and patrol the skies over Libya. We can only pray for his safety and his safe return to Britain, hopefully in time for the nuptials. The young man is like family to us; known him since he and our boy were knee-high to a juke box. Strange how important their roles are already, when we still imagine the youngsters they were.

Two weeks today to the Greece trip with the big band and full crew. Maybe some sunshine? I always check the weather forecast before I travel. It’s just good to have some idea of what’ll be waiting for us. A Greek superstar had a big hit in the 80s with his cover, in his natural tongue, of Sebastian. We have put out an APB in the hope of getting him along to the Athens show – maybe to join me on lead vocal. That really would turn an adventure into an event.