Andrew Giddings' Diary - July 2002

Firstly a warning: Some very sad people with evidently too much time on their hands have been sending out emails apparently from me, Doane and Ian. The names are ours but unless you know us and talk to us regularly they're almost certainly not from any of us. They usually have a silly and irrelevant subject line, and if you were to check the header code you can tell who really sent it and I know, but who wants to spend time doing that? Exactly.

So, it's unlikely I'll be emailing you out of the blue or sending attachments, and you would be wise to ignore them. If you are on AOL you should follow the 'Notify AOL' procedure. If the emails continue to do the rounds I may publish the senders' details and we all know what to do then, don't we?

Ok, The Website:
Unless you have been visiting relatives on another planet over the last couple of months you'll have noticed that the Tull website is new and very shiny. The short version of a long story is that the host server let us down for the third time in a row, and at a time when I was busy preparing for the US tours. It was a bad time indeed, particularly because as the creator of the original Official Jethro Tull website, I took it very personally that the result of a very steep learning curve relating to things web had seemingly been banished to somewhere far, far away in the depths of the ether. "What about backups?" I hear you cry. Well yes I had backups, but nowhere to upload them to before I left home for the first leg of the US tour.

Consequently you are reading these words courtesy of our pal and web wizard David Coursey and his team of rocket scientists at WebHeads. Thank you to the many of you who wrote requesting the return of my original format, but let's face it folks, while I tried to keep up with the breath-taking pace of web technology, David and his associates are really delivering the goods in a way I could not at this time. In the future, who knows.................? So let's hear it for DC at WebHeads! (Applause)………………………Ok, now stop.

The Vyktoria Project Finished!
Hopefully, you will remember our superb opening guest of a couple of years ago, Vyktoria Pratt Keating? Well, after much staring into computer screens and tweaking of drum and electric guitar samples, we have a finished CD. It took some time between her and my touring, but I think you're gonna like it. It's not generally available yet as we're shopping for a distribution deal, but I'm about to launch a website featuring my work with Vyktoria and others including Willy Porter , Chrisie Santoni and Michelle Young. Watch out for thewychwoodrecorder.com coming soon! If you really nag me I'll put up some mp3s.

So to the first two of a three-legged US tour:

What a splendid time I've had!

It started well in Philadelphia with a warm and receptive crowd, and as we crossed country into warmer climbs I could feel the love radiating from the front rows at each concert!

Unfortunately, the travel between cities by air proved to be the biggest bummer of all. We poor Limeys were singled out on EVERY trip to undergo extra security checks whereby I got my laundry inspected thoroughly each time but had my bag full of electronics largely ignored.
Hmmmmm, I couldn't work that one out..........

A couple of times I opted to ride the crew bus overnight, thus avoiding laundry assault and catching up on some beauty sleep into the bargain. The first leg finished in Florida where, during the few hours of R&R between shows, the man Barre and I did some serious research into the affects of sun and alcohol on the adult (Martin only) brain.

Of course I worked out most days - I worked out how many cigarettes I could smoke between the last song of the set and the encore.

After a few days in the Arizona desert re-charging my lighter and finding my inner female it was time to head over to California where we began leg two. There's never enough time in sunny CA and before we knew it we were heading North and East again. Although, I have to mention Jacksonville Oregon. What a sweet place and what great people! I'd love to make it back there one year. We finished part two in fabulous Texas, where the venues were great, the folks welcoming and the sunshine awesome. Thanks to everyone who made our visit terrific!

In stark contrast at least weather-wise, Ian and I spent last weekend in Germany hanging out with real musicians! Yes, 40 or so members of the Bochum Symphonia were our stage mates for two concerts of Tull music in an Orchestral styley. Strangely and rather disconcertingly I was more nervous than I can remember being before any Tull show - maybe because it wasn't the usual environment. Once we settled into it tho' it was a real blast! Part-way through I remember thinking, 'Wow! I'm playing with a real Orchestra!'

The highlight for me was hearing tunes from the Divinities album (on which I made all the Orchestral noises on the keyboard) played by the real instruments. Quite a treat! I'm looking forward to the two Italian concerts in September immensely.

So, now to a week's vacation on the beautiful island of Menorca and time to contemplate part three of the US tour. Can someone please arrange intense and relentless sunshine across the USA by, say, August 10?

Bye for now,
Andrew