Off the top of my head: a summary of my 2008 tour:

Fan-fucking-tastic. I started out not going at all, to doing 4 shows, to doing 6 shows, to doing 8 shows. I always say "this tour's the last", until the next one!

We started in Boston and drove down to Asbury Park (my missus is a big Boss fan), then onto Atlantic City and down into Cape May. Ferry to Delaware, drive through Delaware and Maryland and Virginia, and hit Virginia Beach. We spent a few days doing that drive and took our time. Cape May being the highlight of that little stretch. Beautiful little town. Like the Wild West, but on water!

Virginia Beach wasn't a particularly jaw-dropping show, but Evacuation is one of 4 tunes on Binaural I love and didn't think I'd get to hear. So I lost the reason during that. Also went to a Waffle House in VA. Had to be done. Anyone who's a fan of Bill Hicks can tell you why.

Drive up to Philly and straight to the Museum of Art. T'was appreciation day when we went, so it was free. Some nice Monets they have. Of course, the steps are the 'Rocky Steps' from the movie, and there's a nice statue of him next to them too. Also got to watch them shoot some scenes from the Transformers 2 movie. The missus had a good chat with some of the crew. (They shot outside the city hall). Also bumped into PJ's hotel, but we didn't stick around. I've met 'em all before, and some of them several times, so it seemed a bit redundant at this point.

Big adventures in Philly. Big wide boulevards, friendly people, real cool vibe. I could live there. The Lorc and I got pretty drunk during Camden night 1, but what an amazing show. One of the BEST of the 47 PJ shows I've attended. The setlist was great, the band gave it socks, I lost the sole of my boot, few pints and strawberry daiqueries, good company. One of those nights where everything aligns and makes life worth the effort sometimes. If the band played like that everynight, we'd all be on a permanent high.

Camden Night 2 was a bit of a let-down in comparison. In fairness, they weren't gonna top it anyway.

5 days in New York! Great place to visit. I could live in the Village. Did a lot of tourist things on a previous trip there, so it was cool to do some different things. Went and re-visited CBGB-it's now an upmarket record/clothes store. And of course, 'Joey Ramone Place' is next to it, so I had to see that. Also went out on the last in Queens one night with some Irish immigrant friends of the Lorc. Recommendation: the Eros diner. An amazing menu. Cheap. Delicious. Between mid-town and the Village.

Did the Sopranos Tour, and met Vito from the show. Got to have a PINT and PISS and watch SOCCER and DANCERS in the MOTHERFUCKING BADA BING. Now, that's pretty amazing on it's own right fucking there. The tradeoff was havin' to do the Sex and City Tour with the missus the next day. But it was alright. I fuckin' hate that show though. New York is one of those amazing towns. We've been there twice now, so I don't know that I'll go back.

MSG 1 and 2: the loudest fucking audiences I've ever been a part of. Not in terms of hollerin' and hootin'-but they sang every fucking word to every fucking song. There was loads of repeats in between these two shows, setlist-wise, but it didn't get boring for a second. (Contrast: Camden 2 was half the show Camden 1 was, and there was very few repeats). Sellin' the posters to those without gig tickets was fucked up though. The sound on night 1 was brilliant-I've never heard Matt's cymbals sound so crisp and clear. Being both a an old-school metal and punk fan, it was cool to have CJ aboard for both nights, and Ace on the second. Hands down the BEST State of Love and Trust I've ever seen was played at one of these nights. While of seen PJ play Last Kiss to audiences sat behind the stage before, I've never seen them do it with Matt having his own tiny drumkit set up facing the rear. A cool little novelty. Shame the sound engineer cut the sound for a second or two during night 1. Not sure what the fuck happened there. I quite liked the 3 person choir for the harmonies at the end of All Night, WMA and Who You Are. Don't like it enough that it become permanent, though. Ed got the crowd in Hartford to do the harmonies on All Night, I think, so he learned something cool from it, anyway.

Wasn't planning on Hartford. Ended up going though. Great setlist, but not a particularly awesome show, though. The city centre of Hartford is BEAUTIFUL. Perfect for walking around. Kinda new-ish looking, but some nice old buildings and the newer buildings are classy and modern looking. Went and saw the amazing house Mark Twain lived in for 18 years in Hartford. All wood. Huge. Beautiful. I hope a lot of Hartford show-goers went. If not, you missed out big-style.

Up to Boston. Back where we started. My missus has relatives there, and I have mates, so we go to Boston more-or-less once a year. Had 4th row seats for night 1. Ed was pissed off all night, but it was a great gig. I've read it was 'cut short'. It wasn't. They went onstage at 8.45pm (average PJ stage time this tour for an 11pm curfew) and played till 11. A hard set. Ed's little fan by his mic wasn't working, which served to piss him off more. An aggressive, hard performance that reminded me of the Kansas 2003 show I attended, where it fucking pissed down with rain.

Boston night 2 had an oddball setlist, and the band gave it socks. A great end to my tour. The version of 'Rockin' in the Free World' was great with Ted Leo and Co: punked up and spikey. Really good.

A note on the Cowman: he's a fixture at most big Boston shows, regardless of the band. I think he's been pulled up onstage by U2 before. PJ have apparently dedicated Leatherman to him in the past, but I've not the inclination to go back to the bootlegs and check.

Overall: the shows were swamped with terrible mistakes that a well-rehearsed and popular band shouldn't really have (both Last Exit's, Marker... at MSG, Love Boat Captain in Virginia Beach, the first verse of Big Wave all suffered from ballsed-up intros) but they played hard, seemed to enjoy themselves at most shows and played some of the best shows I've seen them play. Some great setlists and some tunes we'd never think we'd hear (WMA, Who Your Are, All Night, Evacuation). Good times.

Gracias goes to The Lorc and Laurie for peer-pressuring me into going to this mad thing in 2008, and for getting me fan club tickets for all the shows (thanks to Kathy and co for that last bit, too) , and to Laurie for assisting with accommodation. Yis are all cunts, in the best sense of the word!

Randall

Awesome read, cheers Randall.

Sounds like you had a blast, you lucky cunt (meant in the best sense too!).

I know you love the missus and all, but mate, you've betrayed male-kind by going on the fucking SATC tour.

I can't picture you sipping on a strawberry daiquiri. At all.

I got that txt on the night 'me and the lorc are locked drinking strawberry daquiris' and it didn't occurr to me at the time...that's not something a married heterosexual male should be doing..AND THEN the cunt goes on the SATC tour AND TELLS EVERYONE!! he's either the biggest closet case ever or the most comfortable male ever...in fact he's neither..he's just a supreme cunt

i really enjoyed this review.

too bad about the sex and the city tour, but it looks like you had more than enough positive experiences to cancel that out. well done.

I'll say nothing about the SATC tour as I know full damn well if we ever go to NYC, I stand no chance of getting out of being dragged along said tour.

Though I will say, it would hold my interest...vaguely. After all, I've seen every damn episode of that series multiple times by now.

It's a fun show..do i need to go to it's many various locations though?

no..

Randal-i hope you recreated the Hiro in Times square photo!!

it is a good review..too bad yis aren't goin to get the drunk version like i'm gonna

Another thing.

You call yourself a punk fan, you spend 5 days in NYC, and you didn't hunt down the Joe Strummer mural?

That shot is something I should definitely do.

DD, you need to slip an audio recorder in your pocket when he starts on his drunken rant.

you WANT to hear it??
i'll trad places with you!! i'm gonna get it many many many times haha!!
ah i wouldn't have him any other way..he hasta here my pete townshend story everytime i see him drives him mental..it's a simple pleasure of mine haha

nice review Sounds like an awesome time