I am writing this with a straw held in my lips, through my new Hannibal Lecter mask, inside a strait jacket, inside a padded cell, inside a sanitarium, somewhere where Rock is not known, The Isle of Mull maybe, or Clacton on sea, or who knows?

It all started 9 months or a year ago, it's a blur. Monday night 10pm ish I’m dancing round the front room after a pint or two as you do and the phone goes, landline that is! It must be a Bank, double glazers, or no it cant be....its Merv!!!! " Andy ”What y’doin?” he says (at first I thought he could see me) “Nothing…Merv”, “We`re back Andy, we`re back” says Merv. More blur with gig info, Firemans Festival in Notts was what I heard through the blubbing I was issuing, anyway I thought it would be safe to try it again after the cold turkey of 12 long years, just the one, it wont hurt I can handle it, then quit.... easy.....but no, the gig was… Awesome… a word normally left to Aussie tennis players or septic actors but it WAS…The songs were sung before we could play them, I cried all the way through the first four, at how incredible it felt to do what I was put on this planet for, with blokes who could not deserve it more, who slipped into the old routine on and off the stage. (So important for sanity.)

So I will dribble down my front and giggle at the wall till the next one, thanks so much everybody, promoter’s, crew, my mates and adoring public. Thank you.