My first proper American adventure is not yet properly over. I’m sat in the venue in Olympia, WA, killing time before the last show of the tour. Tonight we drive back to Portland and tomorrow I catch my plane home, where I have a meagre amount of time off followed by more UK touring. On the plus-side, this is apparently the home of Courtney Love, and I’ve been singing that Rancid song to myself all day too.

I have learnt much on this little jaunt. America is huge; this is a fact everyone knows but that it’s hard to appreciate until you’ve been driving for 8 fucking hours and you’re STILL IN TEXAS. There’s such variation as well; the North-West versus the Arizona desert, for example, and I haven’t touched the East coast on this tour. One of my big impressions is how little impact people have made on their natural environment here compared with Europe. Human civilization here feels like it’s perched on the edge of the landscape, resting on the surface, transitory and impermanent. And there’s so much empty space here as well. It’s sort of reassuring in its own way.

The shows have been great and I’m hoping to come back here as soon as I can. Big thankyou’s need to go out to Josh English, my ertswhile touring buddy / driver / sarcasm well, and of course to Scrabble failure Jonah Matranga. Big ups to Justin at Welcome Home, to all the promoters and floor-space providers as well. Thanks people.

Well, the new video should be here any day, the tour dates are all up and the shows are all on sale now, the tour supports are finally figured out (check the gigs page for details, it’s complicated). Back to blighty.