UP EARLY to get the gear sorted out and car parked for a 10am getaway…and we’re on the road bang on schedule.

With just one toilet/food stop we get our hotel in Rochdale where we drop our bags and chill for a while before the six-mile drive to The Met in Bury for load in.

Shaun opens the stage doors and helps us in with the gear…soundman Craig who worked my show in the same venue – way back in July 2009 – makes soundcheck quick and easy. The sound, and space, is brilliant.

We have time to nip out to a nearby Italian restaurant. Nice folks but the food is mediocre…Margret’s cannelloni isn’t hot all the way through and the pasta has a strange texture. My risotto tastes good but is a bit sludgy. The fact that the food arrived about five minutes after ordering doesn’t inspire much confidence in freshness.

We’re back at the venue in good time for doors. I have to go and ‘sit down’ three of four times before I take the stage. Not sure if it’s the food, nerves or both…it’s my first show like this in a while.

There’s a good crowd in albeit a few less folks than we’d hoped for – especially after throwing nearly £200 in socials advertising over the last two months. Amongst the audience is my old pal an bandmate Marsha who moved down here 23 years ago (gulp)…and Rachel…one of my predecessor student president’s at Kirkcaldy Tech, Haven’t seen her for 40 years (double gulp!). It’s great to catch up with both after the show.