And into the van around 10am for the journey to Liverpool. This takes about 5 hours and is noteable mainly for the lack of conversation and the sound of deep snoring. Even the Sudoku books lie unloved on the floor of the van. The weather, which has up to now been good for England in august – cold and fresh but dry, turns suddenly. Rain, hail and all manner of repentance material – although I missed the frogs and locusts -falls from the sky. We arrive at The Cavern to unload the gear before getting to the Adelphi Hotel. The Cavern is, as its name suggests, a cave – dark, dank, smelling of cellars. There will be two ‘Beatle’ bands before and after NI+F so slight crush in the single dressing room as well as half a dozen Beatle wigs and suits. The sound man Otto is great and works hard to get it right. After a couple of hours we drive to the Adelphi which is just a walk away. In the van, however, we quickly realise that at least half of Liverpool is being rebuilt and the road diversions take us almost out of Liverpool and across the Mersey. Sharp minds are working in unison, however and an hour later we reach the hotel. Everyone at one time and another has stayed at the Adelphi, including The (actual) Beatles. It is a big rambling hotel where you can get either a very nice room with views over the town, or an awful room with frosted windows which don’t open. Have to hand it to the Adelphi staff– Tom and JJs room has a big non-smoking sign. When they ask if they can be moved to a ‘smoker’ they are told that the hotel is too old too worry about that sort of thing and given an ashtray. Later Tom JJ and I go to find food while Neil rests. Not sure how the subject arises but we are suddenly thinking about where we would like our second, third and even fourth houses. For some reason I am sucked in and start thinking about rivieras and nice places to be when in fact if the second house was on the North Pole, the third on a ledge on the steep side of Mount Everest or in a difficult part of Mombay and the fourth somewhere hot and uncomfortable on the equator, how hugely nice it would be to be on the east coast of England. What if we had….what if etc etc. The gig is great. Far too hot – must be in the 90s but a very appreciative audience. Sell very little – too dark and uncomfortable but many people come to say how much they have enjoyed it and I still get a buzz when someone says they are following the tour diary. Neil signs the required number of CDs and it’s back to the Adelphi and the American Bar. Something is bugging Neil so we leave suddenly and unexpectedly and drift into unconsciousness once more.