12.08.03 - Erick's England Experience
Liverpool is my kind of town. I like the character, the history, the visual impact, the music, even the little girls who pelted me with stuffed animals!

I was very excited to see Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, Aunt Mimi's house, the River Mersey, and hear that mournful accent. Playing the Cavern was a dream come true.

London is always exciting as well, but, it's HUGE! 11,000,000 people and still counting. Got in some great walks in the rain, Indian food, steak 'n ale pie, and played two very unusual clubs, Pop and The Arts Café. People really love music here, and I love to hear music here. Pop looked like it was decorated by the same people who did Dr. Who. The Arts Café is in the East End near Spitalfields Market. It took a long time to find it, but we had a great time there.

Nottingham was much larger than I expected it to be. We had a pint at the oldest pub in Europe, "Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem", part of which was dug into a large cliff. Junktion 7 was absolutely loaded with people. After a lot of beer, I remember a very good time!

I'm already looking forward to returning and playing this great country again.

Other memorable highlights:

-Almost getting impaled by a large metal pole.

-Having our picture taken in IKEA wearing fancy lampshades on our heads.

-British Television. All Snooker all the time. And weird Czech imports.

-Cuban cigars. (Well I AM going to be a dad!)

-The Peak District: Took lots of pictures so I could lie to people and tell them we also went to Scotland.

-Sheffield, home of Def Leppard. Wondering if Rick Allen's arm was still along the highway somewhere.

-Thanksgiving in a foreign land.

-Me and Karl singing "Rocky Raccoon" in a drunken stupor in front of horrified onlookers.

-Video of same.

Unfortunately, everything comes to an end, and so did this. But if Catapult comes to your town, make sure there's two cars in every pot, and a chicken in every garage.