My best Travis gig to date as this was the time i got to meet them. It was also my first visit to the Apollo and my first time standing up at a gig. So as you can imagine i was very excited! Me and my friend arrived very early and got near the front of the queue, i was so excited that the time passed really quickly. We got in there and Simple Kid was quite good and we managed to position ourselves right near the front on Andy's side. Then they came out and it was so brilliant being this close and in the middle of all these people that felt the same way. My night was perfect until WDIAROM. Of course everyone was jumping around, as was i, then all of a sudden i felt this liquid all over me and the man next to me had spilt half his beer over me and my friend's head! He moved away after that! Anyway, by the time i got out, i was buzzing away, but the cold air hit me and i only had a little jacket...i was determined to meet the guys. So i stood around for just over 2 hours, hadn't had a drink, was still wet with beer and the temperature was dropping. Plus my mum kept ringing me and was shouting at me to go home because of how late it was getting. But then Fran appears and goes around signing stuff followed by Dougie and then Andy, but no Neil, he went straight on the bus :-( Anyway they made their way round to me and i got autographs and photos with them. Then i chatted to Fran about talking on the board and he remembered something he told me and i talked to him about it for a bit. But then i really had to go. I was sad because i didn't get to talk to Dougie and Andy or even see Neil but i was buzzing so much, the smile didn't leave my face for weeks!

This was my first (of many) Travis concerts & the adrenalin was pumping like I didn't know possible. I had always wanted to see them but for some reason hadn't, so when I turned up for this I was like a kid at Christmas. I cried for the first 5 songs & couldn't stop pinching myself!! (honest, I'm not mad!)
I sang my heart out to every song & had no voice in the morning.
My highlights were just being there, seeing Fran in his white suit with his long(ish) hair & watching Andy playing guitar (now he is totally mad!)
Signed the bus on the way out & ripped a poster of the barriers outside the appollo which is still nailed up in my hall a year later.
Fantastic gig lads, thanks x

So its finally here my first travis show!

my mates got the ticket an i had been a fan for ages but never got the chance to go. so me an 6 friends were off an it was sooooo good :D

the gig was amazing got right to the front and got a hug off fran at the end when he came up to the barrier an he gave me his plec. so nice :D oh an i got his setlist to so i was well pleased.

will my travis gigs continue? damn right i'll go to everyone one in manchester an others if i can. they truely are the greatest live band and im sooooo glad i finally go tot see them live after 2 an a half years of waiting!.

long may it continue :D

thanks a lot guys :D

9.30AM - Glasgow.

Everyone always has good and restful intentions for their day off, but the lure of old friends and catching up over a few drinks is difficult to resist, and as usual we are all in various states of disarray as we board the bus for Manchester on Thursday.

A quick trip to a greasy spoon round the corner provides us with breakfast, and the only sound on the bus for the first 20 mins is that of rolls being devoured followed by the obligatory can of Irn Bru being downed, Scotland's own tried and tested hangover cure.

Everyone perks up a bit after breakfast and stories are swapped about the gig in Glasgow. In one of the strange twists of fate that follow Travis, it turns out that our tourbus driver Ian also drove the Peace The Fuck Out bus - when it was red double decker in service on routes in London. This is taken to be a good omen.

After a short stop at Carlisle we still have a couple of hours to kill before arriving in Manchester and so decide to watch a film. A quick rundown of the buses various dvds and videos proves less than inspiring. So,applying an inverse logic we go for the cheapest, nastiest 80's straight to video title, we can find.

"CRACK In The Mirror"- the story of an upright man drawn into the seedy world of drug dealing and addiction proves itself worth it's weight in cliche and is unintentionally hilarious at all the wrong points. In no time at all the afternoon has flown and we are at the venue.

Inside we catch up with Neil who travelled separately and once we're decamped to the dressing room everyone goes their own wayfor the remainder of the afternoon. Dougie and Andy head into town while Fran takes the opportunity to catnap in the now deserted dressing room.

I take a stroll round the venue. Outside fans are already gathering and inside the crew are finishing the set up for soundcheck. Tonight's show will have the addittion of video screens which were not possible to install on the last two dates. The video screens are mounted on a grid rising up behind the band and carry text and imagery synched to certain tracks in the set.

As the band run through the soundcheck the VJ's run through some sequences, controlling them from a console beside Giles and the mixing desk We see the lyrics for Peace The Fuck Out stream across the screens as the video fires into action. With everything looking and sounding good for tonight Travis leave the stage for Simple Kid to Soundcheck.


7.00 Doors Open.

Returning to the dressing room after a visit to catering, I find the band all whiling away the time as the crowd starts pouring into the venue. Andy plays a GameBoy while Dougie chats on the phone. Fran catches up with Andy Macdonald who has travelled up from London. I go out front and watch Simple kid begin his set as the venue steadily fills with people.

As the support leave the stage I know there is now only half an hour till Travis take the stage. Back in the dressing room, Mark Radcliffe has popped in to say hello and catch up with the band. They all go back some way now - Mark and Lard also covering Travis with their own version of Why Does It Always Rain On Me? - "Why Is It Alway's Dairylea?" under the name of The Shirehorses.

As showtime approaches Pete Hillier (tour manager) appears and set's the 15 minute countdown in motion. Tonight's gig will start with a video intro so with minutes to spare I make my way down to the pit lane in front of the stage.


As the houselights go down there is a huge roar of expectation from the crowd and the drumbeat from the beginning of Happy To Hang Around thunders out on a loop.

Slowly the word "hello" travels across the screen, follwed by the question "happy to hang around?" as the rest of the text fades the question mark remains and fades just as the band who have come on in relative darkness launch into the actual track and the stagelights come on.

Manchester are well up for it and as the set unfolds the crowd become increasingly appreciative. Love Will Come Through takes the place of Somewhere Else in tonight's set and Neil's drums sound fantastic as he gives it his all.

Indeed the whole band seem to be enjoying themselves and once again we are treated to a variety of kicks, jumps and runs from one corner of the stage to another.

How Many Hearts features a gridded backdrop of ever changing images and old photos on the video screens adding another dimension to the performance. As The Humpty Dumpty Love Song begins both Andy and Dougie take a rest on the risers as Fran begins the song out front on his own, lit from behind.

As the track goes on the lights glow ever brighter lighting the audience and the spectacular interior of the Apollo, and I can see many smiling faces out in the crowd as the set draws to a close.

At the end of the encore Fran takes a moment to thank everyone for coming along tonight and for all the support given to Neil after his accident last year, the audience are once again asked to sign the bus outside which is well and truly inked after Glasgow, one memorable slogan proclaiming "All I Want To Do Is Fuck Dougie".

As Peace The Fuck Out ends Fran jumps from the stage to give one of the youngest fans there a memento and the applause is thunderous after another excellent live show.

The last of the UK dates is tomorrow, so tonight we drive straight from the gig to London. The journey is guesstimated at a four and a half hour drive and once more sleep looks unlikely as what remains of the rider from the dressing room is brought aboard.

London here we come.