A long drive on busy English motorways is one thing but today, firstly we got stuck in a very slow moving queue on the M25 only to discover it was due to drivers slowing down to look at a crash on the other carriageway. Then we were going nicely north on the M11 when we saw a column of black smoke ahead.
As we got closer we could see the flames and hear a fire engine speeding up the hard shoulder. The traffic stopped and two more fire engines and an ambulance roared past. Thank goodness for having a hard shoulder. We were stuck for an hour. When eventually we drove past the site we saw a very burnt out wreck of a car. The emergency services had done a very good job of cleaning up the main carriageway.
After the excitement of a well lit motorway, we were soon into the unlit roads of rural Norfolk. We arrived well in time for a bite to eat and a sound check. Talking with Martin, the promotor, we discovered that he first heard Ray via a track on the cover mount CD of RnR.
The Canopy Theatre is actually the Hungate Church in the centre of Beccles. It is so named due to the canopy fitted between what had been the balcony and the roof.
Whereas last night Ray performed a shorter solo set as part of a double/header, tonight he could play two full sets. He began with Even For A Shadow which has the line a visitor on Europe’s roads whose initial letters are the name of this blog site.
Ray has bought a new mandolin for this UK tour and played two slängpolska tunes as well as Little Flame and The Unknown Soldier Has A Name, which finished the first set. He started the second set with Falling Like Thunder giving two different themes relating to war on this Saturday before Remembrance Sunday.
He brought Calling Of The Dove back into his set and sang one cover – Going To A Town by Rufus Wainright. It’s a very emotional song and possible the first time he’s sung it live in the UK.
For his encore, Ray stepped away from the microphone and sang Wayfaring Stranger.
Sunday evening we are at The Harrison in London’s King’s Cross.
A Visitor On Europe’s Roads 
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