Prague, Czech Republic - October 25, 2005 Hello Everybody, A lot has happened since leaving Moscow. We played an interesting show in Vilnius, Lithuania. On the way there Phil told us that he had a cold but he'll be fine singing. At sound check that day he sounded a little ruff but as if he might be able to deal with it. Then "showtime" came. From the first song on I knew he was having trouble singing. He was leaving out some of the higher range notes and phrases that he usually has with no problem singing. After finishing "True Colors" he turned to me and said, "lets go right to Another Day In Paradise". I realized that he told that to me first because he knew I had to switch to my nylon string guitar and it takes a little more time to set up. Then he let everyone else know about the song change. It's not an easy thing to do in such a choreographed show. The lighting operators and sound engineers also have to get these messages because every aspect of the show is pre-programmed and timed! We went on with the show and Phil's voice got progressively worse. By the time we got to our last song - (Sussudio) - he could barely sing a note. After the song ended we always walk to the front of the stage and put our arms over each others shoulders and take a bow. I'm always to Phil's left. As he put his arm over my shoulder he said to me in a hoarse voice, "how could I stop after looking at that all night". He nodded to a hand made sign draped over the front row security fence below us that read, "WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU FOR 30 YEARS"! We left the stage as the people were enthusiastically asking for an encore. After congregating behind the stage Phil said "we'll go out and I'll introduce everyone, but I can't sing anymore". We all walked out to the stage and Phil explained the situation to the audience and the crowd was sympathetic about it and gave him a cheer. They were a wonderful audience the whole night. Because of Phil's voice problem we had to cancel the next 2 shows in Prague, Czech Republic. We still went on to Prague for 3 nights off. If you're going to be stuck in a city for a few days I can't think of a more beautiful city than Prague. We are going to extend the tour to make up those 2 Prague shows on November 23rd & 24th. Talk to all later! Daryl
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