BILLY IDOL guitarist Billy Morrison has posted a tour diary from Idol's recent year end tour. An excerpt is available below.

"This is a little strange. Every other tour diary I have written has been composed with the knowledge of ‘the next run’ being in the back of my mind. But I don’t have that in my head right now. We don’t actually know when the next run will be. And as I sit in the lobby of the Ritz Carlton hotel, taking in the huge Christmas tree in the center, the families walking around with the kids excited and the parents slightly worn out, jaded and resigned…… (there’s even some geezer dressed head to toe in green lycra, with a red Elf hat on and tinsel tied around his waist, singing ‘Frosty The Snowman’ at a piano – not a word of a lie!!!) I reflect back on the past week of shows. In fact I am starting to reflect on the whole year….. which is somewhat difficult as Elf Man launches into a spirited, but slightly flat rendition of ‘Let It Snow’ with all the enthusiasm of a homeless man stumbling across an empty three bedroom house with the door unlocked. What a year it’s been, and how fucking quickly it’s gone.

We started in Moscow (after a couple of one off shows in California and Switzerland), and found ourselves here in December, in San Diego, beginning the last set of dates, before we could blink. The rehearsals had gone well – it’s interesting just how ingrained music can become, and all of the songs we have been playing this year are now forever implanted in my fingers and my brain. Mistakes only happen now when I literally drift off on stage and start thinking about the burger I’m going to eat after the show. And so the San Diego show ran smoothly. The energy in the room was great, and it felt good to be on stage again. 'Ready Steady Go' and 'Dancing With Myself' opened the show as usual and we ran through the 90 minute set sounding tight, loud, powerful and confident. With only a few shows in this short holiday run, I was determined to play well, enjoy it all, and take it all in. I have to say that the new songs, ‘Love Is Strange’, ‘Kings and Queens’ and ‘Scarred For Life’ feel completely at home among the rest of Billy’s hits. I can’t wait to record them for real. And we have more writing planned, so hopefully the new record will come together nicely.

I love touring….the constant movement, the hotels, planes, trains and automobiles, and it’s easy once you find your groove. Your routine. It’s a little harder when, as we are doing with these California dates, you go home each night. Other than the two San Francisco dates, we don’t have hotels. The gigs are all close enough to home to drive – and after the San Diego show, we jump in a van, throw Magnum Force on the entertainment system (go ahead punk, make my day!!!) and we get home about 3.00am. A few hours sleep and its time to get up and do it all again. This time it’s the home town show – the KLOS Mark And Brian Xmas Party at Nokia Live – a nice sized indoor venue – with a killer All-Star band also playing (JOE PERRY, MICHAEL ANTHONY, PAUL RODGERS, JASON BONHAM, PETER FRAMPTON and guests). We are closing the show with a shorter hour and fifteen set, and its nice to have a few friends down backstage before the show. My friend BILLY DUFFY shows up and we hang out a bit before its time to play. And tonight’s show is another good one. The trimmed down set works well for the nature of the show, and it’s a testament to the strength of Billy Idol’s material. Apart from two of the new songs, EVERY single song is a hit. To be able to play a full live set that consists pretty much of nothing but successful, well known, bona-fide hit songs….. well, that’s Hall Of Fame stuff right there."

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