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At long last, some much anticipated gigs by Southampton’s finest, fresh from the studio where new album ‘Star Tiger, Star Ariel’ has been recorded, tweaked and mixed ready to amaze their adoring fans. (Release scheduled for early 2010).

With six gigs in seven days around the UK, this only needed one week off work, and if the guys are prepared to come up with such a gruelling schedule, who are we to turn down the opportunity to have a whole week of maximum Delays?

First venue is The Joiners, Southampton, which has already been well documented on this site. Red Drapes (previously Mes Memoires) make a brave attempt at warming up the venue but the partisan home crowd just want Delays, and once they arrive on stage there’s a feeling of euphoria as we sing, dance and clap our way through old classics (such as Wanderlust, You And Me, Lillian), fan favourites (Panic Attacks, Overlover, Lost In A Melody) and the very first public airing of three outstanding new tracks. We can clearly recall standing open-mouthed in awe at the guitar work on the eponymous Star Tiger, Star Ariel - the title track of the forthcoming album - and we stick by our opinion that Greg Gilbert is a vastly under-rated guitarist.

From Southampton, there’s a long drive north to Glasgow, but it’s worth every hour on the motorway – even the hours spent in stationary traffic in the aftermath of a particularly horrific accident. Scottish crowds are always incredibly energetic – King Tut’s was a sell-out on a Monday night and the place truly rocked. Support band Openroom were the first beneficiaries of this enthusiasm and got the joint jumping nicely before Delays took to the stage. Every track was wildly applauded (Satellites Lost…wow! Had almost forgotten that one as a live option!), the new songs were already familiar to us and sounding great, and as usual we found ourselves wishing that Friends Are False had been released as a single. Also really good to hear On make a return in the encore – a classic Delays song with Aaron, Colin and Greg building the vocals to a crescendo.

From Glasgow we head south to Birmingham, and the opportunity to check out the ‘new’ O2 Academy. It’s a vast improvement on the old building, but there are apparently still some technical issues which need resolving, and for various reasons the venue opens late leaving a very chilly crowd to try and warm up during Openroom’s set. Then Delays take the stage – to the strains of Happy Birthday To You – the crowd serenading Colin on his birthday with accompanying balloons and bubbles. Greg’s response: ‘Thank you very much, we’re Delays!’ and feigning walking off stage makes us smile and then normal service is resumed. And we realise that we are rapidly falling in love with May 45, the first of the three new songs in the set, and had totally forgotten how good Stay Where You Are sounds live.

On to Wednesday and we are at The Borderline in London. As an (almost) Londoner, one of us is perfectly willing to admit that London crowds can be a little blasé about live music, so it’s really nice to see Openroom (last minute replacements for some poorly Red Drapes) get such a good response. As for Delays, another sterling performance, but with the crowd apparently divided between those (like us) who are there to dance and party and those who just want to watch without any risk of spilling their drinks or dropping their cameras/phones. But it’s hot and sweaty and this is surely another venue where the boys can say that they came, they saw and they conquered.

After a few hours sleep, we are on the road again…this time to Leeds, where the band are playing at Brudenell Social Club. And if you now have an image of Peter Kay in your head, you would be in good company with quite a few of the crowd… and the bands! However, the exterior of the building disguises the fact that there is a really good gig venue hiding inside. Initially, we are a little concerned that too many of the punters will get too settled on the numerous comfy seats and not bother to move once the main event starts, but happily this is totally not the case. Stand-out tracks this evening include the third new song (previously referred to as ‘Aaron’s Song’, but with a working title of ‘In Brilliant Sunshine’ as advised by Greg after the Borderline gig) and Long Time Coming – always a classic. And as a little bonus (sometimes we just love ‘technical difficulties’!) we have a quick burst of Jet Lag from Aaron while some problems with Greg’s pedals are sorted out. Result!

Friday dawns with the realisation that this is the last day of the tour, and it’s just a short drive on the M62 from Leeds to Manchester. Night & Day is a great venue, though possibly one of the hottest in the country. The air-conditioning appears to be exclusively for the use of the bar staff, which is probably a clever ploy to keep them working hard while we purchase copious amounts of alcohol to try and cool down. Manchester crowds are always good fun – ‘Up For It’, to use the Gallagher vernacular. And, from the opening note of Overlover, via Nearer Than Heaven (and we were!), to the last fading bars of Valentine, this crowd loves this band…and you definitely feel that this band loves this crowd too.

All too soon, this short tour is over and we must all return to reality. But never fear…book your tickets for The Brook on 19th December NOW and enjoy the Delays Experience. You won’t regret it!

Massive thanks to Aaron, Colin, Greg, Rowly and all of those who made the tour happen, not to mention the friends – old and new – who we met up with along the way.

By Sharon Lockyer.