USA day 14 – Detroit

I thought I’d been travelling on my own but as I opened the car door in early evening Detroit, a solitary fly escaped. I’d really like to know how long it had  been in there with me. Since Chicago? Dayton? Baltimore even? I don’t know anything about the migratory habits of the common house fly but I suspect a new record may have been set.
I played in Royal Oak last night, a suburb of Detroit and had considerably less success than the duo who played after me and blasted a set of well known hits to an increasingly inebriated (but appreciative) audience. Try as I might I just can’t dislike Ed Sheeran. Damn that man writes catchy songs. There it is in black and white. Mock me if you must…
The audience were getting more glassy-eyed by the minute but they were positively sober compared to the party of 20 something Liverpudlians who successfully conspired to keep me awake until 5am with their partying in the motel car park. I just didn’t have the heart to complain; I’m too much of a Beatles fan. I saw them in the morning having breakfast and only just suppressed an urge to pour a jug of ice water over the lot of them. If anything happens to me today through lack of sleep I’m suing them AND the motel!! I think I’ve been here too long…
Two miles out of Detroit this morning and heavy industry takes up my entire view with signs proclaiming Michigan’s manufacturing prowess. Huge power plants and factories spread their rusty pipes across the landscape like an ironwork tree has taken root. Shortly after, the billboards start up again affirming whatever goes contrary to logic, common sense and basic humanity.
“The only thing that stops a bad man with a gun is a good man with a gun”
“Pass up vaccines, pass up disease”
And don’t even get me started on the pro-life billboards. Given the extent of this Orwellian propaganda I half expect the next billboard to say 2+2=5.
Barton H