Lindsay,that Stanstead - Derry(21-23 July)is back up to £108 again.

George, It would be ideal if we could agree which gig to go to and all go to the same one.In reality I think there are about 5/6 of us on here from England & Scotland who are interested to go over for atleast one of the four summer gigs.The guy I've mentioned before,Derek from Kilmarnock,is very keen and he says he would go with a group of mates,ranging from 6-12 people.In the end I've had no choice but to choose Letterkenny as the other 3 are doubtful for me.Ideally I wanted to wait and see what others on here were doing but if you wait to long you miss out on flight deals and so on, so it becomes a catch 22.I think the best chance of most of us meeting up would be if the band play in the North of England,geographically this would be within reach for the majority.Don't worry Rick,I'll pick you up on the M25 and we can have a good chin wag on the journey ;-)

I know this won't sway anyone who is wavering but I am definitely not going to Belfast or Letterkenny but AM definitely going to Derry. I'm biased but I think you would have the best time there, it being Undertones heartland etc.

Cliff, The lobster is fantastic! Thanks for taking the trouble and effort. I look forward to strolling down Princes Street to be met by bemused Japanese tourists who say "Rook - Robster". I will be more than happy to explain. Lindsay, the wee planes are fine. Once you're in the air all you have is the fantastic scenery to look at. Not a problem! Go for it! NI people are great. You won't want to leave! Cheers, Donald (2) So, Donald, are you now a lobster?

Glad you like it Donin, I love that "rook - a robster" line! On the subject of t-shirts, I had a plain white one exactly the same as this design in 1980,but without the HYPNOTISED-15 ROCKIN' HUMDINGERS on the back.I also had a black t-shirt with all the positive touch logos on it in colour which I bought outside Victoria Station in 1981.

T shirts. Yes, I also had a white lobster, which was a one-off custommised made to measure job, done by a friend who was talented that way. Little did I know then that there were nutters like you out there - I might have started my own business. When I get a scanner I will send you a pic of same T-shirt (in different locations!) and I will try to pretend that I still look so young. My fav is standing outside the Edinburgh Odeon in 1980, with the words above my head "TONIGHT - THE UNDERTONES", and the lobster is there!!!!

I dont know if I've mentioned this before but in 1998 when I'd just started my football shirt company I was gonna make a t-shirt commemorating 20 years of "teenage kicks".I phoned Andy Ferguson(forget how I got his number)and he said he was okay with it if the band were.He gave me John O'Neills phone number so I took a deep breath and phoned the man that had given me so many happy teenage years,along with Cyrille Regis.He also said he didn't have a problem with it but in the end I decided against it.Why? because I thought nobody else would want one! I used to advertise my football shirts on the whole back page of "When Saturday Comes" and I was gonna make this one exception and put the TK shirt up.But I chickened out thinking it would be a waste of time.I also used to leave little messages atthe bottom of my advert "Good luck the baggies" and that sort of thing.Again I was gonna say something like "any other UNDERTONES fans out there?" and see if I got any response,but I didn't do it in the end.God,that was a boring story wasn't it? zzzzzzzzzzz

I never knew Cyrille Regis co-wrote Teenage Kicks. Thought it was Laurie Cunningham?

Oh yes,I thought it was common knowledge.Cyrille was a teenager when Albion signed him and of course as a footballer "kicks" were part of his everyday life.If you look very very carefully on the sleeve it says "our special thanks to Big Cyrille for his help in making this great song".That is correct isn't it Dave?

Hey Julius - I'm not a Prefab Sprout fan and don't own anything by them but the point I was making was if you had to stand through sheer tedium like Nittan Sawney, Corrs, and a completely drunk (again) McGowan waiting for the greatest band of all time, Prefab Sprout might seem OK. Cliff - how are you going to persuade me to come out of gig retirement to spend several hours in a car arguing (sorry 'discussing') with you heading into the wilds of the north which I escaped 17 years ago. Doesn't sound an attractive prospect but thanks for the thought.

All this talk of last year's Fleadh reminds me - there is a review of the Undertones at last year's Fleadh on the Daily Torygraph, sorry, Daily Telegraph website. Unfortunately the reviewer (a Corrs fan perhaps) is decidedly uncomplimentary about the Undertones, 2000 style. I wonder if it is be too late to complain to the "press complaints commission".

RICK you saw that you 'escaped' the North 17 years ago. Well my advice to you would be to stay where you are and don't bother coming back - because with that patronising attitude I can imagine that there would be quite a few people in Derry and Belfast who would appreciate the chance to 'speak' to you about your attitude problem. By the way is that Rick with a 'P'.

Back to The Vapors - This website is not the first time The Undertones and The Vapors have appeared together - didn't both bands appear on a compilation album once? All the songs on the album (I forget the name) were on the same subject, unfortunately unrepeatable on a family website. However, if it is any help, and if I remember correctly, the Undertones song was TK, and the Vapors supplied a medley of their greatest hit, "Turning Japanese".

RICK you say that you 'escaped' the North 17 years ago. Well my advice to you would be to stay where you are and don't bother coming back - because with that patronising attitude I can imagine that there would be quite a few people in Derry and Belfast who would appreciate the chance to 'speak' to you about your attitude problem. By the way is that Rick with a 'P'?