It's been a busy couple of days for Paolo and the band who have been all over the place this week.
At the start of the week Paolo and the crew flew to New York to appear on The Today show on Tuesday for a painful 4am wake-up call, they chose to perform 'Last Request' that featured Jim on a full size grand piano making a nice change from the keyboard they've been using whilst on tour. Paolo chatted with Today's Meredith Viera about Live Earth and his first ever baseball game that he and Michael attended the night before to watch the Yankees win 5-1 on home ground. After the show the band had the rest of the day to relax and take in the sights, while Paolo had radio show appearances before flying home that night... no rest for the wicked!
Next on the agenda was a visit to the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Thursday evening to meet the Queen – but only after being kitted out head to toe in Christian Dior for the occasion. The reception was for those who have made a "significant contribution to Scottish life".
The following day it was off to one of Paolo's favourite places, Paris, to perform at the Solidays festival at the Hippodrome de Longchamps. The festival is held every year to raise awareness of HIV on behalf of French charity SIDA. The festival itself is a weekend of music and arts that attracts over 100,000 visitors annually and Paolo was honoured to be one of the headliners this year.
Saturday was a pretty nerve wracking day for Paolo as he was playing Live Earth in London's new Wembley Stadium to a capacity crowd. To give him moral support, a couple of his friends travelled down from Paisley to watch him perform 'Alloway Grove', 'Last Request', Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World' and 'Jenny Don't be Hasty'. The show went well and Paolo even got the chance to talk to a couple of his heroes – Damien Rice and Dave Grohl. Michael McDaid also got the opportunity to play bass alongside Paolo's manager Brendan with Spinal Tap as a surprise addition to the bill, both guys had a ball and spent the evening gloating.
The undoubted grand finale of this hectic week was T in the Park. Watched by his friends and family, Paolo performed a full set, including a brand new song he had only just finished a couple of days before. The humorous number is yet to be titled, but was a tongue in cheek acknowledgement of all the tabloid nonsense that he has had to endure over the past year. Watching from the side of the stage were Damien Rice, Edith Bowman and The View, who were on top form, rowdily singing along and generally having a ball.
After his set, Paolo celebrated with friends and family, chatted to Kyle from the View about some recent headlines that can only be described as bizarre, before watching brilliant performances from Ocean Colour Scene, Kings of Leon and the mighty Queens Of The Stone Age!