Last night, I introduced myself to an beautiful punk-rock Canadian lady.

She immediately throws her arms around me.

And then my girlfriend.

Now that doesn't happen every day.

Around seven years back, I started Kenickie Fried Chicken, except at its original home in the dark Corner's of Bath University's computing system. It was the first Kenickie fansite of any note, and expanded rapidly as the still-existant elements of 'nick fanatics gathered like a glitter-storm cloud. This continued for a couple of years, until I stopped updating the site that often, when a mass of other sites span into existant. In the first month, I got in contact from a diverse crowd, many who I bump into randomly today in the most curious places.

One of them was Jenny - or Jen as she went by back then - who had discovered Kenickie and, formed a band with two other likewise girls. We bounced a few e-mails and on forum. Idle E-mail acquaintences. Nothing massive - just common or garden Fan-friendliness. Now fast-forward those seven years. Kenickie have long split up, but Tuuli have been growing quietly in status. And now they're coming to the UK.

She drops an e-mail to the remains of the Kenickie lists. I decide to fight tiredness and the terminal body-shock of Pete showing me my old lyrics for a demo album I recorded when I was 21, and go and see. It'll be rude not to.

They're efficient punk-pop, dropping towards harder edged US-style punk and drifting upwards towards West-coast harmony-driven pop. They're held together by the harmonies, and Jenny's napalm-sweet voice racing breathlessly through them. They don't blow me away by any means, but strike sufficient moments of purity to make the night shine. It's all I ask.

Afterwards, we wait until Jenny has finished chatting to a pair of frankly frightening Bristol punks. We introduce ourselves and... well, that's where we started this tale. She laughs and is really pleased we came. She loved KFC and is glad that people actually were reading her e-mail. Do we need guest-lists later on the tour? And - y'know - both my cynical girlfriend and I are swept away by a burst of charm. Bless.

Tuuli are marching their way across the country currently. By the time I get round to posting this, the London folk will have already missed their gig at the Underworld. The rest of you provincial sorts can find them at the following.

Mon 03- London Underworld
Tues 04- Day Off
Wed 05- Manchester Star and Garter
Thurs 06- Bradford Pennington's 2
Fri 07- Blackburn King George's Hall
Sat 08- Fleetwood The Tav
Sun 09- Edinburgh The Venue
Mon 10- Glasgow Barfly
Tues 11- Day Off
Wed 12- Derby Victoria Inn
Thurs 13- Stoke The Sugar mill
Fri 14- Scunthorpe Bath's Hall
Sat 15- Birmingham Edwards No. 8 - with The Wayriders and The Zatopeks
Sun 16- Cleethorpes Beachcomber
Mon 17- Chester Alexander's
Tues 18- York Fibbers
Wed 19- Peterborough The Park
Thurs 20- Nuneaton Caddy Club
Fri 21- Rugeley Rose Theatre
Sat 22- Nottingham Rock City
Sun 23- Cardiff Barfly
Mon 24- Southampton Joiners
Tues 25- Day Off
Wed 26- Kingston The Peel
Thurs 27- Milton Keynes The Pitz
Fri 28- Mansfield Town Mill
Sat 01- Whitehaven The Civic

Go see. Make the Canadians feel as welcome as they did me.

In other matters: Start another writing project with a colleague. On-going. Will note here when it goes live. We want a little back-log.