Zurich show…

 I saw my friend Renate outside the venue when i arrived and had a quick chat with her before Kevin and i made our way inside, not before going to look at The Wall bus that was parked outside blaring out music from the wall!

It was an all seating show tonight which i was thankful for, after 14 hours travelling i wasn't looking forward to standing up on my feet for 3 hours on a concrete floor!

Within 5 minutes of us taking our 15th row dead centre seats i heard the flash photography warning come across the PA in some foreign language and knew the show was about to start.

Even from the Spartacus talking i could tell the sound was going to be great tonight and the opening bars of in The Flesh confirmed this! The sound was incredibly clear and it was loud!! louder than I've heard at most of the European shows. A lot has been talked about the last few shows between people who saw some of the US shows and people who saw the European shows too and we all agreed that for some reason or another the sound has definitely been turned down. There's just not that feeling of bass in your chest at certain parts of the show! Tonight WAS different though, i could feel Grahams drums in my chest from the get go, Roger vocals were crystal clear through the mic, you could even hear his breath sometimes as he breathed in before singing the next line. Dave’s guitar was also crystal clear and you could hear every note perfectly. Kevin and i looked at each other with huge smiles on our faces, tonight was gonna be good!

I didn't take a lot of pictures tonight as i didn't have my good camera with me however this did enable me to concentrate on the music and visuals themselves and just shows that its true what Roger says, you miss so much of the show watching it through a 2” camera screen. Something the guy 2 rows  in front of us will never realise as he filmed the whole of the show on his digi cam, having it screwed to one of those small hand held tripods and holding the trip with his hand high for the entire show!

Pyros and plane crash

They have the pyros off to a T now and its the first time I've seen them from dead centre and this was the only video i took all night, glad i did though

The crowd whist good were still a touch subdued and remained seated the whole show, even when Roger took the stage for the first time there was very little excitement generated on the floor, they did get a little more into it for the second half though. people keep asking me which is the best show I've seen, its very hard to say just one as some are good for the sound, some for the performance, some for the crowd etc Tonight was my 82nd Wall show and i can honestly say that tonight's show was definitely the best for the sound but not for the audience.

People also ask me if i get bored seeing it so many times and do i still see new things ?  each show really is like the opening show for me and not only do i see new things at each show but i hear new things, Tonight was no exception.

I was a little apprehensive about hearing the new ending for Another Brick part 2, id heard it on you tube but wanted to hear it in person before i made comment. Its different for sure, its not like something that has been played before and re done to work in with the song but its a totally new composition. As much as i do like it i just don't think it fits in how and where its being played, yes its only 45 seconds of music out of a 3 hours show that's different and no the second and third guitar solos are not on the original album but they seemed to fit so much better than what's being played now. You have 30 seconds of soft keyboard music and acoustic guitar and them the rumbling loud subway train comes blasting through again, at least remove the second subway train from the projections! (which i know will be hard due to the whole reason for it being there) I do like it a lot and its like hearing  some new music from Roger, dies it fit in with what's been shown and played before hand though ? personally i don't think so.

Kevin mentioned to me earlier that the inflatable Mother was now cross eyed! i hadn't noticed this before and I'm not sure how or where this happened but he was right!! i also noticed that Grahams drumming has totally changed during Goodbye Blue Sky, he's now playing like a military type drumming at the beginning and during the song!  whilst been a subtle change it sounds so much different and is very noticeable.

I'm not sure what language the “no Fucking Way” is that appeared on the left side of the wall as they talk several different languages in Switzerland but Kevin said it meant nothing much at all really, I'm someone will find out and make a comment on this post if they would be so kind.

Kevin commented on how he had noticed Roger spitting on the floor as he was sat on the wall at the beginning of One Of My Turns, i hadn't noticed this before, but sure enough about 90 seconds in he lent over and spat right on the stage.  It was then that i looked over to Kevin and realised what we were doing, we are two grown men, sat on the edge of our seats in silence for 90 seconds mesmerised and watching for a 67 year old man to spit on a stage and the second he does that we turn to each other and say “yup there ya go , do you see it” WTF!!! lol

 

I also noticed the backing singer tonight during Don’t Leave Me Now, when the inflatable wife comes down and starts moving her arms back and forth and the singer sing “oooohh babe, ooooohh babe” they all in unison move there arms up and then down and then up the same way the wife is!! i love this fricken show and this is just one of the reasons why, and one of the reason i say “no” every time when someone asks me if i get bored of it!

At intermission i saw Renate again and her friend Simon J  who is a 13 year old “kid” who plays every instrument going! check out some of his you tube videos HERE and HERE, amazing talent!

There were a couple of girls sat in front of us who it was obvious knew Robbie as every move he made and every time he looked over towards them they waved and got a little crazy (in a good way) as they came back to their seat for the second half we had a little chat and one of the girls was Sylvia whom id seen posting on Robbie's facebook earlier that day while i was travelling to the show. She had seen the show in LA and had flown over to Switzerland to see the show. It was great to meet you and hope you get to the show tonight! Elzira from Brazil came to sit in the two empty seats in front of us for the second half of the show too and it was great to have people around who weren't just corporate guests in free guest seats there for a free night out!

Sylvia and Nati                                          

  

The second half sound was just as good and the crowd were a little more lively as Roger came out for his second shot at In The Flesh. Dave K had mentioned to me the other week that he has started to tone down and not move around as much when he was playing onstage outside of the wall. he said this was due to all the other not moving about and everyone being still most of the the time, one comment Dave, STOP IT!!! start moving again, get some hair flicks going, bend that guitar neck, get into it man, we miss it all, your the only one (apart from Roger) that looks alive during the second half!

Run Like Hell brought most people to their feet but they sat straight down at the chanting of  “Hammers, Hammers”  through the surround speakers at the end, which incidentally Kevin and i spoke about and think  the whole Hammers, Hammers goes on a little too long for our liking, it wouldn't be too bad if it did actually get the crowd going and chanting but it doesn't and never has so far! I'm not saying don't do it just don't do it for over 60 seconds!

The wall fall was unusual tonight, the top couple of rows fell forward and then there was a delay as the sides fell backwards but the middle section stood still and all alone! it wasn't until probably 10 seconds later that the middle section itself fell forward and still left a lot of bricks “unfallen”

      

The band came back out to a great response for outside The Wall, but then it was over! My 82nd show was complete, it had taken me 3 buses, 1 plane, 1 train and 14 hours to get here, was it worth it ? damn right it was and id do it again in a heartbeat! I'm just lucky that we can do it all again tonight and i only have to get the tram 3 miles this time!

  

Few post show pictures from the hotel across the street where we all met up.

     

Travelling to Zurich…….

So due to the price of flights into Zurich from the UK at the time of the shows i booked a cheap flight with Air Italia into Milan. I left my house at 5:30am, took the 5:55 bus to Heathrow as i didn't want to ask my neighbour (who usually drops me off)  to take me at that time in the morning.

My flight out was at 9am, i had breakfast in the lounge, caught up on a few blog things and then boarded the plane to Milan. The trains from Milan to Zurich were at 1:10 or 3:10 i was due to land at 12:30 and was hoping to just make the 1:10 train as i only had carry on baggage and the airport was only a 15 minute ride from the station, I didn't however have a reservation for the train! i had a ticket but in Italy, Germany and a lot of other places you actually need to buy a seat reservation which cost around 10 Euros and  is only available from the train station.

Due to a slight delay in take off from Heathrow we didn't arrive in Milan till gone 1pm. I took the short bus ride to Milan central and was in the line to buy my seat reservation by 1:45. The line at the ticket desk was long, 42 people long to be exact so mu idea of getting my seat reservation ticket and then walking to the best Gelato store in Milan before boarding the 3:10 train didn't happen.

It took me the best part or 45 minutes to get to the front of the line, i bought my ticket and went to watch for the platform number to appear on the board.It was then a spotted a small gelato store in the station. You know how i said to watch Roger at the beginning of the shows where he puts on his leather coat at the beginning of In The Flesh when he mouths the word arrrrhhhh and sheer delight appears on his face ? Well gelato is my leather jacket!

The men's fashion confirms I'm back in Italy!      Gelato!, my leather jacket!!

   

I kept looking on the announcement board in the station and as the time got nearer and nearer for departure all the other trains came up with platform numbers apart from mine, typical! My train was due to arrive in Zurich at 7pm, i would then get the tram from outside the rail station and get to the venue around 7:15 to meet up with Kevin and the others.

It got to within 5 minutes of my departure time when it came up there was a 5 minute delay, 5 minutes changed to 10, then to 15 and then to 25!! the train finally pulled in around 30 minutes late and left at 3:45pm. this meant i wouldn't arrive in Zurich till 7:35pm and would only just make it to the show and may not even be able to be Spartacus tonight!

The scenery along the 4 hour train ride is spectacular, it goes through the Italian and Swiss mountains and winds and curves around lakes and little villages all the way. Id actually taken this train ride in 2002 but in reverse from Zurich to Milan and remembered what a scenic ride it was. I managed to catch up on my blog a a bit on the journey and also managed to get an hour or so of sleep. Kevin sent me a message letting me know the tram number to get and this left from right outside the Zurich train station and dropped me right off at the venue. Kevin and i had been looking for hotels the few days prior and we were both struggling to find a reasonable priced hotel for the two nights. Id left this to Kevin to book and he had found a place about 3 or 4 miles away from the venue for the first night and we would sort something out for the second night.

The train arrived into Zurich at 7:45 nearly an hour late! i ran outside, took the number 11 tram and sat for 10 minutes watching the stops go by. I had about 10 stops to go and as the tram pulled right up in front of the venue i saw Kevin there waiting for me to arrive. it was exactly 7:55pm and id made it to the show with 5 minutes to spare! 

 

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Zurich show 1….

Great show tonight! just made it to the show on time with 10 minutes to spare after a long travelling day. Review tomorrow.

Sylvia and friend at the show

 

The Wall bus!

Tonights plane crash

 

Wall bus leaving

Paris day 4

I was awake at 7am fresh as a daisy! i got up showered, checked my e mail and headed out to the shopping mall next door while Kami got showered and ready and i came back with a couple of croissants for breakfast. We’d arranged to meet Jackie and Dave at 10am this morning to take the sightseeing bus around Paris, when i got back to the hotel room Kami was just about ready so we headed again next door to the supermarket to buy a couple of bottles of water for the day as the weather was forecasting a very hot sunshiney day. #We bumped into Jackie in the store but Dave was still asleep in bed! Kami and i headed out to the bust stop to Bercy where we picked up the sightseeing blue line to Notre Damn and got off onto the main green line sightseeing bus. There were four  different lines to take and we got the two day pass to enable us to do the other lines tomorrow.

We saw a lot the day before of where the bus took us but it was nice to sit down and listen to the commentary about the sights.

We stayed on the bus all the way round and didn't hop off. As we got to the end of the line (about two hours later) we called Wendy and arranged to meet up with them for some Gelato ice cream and headed down to the river for half an hour to watch the boats go by. Tonight was a show night, the first of two shows in Paris so the idea was to get back to the hotel to chill out for a while, refresh and then make our way to the venue for 5pm to meet up with Kevin, Matt and a few others who were coming to the shows.

 

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Walking the streets of Paris (Day 3)

So after waking at 10am on a sofa bed not knowing how id got there or where i was Kami and i started to do the walk of shame through the streets of Paris on a Sunday morning to the nearest Metro station to get back to our hotel. Before we left Wendy commented on how much and how loud i snore! Jens and Lars told me this too in Chicago but i don't believe them all, I've never heard it:)

Uggghhh my head was still spinning i was having hot and cold sweats due to the alcohol and my stomach didn't feel good at al! Wendy wasn't feeling too goo either in the morning and we both wondered if it was maybe the salmon we had both eaten the night before! As Kami and i travelled on the metro train to our hotel about two stops before we got off i could feel myself getting worse and worse, the next stop came and went and by the time we got to the stop we wanted i rushed off the train as soon as the doors opened and threw my guts up in the platform trash can!! I felt SO much better!

We walked for 15 mins in the fresh air from the metro to the hotel and i just crashed out on my bed for half an hour. id been wanting some fresh French bread to soak up the alcohol in my stomach since we left the apartment but as it was Sunday morning nowhere was open! We both showered and put on fresh clothes and i felt so much better now, i was ready for some sightseeing. We had booked tickets to go up the Eiffel tower at 1pm today, it was already past noon and Wendy messaged to say she was feeling so ill that they wouldn't be making it today! We walked back to the metro station and took the train to the Eiffel tower. Kami and i made do with a a packet of cheese puffs! (probably not the best thing to eat after doing what id just done) on the way there and planned to have something to eat as we came down from the tower.

I've been up the tower before but Kami had only been half way up several years ago, however due to the lack off food and Kami not feeling too good she wasn't at her best on the trip up the tower so we didn't stay up there too long.

    

We had an ice cream to fill the gap when we came down and took a walk up to the Arc de Triumph to find somewhere to eat. I wasn't too hungry but we found a small cafe and Kami had a quiche and a sandwich before we carried on walking.

Always happy when there's food around:)      A big arch!                      Arc de Triumph from the Champs’

   

Jackie and Dave from the UK were getting the Eurostar to Paris today and would be arriving around 2pm, Wendy, Chris, Kami, Jackie and Dave and i were all going out for dinner tonight so i messaged Dave K to see if he wanted to join us, apart from feeling like a “gooseberry” (7th wheel") he thought it was a great idea and we made plans to meet later on. As Kami and i walked along a street near the Arc’ i realised i knew the area, we then walked past the hotel where the band stayed in 2002, The Raphael. I messaged Dave and asked if they were there again.He didn't reply. We headed down the Champs Alysee and Kami suggested stopping for a while a people watching,all the benches were full that we walked past so we took a seat at the first empty bench we got to and sat and watched the Parisians and tourists go by for 15 minutes.

Display outside new Converse store    made up from Converse shoes!          Rollerbladers in Paris

    

I then got a message back from Dave saying they were staying at the Fouquet's hotel on the Champs Alysee. I looked up from my phone to tell Kami and what did i see ? We were sat right in front of said hotel!! it was such a coincidence and we both  talked about what were the chances of that happening!! Dave was in the bath watching tennis so we carried on walking down the Champs till we came to a small park, we got a couple of bottles of water and laid on the grass in the sunshine for an hour before taking the metro again over to meet Jackie, Dave, Wendy and Chris outside Notre Damn to find somewhere to have dinner.

We met up around 7pm, was great to see Jackie and Dave again and we all headed out to find somewhere to eat. A short walk later and we were in the St German area of Paris, a beautiful area with lots of bars and restaurants. We ended up in a street side cafe bar inside at a table for 8. Dave K joined us and we had a great night drinking eating and chatting about bodily functions, what's the worst thing on our iPods and other random things you talk about when a great group of friends get together:)

We all took the metro back, Dave headed back to his hotel, Wendy and Chris back to their apartment and as Jackie and Dave were staying at the same hotel as Kami and i  the four of us took the metro back together. As we got to the mentor station the place was closing up for the night, we had been in the restaurant nearly 5 hours and it was now nearly 1am. The four of us took the escalator up to the exit and as we were about 2/3 the way up the metal shutter in front of us started to close! it was like something out of a James Bond film, i was so tempted to make a run for it and duck under the shutter however it would have been too late and I'd have got stuck underneath knowing me!

The escalator just stopped dead at the same time too so we turned around and walked back down to the platform and took a lift up to the same exit, it was bizarre, surely they could see us half way up on the security cameras!? We got back to the hotel around 2am and crashed out not before arranging to meet in the morning at 10am to do the tourist hop on, hop off bus tour of Paris

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