Features - IN-DOORS UK Tour Diary
Welcome to my Jean Michel Jarre - IN-DOORS UK Tour Diary! For the next 3 days, i’ll be blogging here with my weekend tour diary, with reports and general stuff from London, Manchester and Birmingham. 
I’ll also be posting photos from each of the 3 days and any other interesting information worthy of posting here.
Anyway, I hope you find the read enjoyable.
regards
Robin Hosgood
Day 1 - London - Friday 22nd May 2009 - my weekend tour starts here!
6:10am - woke up without hesitation, for once (since I wasn’t going to work!), had shower, finished packing etc, left home at 7:30. Me and the fiancé (Carrie) will be travelling together this weekend, and although she’s not attending tonight’s concert in Wembley, she will be with me for both the Manchester and Birmingham dates. These will also be her first ever Jarre concerts and a new experience for her! Let’s hope the shows go well!
8:30am - on my national express coach; london here we come!
11:30am - arrive at Victoria coach station. Carrie scared of going on the london underground because of how stuffy it is down there (and the smell) and doesn’t feel safe. I personally love the Underground, so i’m on looking-after dutie for her.
13:00pm - arrive at Wembley Central underground station. Realise that we should have got off the stop before in order to get to our hotel (Travelodge)!
14:00pm - So now we’re lost in Wembley as I forgot to print out some Google maps before coming! DOH! End up walking down a long road in a vain hope it was in the right direction (while Wembley Stadium is in view just down the road). Can’t be bothered to walk any further so we find an off-license shop and get a number for a Taxi company, which arrives promptly and 10 minutes later we’re at our hotel! FINALLY!
15:00pm - collapse on to my bed in my room and type this lot up!
17:00pm - got a taxi to the venue, on arrival I meet up with fans Tom & Rachel as well as Mirai to who I hand over his ticket. Also bump into Lee Sainsbury, Mark Withall, Cathy Smith, Colin Neal, Dave Knight and loads of other fans who i’ve forgot the names of for the moment…
18:30pm - Collected my photopass (thanks Aero Prod) and had a browse around the entrance at the merchandise. Spotted a huge blimp hanging from the ceiling advertising the Air Race thing that Jarre is promoting (it even had the Equinoxe logo on it - should have taken a photo of it!). Merchandise prices: tshirts £20, Mugs £6, Posters £5, Programmes £15. Even had old Oxygene Tour programmes from last year still!
20:00pmish - showtime! For those who have still yet to see one of these concerts, I won’t spoil it for you with the setlist, but the Laser Harp is there, and boy, is it live! YES! Even so much so as for Jarre to wave his hands through the beams to prove it. To say anything else about the show would spoil the tracks, but my photos may say something or other, so will leave that up to you. The lights were excellent, although being sat front row and to the right, it didn’t give me the full effect of them, so I will have to wait and see how that pans out tomorrow and sunday for the Manchester and Birmingham shows since I will be sat around half way back in the centre. Some amazing live renditions of existing tracks and some awesome “synth noodling” for some occasional improvisations during tracks. I must admit, I had a few fears regarding tonight as to what the show would be like, especially after seeing some of the youtube videos from previous shows, but for tonight, they definitely had their a-game on! It’s still a shame there was no projections as was originally promised in the run-up to the concerts in some of the press releases and interviews, but in taking that away, they made up for it by ramping up the lasers and lights at the show, even so much to have the lights moving while onstage (which was apparent on some of the videos from the earlier concerts).
22:05pm - show over, everyone leaves happily. The atmosphere tonight in Wembley arena was great. Was a shame people only got on their feet once a certain track hit the airwaves, but it still didn’t let things go bad at all, and from what I could tell, everyone enjoyed the show and had a great time.
23:00pm - finally get back to my hotel… my fiancé will be joining me for the concerts tomorrow night and sunday night, and since they will be her first Jarre concerts, I hope they will amaze her, and I hope everyone else going enjoy the shows also… time for bed as have to be up at 6am as need to get back into central london to get a coach at 9:30am to leave for Manchester… signing out…
Day 2 - Manchester - Saturday 23rd May 2009 - second date of the UK tour…
06:00am - woke up for yet more travelling… only had about 4-5 hours sleep…
07:00am - out the door on our way back into cental london..
08:00am - McDonald’s breakfast is the order of the day
09:30am - on the coach on our way to Manchester.. apparently we should arrive for around 14:15pm… hope there’s no delays as it’s a long journey…
10:30am - spoke to soon… run into a ton of traffic on the M1 motorway slowing us down… driver says it looks like we’ll be delayed…great…
12:00pm - stop off at a service station for a half hour break… already delayed on the road… doesn’t look like we’ll get to Manchester now until 14:40 according to the driver…
15:05pm - arrive in Manchester ! only an hour late… so that’s over 5 hours on the road almost! was a gruelling journey full of boredom, PSP-playing and photo-editing on my laptop of last night’s photos from Wembley… briefly meet up with Chris Wray and Abi and then it’s off to our hotel for a quick rest, shower and such…
17:45pm - meet up with Dunkie and a bunch of other fans outside the gates at the rear entrance. A few minutes later, Jean Michel’s tour bus arrives, with Francis Rimbert standing through the sun roof in the top of the bus (complete with Camcorder in hand and Thomas Alsina as his ’squire’) as if he were some Knight arriving to say “behold! we are here!”. Filming us fans while we were filming and photographing him. Everyone cheers at the on-stage crew of Dominique Perrier, Claude Sammard, Francis Rimbert and finally Jean Michel Jarre as they leave the bus, all with smiles on their faces and appearing in very good spirits, so much so that Jean Michel acknowledges everyone there by a quick succession of jumps and air punches to the fans with a big grin on his face!
19:00pm - me and Dunkie collect our passes. The MEN arena are VERY strict with their rules regarding photographs tonight however. Dunkie had already been invited to take photographs from within the mixing desk area (a good opportunity to get some clear wide shots), while I myself was on close-up duty… unfortunately, there ended up being some overly-cautious issues from the Arena Security on that point…
20:00pmish - concert start! Myself and 2 other photographers had been escorted from the main entrance to the front pit to take our photographs (usual first 3 songs as always), but this time, although the issue still stood as per Wembley whereby because of the moving sky trackers that were in the pit, photographers had to stand in 1 of 2 areas and stay to that area… also, for some reason, tonight we were not allowed in the middle of the floor, and we also had to sit down on the step part of the security fence and couldn’t stand or move around! Not very good at all for us photographers to get any respectable shots! But anyway, I respect that the MEN security are doing this for safety, but the sky tracker lights were not even used at all for the first 3 tracks! Also, due to the MEN arena’s strict policy on no cameras, I was not allowed to go back to my seat with my camera and had to either surrender it to the customer services desk until the end of the show (no chance) or my idea which was fine, was to pass it to Dunkie while I sat in my seat, which I did. Luckily though I had my pocket camera with me to get some respectable shots in with (although not the perfect choice I must admit but still got a few good ones in) as I was sat just infront of the mixing desk, so had a nice clear central view of the stage. The sound was LOUD for the arena! As was the bass on the speakers! Whereas in Wembley where I was sat front row and to the right, tonight was a MUCH better position for the whole audio and visual experience of the show. The lighting and laser effect and laser harp were perfect, and the audio was crystal clear. Jean Michel yet again threw in many improvisations and some mistakes during the entire show, especially on the laser harp which everyone is now loving since it is now entirely live! The laser harp has a foot peddle to it which allows Jean Michel to change octave when moving to the higher and lower notes (complete with a nice fan effect to switch the lasers - so much so that one minute the laser harp has 8 beams, the next, maybe 9 or 10). I would say that the show does still need a few videos introduced for certain tracks where some of the lights and lasers lacked a certain punch to them, but all in all, the lights were amazing. Roll on Birmingham!
22:10pm - show over! A standing ovation by all and everyone left smiling, including Jean Michel who appeared to be having a wail of a time onstage!
22:30pm - met up with some of the fans at the backstage gates, where we find Francis Rimbert was there signing autographs with everyone (even though unfortunately some of the people thought he was Jean Michel, even after Francis tried to correct them in their mistake!). I said a quick hello to Francis, who recognised me from our previous encounters 
and my fiancé had her ticket signed by Francis
23:00pm - no sign of Jean Michel or anyone else, met up again with Dunkie and said our farewells as it was time to get back to our hotel for a bite to eat and some sleep as need to be up early again in the morning (although thankfully this time 8am and not 6am!).
00:00am or such - busy writing this while watching Pearl Harbour on BBC1 on the tv in our room… time for some sleep I think… next stop, Birmingham…
Day 3 - Birmingham - Sunday 24th May 2009 - last date in the UK for Jarre…
08:30am - got up, yet another journey ahead of us, coach at 11:40 from the coach station. Had a great night at last night’s concert, so here’s hoping tonight’s show will be as good.
10:00am - Burger King breakfast this time
11:40am - on the coach, only a 2 and 1/2 hour journey this time though thankfully…
12:30pm - run into some heavy traffic on the M6… and then it all stops… it’s pretty surreal, as everywhere has just stopped, and no traffic coming the opposite direction either… I assume there’s been an accident somewhere ahead…
12:50pm - turns out I was right… an accident further along the stretch of motorway… probably about another half hour wait…
13:25pm - and off we go again - probably not going to arrive into Birmingham now until 15:00 or so…
14:50pm - arrive at birmingham coach station… i’ll be glad once all this travelling is over and done with… it’s pretty tiring doing it this way when I don’t drive a car…
15:30pm - arrive at our hotel and check in - time for a quick rest and shower…
17:30pm - set off for the NIA arena… let’s see how tonight’s show goes
18:10pm - collected my photopass a bit earlier this time so no waiting around… the NIA is next to this lovely area in birmingham on the Canal route with bridges over it, and plenty of pubs, bars and restaurants… and with no clouds in the sky, nice hot weather, I think a pint or two is in order…
19:00pm - as i’ve been wearing my JarreUK tshirt this past weekend (since i’m ‘working’ due to photographing the concerts) I tend to get noticed by a lot of people who regularly view the website and read/post on the forums. Because of this, if any of you say hello to me, unless I actually personally know you, please don’t take it personally if when you say hey and I shake your hand, that I don’t know who you are! I tend to know most people on the forums from their usernames, so don’t know anyone’s real names… therefore, next time, if you do use the forum, please first let me know your username on their and you may not get much of a confused look on my face.
20:00pm - showtime! (again). Like yesterday at Manchester, the photography policy for the venue is again strict for professional photographers and their big cameras. Therefore after the first 3 tracks, we have to surrender our cameras to the stage door for collection later. I don’t like doing this though as I always feel that when I get there, my camera’s not going to be there… Also this time, NO photographer is allowed to photograph at the front… we can either photograph from either corner side of the stage, down the 2 aisle ways or from the mixing desk. I choose the mixing desk this time as i’ve not been given the chance to take any good distance shots… After I do my 3 songs, while it’s dark I quickly rush back to my seat to sit with Carrie (our seats are front row of block E; perfect central position in the middle of the arena for the best view and sound in my opinion). When the laser harp pops up, I quickly sneak a few photos of it on my main camera, but for the majority of the show, as with Manchester, I have to settle for taking photos using my pocket Nikon Coolpix, which in all fairness, this time round it seems i’m getting some decent shots with it! Will have to check out the photos properly when I get home though on Monday as the memory card is an SDHC card and I dont have a reader for it, and my USB cable for the camera is at home… Anyway… the show itself goes well again, although the audience seem to be not as “up for it” as with London or Manchester, and I even see 3 or 4 people actually walk out of the concert, which is a real shame really. 
There’s some mistakes made (not intentional or otherwise) onstage, and even at one point the ‘click track’ (metronome for keeping in time with each other) blurts out over the PA system instead of the crew’s headphones… oops! As for atmosphere, each track gets a rapturous applause from everyone, but as with the previous 2 nights, it’s not until Oxygene 4 gets it’s playtime that everyone gets up on their feet for a good old fasioned clap along…
10:10pm - show over. The NIA’s sound system is great the music is even more louder than the previous 2 nights! All in all though, the show goes well, and everyone seems happy at the end of it, even though not as many tickets have sold for this show compared to the previous two… Time for some drinks and food anyway…
10:30pm - we head to the stage door and Francis Rimbert is there again signing autographs, and Carrie gets a photo with him this time! (I think i’m starting to make her a Jarre convert, even though his music relaxes her too much to the point where during some of the songs it makes her feel sleepy and wants to fall asleep, in a good way, to the music… bless her). No Jarre or anyone else though for autographs at the stage door however.
11:30pm - myself, Carrie, Damian Mellor and Cathy Smith decide to have a quick drink and then make a drive into birmingham on the hunt for food. We find a place called Big Eat (looks like a cross breed of KFC, an Indian Restaurant and some dodgy kebab place with lots of Bollywood stuff playing inside on the LCD tvs). Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza for me then! Food tastes good and no issues with that, although the food takes forever to arrive… We then drop off Cathy at her hotel and head back to ours for some good earned rest…
01:00am - sleep time! I shall be signing off my blog here… In the morning we’ll be heading back into Birmingham and then back on yet another coach to take us back to Nottingham. It’s certainly been an experience travelling around the country in this fasion for a change for 3 Jarre concerts in succession of each other, although I may try and avoid doing it this way next time he does a tour in the UK. May have to try and stick to just going to his one-off concerts and making a holiday of it instead, or when the 2nd or 3rd legs of this tour arrives, just do 1 of those in their respective county and make a holiday of it that way instead… less amount of travelling to do then and more time to chill and relax, especially as we’ve just had no time in each city to actually do anything before moving on to the next city…
anyway, later on on Monday (probably the evening), i’ll be posting my photographs on JarreUK from the past 3 days, and will pick out the best ones. I’ll add them to their own respective galleries and probably pop a few of them on here also.
I hope everyone who went to the shows enjoyed themselves, and I hope to see some of you guys again at future Jarre concerts.
Peace out
Robin Hosgood
co-webmaster of JarreUK
last updated 10:30am 25th May 2009
