Barcelona
After a couple of days off, the band found itself assembled at a well known airfield to the West of London. A surreal, wonderful moment, reunited with band and premier air travel once more.
Remembering some of the wonderful stage experiences over many years, I’ve never known quite an evening like this with a band. It couldn’t be more fitting that we kick off the tour in Barcelona, it was our final destination of the 2015 European leg and a city which we all love. On the drive from the venue after an extended pre-show production day, there were fond memories of past shows in here as we drove past the old Plaza de Toros de las Arenas. Built in 1900, it now suffers the indignity of being a shopping centre. “Just what the world needs now, another shopping centre” commented Mark. Times certainly change.
Catalunya is a proud autonomous community and home for the wonderful Palau Sant Jordi, the largest indoor arena in Spain. This is probably the first time we’ve sold it out. Quite a remarkable first venue and a huge contrast to our production space only a few days ago. The reverberation in an empty hall of this size is a real test for our new in-ear system and sound systems. They passed with flying colours and once the place was full, it was an amazing sight and sound. The first show of the tour was suddenly upon us and I’d say the night went pretty well. The band was stellar.
After the show, we all met in the dressing room to toast show number one, discuss the finer points and offer apologies for first-night mishaps (inevitable) etc. etc. An hour later we were still at it and an hour after that, some of us nipped round the corner from the hotel for a final celebratory nightcap. What a fabulous couple of days, many more to come.
