Sunday, July 31, 2005

KOBENHAVN DENMARK


"Blue skies are here again, put on a happy face" The Parken is lit up by the bright evening sunshine and all the crews have finished work for the day and are all tucked up in bed with a good book and a cup of cocoa!(Yes I think Denmark is famous for it's fairytales)

Saturday, July 30, 2005

PARKEN STADIUM COPENHAGEN




It was another short drive down from Gothenburg to Copenhagen last night. As we left the Ullevi Stadium the rain that had tried in vane to dampen the great concert last night ceased, we headed for Helsingborg and took the short ferry ride to Helsingor in Denmark and arrived at the Parken around 5am this morning. The whole stadium and surrounding park was shrouded in a calm dawn mist. The load in started at 10 am and as always its all on track for tommorows show.

Friday, July 29, 2005

ULLEVI STADIUM GOTHENBURG


We started leaving Oslo at about midnight, staight after the show in Oslo and had a relatively short drive through the extremely pleasant and quiet Norwegian and Swedish countryside to Gothenberg, about three and a half hours. Yesterday was a load in day and by early evening everything was almost up and running for todays show. It's a bit overcast but quite warm and it's all ready for tonight.

Göteborg



The Ullevi Stadium is filling up ahead of tonights show in just over one hour.

OUT & ABOUT IN GOTHENBURG



Whoops Yes its Gothenburg! no excuses as I had just had a walk around the Centre.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

AN EVENING IN OSLO


The Audience is being entertained by one of the support bands in the evening sunshine before the band hit the stage.

The Spot Tree


The out front spot tower rises up into the Norwegian sky like a Mad Max inspired Christmas Tree. All is ready for todays show and the weather is warm with bright sunshine but changeable.

OSLO NORWAY



2700 Kilometres and 50 hours later the trucks rolled into the Valle Hoven Stadium Oslo, during the early hours of this morning. The night sky was showing its permanent dawn at this time of the year, being so far north and there was a welcome chill to the air. Today is a load in day and so far there is no sign of "mossies" (mosquitos) but there has been spotted, these huge flying insects that seem to be wearing leather helmets and goggles! The top photo shows the bridge from Denmark to Sweden the one at the bottom is Genny World in place in Oslo.

Saturday, July 23, 2005

OLYMPIC STADIUM ROME


They say, "All roads lead to Rome", and after two successful shows and a video shoot (something for the fans to look forward to) the road we took led us here. With traffic jams in the middle of the night and sometimes feeling like contestants in the Italian version of Wacky Races, we all made it here. It's a bit cooler than Milan which is a relief and not so many mossies! As usual all is ready for today's show and we are gearing up for the two day double drive after the concert tonight up to Oslo.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

SAN SIRO STADIUM



Two more shots of the San Siro to gaze at.

THE SAN SIRO MILANO





Ah! The San Siro, one of the great football stadiums of Europe. It is home to two famous Italian football teams, Inter Milan and AC Milan. For the next two day's it's our home and of course the pesky mosqiuto's! the local supermarket has run out of repellent. We had a good trouble free drive down from Zurich and all is ready for tonights show, its hot and humid, some of us northern boy's are not built for humidity!

Monday, July 18, 2005

CHANGING A TYRE SWISS STYLE


Even Genny World gets punctures, so the Swiss tyre repairman arrived with his amazing mobile workshop. A few people thought he was setting up a beer tent (no such look) anyway we have an overnight drive to Milan after tonights show. The weather today is very changeable, hot & sunny one minute and thunder & lightening with heavy rain the next.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

LETZIGRUND ZURICH



After three great shows to three great audiences, we loaded out of the Amsterdam Arena straight after the show. With fistsfuls of Sunday driving permits we double drove the trucks and buses the twelve hours to Zurich, for a 12 noon load in. It's 35 degrees today and very hot. By 8pm the stage is looking good and and all is on track for tomorrows show.

Friday, July 15, 2005

PATAT MET MAYONNAISE, It's show 2 in Amsterdam


It's the second show day and everybody enjoyed their day-off yesterday. It was also the crew party last night and there is a few people walking around today with that "fragile handle with care look" (its amazing what fine dancers some of the crew become at 2am in the morning!) Outside the stadium the crowds are building up and its a bit cooler than yesterday.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

TULIPS & BLOGS FROM AMSTERDAM



It's all quiet in the arena today and it's very hot outside. The bloggers have taken over the catering tent and it's become bloggers HQ for the day.

A DAY OFF IN AMSTERDAM



The Amsterdam Arena got Vertigo last night along with the spotlight-operators in the spot baskets hanging high up from the arena roof!The Dutch audience and those from everywhere else in Europe, were brilliant throughout the concert, enjoying every minute of the show. Today is a day-off and the crew has a chance to experience the sights and sounds of Amsterdam, the city has a lot to offer and some wonderful museums! We also have the chance to get the trucks and generators serviced during our stay here.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

AMSTERDAM THE FIRST SHOW



It's another sunny day outside the arena and the queues of fans are winding all around the arena and down the streets. The generators are all dieseled up and humming away nicely, the stage is all set up and all is ready for the show tonight.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

AMSTERDAM


It's a Beautiful Day! Amsterdam has welcomed us with a clear blue sky and sunny weather. Yesterday we had a leisurely drive up to Holland and we managed to wash the trucks on the way through Belgium.
Then soon after we arrived at the Arena last night, we were forced to sample some of the local brews! Its a production day and the crews are busy setting up.

Monday, July 11, 2005

PARIS DAY TWO



It's the second show in Paris and the gates are open.The weather is warm and sunny and everyone is ready for what should be another great show to follow the great one last night. We will be heading for Amsterdam after the show tonight and hopefully washing the trucks on route. We have three generator trucks knocking out 4 mega watts of power and a cable truck. There is also 27 production trucks that go to every gig and about 40 plus staging trucks that leapfrog the 3 stages that are being built as the tour progresses and also eight tour buses. To answer a posted question, we did forget to plug something in once, it was the kettle and we waited ages for a cup of tea!

Saturday, July 09, 2005

GENNYWORLD IN PARIS



The audience are crowded into the Stade de France stadium waitng for the first show this evening, there is also another show tommorow night.

PARIS



It's a beautiful sunny day in Paris and the gates are open. The crowds are flocking into the stadium and the surrounding streets are filled with fans sampling the food and drinks available at the many stalls scattered about.

Stade de France


AUF WEIDERSEHEN BERLIN,BONJOUR STADE DE FRANCE

Hey, the show roll's on! After another great concert, the trucks and buses double drove straight to Paris, all arriving safely at around 2 pm Friday afternoon, onwards. An accident on the autobahn between Magdeburgh and Hannover delayed some of the trucks but everyone made the load in time. The weather has been cloudy and raining but it has brightened up this morning. The crew worked late into the night and everything is ready for tonights show.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

The Stadium from the Bell Tower



Views from the Bell Tower

VERY SAD NEWS FROM LONDON

The very sad news of the terrorist attacks on London has shocked us all. Our thoughts are with the innocent men, women and children injured and bereaved.

GUTENMORGEN VON BERLIN



Good morning from Berlin, the weather is overcast but warm and occasional rain showers, everyone had a good rest last night and we are looking forward to the show tonight, then it's an overnight drive to Paris and the Stade de France. A big hello to everyone at Conyers School, Yarm and at Ingleby Barwick, England.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

The Olympic Stadium at night.


The new roof is stunning.

OLYMPIC STADIUM BERLIN


The show in Katowice was fantastic, the audience enjoyed every minute of it and during the song New years Day the whole crowd became a living Polish flag, the band were on top form! After the show we drove straight to Berlin, a 9 hour journey. Its seems the whole Polish road network is one big roadworks, new motorways are being built across the country, thats great for the future but a bit bumpy to say the least at the moment! Anyway the show is built now and all is quite in the stadium as it gets dark and the lighting boys can do some programming. Its fitting that we are at the Olympic stadium and we heard London is to host the 2012 event, congratulations!

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

A BIG HELLO FROM GENERATOR WORLD


The Generator World Crew say hello from backstage at the Slaski Stadium Katowice.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Katowice Poland



Gennyworld is at the Slaski Stadium in Katowice, the stadium has been redeveloped since we were last here, as has most of the country, except for the park and fairground next to the stadium which is 1950's eastern bloc concrete and weeds, in all it's glory. A local band, performing on a brightly painted corragated iron bandstand, played a selection of tunes till midnight last night. The songs were picked straight from the worst of the eurovision song contest. The weathers great and its Berlin next!

Wien und Live 8

It was a busy day for the band, they appeared at the Hyde Park, London event, then flew to Vienna for the evening concert. The whole day was a huge success and after the show the trucks and buses set off overnight for Katowice Poland. Gennyworld headed for the Czech border where the border gendarmarie tryed to squeeze 220 euro's out of us for not having hush certificates. We managed to get way without paying the fine after they realised we had brand new trucks. We then drove through Czech to the Polish border just past Ostrava. Then up to Katowice, Poland's an interesting country and like Czech it will be nice when it's finished.

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Gennyworld does the Viennese Waltz



All the trucks and tour buses were double-driven to Vienna and after a 24 hour journey we were at the Ernst Happell Stadium down by the Danube and located in the corner of the Prater Park. It was a long drive and the only hold-up were around Brussels and Frankfurt due to traffic congestion. Gennyworld had the night off last night and we went out and feasted on Pig's Knuckles, a delicacy around these parts apparantly!

Cardiff Millenium Stadium



We arrived in Cardiff the evening before the concert, the production unloaded the trucks as they arrived from Ireland during the night ready for the show the next day. All went well and after the show we set of on the long drive to Vienna.