Hello loyal Bon Jovi Fans!
This week has been a whirlwind for the crew...we can hardly remember what day it is! The impetus for our fatigue was the one non London based show we had for this leg of the tour...Paris!
We finished out the weekend strong in London finishing our 5th 02 show, and then headed out on Monday for our train to Paris. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel in the heart of the city. It was a beautiful area, and there was plenty to see and do. Many of the crew walked 6 miles from the hotel to the Eiffel Tower, while others visited the Luvre. Personally, I went to the gig and set up the office for the next show day. The building itself is not state of the art. And by not state of the art, I mean there are no toilet seat or doors on the bathrooms! Not as glamorous as everyone thinks being on the road sometimes...
The next day was the show, and this was the first time we had a general admission floor as opposed to seats. This means, we had nearly 10,000 intense french fans all on the floor jumping up and down for 3 hours. All this, in a building with no A/C is not a comfortable environment! Needless to say, the band and the fans went all in and they were covered in sweat by the second song. In all honesty, the Paris fans were great. They sang every song, and the heat didn't bother them at all.
The challenge now was getting back to London in time for the show the next day. We finished loading out the stage and offices around 3am. We had to be up at 5am to catch the Eurotrain back to London for a 6:45AM departure. So, on 1-2 hours of sleep, after working about 20 hours straight, we packed up our luggage, hopped in a bus to the train station, and checked in. When I tell you that you don't want to be around 60 tired roadies at 6:00 AM after a show day, take my word for it. We pulled into London around 8am and then began our "trek" to the 02. We had to walk about 2 miles in the underground subway system and transfer trains during rush hour. It is so busy in the "tube" (that's what they call subway), that you had to wait for 3 trains to pull up and stand in line until you were able to get on. So, after about another 90 minutes of waiting in lines and being pushed in a jammed subway, we made it to our home at the 02. It was about 10am and we were so relieved to be back. Normal showers, toilet seat covers, and people that spoke English! What a relief! During the day, people were sneaking naps wherever they could...in closets, in suites, on top of speakers; literally everywhere. The crew was actually running into the production office during the show and making coffee so they wouldn't fall asleep during the performance!
Luckily, we had the next day off. I slept till 1 in the afternoon, did some work and then watched the US come back from a fantastic 2-0 game to tie up their second World Cup game. I'll tell you what, watching the world cup at a pub in London is pretty cool. I was actually surprised how many Brits were routing for the US at the pub. They are starting to respect our team and giving us some credit.
At the moment, the band is playing "Wanted" at the 7th 02 show. Tomorrow will be the 8th. Before you know it, this month will be over and we will be back in North America doing stadiums!!!
