Seal @ Moscow, Russia
Tonight's show was in the smart, new, purpose built theatre at Crokus City on the outskirts on Moscow.
The traffic in Moscow is of epic proportions, with even the artist himself falling foul of the jams.
With a full house of energetic fans, the show was one of the best yet.
James
Views from a Train
Of all the train trips I thought I'd take in my life, St. Petersburg to Moscow wasn't one of them.
The view from the window on the trip was such a vastly varied one. Leaving St. Petersburg with it's many stonework buildings, the view quickly turning into builders' yards and sheds ending up with vast forests and fields with a scattering of wooden shacks.
On the route we crossed over quite a few large rivers and passed some vast lakes, all surrounded by huge expanses of trees.
You could see the variations in wealth as the train passed through the regions, some dwellings appear as if they are near collapse while some obviously belonging to the more affluent.
As we neared Moscow, very quickly the yards and sheds appeared, followed by huge swathes of tower blocks, often with little space between them.
Moscow is certainly a world away from St. Petersburg, the area around the train station being very commercial and industrial, with little of the stonework architecture previously seen.
Unfortunately on this trip I wont get to see Red Square, only the traffic jam ridden roads to our venue and accommodation.
Here's looking forward to a good show!
James
Seal @ St. Petersburg, Russia
Basic Monkey is back in St. Petersburg after a year of absence, this time indoors at the city's arena with Seal.
After a lively night in the hotel, serenaded by Markus, Ben and Holly from the band and a night of little sleep due to the 24 hour daylight, we loaded into the ice arena to interface with local suppliers.
The show went smoothly as ever and a last minute influx filled the arena nicely.
James
Seal @ Couleur Cafe Festival, Brussels
After a few days down in Brussels, band and crew rolled into the Couleur Cafe festival, located right in the heart of Brussels city.
The main stage took the form of a giant boom box with circular screens flanking the stage. No LED screen at the back of the stage for this show, content was cut with cameras to the side screens which was tough work considering the interesting shape!
Next stop, Russia!
Seal @ Upa Hall, Vilnius, Lithuania
After a day off in Vilnius, Lithuania we had our second show of the tour at the city's ice rink.
The venue was the first opportunity lighting operator Theo Cox has had to program the show in complete darkness which was a welcome bonus.
Seal went down a treat with the crowd who seemed to love the classics and welcome his more recent material.
Next stop is Brussels where some of the crew have a break before our next show on Sunday at the Couleur Cafe Festival.
Seal @ Watergate Festival, Parnu, Estonia
Tonight was the first show of Seal's Summer 2011 European tour in Parnu, Estonia. With a packed crowd under the late evening sun, his performance was full of energy and the band played with true finesse.
Basic Monkey's new touring Catalyst system integrated seamlessly with the LED screen provided by Eventech and was triggered by the lighting console, operated by Theo Cox.
Theo is ably covering for show lighting designer Sean Burke who will be joining the tour further down the line. Tony Fagan is managing contact on site with local lighting suppliers.
Next stop is Vilnius, Lithuania by plane after a morning to relax in the beautiful town of Parnu.
Hello from Tallinn
Straight off a plane and to the rehearsal studios to meet the team.
First impressions of Estonia from the back of the minibus are far from expectations. Tallinn is a modern, fast developing and picturesque city. I was expecting to see stereotypical ex Eastern Bloc but instead was greeted by something very Scandinavian.
Beautiful old buildings surrounded by new, smart developments sit either side tree lined streets. The view out to the Baltic sea on this lovely, warm summer day is stunning although Tallinn being the busy port that it is, means an unfortunate smattering of container ships.
Today is a chance for introductions as I wait for my kit to arrive.
James
Hello from Tokyo!
After a hugely successful and hectic week in Paris, I've arrived in Tokyo for my last involvement with the Thomson Reuters Eikon launch campaign this year.
Sunday was a long day, starting at the Halle Freyssinet to pack up video city, followed by two trains and a bus to get to Charles de Gaulle airport. Short flight to London Heathrow (I was asleep before we left the stand) and then across to T3 to enjoy the BA lounge. The flight was with JAL with fantastic service, although I couldn't seem to get to sleep for the life of me on the 12 hour flight. After finishing off a TV series and a few bottles of white wine and a brandy, I had a 30 minute doze just as we landed.
The hotel is very smart, with cleverly designed rooms that make best use of their small size. Oh and the standard computerised toilet! The photo above is the view from my full height window.
I'm off to site in an hour or so to see the LED arches go up and start looking at content.
James
Thomson Reuters Eikon “Go Live”, London
Yesterday, after a long flight back from New York with no sleep, I headed straight to the hotel to catch up on some much needed rest.
After waking I headed over to the site of the London "Go Live" launch of Eikon, where Tim Riley and the team from XL Video were busy building the complex MiTrix arches.
Today was a day of rehearsals for Hugh Davies-Webb who was running the show using Catalyst and a Hog 3 lighting console. I was on site simply to shadow him and take lessons learned to the New York and Tokyo shows.
The show went seamlessly although issues with video playback from Keynote became apparent so on my events abroad, I'll play these direct from Catalyst.
James
Visit to XL Video’s LED Boutique, New York
Today I had the pleasure of visiting XL Video's very smart and comprehensive "LED LAB" in New York.
The purpose of the operation is to show event and concert designers what technology is available to them in the world of creative video.
In the showroom, which is high up in an office building in midtown New York is a huge variety of LED displays from all the big players including Barco, Hibino and Pixled, and also some emerging brands.
It was great to see what was out there, a fair few of the products I had never seen before. These included the magnetic screen which can be fixed to any suitably prepared steel surface, and can even curve in one axis!
The whole room is run via a d3 media server so that all products are showing a continuous image over varying resolutions, very impressive in itself.
Leaving the showroom I can feel the effect it has, I want some of those toys on my next event...
James
