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

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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

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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

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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

Basic Monkey has been asked to supply our new dual touring Catalyst system for Seal's Summer European tour starting tomorrow.

James will be accompanying the tour, looking after the system and interfacing with locally provided LED screens and projectors.

The tour starts in Estonia, working back across Europe down towards Portugal with a few days in Russia in between, finishing at the end of July in Poland.

Our new dual touring system is completely self contained, only requiring power and screen outputs to be connected. UPS, monitor, processing, multi-viewer, DAs and monitor are all within the rack to reduce truck space and enable swift load-ins.

Keep checking back for updates over the next 5 weeks!

For two days this week, James has been in Wakefield at Litestructures' "LS-Live" venue to set-up and help program the Catalyst systems that will be touring with McFly for the next 3 weeks.

XL Video are providing the systems along with the F11 back and riser screens and MiSTRIP stage.

James has been working closely with Dan from THC Design, who normally uses Mbox media server, to integrate the Catalyst content in with his lighting show.

Tomorrow is the first show in Sheffield and James will be around for any last minute changes and to make sure the first show goes well. Steve from XL Belgium will be looking after the systems for the rest of the tour.

Can you spot the cheeky Basic Monkey in the photos?

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It can be pretty hard work on tour sometimes. You can get shows that are a real push to get ready in time, with huge problems and lots of stress. Sometimes, however, you have shows that are just an absolute pleasure...

With no more than 3 hours of sleep after Werchter, everyone was a little tired to say the least at 9am, but the load in was made nice and easy by the very capable and friendly local crew. We were done by lunchtime and ready to clear the stage for the support band. This is when we discovered that the production company had built a temporary swimming pool at the back of the stage. Added to this, the local crew with a bit of spare scaffolding, had built a diving board!

The rest of the day was filled with naps, dips, snacks and a very mellow vibe.

The show went without a hitch and went down a storm with the 19,000 strong crowd who were already on a high from Holland winning 2-1 against Brazil. Maxi gave the crowd a further boost by appearing on stage wearing a Holland football top for the encore, welcomed by deafening cheers and applause.

Gig to remember!

James

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