QUID PRO QUO FRANCE

So here I am Lille France,the first of our french leg and its at the Zenith Arena Lille. Most of the venues we are to play in France are Zeniths these are purpose built arenas which make life a lot easier for all concerned as access lighting rigging every thing is as it should be and very professional,another great gig to about 2500 fans next I am off to Lyon to the most amazing location, the venue we are to play at is one I have visited before. In 2010 I went there with a band called Tokio Hotel and in all fairness it was a bit of a disaster, Tokio hotel had quite recently won the MTV Europe best new comers which is no small feat but !! this then made them believe that they where maybe a little bit bigger than they really where, as a result they went out and hired Take That's old staging and put on a large show, There was eleven trucks on that tour as a result the venues that they had to play where big!! unfortunately the crowds that greeted us where not very big at all... That said the venue Tony Garnier,  is awesome its an old slaughter house and an amazing piece of architecture,I believe the Quo managed to get about 4000 people on our visit there it was a great show,as always Pats lights and the videos and screens where amazing as was the sound in this huge building, it was a really brilliant night, but then you must remember I am still in a bit of a daze at this point.So its load up and on to the next one.

At this point I have to admit that I don't have a great deal to offer on the French leg of the tour as I had not even thought for one moment about having a blog however, I do hope you will stay with me as on the German leg I started making NOTES, yep that's right little snippets of day to day life on the road with THE QUO. So back to the story so far we continue on to Marseille and a little drama on the load in,on this tour there are two other trucks one carrying PA and the other video and lights, the later was driven by another Transam driver called Pusher he is a Legend at Transam and I think was working with the Quo before i even had a driving licence, well when we came to load in to the venue we discover that the ramp is to steep and that the trailor is going to rip off the mud guards on the unit,this is a problem !!

OK so what now !!! the tools come out and in no time at all the mud guards are removed and the load in continues as normal Panic over.We then move on to Toulouse ,Poitiers,Cann, Clair-mont Ferrand not sure of the exact order of each gig and I appologise for any inacuracys, but to cut along story short I complete the French Tour with out incident, the tour was brilliant the support act, was a band Called Willie and the Bandits a trio from Plymouth with a very original Reggy roots sound, excellent bunch of lads really hard working gigging at every opportunity. When we where having days off laying in the French sunshine they where off playing little gigs on route to maybe 70 or 100 people then the next day they are in front of 2 or 3 thousand as the support act for Status Quo. They where great fun and I have kept in touch with them since I returned and they are doing well and will be coming back out on tour with The Quo later in the year, I look forward to catching up with them. So French tour is complete and I am nervously waiting for the phone call from the office lots of nail biting is going on!! and then the call Ring RING... Ahh!! Hello .... Oh they would be happy for me to come back and to be there regular backline tour driver... no problem that would be great ... lovely Thanks...WOOhoo that's it I am on tour with the QUO, I scream to anyone who will listen and so here we are next stop Sweden and three weeks of gigs that will take me to Denmark The Netherlands and Switzerland ......... Bloody Marvelous.       

How it All Began

OK so the phone rings Ding Ding !! Hello yes..... a tour of France with Status Quo... are you kidding that's great....... What.... if they like me and I do ok its possible I may become a permanent member of the Crew.... Excellent don't worry you can count on me I wont let you down... Thanks... Excellent brilliant .. Thanks Thank you ...... Wow.
So there I was a week later in Transam yard in Suffolk, loading up my truck with all the supplies and stuff I think I am going to need for a two week tour of France,with Status Quo, this is gonna be great !!
I collect all the paper work needed, ATA Carnets the paper work that covers all the contents of my truck whilst it is moving around Europe and beyond,itinerary outlining addresses of venues, load in times and load out times.
So first stop Shepperton Studios just outside of London. The Mighty Quo have been rehearsing the line up for the French leg of there QUID PRO QUO tour,the crew are testing all the equipment and set making sure it all work's as it should, so there are no surprises out on the road.
Ok so i need to back round there yep oh and then back down there Gulp !! Not a problem. Three hours later Iam fully loaded and heading for an exclusive sports club in Chealse The Hurlinghan Club.
However I must mention that at Shepperton I was introduced to the Crew the boy that make every thing tick so to speak, Glen Smith Tour Manager, Patrick Marks Lighting Designer,Andy May Front of house sound engineer, Tim Franklin Monitor Engineer , Lloyd Gilbert Guitar Tech, Lance Miles Drum Tech,Andrew Tomkins Keyboard & Bass Tech and Grant Colemen Merchandise.
So that's the gang I hope to introduce you to the boys in more details but must seek there permission to include them in any more depth before I go there.
And so here I am an Eastend boy all parked up in one of the most exclusive sports clubs in the Bourgh of Kensinton and Chelsea,why am I here well Status Quo are the head line act for a charety gig thats being put on by RPJ (Rick Parfitt Junior) All moneys raised go to the Crones foundation, its a great night hosted by Richard Hammond of Top Gear Fame,with some amazing items up for grabs in the charety auction,we did however have a very long push with the equipment as the Hurlingham Club with its trimmed hedges and plush lawns and tennis courts was not designed for 40ft articulated vehicles so I got as near as I could,much to the anoyance of the ladys of the Croucket club!! Oh you cant Possibly be leaving that there !! I was blocking the entry to the ladys croucket club changing rooms, something that I soon remided !!  
Ok thats the first one down its off to France we go Dover here I come,I headed for the Ferry at dover the Band bus and crew bus went via the Euro Tunnel and where probably tucked up in bed in there hotel in Lille before i even set foot of fouren soil, as the Busses can do 100km an hour where my truck is limeted to 88km an hour never mind slowly slowly catch a monkey woop woop to Lille and beyond !!