Sean Lennon / UK + European tour with Air
Live recording from Shepherds Bush Empire
2nd November 1998
I joined Grand Royal in July 1998 and within a few months went on the road with Sean Lennon who was supporting Air to promote the release of the ‘Into The Sun’ album. It was a fascinating tour to be around and the additional musicians for both artists seem to have been borrowed from Beck‘s touring band (Smokey Hormel, Roger Manning, and Justin Meldal-Johnsen) and Cibo Matto (Yuka Honda, Timo Ellis, and Duma Love). On all the tours I have been on, there’s always a moment within the set where I stop whatever I am doing to watch a key part of the show. On this tour, this included when Beth Hirsch came onstage in Paris to sing ‘All I Need’ with Air. A beautiful song that was delivered with stunning perfection and adored by an extremely respectful Parisian crowd. There were tears all round, especially from Beth, as the song finished. The show at Shepherds Bush Empire on the 2nd Nov was recorded by Radio One on their mobile unit at the expert hands of the wonderful Miti. For some reason, I don’t remember anything about this show but I do remember the show the previous evening at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane(!)
Also on this tour, we were asked to take photos of the various dates and write a tour diary for Dazed and Confused which was published in January 1999. This was my first, and only, photo credit that I received for a piece in a recognised publication. Lots of fantastic memories and stories from this tour which included Yoko Ono and Sam Havadtoy coming along for a few of the shows in the UK, Germany, and Ireland. I’m claiming that I was the first person to buy Sean ‘fish & chips’ in a chippy in Manchester which I’m extremely proud of to this day.
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