So then, festival season is upon us once again. Roadies tend to look forward to festivals like school-kids look forward to exams. A tour like this is a very long-term experience where all of the challenges and snags get worked out and smoothed over with time. Festivals mean taking that huge intricate show that requires a full day to construct normally and trying to bang it together at high speed (good name for a song that…).

Nobody likes a whiner, so I won’t give you a shopping list of complaint. Suffice to say though, that I’m sure the crowds are having the better time here…

Arras is a beautiful setting for a show. A grand old town square in Northern France. The sun slowly disappears behind the rooftops and the windows around the square flicker into light, silhouetting those on the balconies with the best seats in the house.

It’s a very warm night indeed and the French crowd are going utterly berserk well before Coldplay take the stage. The Ting Tings get a riotous reception and as our showtime approaches, they’re Mexican waving, cheering and singing Viva the whole time.

As I’m writing this in Belgium the following day, The Killers are finishing up their set on the stage behind me. This means I should be busy in my other role, fretting over cables and buttons. I’ll have to leave you here and just say it was a top night and hopefully we have another to follow tonight. Here’s a wee clip of Chris dropping a little Michael Jackson tribute into the end of The Hardest Part.

R#42