Travis

   
Friday, March 22, 2002
Dockland Arena, London, UK

Support: Doves
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Reviews: 6 Post Review
raven798 Posted: 28-09-04 8:57
hi again, went to the sheffield arena gig a few days before and craved more so got on ebay and got tickets for this one, with the intent to get to the front. scived off work early and joined 2nd in the cue behind the devoted (german?) girls who had been the only members of the queue for about 6 hours! mission accomplished and dashed to the front and took up position in front of Fran. Got some cool photos which I will upload, included me on the far left of one of the front row shots! you'll see the german girls and Lucy and Sarah on there too i think. Excellent show, Lucy did the Coming Around playstation game (s she had prepared for in the previous days since her last gig, she failed though but I think it was all a blur and she couldnt remember any of it! cool photo from the web team of her doing it though. We got the Slideshow - slideshow which is always a cool chill out song, and we were treated to the Sing Dance remix over the PA while Fran did a very camp YMCA style dance to it. Oh and to our delight we got More Than Us (after getting I love your Anywayz at Sheffield). Only other thing I remember is Doves getting well narked with the London crowd who did not get into them at all. They did exactly do much to help that though! Plus I noticed insheffield their equipment so was crap you couldnt here any of the singin/words at all...which also probably didn't help. Anyway, great memories of my first gig in the front row!. Ryan
Trixi Posted: 29-09-04 9:49
In late january the news said Travis are planning to make a break and I just thought "aww noooo!!!" I was so down, because if a band says they?ll make a break you never know if they?ll ever come back or if they come back maybe 20 years later as old men who?re trying to sell their old hits once more :s I rang up my friend Julia from Berlin and told her that I'm planning to go to London and asked her if she?ll join for (maybe the last one)a Travis concert. She said yes and called another friend (Monique) who said also yes directly. No sooner said than done...we booked flights and tickets, Hotel and stuff and were pretty excited. We looked so forward to see Travis in the UK for once. :D
We had no idea how famous Travis are in Britain and how early we had to be at the venue to still make it in the front row. In the end we were so excited that we arrived at the Dockland Arena at - don't laugh! - 8 o?clock in the morning ? yes, that stupid we?d been. *blushes* But it was okay, we had enough drink and food and a brilliant mood *laughs* All the ppl who passed by looked confused at the display panel of the arena who would gonna play that night or they only smirked at us as if we were aliens *lol* (...thank goodness nobody knows me there ;)) About 12 a couple (...I think it was a couple) came along and talked to us a little, asked where we?re from and how long we?re waiting already and stuff and then they said something like okay, see ya in 6 hours...how depressing *lol* ALRIGHT?we were wrong about the fan base in Britain, haha.;) (btw. I think it was you, Ryan. I read your review and I remember we talked to eachother later in the front row, too and I remember that you and your girlfriend were very nice :-) - if you are the one in the blue shirt with the white stripes on the side).
About 4 in the afternoon two girls joined us...Lucy and Sarah and little by little the place in front of the venue filled up with fans. The English fans seemed pretty relaxed but as soon as the doors opened they ran like devils and we had to do to make it in the front row ? but hey, we deserved it, after all we hang around the entire day there ! ;-D...stupid us...what an irony it had been if we didn?t made it in the front, haha...anyway. Doves supported this time and I really liked some songs of them, especially "Caught by the river" ? beautiful!...but in the end I was so exhausted that I couldn?t wait them to get finished ? sorry :-s Before Travis came up on stage we talked to a few ppl and it was soooo interesting to have only English speaking ones around us..even if I couldn?t understand all they said...not even by half. Right in front of us there was standing a big green plastic dustbin and I asked Lucy what?s this all about and she said you?ll see, you?ll love it. She said some more but I couln?t understand everything, maybe she told me this secret yet ;-)
Alright, enough pre-story...finally Travis came on stage and it became so loud in the arena. They started with "Sing". I never saw Travis playing in such a huge arena before. It was amazing. The second song was "Good Feeling" which I really enjoyed, I like the piano parts in it. "Pipe Dreams" and "As You Are" followed and all my pain in the back I had before was vanished. That?s the magic of a Travis show :-) Next one was "Driftwood"...unfortunately I can?t remember so many details of this show, that?s pretty annoying because it was so ace that you don?t want forget a single minute.
"The Fear" was next and I remember that both me and Julia thought it was "Good day to die" first place and sometime between the first and the second verse we looked each other like Oh...it?s the fear, not Good day to die ! haha. I think it was because they played it in a rocky way ? which was new but very cool!!! :-D "Side" and "Last train" followed and then the wonderful, unique, amazing and whatever else *drum-roll* More than us, awww, I was so happy about that song. "Follow the light" was next and...I don?t know...this song just makes everyone smiling and jumping around. I remember the screen behind the band showed a funny clip during this song, where you can see Fran lying on top of a driving car holding tight at the roof and the clip was played in fast motion...that made us really laugh. We were hopng it?s gonna be the next video for "Follow the light" but it shouldn?t be, anyway...afterwards Fran put his foot at the loud speaker and put his guitar on his knee and I just knew which song is coming now...Turn, of course! What?s a Travis-gig without that song ?!? "Flowers in the window" and "Humpty Dumpty love song" followed and the light in "Humpty dumpty love song" is always so magical...you only see silhouettes of the band because the light comes from behind the band and shines into the crowd. Wow. Fran began "WDIAROM?" by pretending to play the cello on his guitar again and everyone in the arena was celebrating. It was strange for us Germans ? the English crowd is different than the German crowd...not better or worse, just different so it was fun to attend a concert there. I remember somebody threw a thong men-underwear on the stage and Fran said that he actually wears boxer shorts and threw it to one of the crew (..I don?t remember the name) who pulled it over his Jeans, haha..that was very funny x-) In the beginning of "Slideshow" the dustbin was opened and a HUGE white screen raised out of it and obscured the whole stage so you only could see the shadows of the band yet. As soon as the sreen was raised completely I could see nothing but?WHITE *lol*...I had this thing right in front of my nose and even if I leaned back I couln?t see anything of the pictures that were projected on it. I only could here ppl laughing, cheering and whistling during the song and also Fran chuckled from time to time while he sang. I just thought, aw noo, what?s up there???? I wanna see it too!!! ;-D Must be very funny. The first time in my life I wished to be way in the back at a concert, hehe. "Blue flashing light" was the last one before the encore break. The crowd was cheering impatiently and Travis came back. Dougie sang a wonderful cover from Elton John ? "Rocket man". I didn?t know that one before but I really liked it, that song really fitted on Dougie :-)
"All I want to do is rock" was next and it made all wanna do rock !!! the crowd went crazy.
For the next song they had a Playstation game on the sreen behind them (I don?t know this the name, it was a car race) and Fran asked who?s good at that...many arms raises and everybody screamed *lol* but Lucy next to us should be the lucky one. She came up to the stage and was handed this...*shrugs* joystick or gamepad or whatever it calls and "Coming around" began, woohoo, truly cool. She had to play this race during the whole song, that was fun and after the song Fran asked the crowd. Was she good? I didn?t see it. Of course she was. Fran gave her his pick and she was the happiest girl in the world ;-) The last song for this night was Happy and it was soooo great. I remember I had to stop jumping in between because I was totally out of breath. That was another great concert and after Travis went off the stage I was lucky enough to get one of the Setlists and a yellow pick of Fran...nice memories :-)
I was sooo knackered I had problems to keep up on my feet ? I could hang myself over a fence at that point, I tell you. After the concert we went right to Heathrow (where I fainted btw *lol* I'm such a washout! had to drink a coke to get up on my feet again) and flew back to Germany in the early morning. It was a great experience for us to see Travis live in England, that?s for sure. :-)
Claire1985 Posted: 19-10-04 6:12
My first Travis gig and I loved it! Want to go to more but sadly money and travel do not allow!

I heard that Travis once did a gig at the Sugarhouse in Lancaster (the Uni run club) so sad I wasn't here for that - please come back here again!
Lawie Posted: 12-12-04 2:45
I just want you to know that you made a young girl very, very happy when you played 'More Than Us'. I cried. And - again - tis a good thing.
Travis Web Team Posted: 25-07-05 12:20
On entering Fran's room yesterday I thought he had been kidnapped and I was intruding on the scene of the crime. The contents of his suitcase were strewn the length and breadth of the hotel room.

But my would be abductee soon emerged from the bathroom wearing a now familiar tour expression, a sort of blissed out fatigue.

The room was a pretty sound metaphor for our state of minds too as we approached the final date in London. No matter how hard you try, the fatigue eventually gets you in the end, and violent struggles with suitcases are often a tell tale sign, or a result of, by now, cursory packing techniques.

Travelling around with all this stuff is never easy, my laptop is begining to groan under the filesize of all the imagery that is being downloaded to it, and everyone is increasingly doing the pocket dance.

The pocket dance begins as soon as you have closed the door of your hotel room/flat/dressing room/tourbus etc, and is accompanied by a missing heartbeat as you fret that you've locked yourself out or your wallet/passport/keys/laminate in. This results in a strange jiggy routine of pocket patting, the duration of which is governed by your number of pockets.

A day off was obviously in order. And the rest of Thursday disappears in travelling and sleeping. On Friday at around 1.45 we are picked up and driven through the concrete maze of London's Docklands to the arena where the last show will be played.

We enter the through the stagedoor and walk out into the enormous space where the soundcheck is ready to go. Hellos are said to Jonny, Nick, Adey and the rest of the crew and there's a strange muted atmosphere about this last run through.

I take the opportunity to get onstage and take some shots of the band and equipment before tonights show and am pleased to see that Travis' taste in stickers and enigmatic messages is still going strong.

The production office and the dressing room are far apart here so I take a trip along to say hello on this last night. Production is as busy as ever lists and passes are being made and distributed under Helen's strict command!

I meet up with the rest of the band in catering, and we enjoy our last dinner from Popcorn ( the catering company) - who have kept us alive in style over the last few weeks. Such is the sadness of this parting that many go the full 3 course distance.

Andy gets a late birthday present from Fran - Pro-Tools for his computer to record and mix tracks. Fran has recently been playing with this setup at home and wants to get Andy in the loop too. Then it's up to the dressing room to while away the next couple of hours.

Fran has plenty to keep him busy as he assembles all the passport sized polaroids he has taken of everyone involved with the tour which will be made into a giant thank you card. Something which he did first on the Dido tour of last year.

Giles is soon roped in to the art session and Nick meanwhile models a nice line in Travis commemorative tour satchels that seem to have appeared out of nowhere!

At around 7.15pm word reaches the dressing room that there is a group of unruly people approaching the door and sure enough Remy Zero are upon us and there is a warm reunion for the two bands who now go back a long way. The Remys are also joined by the Brian Bell,guitarist of Weezer who the Remys are currently supporting on tour.

After some catching up Remy Zero go down to the arena to catch The Doves who have earned a lot of admirers during this tour. Pete goes into his familiar 15 min routine and we've even got time for a picture before heading down towards the stage.

Even the Travis huddle has a final twist to it as an ass cheek instead of a shoulder is gripped by each member of the band before going out and facing the crowd.

The crowd are slow to start but soon loosen up as the set goes on, and many people involved with the tour are sidestage looking on and enjoying this last gig.

I attempt a few shots I have had in mind for a couple of dates but as yet have failed to take, including the blink and you'll miss it last train which appears head on at the very start of the song.

Andy who is always exciting to photograph doesn't disappoint either and it's more a question of if my digital camera can keep up with him.The main set is also a blur and in what seems like no time at all we're into the last songs.

Dougie shows a commanding mastery of Rocket Man by now and the crowd cheer their approval. Lucy is chosen as our final Gran Turismo driver during Coming Around and puts in a good race though due to some technical glitch we're on a different track to the one which can be completed by the length of the song.

The band rev up for the classic Happy to close the show and the full size of the crowd becomes apparent as the lights all over the arena are switched on for the final moments of the song.

Travis applaud the crowd and throw their various towels, plectrums and water bottles to the eager moshpit. With Andys amp still audible they are off the stage through the drapes and on their way to the dressing room where they can wind down, have a drink and toast a very sucessful and enjoyable tour.

Travis have played to nearly 180,000 people over the last 4 weeks, and would like to thank everyone who came along to the shows and made each night special.

See you next time.
snoozingphil2 Posted: 30-05-07 11:12
fantastic gig loads of ppl bundled into the arena great time and spent oopps too much money on merchandise too ahh well all was worth it

Setlist:
Sing
Good Feeling
Writing to Reach You
Pipe Dreams
As You Are
Driftwood
The Fear
Side
Last Train
More Than Us
Follow the Light
Turn
Flowers in the Window
The Humpty Dumpty Love Song
Why Does It Always Rain On Me?
Slide Show
Blue Flashing Light

Rocketman
All I Want To Do Is Rock
Coming Around
HappY
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