Quite an early start for some of us today as the plan was to make our regular pilgrimage to the Boss VIP store near Stuttgart. In the end it was myself, Mark, John, Paul and Pete who decided to go. We caught the 09:40 from Frankfurt to Stuttgart and were picked up by Bernie and Fabian, two of our drivers for the 45 minute drive to the factory. Unfortunately, when Fabian started his car a warning light made a suggestion that the car should NOT be driven any further and when we examined the car, the rear suspension appeared to be VERY low. The most amazing thing was that the cars all originated from Stuttgart and it was a mere 20 minutes before a replacement arrived. John made the most of the discounts at Boss and bought a couple of very nice suits. Nothing much for me today apart from a pair of jeans. On to the venue then and the customary assault on catering for lunch.

 



Johnny Ashton (the rigger) spent a fair while up on the truss above my keyboard rig before sound check. Often we encounter 'buzzes' when the gear is switched on and their subsequent elimination is of the utmost importance. Today's 'Earth-Loop' was cured by Johnny isolating some of the lighting power wiring buy literally wrapping them in gauze or some such insulation to prevent the loop. It's sometime not easy to solve these issues but our incredible team of guys always seem to manage it, sometimes without the band even being aware there was ever a problem. Quite incredible when you think about it.



Since we arrived at the venue early, we had an time for a few fab pics from Mike below.





 



These pics sent in from Jan Reiff





The Porsche Arena is attached to the Hanns-Martin Schleyer Halle - with a total capacity of 15,500 visitors the biggest event hall in southern German country - this year celebrates its 25th anniversary.  At the opening in September 1983 she was one of the first multi-function halls in Europe.