Peter Gabriel's
Europe Tour
Spring / Summer 2004

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Page Four
Dortmund Production Rehearsals

May 3, Dortmund

Hotel- terrible. What does a band want from a hotel? Well, of course everyone's different, but generally the guys I tour with would like a room that's got a bit of character. And an internet connection is a big plus. (Worst of all, though, is when they say they have wireless in all the rooms, or in the lobby, and it doesn't work at all - better to not waste your time trying to get it to work.)
A hotel gym that has some useful excersize equipment is nice - often you find a pool with one or two jogging machines next to it.

Ah well, I'll write more about hotels when we're in a nice one. This hotel will be home for three more nights.

Today we began production rehearsals. Quite a different affair than the music only rehearsing we did in Bath. The big round stage has been set up in the arena we'll be playing at on Wednesday. But many of the production crew are new to the show, and not having done it last tour, they need a lot of practice to get all the stage moves right.

And we're adding some new songs to the set. Some, like San Jacinto, will need new lighting effects. The band is solid on that, and Burn You Up, but on others, like White Ashes and BabyMan, we need more rehearsal too.

The first rehearsal today went very long - we quit at midnight, still with plenty of issues to resolve (I say "we" quit, meaning the band. Peter stayed on to work some more.







May 4, Day two - more running through the songs, practicing the stage and lighting moves. Things are moving a bit better today.







Not such a long work day, but we're sure looking forward to playing the show.



I'll continue with a separate page for the first show.