Back to the studio again with Ryan. He worked with both artists again, before the show. Then off to the venue, where we got to meet Mr. Jon Bon Jovi himself in the dressing room, right before our set. He was nice, normal, and totally friendly and cool. After the show, there were some frumpy faces and sad goodbyes, as my time of rocking had come to an end. Then: hotel bar! Too much food, lots of wine, and great guys. They’ll never know how much my time with them means to me.
Teddertabulous.
Approaching the O2.
With Eddie before the show.
Walking offstage again. Last one.
Andy and Drew's sad goodbye. Complete with sweaty camera lense.
So, I handed my camera to Eden, and asked if she could just grab a little footage of us playing for posterity. She filmed the whole show. Because she’s one of the awesome people in the world. Thanks Eden!: YouTube – OneRepublic live at the O2 Arena filmed by Eden.
Spent the day catching up on rest and things internetted. Back to the O2 for soundcheck. Caught some of Bon Jovi’s soundcheck, and watched them work through a cover of “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones. Bon Jovi = real band. No backing tracks. Just dudes rocking. We played the show, this time using “Shout” by Tears For Fears as our cover instead of “7 Nation Army”. Much better response from the crowd.
Getting ready for soundcheck
Just before showtime.
What Zach normally sees.
Walking offstage.
After the show, I got to tag along with Ryan as he headed back to the studio. He was booked there during the day with one artist, and at night after the show with another. We stopped in at a pub for a pint, and then I watched him work with BC Jean into the wee hours. Because while you sleep, he’s working. Always. The studio was painted in the early 90′s by the guy who did the cover artwork for “Never Mind The Bullocks”.
Pub time. You can drink your beer on the street until 9pm.
Strongroom Studio.
While we were there, a videographer was shooting promotional material for BC Jean. Watch for me in the background, dorking around (Dancing and eating at the same time. Brilliant):
Day off in London. Pub. Sights. Abbey Road. Nobu (unbelievably good). Then a bit of clubbing at some crazy hot spot where we met up with a couple of guys from the band The Script, with a life-threatening cab ride back to the hotel.
The opening scene of this video is silly, strange and perhaps unflattering. But band-merchandiser Jared Gray makes me laugh all the time, and this is just a simple example of why.
The truth about the show is that the Bon Jovi crowd was only mildly and selectively won over by us. For the few that invested themselves, it was a great show, though.
Oh, and the reason I refer to “Stayin’ Alive”: the last two days on the bus, our driver had on a Bee Gees DVD of some sort for us to wake up to. He loves the Bee Gees, and needed us to know that:
