Page 13

Here’s another past concert programme & ticket memento from my photo book.

Further to yesterday’s post, this is the first of the Jean Michel Jarre concerts that I saw.

His 1988 outdoor Destination Docklands concert in London was beset by numerous problems and challenges. Difficulties in getting the licence approved by Newham Council (and a fire safety sign-off) resulted in the concert changing from one date in September to two consecutive dates a couple of weeks later, in October.

We travelled down by bus and the queue to get into the site seemed endless; there had been a recent postal strike, so the tickets were to be collected on entry at the box office, causing more delay – after travelling all day we got in just as the show was starting. There were so many people that, despite having numbered seats, the stewards were just telling people to sit anywhere in the grandstand. The weather was foul – wet & windy – but the show was just stunning. He played on a specially constructed barge moored in the dock, with massive fireworks synchronised to the music, lasers and World War 2 searchlights lighting the sky and projections on the walls of the huge disused industrial warehouses making reference to the area’s industrial heritage and to swinging ‘60s London.

Taking place just prior to the start of a massive regeneration project for the docklands area, the site of the concert grandstands was on waste ground where the ExCel Centre now stands, looking across that same water to London City Airport.

Definitely one of the most memorable concerts!

The page also shows the site plan leaflet that came with the ticket, and my ticket for a 1997 show at the SECC in Glasgow, for which there was no programme.

Further memories in this series will surely follow…


cover
 
Page 1
 
Pages 2, 3 & 5
 
Page 16
 
Page 14
 
Page 22
 
Page 46 & page 6
 
Page 23
 
Page 42
 
Pages 40 & 41
 
Page 38
 
Page 20
 
Pages 24-25
 
Pages 10 & 11
 
Page 47
 
Pages 34 & 35