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Paris, Texas (well, France actually)
Another night, another awesome gig. And another great team.
Agir Ici were on hand in Paris to campaign for Make Trade Fair. It was the last gig in France, and the band were really on form. And to make things better, there was a great reaction to our volunteer campaigners, who managed to get over 1200 new sign-ups to the Make Trade Fair petition.
posted at 9:07 AM
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The forecast says...expect heavy sign-ups
It's a busy couple of days to end this section of the tour - we've got 3 concerts in 3 days. On Monday night, we were in Lyon at the Tony Garnier Hall - a huge warehouse of a venue. Apparently it's been many things in it's history beside a concert venue, most notably an abattoir! It was very cold on Monday night, inside and outside. But as usual, the campaigning team from Agir Ici rose to the challenge and managed to speak to just about everyone at the gig! By the end of the evening, nearly 1,300 people had joined the Make Trade Fair petition - great work!
Here's a photo of the stand at Lyon - evidence if ever I needed it that it's always a good idea to tell people when you plan to take a photo of them! We were in a prime location right opposite the front doors, so all 12,000 people at the gig saw us as they walked in.
Finally, thanks for the comments - it's great to hear your opinions, and ways to improve the blog. Keep them coming! But don't be shy. Perhaps next week we can set up a live webchat and really discuss properly the art of weather forecasting. Until then, a big smiley 'scorchio' to you all.
posted at 8:54 AM
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Lyon
I'm in Lyon now, ready for tonight's concert here. It's been snowing all weekend, although not quite as badly as in England apparently!
posted at 9:29 AM
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San Sebastian
In San Sebastian, there was one big difference from the day before in Lisbon. It was bitterly cold, and it never stopped raining. Ah well, I suppose it's just getting me prepared for my imminent return to England next week.
In San Sebastian, we were playing at an old velodrome. It still is a velodrome, but it's pretty old and so the crew were having a bit of a nightmare. I was lucky to be well out of their way, with our stall, for the first time, being situated outside at the front doors. Maybe not so lucky - it was freezing! But as I've now come to expect from a team of Intermon volunteers, no-one complained and the team got down to the job in hand.
Spurred on by the competition for 'most sign-ups in Spain' against previous award-holders Barcelona and Madrid, my campaigners worked overtime to break the record. Midway through the evening the total stood at a very impressive 2,000. I'm still waiting for a final count-up, so watch this space.
My evening was spent bringing hot drinks out to the volunteers who were manning the stand. Oh and one other thing - Gwyneth and Apple were at the concert tonight. No introduction as yet, but I'm pretty sure she smiled at me as I walked past (Apple that is, not Gwyneth!).
posted at 9:28 AM
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Late nights, early mornings
For once we were not rushing straight off after the gig, so when I'd cleared everything up I was lucky enough to be taken out to sample Lisbon's nightlife by a few of the Oikos volunteers - Luca, Carla and Isabelle.
I had a great night, despite the constant teasing I suffered at the hands of the two girls. I'm not sure what I did (well, apart from when I mistakenly got their names mixed up...sorry Carla!), but they were laying into me nonetheless! Probably fully deserved I'm sure. Luca kindly gave me a lift back to the hotel as the sun was just thinking about coming up for a new day. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light. I must be getting old, these late nights are really taking their toll!
As arranged the night before, I made my way over to the Oikos office on Thursday morning (well, Thursday lunchtime by the time I got up!) via the beautiful Castelo de Sao Jorge. (Sorry, no photos as your wally of a blogger left his camera at the hotel). I met up once again with Luca, who is completing an internship at Oikos, and Carla and Isabelle (volunteers in the office), as well as Joana and Luis, who both work on the campaigning and advocacy side.
After a quick tour of their beautiful, if a little tumbledown, offices which have a stunning view across Lisbon (I don't think I'd ever get any work done with that outside the window!) we went out for a spot of lunch. It was a chance to compare and contrast the work of Oxfam and Oikos, and we had a very lively discussion on the role of development organisations.
After lunch, I had to hot-foot it back across town just in time to jump on the bus for the mammoth overnight journey to San Sebastian in Spain. Once again though, I felt a tinge of sadness as we left Lisbon - I'd had a great time, thanks to the Oikos staff. I hope that one day I will be able to return all this wonderful hospitality which I have received on tour. Thank you Oikos!
posted at 9:27 AM
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Lisbon
We rolled onto Lisbon and as we got off the bus on Wednesday morning the first thing to notice...blazing sun and a warm breeze. And apparently it's snowing in England?!
In Lisbon I was working with a Portuguese development organisation called Oikos, which is part of GCAP. And sure enough, at 5pm, Joana and her team were waiting outside the venue. Unfortunately I was at the other side setting up the stand, and my radio battery had run out, so it was a little while before I got the message to go outside and meet them - the first of an evening of delays!
Once inside, we got fully prepared and after another of my (tedious) briefings, we were ready. Unfortunately, whoever designed the venue didn't have Oxfam campaigners in mind! It was a beautiful building (the same venue as had hosted the MTV Awards earlier in the tour, and resembling the upturned hull of some huge ship, all built out of beautiful wood) but access from the concourse (where our stand was) to the floor (where most of the punters were) was via a staff lift only. And the security team in Lisbon being like all other security teams I've witnessed on this tour, the only way my volunteers could use this lift was if I accommpanied them.
Cue a frustrating evening of running back and forth from stand to floor delivering anything from more action cards, pens, temporary tattoos and bottles of water to whole sections of the volunteer team. It's never easy is it?! In spite of this, the evening went really well, and once again a 'non-Oxfam' country took me by surprise and produced a whole trolley-load of completed action cards...somewhere around the 1,850 mark! Amazing.
posted at 9:26 AM
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Paloma prepares...
Here's a photo I forgot to put up before of Paloma preparing for the press conference.
posted at 9:24 AM
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I love Madrid too!
Belen is second from the left.
posted at 9:22 AM
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I love Intermon!
By the end of the evening, we had collected a massive 2,300 signatures - a new record! Once again, Madrid had come up trumps, and as I said goodbye to the volunteers and began to pack up the stand, I knew I didn't want to leave this special city. I'd had an incredible time here, and it's somewhere that I hope I see again in the not to distant future. I have one person to thank especially for making my time in Madrid so much fun, and that is Intermon MTF campaigner Belen. She took care of me so well during my stay - muchos gracias Belen!
posted at 9:20 AM
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Madrid
After the success of the press conference, I wasn't sure if things could get any better. Well, that evening at the concert I was proved wrong. Motivated by the earlier triumphs, and in a small way by the desire to outshine Barcelona from the previous night, the team of volunteers in Madrid went sign-up crazy! It was great to see, and a pleasure to be involved. Star of the show was team leader Javier, who was constantly smiling (see photo!).
posted at 9:16 AM
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