Full Docklands Live and Loud! Restoration Now Uploaded

[Flip Martian]

It gives me great pleasure to finally be able to present a restoration of the first of the 2 nights at Docklands London, in October 1988. This joins the other JMJ live restorations on the site - Lyon, Paris La Defense and the 12 Dreams Millennium Eve concert. This is an audience recording of the full gig.

As always you can download this for free from the page below. Merry Christmas to you all.

http://www.liveandloudshows.com/2021/12 ... lands.html

[Finaero]

Thanks, man

Kind of sad how after all these years, an audience recording from the second night still hasn't surfaced. IIRC, the only "real" major (musical) difference between the two nights (aside from probably some of the percussions and the JMJ/Hank Marvin chatter - including what JMJ says after RV4 (second night) which I can never remember, and the way I hear it sounds very rude ) is that on the second one, the last part of Ethnicolor featured a Dominique Perrier solo based on the Lyon album version (wouldn't necessarily say that it was a new live one, but definitely not the exact same solo - the lead sound is different for example)

[Richard-Eastham]

Thanks! This is great news.

[Flip Martian]

Thanks, man

Kind of sad how after all these years, an audience recording from the second night still hasn't surfaced. IIRC, the only "real" major (musical) difference between the two nights (aside from probably some of the percussions and the JMJ/Hank Marvin chatter - including what JMJ says after RV4 (second night) which I can never remember, and the way I hear it sounds very rude ) is that on the second one, the last part of Ethnicolor featured a Dominique Perrier solo based on the Lyon album version (wouldn't necessarily say that it was a new live one, but definitely not the exact same solo - the lead sound is different for example)

That's an interesting one. The story I was told (apparently sourced from someone working on the shows) was that they were meant to be "play back + live instruments over the top". The 2nd night (in the rain) ended up all playback given how dangerous it was to switch on electronic gear during heavy rain. No idea how true that is, of course - just another story.

[Finaero]

Thanks, man

Kind of sad how after all these years, an audience recording from the second night still hasn't surfaced. IIRC, the only "real" major (musical) difference between the two nights (aside from probably some of the percussions and the JMJ/Hank Marvin chatter - including what JMJ says after RV4 (second night) which I can never remember, and the way I hear it sounds very rude ) is that on the second one, the last part of Ethnicolor featured a Dominique Perrier solo based on the Lyon album version (wouldn't necessarily say that it was a new live one, but definitely not the exact same solo - the lead sound is different for example)

That's an interesting one. The story I was told (apparently sourced from someone working on the shows) was that they were meant to be "play back + live instruments over the top". The 2nd night (in the rain) ended up all playback given how dangerous it was to switch on electronic gear during heavy rain. No idea how true that is, of course - just another story.

Oh yeah, I actually managed to source the "second night" video that I mentioned:
viewtopic.php?t=6242

The Ethnicolor solo starts at


and JMJ's post-RV4 line ("Thank you, Great Britain"?) that I referred to is around


(That said, the video definitely combines audio footage from some other sources as well, Magnetic Fields 2 sounds like it's from one of the radio broadcasts)

(Also, I guess I should fix my line to "a full audience recording from the second night" )

[Finaero]

Also, this recording once again reminds me of how brilliant the unique Docklands ending to Equinoxe 7 is

[Flip Martian]

I would be quite wary of using the tv broadcast (which was broadcast later on and not live) as a reference for any audio to be honest. Especially during long shots where you can't see anyone. One article I read stated they only recorded the 2nd night but there were issues with it, so overdubbing/audio replacement etc had to be done for the tv broadcast. I'd love to see a cut of the unedited video footage with the original audio. Probably long gone though.

[AERO62]

I think I have some kind of tv broadcast version of docklands on video. But it's identical to VHS as far as I remember.

[Finaero]

IIRC, the most cohesive bit of footage not (entirely, if anything) seen in the concert video can be seen in this relatively recently uploaded clip: viewtopic.php?p=197818#p197818

(The audio is obviously added in afterwards)

[Synner]

Mr Martian (or may I call you Flip?)

You have made my day (if not my Christmas) with this Docklands upload.

It didn't sound that good on the night - I know, as I was one of those voices you can hear cheering - I may also have been the one that made the radio recording we've all been listening to all these years (well, my brother, as I was at the gig, he was at home recording the BBC broadcast)

On your version, you can actually HEAR Equinoxe V - on the night, the echo was so bad the notes blended together (that wasn't just the radio broadcast, by the way, it actually DID sound like that live).

So, some 33 years later, I finally get to HEAR the concert!

[AERO62]

Mr Martian (or may I call you Flip?)

You have made my day (if not my Christmas) with this Docklands upload.

It didn't sound that good on the night - I know, as I was one of those voices you can hear cheering - I may also have been the one that made the radio recording we've all been listening to all these years (well, my brother, as I was at the gig, he was at home recording the BBC broadcast)

On your version, you can actually HEAR Equinoxe V - on the night, the echo was so bad the notes blended together (that wasn't just the radio broadcast, by the way, it actually DID sound like that live).

So, some 33 years later, I finally get to HEAR the concert!

II wonder what was causing all the echoing ?

[Flip Martian]

Mr Martian (or may I call you Flip?)

You have made my day (if not my Christmas) with this Docklands upload.

It didn't sound that good on the night - I know, as I was one of those voices you can hear cheering - I may also have been the one that made the radio recording we've all been listening to all these years (well, my brother, as I was at the gig, he was at home recording the BBC broadcast)

On your version, you can actually HEAR Equinoxe V - on the night, the echo was so bad the notes blended together (that wasn't just the radio broadcast, by the way, it actually DID sound like that live).

So, some 33 years later, I finally get to HEAR the concert!

And...this is why I do these things. When people take the time to say thanks and why that concert means something to them.

I was there that night too - several hundred yards down river, sat on a make shift stand which probably wouldn't pass health and safety these days, listening to the gig through the PA horn allocated to our area. Everything sounded like an old loud transistor radio. Sound was awful, where we were. Good view of the projections and fireworks but I much prefer listening to this than the reality of being there. And I'm not even going to start on the 6 hour trip it took us to get home in west London...!

Appreciate the positivity, anyway, thank you.

[Flip Martian]

II wonder what was causing all the echoing ?

Poor acoustics, ultimately. Depending on where you stand at any gig, the sound reaches you slightly differently. Open air, river, the sound could go anywhere and bounce off anything...

[Flip Martian]

I think I have some kind of tv broadcast version of docklands on video. But it's identical to VHS as far as I remember.

It was the same. And featured some sound added later, due to tech issues on the night (they recorded the 2nd of the 2 nights for that one).

[Synner]

As I recall, there were speaker stacks on every crane up and down the dock. And they weren't in sync, which didn't help.

Plus the sound would also bounce back off the enormous buildings either side.

Quite why the radio broadcast ALSO sounded like that is a mystery though, you would have thought it would have taken the feed coming direct off the mixing desk, but it would seem they mixed in their own mics across the dock for crowd noise ambience, amplifying the echo.

One of the reasons Jarre would broadcast the show via the local radio station - so those at a distance could hear it in time with the visuals.
A great boon for the recorder equipped fan too.

I was stood in front of the stage, about half way between it and the grandstand whose apparently slipshod construction very nearly caused the show to be cancelled (there was safety inspection just before the show, I gather) - directly in line with the man himself, so the laser harp shone directly over my head. As a result, I saw little to nothing of the projections - never mind, thought I - I'd see them on the TV broadcast. Little did I know the TV cameras were shooting more or less over my head from the very same grandstand. Although the broadcast seemed to be mainly from the second night.

Still, I would love to see an unedited version of the TV broadcast - I still consider the butchery of Industrial Revolution and Revolutions on the official release to be crimes against humanity - the latter was one of the greatest live performances I've seen of Jarre's - with the song going on and on - and just when you thought it had ended - Jarre punched the air 'yelled' Revolution! - and went round again. Goose bump city.