Sean Lennon Photos

So, a few weeks late, and in some cases even months, but photos are up. If you go to the photos page at tompambrun.com, you can see pics from the shows dating back to December, as well as some highlights from incredible cities around the world, such as Barcelona, Paris, Zagreb, Prague, Moscow, Tel Aviv, etc... Some of them are great, some didn't turn out so well, but they're all there for your viewing pleasure. There's a total of about 125 albums on my site now, from all kinds of shows, events, etc... so make sure you have a bit of time to kill...

Sean Lennon Tour Highlights

So, now that I've had all of one day to think about the last 5 weeks, I thought I'd share some highlights. I'm sure I don't remember everything, but whatever... If you doubt me, re-read the last 40 or so entries... If you want to see another category, email me. I'll probably throw more things up as I remember them, and eventually, I'll post all my pictures. There's a couple thousand (literally) so your patience is appreciated. And now, in total random order...

Best Meal: Unknown Restaurant in Lisbon. Incredible salad, beef and wine.

Best Coffee: St. Peter's Cafe in Munich.

Best Show: Bush Hall in London.

Best Venue: La Cigale in Paris.

Best City: Tel Aviv, purely on shock factor, otherwise, Barcelona. I'll be back...

Best Building: The Kremlin, Sagrada Familia close 2nd.

Best Night: Barcelona: good dinner, riot at the absinthe bar, late night guided tour, listening session of new, unfinished SL songs.

Best Souvenir: Beer stein from Munich, Hard Rock Cafe shirt from Moscow.

Best Beer: Boar's Head Ale in Zurich.

Best Wine: 1998 St. Emillion Grand Cru in Bordeaux.

Best Olives: Barcelona, La Fonda restaurant.

Best Drive: Switzerland to Barcelona.

Best Flight: St. Petersburg to Tel Aviv.

Best Airport: Not Pearson. Ever. Ben Guiron in Tel Aviv was ok...

Best Beach Cafe: Alcohol on the Beach, Tel Aviv

Best Hotel: Sofitel Munich

Best Hotel Shower: La Terass, Paris. 3 Showerheads with individual temperature control!!!

Best Local Experience: Happy Hour In Milan.

Best Subway System: Milan

Best Vodka: Russian Standard

Sean Lennon Day 38, Tel Aviv, ISR

6:30am lobby call comes fast and hits hard. Not fun. We had to pack all our gear into 2 vans and head out to the airport, where we had to go through extensive security, opening every case and explaining what all the gear did. So, by the time all that was done, it was about 8:45am. We then said some brief goodbyes, as the band was traveling on a different airline than I was and they had an earlier flight. I then had the privilege of waiting an extra hour for Air Canada to open for check-in, then I had to wait almost 3 more hours for my flight, so I killed time by doing a bit of shopping in the duty free area. Good times...

So I get on the plane, and I must have done something purely evil in life, because there were not one, not two, not three, but four (!!!!) wailing babies in the row in front of me. On a 13.5 hour flight!!! When one started wailing, they'd all kick in and it was absolutely painful. Then, after surviving that nightmare, I get to Pearson (my most hated enemy in all of travel), and I find out I have to claim my bags, go through customs and clear security again, and I only have a 1 hour stopover. With 20 mins to go, my bags show up, the handle breaks of my tool box and I pick it all up and hobble away to recheck, reclear and run to the gate. Made it with 2 minutes to spare. Once I got out of there, all was good and I made it home, remarkably undamaged, just thoroughly exhausted. And I got a pizza with pepperoni on it, which you have to understand is incredible because the Europeans don't do that. It's salami everywhere.

And so, another trek across the world comes to an end. I now have a little bit of time off, then at the end of March I head out across the US, work permits permitting of course... Stay tuned.

Sean Lennon Day 37, Tel Aviv, ISR

Today was one of those days where we realized how lucky we are to have jobs like this. Our early morning trek to Jerusalem was entirely worth the lack of sleep. I had the chance to see every major religious historical site, including touching the Wailing Wall and putting my hand in the hole in the rock that held up the crucifix. Insane.

After walking around for 4 hours (yes, my description was the abridged version), we headed back to Tel Aviv, had lunch on the beach and went to Hangar 11 for the show.

It was by far the best of the tour. About 3000 people were in attendance; it was like playing a small arena. Only had to come all the way to T-A to experience that.

With feelings of sorrow and self-pity, we went back to the hotel after the show (which was a late start to begin with) because we have a 6:30am lobby call to head to the airport and fly back to the cruel reality that is snow and negative temperatures. At least now I know where my winter vacation will be next year...

Sean Lennon Day 36, Tel Aviv, ISR

Our second day in Tel Aviv began far too early with a 9am lobby call to head over to the venue. We had to do an early load in and soundcheck today, because Friday 4pm-Sat. 6pm is the Sabbath, so the Israelis can't work. Fine with us, it got us a full night off.

After we were done at Hangar 11, we had the chance to walk up and down the shore of the Mediterranean, and later on we had dinner at a beachside restaurant. Quite good. So far all the food has been amazing. After that, the promoters brought us to a place called Whiskey-A-Go-Go, something I never thought I'd see outside LA, for the rest of the night. It was a pretty good time, met lots of cool Israelis, continued the Russian influence of vodka, etc...

We didn't last overly long though... In the morning it's out the door by 9am to head to Jerusalem for a day of sightseeing before the show.

Tel Aviv Appendix

It’s about 3am here in Tel Aviv, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and as I stand on my balcony at my 5 star hotel, I really start to think about how incredibly lucky I am to be able to visit world class cities on a daily basis, and to get a taste of cultures from around the world. Most people, if interested, can only read about this, and 6 hours from now, I’ll be in Jerusalem visiting some of the most historically significant sites on the planet, and getting paid to do it. Life is good.

Sean Lennon Day 35, Tel Aviv, ISR

We were up way too early to make our way to the airport, where we bribed a baggage buy to get us carts and deal with our gear. We ordered croissants at the restaurant for breakfast, and the delicacy was delivered to us in a gas station style snack bag, placed in a basket for good looks. Lesson #1 about Russia: Don't order croissants.

The flight went pretty smoothly; we saw some really crazy terrain and mountains flying through the middle east. The only thing that was brutal was the service. It seemed we were a nuisance to the flight attendants, especially when one of them spilled water on me. She threw a rag in my lap and walked away. Fantastic.

So we got to Tel Aviv, get through customs, on our way to baggage claim and I get pulled out of line and told to surrender my passport. Apparently my completely exhausted, sleepless and burnt out body trembled slightly under the weight of a couple bags I already had, and they thought I was getting nervous because I was going to detonate a bomb, suicide style. Things are somewhat different over here. Thankfully the situation was defused (no pun intended) and I was allowed to go on my way. I woke up pretty fast after that...

Once at the hotel, we had a quick bite to eat with the promoters, and then we had a couple hours to ourselves to try and understand the unbelievable weather we're experiencing on the shore of the Mediterranean. It's like July in LA.

We then had a planned dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant, which wasn't too fancy, but it gave us one of the top 3 meals of the tour. Everything we tried was amazing. We were there for 3 hours stuffing ourselves and it was great. Of course, by the time we were done, we were all tired, so, now back at the hotel (on the shore of the Mediterranean by the way, in case I didn't mention that) we actually have a chance to sleep. Except we have to go to work at 9:30am in the morning... What can you do...

Sean Lennon Day 34, St. Petersburg, RUS

We were greeted at the station by the promoter and our new bodyguard (yes, we traveled with security in Russia... In fact, at the show there were 4 guards in the dressing room hallway alone). St. Petersburg is quite different from Moscow, and I would suppose from the rest of Russia as well. It's very European in design, with some stunning buildings, especially the cathedrals. Unfortunately, today we really didn't have time to walk around at all. We had just enough time to drop our bags at the hotel (which were packed in the van by bribed baggage guys) and run to the Baltic House Theatre to get ready for the show.

Things went pretty smoothly all day. After the soundcheck, we decided to take some time and walk around the block, to at least see something. Apparently this was a bad idea.

Over the course of the day, we had mentioned we wanted to get out for a bit on a couple of occasions, but we were told not without a guide, because the streets were hard to navigate, the drivers don't stop for pedestrians, etc... We didn't think too much of it, we are master navigators at this point in the tour, and it's not like crossing a street in London. So when we got back, and one of the promoters got really mad at us for going out, it was a bit of a surprise. Apparently, it's really common for folks like us to have trouble with police, regardless of paperwork, and had we been stopped for whatever reason (they actually don't need one at all), we'd likely still be in a St. Petersburg holding cell at this point in time. I don't know why they couldn't just tell us that in the first place...

Anyways, after the show, we did have a bit of time, and the promoters had organized something at a local pub. It was called the Liverpool Pub. There was a chance there would be something about The Beatles on the wall, just maybe, but everyone decided to head in anyways.

There wasn't just a couple things. It was a shrine. And there was even a Beatles cover band playing that night (and the press agent with us had nothing to do with this, of course. Really. It's true. Why would he lie to us?). That tends to make things a little awkward in this traveling circus, so how would we solve that problem? Easy. Vodka. Before we knew it, Sean was sitting in with the band, playing drums. It was just a couple songs, because we really couldn't stay out late. We have a 7am lobby call to fly to Tel Aviv.

Sean Lennon Day 33, Moscow, RUS

Today was show day, so that means early load-in, which means if I want to see anything, I have to skip out on sleep, get up early and roam. So I did.

It started with a trip down Smolinski Blvd, one of the main streets in Russia. It wasn't quite what I expected; kind of subdued, dark, not too flashy. We walked down that for about 40 minutes, mainly because we got a little lost (which was cool), til we got to Arbat St., which is supposed to be the main drag for shopping. It wasn't too crazy, but I managed to pick up my standard shot glasses, and we found the Hard Rock Cafe Moscow, so I was able to get a pin to keep the collection alive. It was a good time, I was able to make use of my powerful Russian skills. Then, we hungry, weary travelers, stopped for a coffee and chocolate croissant, which is where the language barrier kicked in and my command of the Russian language suffered a mutiny.

We were looking in the pastry display for just the right breakfast item, and we picked the chocolate croissant; it looked great. Alongside the cherry tarts, various other chocolate pastries, the regular croissants, etc... it looked quite good. The waitress was trying to explain what it was, I didn't know what she was saying, so I said "Da, dve." and two chocolate croissants showed up on the table. You have to understand that we were starving from walking around all morning (by this point about 3 hours), we had been hoping to find something like this, we were a little irritable, but now suddenly relieved, until I bit into the chocolate croissant to find out that it was filled with spinach pesto. A nastier shock I could not have had.

After that stop, we marched over to Red Square. We saw the outside of Lenin's tomb (the wait was too long to get in), and, of course, the Kremlin. Unbelievable architecture, like nothing in North America or Europe. It's really unique, which I suppose is quite obvious already... We didn't have too much time to spend walking around though, we were there to work after all...

So we get back to the hotel with seconds to spare, hop in a van and head out to Club Ikra, which actually means Club Caviar. Interesting. It was a pretty small place and took some work to put everything together, but the show happened, there were Russians there to see it, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The bad part was we couldn't hang out after the show because we had to leave almost instantly to get a train to St. Petersburg. It looked like it could have been a crazy night...

The train station was classic Soviet era stuff, like you'd see in a movie. The train pulled up a few minutes late, and we were quite relieved to see that we wouldn't be in the same car as the goats and chickens. We actually had decent "sleeper" cars, although sleep seemed impossible on what they called "beds". Thankfully we were already exhausted, so we managed to pass out while watching Pirates of the Caribbean in Russian (It actually made a lot of sense). That made the 9 hour trip go by pretty smoothly, especially since the bar/restaurant car was closed because something was broken. The upside was we got to see an attendant go up and down the train with a shopping cart full of vodka. It was kind of funny, yet strangely fitting.

Sean Lennon Day 32, Moscow, RUS

Today's events started with a trip to the airport to fly to Moscow. I never thought I'd have a chance to say that. The flight was pretty smooth, we got in relatively on time, we all made it through customs, all was good.

It's a little different over there, and we found out right away. First thing we had to do was bribe a baggage guy to get us 2 carts for all the band gear. There are some international signs for "give me money" after all... We got that all straightened out, so we go through the baggage claim area, proceed out of the terminal, when we're stopped in our tracks by photographers, tv cameras, journalists, etc... Full on, just like what you see on tv. I'm sure my face was broadcast across Russia that night, maybe even live.

So, after a few minutes of that, we make our way out to the vans that are waiting for us, 1 van for people, 1 van for gear. Everyone fit in the people van but 1. I was volunteered to travel with the gear, because of my vast knowledge of the Russian language, which consists of maybe 3 sentences and a handful of words... I had visions of dark cells and goulags. Fortunately, all was good, and our guide/concert promoter gave me a fantastic tour of the city on our way in.

And then we get to the hotel. It was impressive. Apparently it was built specifically to house guests of the communist party back in the day, so it had a rather pompous feel to it. We get checked in, along with a warning to never go out without a passport and proper landing card, because the police have fun shaking down tourists who appear to have improper paperwork. Good times.

Now for the dinner. They had a plan to take us out, and we went to the best restaurant in Moscow (so we're told). And it was fantastic. We were served all kinds of traditional Russian foods, right down to the cow brain pasty puff. Yes, I can now say I've eaten cow brain. In a pastry puff. Everything at the restaurant was great, from the food to the decor to the service. Amazing.

We thought we were done, but a couple people decided they wanted caviar, and we were brought to just the right place. A 24 hour gourmet food market. And it was insane. It was like a romantic era ballroom, incredible architecture, chandeliers, marble floors, name it. Unbelievable. I never thought I'd need to bring a camera to a grocery store. I've never seen anything like it.

After that shopping experience, we finally went back to the hotel to try and get some semblance of sleep after a brutally long, but incredible, day.

Sean Lennon Day 31, London, ENG

Again with the London. Today is the show day though. Today is also the day I finally, after who knows how long, got a full night of sleep. I'm really in shock about that. It was amazing.

Same deal as usual, head to the club, Bush Hall today, do a show that goes off pretty well, and then find something to do. Given that we have to fly to Moscow tomorrow morning, the hotel bar is the scene, where our guitar tech, Rick, embarrasses a couple losers trying to pick up women by saying they work for Sean Lennon, by actually working for Sean Lennon. Funny how that works, especially when the boss is ten feet away...

Didn't last long tonight, like I said, flights tomorrow AM. Really early, so we have to maximize sleep time. We figure by the time we get through customs and get to the hotel, it'll be a 15 hour day. Can't wait.

Given that Russia is a crazy place controlled by mobs, this could be my last transmission. It probably won't be, but it could be, but probably not, so whatever. I'm gonna buy a big fur hat and a bottle of vodka and make the best of it. At least until we have to take the train overnight from Moscow to St. Petersburg with the goats and chickens... You think I'm kidding, don't you?

Sean Lennon Day 30, London, ENG

So today was a full day off. Or so I thought.

Just after 9am, my phone rang and I was informed that I had to head out to Heathrow to solve some flight problems for the coming weeks. Good times. I was really happy about that.

So, at 11am I left the hotel, and I got back at close to 3pm. Amazing. So much for my day... Eventually around 6pm I went out again, saw some tourist sites (I hadn't had the chance to see central London last time I was here), had some dinner and tried to find a pub that didn't play Black Eyed Peas. Turned out to be impossible.

Eventually we decided it was best to head back to the hotel, there was a bar there, so if there was a good scene we'd hang out and have a drink. Kate Moss was here the night before, after all. But tonight, no such luck. It blew, so we crashed. Back to work tomorrow...

Sean Lennon Day 29, London, ENG

So this is our first day off of two, but it got blown away. We left Brussels early in the morning to head to London. Customs and Immigration was fortunately painless, the ferry ride was great (got to see the White Cliffs of Dover), and then we got to London.

What was supposed to be a quick gear drop off and hotel check in went horribly wrong when the GPS misguided our bus driver and we got stuck in a 2 hour traffic jam. Then we missed an exit and had to double back and go through it all over again. Thankfully we can sleep on the bus...

We finally got to the hotel around 6:30pm (the original ETA was 2pm), so the day was shot. I went for dinner with Cameron, the guitar player, at a Syrian place that was actually quite good and cheap (major deal in London), and went back to the hotel to crash. Sleep was needed after a long week of shows...

Sean Lennon Day 28, Brussels, BEL

We got in to Brussels at about 2am, which, unfortunately was a little too late to do anything. We went straight to our rooms, which was probably a good idea, but the hotel was being renovated, so it really wasn't that nice... Easily the worst rooms of the tour so far.

After some sleep and a quick coffee, we went to the venue, La Botanique, which turned out to be a botanical garden. Yes, it was very weird. There was a performance room at the back of the garden, which wasn't so bad really, but when we got there, there was a grand piano on stage. For us. But the thing is, we don't use grand pianos. It was pretty funny, guess you had to be there...

After the soundcheck, we had a short time to walk around, and we were directed to the ancient town square which was incredible. We didn't have much time though, so we promised ourselves we'd head back after the show.

So we did. We went to what turned out to be a really lame club. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times did we re-enter this club. The dj's were wearing Metallica and Nirvana shirts, and, I kid you not, they were playing all Muzak (elevator music) versions of major rock hits. It was absolutely horrifying. We tried really hard to get into other places, but we were such a huge group of people that no one would let us in, hence the multiple return trips.

After about 3 hours of frustrated madness, we finally headed back to the hotel-in-renovations and attempted to sleep.

Sean Lennon, Day 27, Lille-Turcoing, FRA

Once again, we pulled up right to the venue. We didn't even bother getting any hotel rooms today. The good part was that Le Grand Mix is a really nice venue, especially as far as clubs go.

The afternoon was spent working as usual, and once that was done, I was faced with a 4 hour break. I could either sit in the venue or bus, good times yee-haw, or, I was informed that I could take a 30 min subway ride into town (the gig was in Turcoing, which is a suburb of Lille).

So, about 45 mins later, I found myself walking around downtown Lille. It was nice, like the French towns I've become accustomed to, but it started to rain not long after I got there, so I decided I had to cut my losses and head back.

After the show, we had a couple good local brews at the bar and we had to get right on the bus to head to Brussels.