history
By Chris Lloyd

Boys On Film

There were people everywhere, some with clip boards, some carrying equipment and others just deep in conversation. Anni and I were immediately greeted by the Producer Paul M Green who in turn introduced us to the Director Andrew Percival. Up to this point as Production Co-ordinator Anni had been liaising with Paul but now on filming day she would be working alongside Andrew. This was to be an eight camera shoot including the last minute, and as it turned out, inspired decision to use a 'Jimmy Jib' which as I was later informed is a camera on a crane. The Talon Crew had been there all morning and the stage set was looking great. Recording Engineer, Paul Hurt was in a separate room with a second sound desk to record the audio. Another room was dedicated for an informal rehearsal scenario and a third was set up for the interviews. One by one we went into the interview room and I was first in to bat but this was not at all our usual comfort zone.

"Just stay relaxed and be yourself" said the voice in my head. After lunch and vocal warm-ups we made our way to the rehearsal room, and first up was the five part harmony number 'Seven Bridges Road' followed by Jonny and I performing 'Wasted Time' at the piano. By now the day was disappearing fast and it was time for an extended 'sound check' so the camera crew could have a final rehearsal.

At eight o'clock we walked on stage to an amazing reception from the capacity crowd. I don't actually remember doing the opening song at all but as the intro kicked in to the second number I took time to look around at my surroundings. The lighting, because of the filming, was different and we were unusually able to see the entire room. I could see hundreds of familiar faces smiling back at me and technical crew and equipment everywhere and just for a moment felt the emotion of the moment well up inside me. Then, in the nick of time I was rescued by that voice in my head giving me my second piece of advice. "Pull yourself together man, it's just another gig". As expected, we took a few breaks, either because of a technical glitch or just to catch our breath and towel down. Each time as we knew he would John Evans kept the audience entertained. John is not only a dear friend but he is also one of funniest comedians around. The end of filming saw the end of another successful tour and the end of yet another amazing year. We went our separate ways to spend Christmas with our families and a couple of weeks at least outside of the Talon bubble.

The New Year arrived and work began in earnest. Post Production was 'make or break' for the whole project. Whilst Anni was trawling through the hours of footage that she had filmed in Ireland the previous November for the 'extras' and then in Manchester working on the main shoot with the Editor Tom Longmore, the rest of us visited the recording studio in turn to work on the sound. Overseeing the whole operation was our Craig. He spent six weeks in his Nuneaton studio engineering the audio and in late February was joined by Dave for the final mixing before Craig and I spent a day in Cambridge to complete the mastering process. The sound and video were then put together at the final edit stage and in early March we all gathered for our own private premier of the DVD.

To say that it turned out better than we could of hoped for is an understatement. We were very proud and excited and it had been completed on budget and on schedule and just in time for the Spring Tour to open the following week at the Lincoln Theatre Royal. The DVD was released on the 9th April 2009 and it received fantastic reviews on our website forum and was proving to be the biggest ever selling item of merchandise that Talon had ever produced and, despite the recession, that Spring Tour, like the DVD itself, had been an unprecedented success.

Chapter 18: Greatest Hits Tour (Vol III)

Back To Top