Following the directions from the car park to the video shoot location, I pass the pub that’s noted on the map. I look in the windows to see if there’s anyone I recognise in there. The pub is completely awash with folks covered in luminous paint. Clearly I’m getting close.
They’re quite a striking sight, all crazy hairdos, raving outfits and glow in the dark splashes - yet they’re all sat quietly chatting, drinking and reading the paper like it’s the most normal thing in the world. I have to wonder what the old fella in the corner who’s nipped in for a quiet lunchtime half is thinking.
The shoot site itself is classic Mat Whitecross. I trudge in over the mud and into a very musty abandoned old wreck. It’s about the least glamorous location you can imagine, but you can instantly see it’s going to look great.
On the way, I pass Paris, the band’s resident graffiti artist. He’s recounting a tale to his friend. Apparently, he turned up last night to get started Mylo-ing up the interior. When he arrived, he found that the key he’d been given didn’t appear to match the padlock.
Now, Paris is a graffiti artist from Bristol with a backpack full of spray cans and a job to do. It will come as a surprise to absolutely no-one that a locked door poses less of a problem to him than to many in this situation. Soon, he’s inside working his way around the walls weaving his magic.
Equally unsurprising is the fact that he’s shortly finding himself trying to explain to a local bobby that he really was allowed to be in here and that he really *wasn’t* planning an illegal party.
Never a dull moment…
I’ll not talk too much about the shoot itself - you’ll see the whole thing for yourself in the fullness of time and knowing Mat Whitecross as we do, it’s shaping up to be a belter…
R42