Fran Healy on memories of Live 8 concert as Travis return to Hyde Park

STEPPING on to the stage in London next Sunday will take Fran Healy back in time.

The Travis frontman will be leading the band at BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park.

But he’ll recall the last time they were at the park as part of the line-up at the global Live 8 concert in 2005.

The event, 20 years on from Live Aid, featured some of the music world’s biggest names. What Fran remembers, though, isn’t just the buzz of playing but also an embarrassing backstage incident.

“It was a chaotic day with everyone running around like headless chickens,” Fran, 43, tells iN10.

“I loved seeing Pink Floyd, the original line-up.

“But what I recall most is that Paul McCartney had his own little area and we went into it afterwards.

“It was like Madame Tussauds, with everybody that was anybody in music there.

“I met the guy who designed the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album cover. We were chatting and there was a loaf of bread there so I asked him if he fancied a bit of toast.

“I stuck it in the toaster, switched it on – and blew all the lights. It went totally dark and I knew it was down to me.

“From being a party atmosphere it all went silent and when the lights came back on I was still there with my finger on the button and everyone blaming me.

“It was such a special day and you won’t ever get all those people in the one room again.”

Fran has crossed paths with the ex-Beatle many times, even getting him to play on his solo album.

And he has only good things to say about the musical legend.

“I’ve met him so many times and when you’re talking to him you’re aware you’re with someone who pretty much single-handedly wrote the British songbook.”

Elton John, Status Quo and Madness are among the starry line-up for Hyde Park.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” admits Fran. “It’s so cool to be on a stage with your heroes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met Elton, so that’ll be another nice one to be able to chalk off the bucket list.”

It’s been a while since the band’s massive hits like Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

However, Radio 2 have been playing their new album Everything At Once heavily and really bringing them back into the public eye.

“They’ve been brilliant for us,” admits Fran. “I always think that taxi drivers are the great litmus test and for the first time in about 10 years, drivers have been saying, ‘Hey, I just heard you on the radio’.

“The fourth single’s coming out and Radio 2 will be getting behind that, too.”

We’re speaking to Fran in Berlin, the city he’s called home for the past eight years with German photographer wife Nora Kryst and their young son Clay.

“I love it. Unlike other cities like London or New York, the financial centre of Germany isn’t in Berlin.

“Rather than all the business side of things that goes with the financial stuff, you have a really great arts hub.

“There are a lot of green spaces and lakes on the outskirts of the city. And if you get a nice day during the summer, which we tend to get, it’s just really lovely.

“My son’s at a bilingual school and it’s a nice city to be around.”

Fran did, though, return to Glasgow recently for a Barrowland concert along with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

He admits he loved being back.

“I miss the banter. You go on public transport and everybody talks and has something to say. You really don’t get that anywhere else.”

He’ll get a chance to catch up with that again in December when Travis make their first appearance at the SSE Hydro.

Fran’s a very different-looking figure from the fresh-faced appearance he had in Travis’s chart-topping heyday.

But the beard – and he admits it has been a lot bushier – doesn’t stop the recognition.

“I still get noticed exactly the same,” he laughs.

“I think it must be my eyes, not my chin, that’s the distinguishing part.”

BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park on September 11 will be live on the station and in vision via the BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and the website.

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