Tonight we went down to Brighton to see the show in Preston Park.

There was no lighting in the park, so we had no real idea of the size of the crowd until a few big fireworks went up and you could see the thousands upon thousands of heads. The similar show in 2002 apparently had a crowd of 50,000 and there could have been more than that tonight.

The show was pretty good. I should have been more impressed, but I think I used up most of my reserves of awe last weekend when we saw the Sultan’s Elephant, and my expectations were a little different. All of us were expecting a bit less art and a bit more in the way of huge explosions. Had we known what we were in for, we would have mode more of an effort to get nearer to the front.

Still, it was a real multimedia event, using live actors, lasers, lights, gas flames, fireworks, music, projected film and props. The action was based around a large scaffold structure and a tall crane. The crane had cables strung from it which had strings of lights, and sometimes large catherine wheel-type fireworks. The top of the crane fired fireworks and sometimes jets of flame. Suspended from the crane was a man in a suit of lights – like the characters in the Tainted Love video, or at the end of the Sledgehammer video.

In some ways the show was like watching the visual effects of a Jean-Michel Jarre or Peter Gabriel show, without the recognisable tunes. The man in the suit of lights would swing in pendulum fashion, sometimes with wings of fire, or with revolving fireworks on his head or feet.

At one point there was a large inflatable sphere which, with the aid of projections, looked like a giant football, mirrorball and globe – which the man-of-lights walked over. Many of the fireworks were fired by actors, and there were often men on the scaffold while jets of flame, sheets of flame and rockets were going off. Every health & safety inspector’s worst nightmare, but a great spectacle.

Most of the effects were down to the French company Groupe F and I have to say that nobody can touch the French when it comes to large-scale industrial performance art.

All-in-all it was a good way to unwind after the disappointments of West Ham failing to lift the FA Cup and Dr. Who ending in a ‘to-be-continued’.