Many bands have hired and used private aircraft over the years - usually for transport to events or as part of a global tour. Using an aircraft to hold a concert is something very different, though. One event in 2007 stands out. The British band Jamiroquai held a private concert onboard a Boeing 757. They played six songs in the middle of the night at 35,000 feet - quite an event to be at!
The concert was organized as a promotional event by Sony Ericsson. It held a competition for 200 people to win tickets to a mid-air concert by the British band Jamiroquai. This was to take place on 27th February 2007, just a few months after the band released a new album in the UK.
Promotion material for the concert stated:
"Sony Ericsson is customising a specially chartered plane - ripping out seats and creating a stage to make sure the plane is ready to rock to some first class music. This fantastic event also includes a luxury after party with another live Jamiroquai performance with hotel accomodation at the secret European destination and your return flight home the next day."
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A chartered Boeing 757 was used for the concert. This only had minimal internal modifications made to it. Some seats were removed to make space for the band and the instruments, but passengers simply watched from normal seats. Some lighting was set up using the overhead bins, and the concert was shown on the normal overhead screens through the aircraft. Externally, the band logo and Sony Ericsson branding was painted onto the aircraft.
The aircraft flew from Munich to Athens, with the band performing a six item concert at cruising altitude. After landing, guests attended a further event at a hotel in Athens, where the band played further songs.
The concert set a Guinness World Record for the highest live concert. Amazingly, this Guinness World Record only stood for a couple of years. The US band Black Eyed Peas held a concert called "Mile High Karaoke" in 2009. They used a Virgin Blue Boeing 787-800 aircraft, flying between Melbourne and Perth. This was up at 41,000 feet (beating Jamiroquai's record). It also set a record for the highest track recording.
According to the BBC, the record for highest concert was broken again in 2010 by James Blunt (at just over 42,000 feet). It was then broken once again in 2013 by Kim Wilde and Tony Hadley. They performed for an audience of 128 at 43,000 feet onboard a British Airways Boeing 767 aircraft.
This event was unusual in that the band actually held a ticketed concert onboard. But there are plenty of other examples of bands' relationships with aircraft.
Iron Maiden is a great example of this. The band hired a Boeing 757 aircraft for its 2008 to 2009 "Somewhere Back in Time" tour. It included stops in Australia, India, Japan, and across South America. The band hired another Boeing 757 for its 2011 tour, and a Boeing 747 for its 2016 "Book of Souls" tour. The aircraft were flown by the band's own vocalist Bruce Dickinson - a trained Boeing pilot.
The practice continues today. Just recently, Simple Flying reported how Guns N'Roses is touring South America with a Boeing 757 chartered from JetMagic.
Would you like to discuss Jamiroquai's concert further, or any other oncerts you know about? Feel free to do so in the comments.