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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2015 14:45:55 GMT
Went to see Ed Sheeran at Wembley last weekend and he was pretty impressive indeed… Don't know how many of you have followed his career but it has just gone mad, especially since his latest album 'x' came out which is quite excellent. Also got to see Passenger which I am a great fan of, he did a short set followed by OneRepublic who were good although the lead singer was overtly arrogant from our perspective (and stupidly jealous of Ed, which we found bizarre considering his supporting him!) Only minor niggle was that the sound quality was pretty bad, it was far too loud (yes I know, I am clearly getting old!) and so muffled that when they were doing a video about Ed's life I struggled to hear a word of it Next up is Foo Fighters in September which we were supposed to see a couple of week prior to Ed Sheeran but it got cancelled due to Dave Grohl breaking his leg, whoops!
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Post by jamescg1972 on Aug 31, 2015 20:54:31 GMT
Thought I'd add a brief write up of my visit to Reading Festival this Saturday (actually, not so brief having just pasted it in here). Drove down with my 14 year old son (whose idea this all was) from St Anne's on Friday morning, expecting rubbish traffic, being the bank holiday weekend. Especially as there was a rail strike affecting Reading. Traffic down to Stoke was lousy - that said, I do the trip to junction 15 regularly as my family live around Stoke and it's always rubbish. Took 2 hours to do a 70 minute journey. From there onwards, surprisingly the traffic was spot on, which meant we got down to Winnersh Triangle, just outside Reading (stayed in hotel there) far too early and I was in danger of having to talk to my son for hours. We got around that by going to see Bad Education: The Movie at the Showcase cinema there. I don't know if any of you have been to a Showcase cinema recently, but I was aghast at how much it cost for two seats (9.50 each) until I saw the seats. Each one fully reclining with foot rests and plenty of room in front of them so people could walk past without knocking you. The film (again, Ben's choice) was ok. Laughed at times. The funniest bit of the trip was when the person serving us asked Ben's age as the film was a 15 rating. The bloke asked Ben "when was your birthday?" To which he replied "xxth of xxxxx". You could see the bloke struggling with this and he then asked " what year?". I wanted Ben to say "every year". Unfortunately, he didn't. He just lied instead. The bloke behind the counter eventually let him in and the evenings entertainment went down hill from there. On Saturday morning, we heading into Reading by train. Got the shuttle bus in to the festival site and were queuing up with our wrist bands on at the arena entrance in time for the gates to open. Apologies for the rambling nature of this and lack of real detail of the music except for the last couple of bands, but it was largely what I would have called thrash metal though it seems there are about 50 words for this now. All thoroughly enjoyable and ear damaging though. I spent the day in a slight whirlwind back and forth as you may appreciate from the following. Ben had a list of the bands he wanted to see, which covered pretty much every minute from midday to the end of the night. We started with a comedy show by a lady called Iliza Schlesinger. Quite funny. Not many people there though, I guess it was early. Then we saw a band called LTNT that I'd never heard of. I guess quite small time as they were on the stage quaintly named "The Pit". Can't remember anything hugely outstanding about the. Enjoyed it but - again due to the time and lack of crowd - not a huge atmosphere. Went back to the comedy stage again to listen to Chris Ramsey (Geordie comic seen on telly quite often). Very funny with a much better crowd, as you'd expect. After that, we rushed the 500m or so to the main stage (which was massive) to catch the Marmozets, followed by Slaves at the NME stage and back over to the Main Stage for Pierce the Veil, the first of the bands I'd actually heard before the weekend. They were pretty damn good. The main stage area was split with barriers (I found out later for safety purposes with stewards stood within them to help people). We stood just behind the first of these barriers about 15m from the stage. The band were energetic as you'd expect from this kind of music and the crowd spent a lot of time pushing each other around, bouncing on the spot and stuff, while I felt really old, probably twice the average age of the attendees (I was 43, this year). With yet another dash across the grounds to the Pit we hoped to catch Pvris (pronounced Paris, I'm (not very) reliably informed). However, due to technical issues (a guess) the previous band were still on. A pleasant surprise as it happens as I quite enjoyed them (Baroness) and would never have listened to them otherwise. The singer reminded me of Brian Blessed's bastard love child huge bushy beard and a big gob. Halfway through Pvris, we had to leave them (they came on half an hour or so late) to get back over to the main stage again for Royal Blood, apparently this years big Metal newcomers. Pretty good. They were just the two blokes. One on drums and vocal. The other on guitar. Some pretty good tuneful songs (not always a given with this genre!). When they finished, we forced our way forward for the two headline acts of the day. First up were Bring Me The Horizon. I'd listened to a couple of their most recent albums and really liked what I'd heard. They - again - had a good tune about them, but the singer shouted a lot of the lyrics, in tune. Pretty impressive I thought. We got almost to the front. About 15 people deep between us and the stage itself. God, did I regret that when the first song kicked off and 20000 people tried to push me backwards, forwards and side wards seemingly at the same time. I genuinely feared for our safety for the entire hour. I'm a fairly big bloke (6'2" and currently 15.5 stone) and I felt I was single handedly trying to stop a mountain crushing my son. The band kept encouraging the crowd to open the mosh pit wider and deeper so the crowd could run at each other harder and harder. If you watch this clip from you tube of their opening song, we were just behind the crowd of people seemingly intent on killing each other (at least I think we were, it was hugely disorientating) ( link) I must say though, the songs were superb. Huge energy, brilliant tunes. The crowd were amazingly energetic. Encouraged throughout by the lead singer. Also, I should also say, none of this phased my son in the slightest. He spent the hour with a huge grin on his face. Worth an hour of my time watching his life flash before my eyes. After Bring me the Horizon finished, Ben pushed forwards again to the point we were about 7 people away from the stage barriers. We stood there protecting our spot for the 40 minutes it took for Metallica to set up (actually, their crew obviously. I guess the band sat in the back relaxing in the time honoured manner of rock stars over the world - or at least, I'd be disappointed if they didn't). Metallica came on to the biggest roar from a crowd I'd ever heard and I thought I was going to be in trouble again as people started pushing each other around. As it happens, Ben just pushed them back and I began to relax to two hours of the best, loudest music I'd ever heard. They played all the songs you'd expect Metallica to play and didn't stop for the whole two hours. Absolutely magnificent end to the night. Worth all the time, money and sore feet. Got out of the stadium at about midnight and then finally got to the hotel at Winnersh at about 2 am following an hour or so queue for a taxi after a 20 minute bus journey for the mile from the festival ground to the station (could have walked quicker, but Ben was beat and I'm not sure he'd have managed the walk). We've already discussed going again next year. We both decided we couldn't do the three days. The camp site looked a bit like the slums you see on documentaries about Mumbai and the time it takes to get out of Reading at the end means you'd be absolutely knackered at the start of day 2. Got up late on the Sunday, got breakfast in a local Costa and drove back up to St Anne's, bizarrely avoiding traffic again. Absolutely worn out though.
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Post by MartinT on Sept 9, 2015 17:22:18 GMT
No thanks. That's not how I want to enjoy my favourite music - in it, near it or within sight of it.
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Post by John on Sept 9, 2015 18:21:37 GMT
I used to like watching people mosh at gigs I liked the crazy energy of it
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Post by John on Sept 9, 2015 18:31:59 GMT
I was around before it actually got called moshing I remember a club I used to go to back in about 80/81/82 in Harrow (The Roxborough) where people used to go a bit crazy at the time it was mostly seen as rumble certainly was not called moshing then. It never ended up in a fight which was a constant surprise at the time.
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Post by jamescg1972 on Sept 9, 2015 20:04:25 GMT
I used to like watching people mosh at gigs I liked the crazy energy of it You're right there. The feeling of energy was immense. I just wasn't entirely sure I wanted to be quite so close. In hindsight it was brilliant. During the hour that band were on, I was a bit less happy. Similar to 132kV transformers. You get a feeling of energy from them, especially when I've been inside their compound when the air is damp. I wouldn't want to be too close to them though.
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Post by jamescg1972 on Sept 9, 2015 20:05:12 GMT
No thanks. That's not how I want to enjoy my favourite music - in it, near it or within sight of it. Definitely a young persons game I think. Ben loved it.
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Post by MartinT on Sept 9, 2015 21:45:15 GMT
Definitely a young persons game I think. Ben loved it. Yep, my son likes it (but then, he played in a metal band and knows what it's like from the stage).
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Post by jamescg1972 on Sept 10, 2015 17:59:02 GMT
I think that could be Ben's plan too. It is probably the safest place to be.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 10:30:08 GMT
Went to see Foo Fighters a couple of weeks ago at the Milton Keynes Bowl.
Overall Foo Fighters were on form (this is the third time I have seen them live) and they had guest appearences from John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin and Roger Taylor from Queen which was impressive.
Disappointing element was that it was far far too busy and therefore incredibly overcrowded... they amount of ignorant people there was ridiculous and the organisation of the venue was pretty dire.
Dave Grohl was on form like I have never seen him, screaming his lungs out and sitting in the chair that he been built for him (since he fell off the stage at a previous concert and badly broke his leg).
Great show, pity about the venue, very much doubt we'd return to there again!
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Post by MartinT on Sept 17, 2015 10:46:08 GMT
The MK Bowl was a mud bath the last time I was there, which was for the Genesis Six of the Best gig a long time ago. Horrible venue.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 10:50:56 GMT
The MK Bowl was a mud bath the last time I was there, which was for the Genesis Six of the Best gig a long time ago. Horrible venue. 100% agree with you thoughts, a total pit of a venue played there many moons ago, not much better backstage.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 11:05:04 GMT
It's a pity in a lot of respects because the acoustics aren't bad and if it's a nice dry day in say the height of summer then it'd probably work out quite nicely but the unfortunate thing is its in the UK and we can never predict what the weather might do.
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Post by jamescg1972 on Sept 21, 2015 11:14:12 GMT
It's a pity in a lot of respects because the acoustics aren't bad and if it's a nice dry day in say the height of summer then it'd probably work out quite nicely but the unfortunate thing is its in the UK and we can never predict what the weather might do. The only time I've been there it was to se ZZ Top, Bryan Adams, Thunder and others in July 1991. I remember it being very warm, but the last three miles or so to the stadium were pretty much a car park. I think we push the car for the last mile rather than keep turning it on and off (Rover SD1 from memory). Have never been in a rush to go back there.
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Post by Tim on Oct 2, 2015 12:37:30 GMT
Steven Wilson - Royal Albert Hall28/29 Sept 2015 I'm never quite sure who my favourite artist is, impossible choice really, possibly Ryan Adams as I certainly play him more than anyone else? However, when it comes to live acts I have seen Steven Wilson more than anyone else, be that solo, as Porcupine Tree or Blackfield. I have yet to be disappointed either, as he's a consummate professional paying attention to every detail. His two RAH shows were no different and both shows were different, the first featuring Hand. Cannot. Erase. and the second night went further back into his catalogue, with a smattering of special guests. The only downside for me was the (unusual for him) inclusion of a support act on night two - 'Matt Berry and the Maypoles' failed to impress and I headed for the bar during the second song! Both shows were superb and as usual with SW performances, the addition of animated graphics really brought his music to life. I had great seats in the stalls for both nights, which is my favourite position apart from the boxes. We were also treated to quad sound and I'm not sure I have ever heard the hall sounding so good, certainly from my seat I was impressed. I was also fortunate to have my best muso mate over from China for the first night. Sets; Night OneNight TwoThe shows saw the first ever live performances with Steven by Ninet Tayeb, who sang the female vocal on 'Routine' from Hand. Cannot. Erase. We also had introductions of Jess Cope who does all Steven's recent animation work and guest appearance's by Gavin Harrison (PT), Guthrie Govan (the regular show player was Roger Waters guitarist Dave Kilminster) and Theo Travis. The highlight's for me were Guthrie playing 'Drive Home' and Gavin playing 'Lazarus'. Two really superb nights of around 5 hours of music. What I also like about Steven is that he's quite chatty, sharing anecdotes about his music and the odd joke between songs. I also managed to snag some limited edition and signed merchandise at the shows, which was great as I had nothing signed by Steven until now. Likely to be my best shows of 2015, but I have 8 more this year, so the jury is still out (reproduced from here - Photos from Steven Wilson’s two nights at the Royal Albert Hall )
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Post by MartinT on Oct 3, 2015 9:59:02 GMT
David Gilmour - Royal Albert Hall2 Oct 2015 The capacity crowd was huge, security high, and it was a warm evening. David Gilmour walked on exactly on time and we were immediately plunged into one of his songs from the new album. The classic round screen from Pink Floyd days filled with animations and we were thrown back decades as that PF feeling filled the auditorium. Sounding very much better than his flat delivery on the Jools Holland show a few days earlier, the new album will go into my shopping basket. But that's not what we were there for. Gilmour was already making that guitar sing like no other, and I had a list of songs in my mind that I wanted him to play. We were then treated to the most fantastic set list, better than I could ever have hoped for. Albums represented: Piper at the Gates of Dawn (a storming performance of Astronomy Domine, quite the best I have ever heard); Atom Heart Mother ( Fat Old Sun, who would have thought it?); Dark Side of the Moon ( Time with the original film footage I first saw at Knebworth, Breath, Money, Us and Them); Wish You Were Here ( Wish You Were Here, Shine on You Crazy Diamond); The Wall ( Run Like Hell, Comfortably Numb); A Momentary Lapse of Reason ( Sorrow); On an Island ( On an Island, The Blue). For a change of mood, we also got a jazz number, The Girl in the Yellow Dress. The 69 year old gave it everything and played like it was his last tour. Maybe it is, who knows whether he can keep that energy going for much longer? I'm so glad I scrambled for tickets back in March. This is what gigs are all about: great performances, nostalgia and a real energy and buzz to the occasion. We absolutely loved it. 10/10
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Post by Tim on Oct 3, 2015 11:59:30 GMT
Looks like a great night Martin, there were loads of Gilmour tour T-shirts on display at the SW gig. Funny, but if you had said to me 6-7 years ago I wouldn't even bother to try and get tickets for a Gilmour show, I would have declared you stark raving mad . . . Not for me any-more and I really don't like 'Rattle That Lock' at all, so I'm glad I skipped this one. The Floyd music though, I can take loads of that Not at all surprised he did Fat Old Sun, one of his favourite songs and he plays it a lot now. I did all 3 of his last RAH shows, not sure why I wasn't bothered about this . . . ah, I do remember the ticket prices were a little steep, I think that's what put me off?
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Post by MartinT on Oct 3, 2015 12:36:46 GMT
£178 for two in the circle. The unobstructed view was superb, so worth the money.
One additional comment, I think a few here know that I don't think much of the sound of the Albert Hall, it was never designed as a music hall and sometimes the sound in a bad area for a Prom concert can be very disappointing. Also, the sound at a recent Bryan Ferry show (in the circle again) made his diction virtually unintelligible. I am pleased to say that the sound last night was awesome. I think they fixed it by throwing kilowatts of power at the problem. Consequently we had a great overall presentation and truly earth-shattering bass, almost up there with Roger Waters' masterful setups.
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Post by Tim on Oct 3, 2015 17:16:10 GMT
Yeah I remember now, £178 for two Circle seat's is far too rich for me, I won't do the Circle or Gallery either, so Stalls seats were more than that if I recall? TBH I thought he was taking the piss with those prices, last time around great seats were £65.00.
Really glad you enjoyed it though and I think the only show I have been to there that sounded bad was Them Crooked Vultures. Proficient sound engineers can get a good result in there these days, especially since the mushrooms. I'll be interested what you think of the new album too?
I think the bad sound at Bryan Ferry is actually him not the venue - you get the same result elsewhere. As he can't remember the words anymore and reads them, he doesn't project that well at live gigs. Shame really, as he's a true talent, but his best days are behind him regarding live performances.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 3, 2015 17:50:29 GMT
There were no stalls left, but in fact the circle was better for sound and view, and Ruth always suffers in the stalls for being short. She particularly dislikes the O2 stalls where she can't see a thing.
I will report back on the new album. It certainly doesn't have the beauty of On An Island, so we'll have to see.
I know about Ferry, very sad. However, there was something about the sound as well as his own problem that I didn't like. Everything was smeared and muddled.
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