Entertainment For Lively Minds
Are stadium gigs just TOO big?
who really wants to go and see a band play in a huge stadium or arena? well thousands of people i guess otherwise these things wouldn't be happeningo, would they?
i got into a natter with a few people over the REM arena thing and was relaying my story of how horrible a time i had at the police gig in twickenham last year...
i just couldn't relate to it on any level and vowed that i'd never set foot in another enormodome again as the whole thing left me feeling, in the words of tommy saxondale 'a little bit empty inside.'
have we forgotten what a rock'n'roll show is meant to be - a personal experience, a sense of involvement with the band, a shared spiritual 'happening' - how big can a gig be before it loses that or am i alone here amongst 65,000 people who all seem to be having a great time?
- More from Carwash Casteneda.
- Login or register to post comments
-
The best gig
I ever saw in my life was Bruce Springsteen at Newcastle United football stadium. He made it seem like a small club.
If you can't reach the stage with a lobbed placcie pint
the venue's too big. It's the law.
Conversely...
Springsteen at the Emirates was truly terrible. A disheartening experience. Complete isolation despite his best efforts.
I always promise myself that I'll never go to another stadium gig/festival but similarly always nod addictively when offered a ticket by a mate...
Well I suppose
it could just be that he was in his 30s then but almost 60 now.
Could be better
If they had the stage in the middle of the ground everyone should have a good view from the seats facing - seems to work okay at a footie match afterall. But if they insist on having the stage at one end and filling the stadium to capacity it would be like watching a game of footie where all the action takes place at the wrong end from where you are munching on your pie. N'est pas?
But the promoter, whether it is Naive Lotion, DJM or Balmy Silverspoon, is really working on behalf of the artist. Imagine yourself in their shoes; you won the lottery - would you rather win £50,000 or £1,000,000.
Like a typical game of association football, some gigs are extra-special but some are also nil-nil draws with most of the top tunes left on the subs bench. Oh, and being Eng-er-land it pissed it down as well.
I also think
that smaller gigs give the event an air of exclusivity which also tends to keep out those most annoying of gig goers, the "only there for the social side of things" crowd, which now seem to outnumber the serious gig goers at larger events. I paid 46 quid to see Radiohead at Victoria Park a couple of months ago. Good show and great light show, but utterly marred by the total wankers surrounding me, who seemed utterly oblivious to the events on stage. We had the whole lot, the snoggers, the talkers, the toers and froers to the bar all evening, the group of women straight from the office discussing Fiona's six month review and how "she'll be in real trouble when Roger reads her email about the facilities department." The encores were marred by a group of men my age (early 40s) in front of me, who decided to have a pushing each other over contest during The Bends. I had a couple behind me who chatted during the entire two hour show, without stopping once. When Radiohead played the louder songs in their set, the couple just raised their voices to be heard above it, as if the show was a mild inconvenience to be overcome.
I decided there and then, that I would never attend another live gig again, at least not in a venue that size, where any Tom Dick or Harry will turn up just to meet their mates and have a few drinks after work. These people ruined my evening, but were totally oblivious to the fact that they were doing so. Although, even if they did know, I doubt they would have given a shit.
I was offered a ticket for the same show...
but turned it down because I knew Victoria Park would attract an unhealthy quotia of wankers.
Having said that, Radiohead at South Park in 2001 was a transcendent experience... despite the biblical torrent... or maybe partly because of it.
Yes, I was at the South Park show, too
and the entire audience was transfixed. So what has happened between then and now to attract these tossers to expensive live shows?
Perhaps the ubiquity of entertainment 'options' and You Tube...
means people view a live gig like watching TV... if they want to have a natter they can always watch it again on the idiot box later on.
Meanwhile, people like us despair of our fellow human beings and contemplate carefully-targeted acts of violence...
But 46 quid
to me is a lot of money. I think what I find most obscene is that most of these people just handed over this cash as if it were small change. I can imagine the scenario. Dominic in accounts says "Hey, Radiohead are playing at the park on Wednesday, what say you we go along for a works outing?" Colleagues respond "Oh yeah, didn't they do that one about the creep? I'll come along. How much? £46 plus booking fee? yeah, no problem. Put it on my card."
Now, I'm a peace loving vegan, but I swear to God, I was so close to grabbing someone by the scruff of the neck that night and screaming at them to shut up. The only person around me who showed any interest in the gig at all, spent the entire show complaining about the fact that they played so many songs from the new album, which, she kept stressing, she hadn't heard. Surely there are other things to do in London on a Wednesday night?
I saw the 'Head at Hammersmith Odeon a year back...
and found myself standing next to a bunch of suited city types who were all incredibly drunk in a really nasty 'grope women and shout about stocks and shares' kind of way. I reckon if I had asked them to name a single Radiohead song they would have struggled to come up with one.
F**king pond life...
Indeed they are, Patrick
and this is another reason why I won't be attending any of the REM gigs, whether at the Millennium Stadium or Indoor Arena (see my blog on REM and the credit crunch.) The simple formula is this: the more ubiquitous the artist, the greater the wanker quotient at the live shows. I like REM, but I won't go to jail for them, which is exactly what will happen if I have to stand amongst another group of people like those in Victoria Park. I wonder if these selfish bastards behave like this in every aspect of their lives? Imagine having to work with them? Or worse, FOR them?
Wem-ber-lee
I was fortunate to have a paid job as a steward at both Madonna and U2 gigs at the old Wembly Stadium. Unfortunate to be working on the Olympic level where all the seats were double the cost but occupied by freeloaders and oiks.
My mission, which I had no choice to accept, was the improbable task of instructing these fine fellows that the licensing act for sporting events also applied to musical events too and drinks could not be consumed in view of the happening on the pitch. Watching these numpties stretching to peek into the proceedings whilst straining their sinews to hold the pint-holding arm out of sight was made more pathetic by the disdain shown by their "don't you know who I am" look when escorted politely away from the top of the steps.
Enormodomes
I too have vowed never to go to the barns or stadia again, but I'd make the exception for one or two bands who make loud enormodome music. I had a beezer time watching the Stones at Wembley in 1990, and Aerosmith in 1999 were also excellent, though for both shows me and a mate moved quite close to the stage. In this age of golden circles, VIP areas and related highway robbery, I'd be lucky to get as close if, for example, Led Zep played the new Wembley.
I've had utterly miserable times at Wembley Arena watching a variety of comedy and rock turns, and shudder at the memory of Prince (in his 'hits-free' days) playing the Birmingham NEC. However, his dome show was fantastic. It's all in the quality of the act.
Favourite venue? The Borderline.
I agree...
..about the Borderline. As a London resident, I also like the Forum and the Apollo.
ah, the forum..
used to love that place back in the days when it was the 'town and country' - possibly showing my age here... not to mention the hammersmith odeon... 'apollo' i mean - wasn't it the labatt's apollo for a while..?
i think the last gig i saw there was miles davis which again means i probably ought to get out a little more - lousy gig.. tutu era miles in his sparkly shirt doing bad jazz funk and some hideous covers - he looked very disintested... then he died not long after i think... 'time for bed' said carwash... tralala..
I hate....
stadium gigs! I went to see Prince when he played Cork in 1988(i think?!) and it was one of the worst gigs I've ever seen. No atmosphere, and his music just did not seem suited to a stadium (the fact that most of the songs seemed to last for about 20 minutes didn't help either!). The night before I went to see Aztec Camera in a small club and it was such a good gig, still one of the best I've seen! I've been to a few more stadium gigs, but they never compare to ones in a smaller venue, even though my dodgy knee means that I can't squeeze in up front anymore!!