Glad I wasn't there, otherwise I'd have gotten incandescently angry with the bunch of dicks who did that. At that rate the poor guy might just decide never to play live again, and who could blame him?

As for the somewhat distressingly closed-minded attitude of some of the audience, the only thing one can say is that I'm disappointed but not surprised by a mind set that doesn't want to be confronted with anything new or different. OK, he's got a killer back catalogue, but he's not a heritage case.

I'll be betting that few of them were Word readers, though.

That reminds me of going to see Paul Simon on the Graceland tour. The audience that night was not happy to be presented with solo performances by all his South African collaborators on that album, when all they wanted was Paul Simon himself.

as when I saw him in London at Shepherds Bush earlier this year it was one of the warmest and kind audiences its been my pleasure to be part off. Every song was greated like an old friend.

He was right about shadows of Dylan 66 by the sound of it.

Although the inclusion of christ and jesus comments mat not be totally appropriate on this occasion!

Out of interest? Judging by the size of his beard he will be appearing on a cover near you soon.

I read that and wondered what sort of reception he'll get when he plays in Dublin. Then I realised that the gig you're talking about was in Dublin!

I know very little about Cat Stevens. I mean - practically nothing.But I've seen those big ads in the papers and if one thing was clear from them it was that this was not going to just be a Cat Stevens gig.. I mean didn't the advertising almost go as far as to say "this is not going to just be a Cat Stevens gig"?!!

I have to say I'm not terribly surprised by the Irish audience though.

More here...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055685783&page=3

...in being encouraged by the crowd's reaction? I've read a few reviews of the show, and a good many people seem to think the musical section was the worst, most feeble thing they'd ever seen. At this point, whether it was advertised in advance or not is surely irrelevant: what matters is how good it was, and surely you're quite within your rights to voice your displeasure if you think something is truly awful?

I've been to so many shows where an audience has blindly accepted whatever an artist has offered - without appearing to apply any kind of critical thought to the process - so it's refreshing to discover that for some people, merely being in the same room as the artist they've paid to see isn't enough.

What would Morrissey have done?

The Queen is Dead, The Musical.

Mr Shankly's narrator played by Howard from Take That and Steve Coogan as the Vicar in a Tutu.

Must have been at least one plastic pint pot lobbed.

You could be right but it's not showing very much consideration to people who paid the same money and could have done without shouting, booing, heckling and general disturbances throughout..

Saying that, I read that someone shouted "Play 'Peace Train', you f**king bollix!!" which has brightened my morning considerably.

I think it should be a law of show business that if part of your show is going to make cruel and unusual demands on the audience, you should put that part first, thereby allowing you to win them back in the second half if necessary.

It should equally be a law of audience etiquette that you have no right to spoil the enjoyment of other people by noisily voicing your displeasure.

Having said that, I'm always amazed that people are ready to shell out a large sum of money for the kind of shows that have got "challenging evening" written all over them. I wouldn't.

Obviously, no-one would have gone there expecting a straightforward 1972-era (or even 1968-era) Cat Stevens gig - Yusuf has been around for long enough and released enough new material over the years that it's well known he's no longer Cat Stevens and has moved on.

BUT, unlike his previous campaigns, there does seem to be an underlying tone to the adverts that, although he's still named Yusuf Islam, Cat Stevens is back Back BACK. The ads even point to a catstevens.com website. Perhaps this has encouraged the more casual punter to think that they're getting an old-fashioned Cat Stevens gig.

As regards the excerpts from the musical; as far as I can see, the adverts all clearly say that the show includes a preview of the new musical. This doesn't explictly say that there'll be other artists singing but surely anyone who's seen (or even heard of) any of the other West End 'musicals based on the work of a single artist' would expect a theatre cast rather than Yusuf himself?

Having said all that, I'm appalled at the behaviour described in the original post and all credit to Yusuf for sticking with it.

Lilywhite
The Wind
Thinking ‘Bout You
Where Do The Children Play
Boots & Sand
Fill My Eyes
Roadsinger
Midday (City After Dark)
Sitting
I Think I See The Light

[Interval]

“Moonshadow” the Musical – 35 minute excerpt inc. Matthew & Son, Wild World, If You Want To Sing Out, Do You Remember The Schoolyard?, and Father & Son

[Yusuf & Band]

Miles from Nowhere
Don’t Be Shy
Glass World
Bad Brakes
Moonshadow
Peace Train

Encore (1)
All Kinds of Roses
Lilywhite (2009)
Tuesday’s Dead

Encore (2)
Father and Son (with Ronan Keating)

How absolutely shameful for Dublin. These are supposed to be cultured people - what a bunch of ill-mannered idiots!! Great credit to Yusuf and his performers for rising above it all.

if you're going to charge 100€ for a ticket, you need to give people what they want otherwise people aren't going to be happy.

If he wants to toss about on his musical journey with child labour singing his songs he shouldn't be charging top whack.

few artsist (Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, indoor Neil Young) can charge close to that sum and give the audience what they think they deserve.

The GTPWTW shows are good for a one off gig or tour but an artistic dead end otherwise.

They charge high prices and don't deliver a live performance. Dylan still charges through the nose and can't deliver a live vocal performance of any worth. The mimers are starting to get booed, but Dylan can't get arrested. Maybe he should go to Dublin and sing them the whole of his Christmas album - it would serve the buggers right!

it seems to me that most of his big hits (ok, the few I've heard of) were performed by other people. This wouldn't be so bad if he then did his own versions as the encore, but to return and announce a new song may just push me over the edge.

As for booing - I remember booing the Tom Robinson band in 1978 or 79 for being painfully dull - I liked the first album, but so many of their new songs unveiled that night were sooooo slow. No wonder (the greatly under-rated drummer) Dolphin Taylor quit soon after.

I also booed the Jesus and Mary Chain in Liverpool when they toured their debut single - this was the done thing, Pete Wiley started it. I still bought most things they ever released.

you are making (or imposing) choices for other members of the audience who may wish otherwise. Is that fair at all? After all they paid as well.

Was there on Sunday night. Enjoyed the show very much but the behaviour of the crowd ruined the mood. The musical interlude was well flagged and to be honest was harmless enough. To me, it was obvious he was going to come back and think the people who walked out were well oiled and/or the type of person who attend one gig a year and buy one album.

If you disregard the musical, the set list was pretty much what you would expect. Mix of old songs interspersed with new (as most artists would do) and the band were excellent. Anyone who'd seen him on Jools Holland would surely have enjoyed it.

Hope for the UK gigs, he moves the musical to the start or maybe reduces the running time and makes it clear he will be coming back. Though I suspect the audiences will be more informed and appreciative and remember, they won't have to endure Ronan Keating.

I have some sympathy. No one has picked up on the fact that one of the cast who came on to perform the Cat Stevens hits was...only Noel from the apostrophe abusing chart toppers Hear'say! Talk about rubbing salt in the wounds.

Much as I like the 'Michael Caine' hitmakers Madness for example, I too would be somewhat miffed if, mid set, the Nutty Boys trooped off stage to be replaced by the cast of the hit musical "Our House" to do a few renditions of their bigger hits.

This article describes Stevens as the "Wild World hitmaker".

Would someone at Word please explain what attitude should be adopted at gigs in 2009 please!
Fraser, on the podcast, said that he was disappointed by Springsteen at Glastonbury because he didnt pkay enough hits, he dared to play new stuff and this was not what the crowd wanted. I presume he surveyed the 100,000 who seemed to be going nuts at the end.
If this is so, where any concert is now a just a greatest hits, no performer dare leave the studio these days and play "something new" as opposed to "something old" (which your presenters seem to find amusing when it is shouted at gigs!)
Whilst not condoning what happened in Dublin, I was not there, please clarify what Word Magazine thinks an artist should play at ANY gig, large or small.
Are you in the "let's hear some new stuff plus some old" camp or the Fraser Newry "play some old or I'll boo" camp???

It's way past time that musicians should take for granted some sort of reverential acceptance of whatever they deign to perform to their audiences.
Just as the days of mega-selling CD's are almost over, so in these recessionary times, audiences are going to be a little more critical as regards just what they're getting for their 100 quid.I frankly was thrilled to find that the Cat Stevens/Yusuf audience weren't so complacent and cowed that the were willing to just stand back an write it off as another bunch of dosh that they felt they had been unfairly parted from. Entertainment in these straightened times is going to have to start accepting that it will be judged on quality the same as everything else.
Bands in the sixties and seventies that were given a hard time could at least argue that admission didn't cost the earth.
My prediction is that we're going to see a lot less top price tickets sold in the coming years .... especially Executive Platinum Lifetime Experience front row seats to the likes of Bon Jovi at over £1000 a pop. Just where is that taking us?!

Personally I can't forgive Cat Stevens ever since his appearance on one of those What If debates that used to appear on C4 - or was it even ITV - back when TV mattered (early 1980s). Then he didn't say he would kill Salman Rushdie himself, but did say were he dining in a restaurant with a muslim fundamentalist friend who had a gun on him, and Rushdie walked in, he would do nothing to stop his friend from killing Rushdie.

Christopher Hitchens, for one, remembers this and thus disses all Cat Stevens' music as bullshit.

Me, I go with that old line of separating church and state, as it were ie if Hitler had been a good painter we would have to appreciate his work, despite everything. And I still hold in some regard the early Cat Stevens of Matthew & Son et al. But I'm never ever gonna put a pound in his pocket again, that's for sure. So re the gig, you - and he - get what you deserve!

hey if the audience are asking about the quality of the cotton in the t-shirts, then you know you`re in for a great night out! what a bunch of nutters.
However, I think the hassling of bands/artists once you`ve paid to see them is all par for the course - its a pain in the arse for those who enjoy the events, but `blind acceptence is sign...` and if the artists open the door, you should be able to pop inside once in a while. Just try heckling at a Motorhead gig - Lemmy doesn`t want your opinions!
Mind you, Ronan-bread is enough to force an exorcist moment from my head at any venue...