[Music] The Live Music thread

Pogue Mahone said:

I used to love The Libertines many years ago, and still give their albums the occasional spin. My sons, 17 and 15, grew up loving them, and were so excited when they announced this Hyde Park reunion thing. We have taken them to loads of gigs, but for them, this was big. So we got 4 tickets, and made it a bit of a family day out (although, in the end, they went off with mates and travelled up earlier than we did. Parents arem't cool).

We arrived in time for Spiritualized, and as usual they were lovely, quiet intros with gospel infused crescendos. I hope Jason is not unwell again - he was sat on a chair throughout the set.

Then, bar break (chaos) and back for The Pogues. Jesus. Shane MacGowan...how is he still alive? A shambling wreck of a man. It was a car crash performance. Awful. Shane didn't appear to open his eyes once, and was bleeding from the nose and mouth.

A hint at what was to come later during their set - they stopped playing as someone had collapsed in the crowd, and needed serious medical attention. This was near my boys, and they saw him being given CPR. I hope he's okay.

Me and Mrs Mahone were, I suppose, 40 yards from the stage. We thought we'd stay there and wait for The Libertines. After twenty minutes or so, we changed our minds. Even half an hour before they came on stage, the crush was getting unbearable. We decided to fight our way back through the crowd (and that took some doing) and watch, basically on the big screen, from a more comfortable place. Our boys, who were not with us, remained near the front.

When the band came on stage, the place went mental. I mean really mental. Moshing was going on way, way back from the stage.

Then they stopped, halfway through Boys In the Band, and their was a palpable sense of worry. The crush at the front was getting dangerous. My sons later told me that they had feared for their lives...about fifty people fell on top of each other and couldn't get up. The band were virtually begging people to move back, almost impossible in a crowd like that. After about a 10 minute delay, they finished the song (!) and continued.

But then, during Time For Heroes, they stopped again, same reason, same amount of time. We were obviously worried about where our sons were, but no signal to text - all I could think was that this was going to be like Hillsborough. It was utterly out of control.

Eventually they got going again, playing, for the most part, a pretty lacklustre set, if truth be told. During the break, people had taken the opportunity to get away from the stage, apparently many people were really scared, and had thought the same as me. So it was crowded around us again - 150 or so yards away.

Near us, there was a crowd infestation of a lighting tower, with people, two of who were naked, dancing around stewards, fighting with them, and finally overwhelming them and climbing up the tower, which started to rock a little...again there was a delay "would you stop climbing the f***ing towers?" Pleaded Carl. Then, a phalanx of stewards rushed through the crowd and forcibly removed them.

I know Libertines gigs were always shambolic, but this was a disaster waiting to happen. We really felt that we were at an event that was going to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The organisers got lucky, and you've got to hope that lessons have been learned.

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CorgiRegisteredFriend said:

That does sound pretty shambolic and frightening at the same time. Glad you all made it back home in one piece. I have never been a fan of these huge open air park events- just because of the size of people there and the sound is invariably poor. I saw Radiohead play in one of the London Parks- maybe Clapham Common a few years ago. Nothing kicked off but it was not the best experience.

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Ali_rrr said:

Even the other stages were ridiculous. Reverend and The Makers had a riot outside the 'theatre' because people couldn't get in. Inside the theatre, people broke the floor meaning the next act had to be cancelled. The Rifles were amazing, and in my opinion stole the show. But even then, the crowd was far to big for this tiny bandstand that had been erected for it, meaning most people couldn't see. I was right next to the guy who had to receive CPR and I'm surprised no one was killed. The crush was ridiculous from the end of Pogues to the start of Libertines. I ended up moving back before the start of The Libertines mainly because I actually wanted to enjoy it. I have to say, they were good, but I do feel they could have been better. The crowd delays I think made them lose out on 2 songs, one of which is What Became Of The Likely Lads. Probably one of the worst organised events for a long time and far too many tickets were sold. The actual area of Hyde Park was far too small also. But at least I can cross The Libertines off my list.

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Albion Edd said:

On the whole I thought The Libertines were great, but feel they were thrown off their stride a bit after the stoppages and the crowd problems near the beginning, though it definitely picked up in the second half of the set. Like you I went a bit further back so I could actually enjoy the gig, rather than worrying about getting crushed. I don't think it helped that they had another fenced off section near the front of the stage for "Premium Ticket Holders" it just meant everyone near the front was a lot more penned in. Considering they had to stop during their set at Reading a few years ago for similar reasons, you would have thought they would have been a bit better prepared for what the crowd were going to be like.

As much as I enjoyed The Libertines, the rest of the event was a shambles, I agree that they obviously sold way too many tickets, the queues for the bars were ridiculous, and all of the other stages were far too small, with one of the closing due to 'technical faults' meaning Swim Deep and Graham Coxons sets were both cancelled, shame as I was looking forward to seeing Coxon.

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Herr Tubthumper said:

Went see Neon Neon peform Praxis Makes Perfect last night. It was quite a surreal evening even by Gruff Rhys' standards. They performed the entire album as part of a interactive threatre production musical type thing in collaboration with the Welsh National Theatre Company. It was performed in a disused power station (Berghain), lots of narrative and the 'stage' was an over-sized office. The desks were on wheels and they were moved around within the crowd and used as podiums by the actors whilst other actors moved within the crowd. The show as half music and half acted out scenes. It really was delighfully nuts and you never knew who was a punter and who was an actor at times.....until someone wispered "the CIA are watching" in your ear. I got to hold a placard in the final part of the show and got clumped on the head by a copy of Dr Zhivago when Gruff was hurling out copies to symbolise the release of the book

Great stuff and I still have a Gruff solo show coming up.

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Herr Tubthumper said:

Went see Neon Neon peform Praxis Makes Perfect last night. It was quite a surreal evening even by Gruff Rhys' standards. They performed the entire album as part of a interactive threatre production musical type thing in collaboration with the Welsh National Theatre Company. It was performed in a disused power station (Berghain), lots of narrative and the 'stage' was an over-sized office. The desks were on wheels and they were moved around within the crowd and used as podiums by the actors whilst other actors moved within the crowd. The show as half music and half acted out scenes. It really was delighfully nuts and you never knew who was a punter and who was an actor at times.....until someone wispered "the CIA are watching" in your ear. I got to hold a placard in the final part of the show and got clumped on the head by a copy of Dr Zhivago when Gruff was hurling out copies to symbolise the release of the book

Great stuff and I still have a Gruff solo show coming up.

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CorgiRegisteredFriend said:

I think they did this as a Brighton Festival Show. Enjoy the solo show- I would love to see some SFA tour action though.

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Pogue Mahone said:

The solo show at the Corn Exchange as part of the Festival was brilliant - the best I've seen solo. But yes, wouldn't it be great to see the Super Furries again?

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Herr Tubthumper said:

Off to MELT! Festival shortly. First festival I have been to in god knows how long where all I am not considering packing wellingtons.

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spring hall convert said:

Horrible clash alert: Pop Group and Sleaford Mods on the same night (25th October)

I think I'm going to be getting rid of my SM tickets.

Who's angrier out of Mark Stewart and Jason Williamson?

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CorgiRegisteredFriend;64 62644 said:

I hate it when this happens. Not recovered fully from the Future Of The Left/Julia Holter episode earlier this year. Going to try and persuade you to stick with Seaford Mods with this which I think is quite brilliant. If this does not do the trick I will be happy to buy your ticket off you as got a few people I know who want to go.

For some reason I can't copy directly from You Tube so here is the link

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iuaaApFf1EI

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Albumen said:

Opening season day: Swan then Amex then Albert for Soft Walls. Tipsy.

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spring hall convert said:

They've been really, really good the last couple of times I've seen them live. I think it took them a while to get on the same page as a band.

They've also got the drummer from Sealings, who is rather good.

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