What was your last concert you went to ?

This past Tuesday, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano.

Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony Nr. 1, Beethoven's 5th and Mozart's violin concerto Nr. 3, with Ms. Hilary Hahn as soloist!

Magic music made for a magic night.... until we got back to the parking lot and found out that my friend's car had been broken into, smashed side window and all. Brutal awakening!

Claude

Crowded House Brighton centre 07/12/07. 2 1/4 hours of really good music. What a tight unit they are are, only slight gripe is that Neil's voice could have been further up the mix, otherwise superb. Sally (Mrs bigh) also really enjoyed it.

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Where were your seats in the B.C.?

We had South balcony A 20/21 a little too far to the LHS ,around seats 30-35 would probably been ideal. Still it meant we could sit all night and I could lean forward on the barrier if I felt the need.
We will be on the East side balcony for Chris Rea in March though.

Duke Special were the support for CH and they were pretty good too, unusual, Sax/Bass Sax/Flute ,Bass, Drums and Piano.

Strictly speaking last night (Sunday) we went to the Hammersmith Apollo to see Rodrigo y Gabriela. Words fail me. Uterly, mind-blowingly brilliant. If you can, see them.

The only downside was having the car broken into while we were enjoying the music. Heyho.

I'm with Chris on this one. R & G or "Rod and Gab as they are known backstage" where absolutely stunning how they can get that range of sounds is really amazing, OK a couple of foot pedals are employed,but the rhythms and percussion are all by hand.

Sorry to hear about the car Chris where were you parked? Did you loose much?
I could not find the entrance to the car park by the Apollo or the shopping centre ,so we parked in Glenthorne Rd about 15 mins stroll away, I was a bit worried but they obviously saw yours first.

Howard

Thanks guys.
The back nearside window was smashed and so the interior is full of glass and the door will have to be taken off to (a) empty out the glass that fell inside it and (b) to fit a new one.
We were in Rivercourt Road Howard. The first left off the A4 as you head towards the Hogarth roundabout after the flyover. Stupid Chris had forgotten that he had taken his camera bag when he went out yesterday so it was on the floor in the back behind the passenger seat. Inside was my Leica M8, 4 leica lenses and various Leica bits and my Olympus DSLR and 2 lenses. The latter 3 combined were less expensive by far than any of the other items. So it was a costly loss. Hopefully my insurance will cover it, but that's now tomorrow morning shot sorting it all out, looking up all the serial numbers etc.
The reason I'm still wide awake is that the police officer who attended when the theft was seen and reported has just called me on my mobile! Heyho!

As to the concert, it was, as PB might say, jaw dropping. I think Rod used a wahwah a bit but generally all that sound was generated by four hand, some resonant wood and some stretched nylon. I hope you joined in the "Wish you were here" singalong Howard! Sorry we didn't meet up - I looked out for you. We were in Block3 in the Circle. We had a great view just to the right of centre stage.

Hi Chris bastard luck about the car.
I don't take my Golf out much these days so I left the radio front on and my alloy wheel keys in side, not realising until we were at the gig we were luckier than you. Do you have the items covered on your house insurance? I think most cover cameras away from home.

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Sorry we didn't meet up - I looked out for you. We were in Block3 in the Circle. We had a great view just to the right of centre stage.

We were in Block4 K31/2 4 rows back from the balcony walkway, a good view and the sound was good too.What is with this continuous bak and bloody forth though? Are people allowed to wander back and forth for drinks in a classical gig?

Hi Howard. Yes it should all be covered. We were in Row P 50 -53 so just a bit behind you, but with one of the exits just to the right of my eyeline to Rod and Gab ("as they are called backstage"!). I couldn't agree more about all the wandering. What is that about? Can't anybody go 2 hours without a beer or a pee? Bloody pathetic. I was so engrossed with the concert that it didn't wind me up as much as it might have.

Had you heard (of) David Ford before? I thought he was pretty good although the sound balance was a bit off and he seemed a bit over-amplified. I thought the sound for R&G was spot-on.

Thanks Chris I couldn't remember the warm ups name. I thought he was quite good. A KT Tunstall type approach,building the sounds up with a sequencer, agreed though he was trying to "over drive" the sound.
Perhaps I should have gone done and spent a tenner on his CD? That's 2 concerts running I've thought the support act to be more than filler.

Did anyone go to Josh Rouse this weekend in Shepherd's Bush???

The Chemical Brothers at Glasgow SECC.

From The Jam, i.e. The Jam without Paul Weller at the Academy Newcastle.

Rick and Bruce rolled back the years and were superb. The extra two musicians were also excellent particularly the guy doing the singing/lead guitar bit. Could not catch his name, but played his part to perfection. The crowd were really up for it from the off, and this was clearly appreciated by the band who clearly enjoyed themselves.

This cannot be called a tribute band when two thirds of the original group are there. The additional musicians were not merely a pastiche of the original either. They played really tightly and went down a storm in front of a packed and enthusiastic crowd. Catch them if you can, a great back catalogue of songs sounded as fresh and relevant as the day they were released.

Regards

Nic

Who does vocals Nic?

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band - tomorrow night - O2 Arena!

Will report any improvements over my last Springsteen concert - in Newacstle in 1985

Diccus,

It was a guy called Russell Hastings, who was excellent IMHO. Tour details and other stuff here

Nic

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Originally posted by Diccus62:
Who does vocals Nic?

The Blockheads featuring Phill Jupitus, Norwich Waterfront, Thu 20th Dec.

F..f..f..flippin' AMAZING!!

Phill Juiptus, by his own admission, having the greatest time as a long-time Blockheads' fan, singing with them. And what a great job he did, in a set which included a complete 'New Boots and Panties' and much other stuff.

But the accolades must go to the band - what a BAND! I think the tightest I have ever seen. Simply awesome. But special mention must be made of the incredible bass man Norman Watt-Roy.

Simply wonderful!! (Even made up for the parking ticket - top tip: if you're in Norwich, if the sign says you can park there, you probably can't )

James

http://www.philharmonie-merck.de/programm/2008/start108.htm

excellent

WARNING - If you are offended by the idolatry of Morrissey or The Smiths, tune in to another forum now!

Saw Morrissey last night at The Roundhouse in London. Despite being a fan of The Smiths ever since the first Peel Sessions and single, for various reasons I never got to see them live and have never seen him before. My 16-year old has really got into him big time though (he is going again on Wednesday with his mates!) even to the extent of using as many Smiths lyrics and song titles in general conversation as possible - so I got convinced to go.

I have to say he didn't disappoint despite having "a little frog in his throat". Met some unbelievably nice people in the queue in the pouring rain outside as well of all ages and from all over Europe. One woman who had come all the way from Naples for the whole week to see him 3 times - she told me she had wanted to "buy all the tickets" by which at first I though she meant literally ever single ticket presumably in an effort to get the venue to herself. But of course, that would have just been silly

He did 4 Smiths numbers and about 4 tracks from the forthcoming album which sounded pretty good. Surprisingly not that much early solo stuff, but plently from the last two albums.

Steeve

The Police at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.

Hmmm. Deliberately missed the support acts, nothing against the first group whose name escapes me but then it was "Fergie" !!! We caught the last couple of songs she did - Jesus H Christ what a racket.

There was only about half an hour before the Police came on and instantly I knew this was going to be a duff show. Not because they weren't any good but because the guys who do the sound - didn't. This seems to be a common complaint at gigs nowadays. I'm sure the 2/3 full stadium didn't help but we paid AUS$150 each for tickets (some paid $250 and the "cheap" seats were $100) can't some of this go towards getting some decent sound engineers ? Guys who actually listen to whats happening in front of them as opposed to what's in their headphones (or iPods).

All we got was a mushy loudness full of bass & drums - you had to strain to hear Andy Summer's guitar most of the time.

As to the actual content - they played all the hits and I'm guessing a few album tracks. I was never a huge fan but they were massive when I was getting into music as a teen and so I thought I would give them a shot. For me they are/were a great pop singles band but that doesn't really translate into a fantastic rock show. I just didn't get into it last night and would have been better served with a compilation DVD. I'm sure the bad sound played a major part in this. I accept that stadiums are not easy to get right but I went to enough gigs at the old Wembley Stadium to know that it can be done (apart from U2- Zooropa tour in 93).

Scott

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but I went to enough gigs at the old Wembley Stadium to know that it can be done (apart from U2- Zooropa tour in 93).

Or the Rush R30 tour a few years back.

Next one is tonight in Hereford cathedral:

Bach's Christmas Oratorio.

I never talk about them afterwards!

George

It was Alpha Plus ... George

Sat down at 6.15pm, in a good seat; music started at 7, and ended about 10. In house by ten past! It is too long actually, but then it was designed to be performed in six half hour sections on different days!

George

Yasmin Levy,

The Sage 2, Gateshead.

Good call Diccus. Thanks

Nic & Helen