Gig reports.. CONTAINS SPOILERS

I sat next to a woman in the balcony at Wolverhampton who scowled throughout and looked completely bored and cross-particulalrly with me as i sang along to every song and whooped throughout. maybe she thought I was the bigger dickhead of the two of us.

Emma G wrote:

Bad luck Hesh. Mind you - I had a pair of statics either side of me too!!

I still had a great night.

The Elboys (and girls!) are on top form at the minute, the sound was perfect and they did both of my favourite songs.

Emma G wrote:

The set list was as follws (I think) - but can't be sure of the order!!

Starlings
Bones of You
Leaders of the Free World
Mirrorball
The Stops
Grounds For Divorce
Newborn
Great Expectations
Tower Crane Driver
Switching Off
Weather to Fly
One Day Like This

Some Riot
Station Approach
Scattered Black and White

In fact - having typed that - I realise that I have no real clue as to the order - sorry!!

How good was Weather To Fly

Oh and the man who did the splits!!!! Awesome. I am tempted to say it was the best gig i have ever been too. Although i dont get these people who cheered when the carling academy was mentioned, its a rubbish venue.......cant people see or hear? Was mint last night though.

Ted wrote:

That was you guys with the sombreros! I was the big ginger guy front centre just to the right of you lot. Awesome gig I thought even if one of the security guys told me to stop filming: "photos only" apparently. I bought an Elbow mug which I thought was a really cool item in the style of an old penguin book. Nice to have sort of met you Grant!

Omg, really?! i said to aurora, that i thought that'd be you didn't want to introduce myself in case it wasn't love the beard btw kinna looks like guy's and nice to have kinna met you too

Just got back from the gig and I have to say that was the most disrespectful audience I have ever had the displeasure to stand amongst. The talking during songs was unbelievable and ruined what I'm sure was a very good gig. Richard Hawley joined them for The Fix. I'm too angry to be bothered to type the rest of the setlist. I'm sure somebody else will do it.

Here it is...

Starlings
The Bones Of You
Leaders Of The Free World
Mirrorball
The Stops
Grounds For Divorce
Forget Myself
The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
Newborn
Great Expectations
The Fix (with Richard Hawley)
Weather To Fly
One Day Like This
----------------------
Some Riot
Station Approach
Scattered Black And Whites

The talking wasn't too bad where we were stood, but it comes as no surprise that there was a lot of it.

And no interval song!

Right, I'm standing near you next Thursday then. You must be lucky.

We were stood to the right of the mixing desk, slightly behind it, with Mr and Mrs Woman, who we met in the Aspley just before!

There was some talking, but I kind of expected it really. I think maybe I managed to filter it out

We were down the front on the right hand side and believe me, you couldn't filter out what was going on down there. People had their backs to the stage and were chatting like they were at the pub. If a song got louder, so did they. Polite requests like "Shut the fuck up" were ignored and I almost left during Great Expectations. At least I have next Thursday and I'm very tempted to go upstairs.

I couldn't agree more. There were several people near me at Liverpool on Weds chatting all the way through (despite a few of us asking/glaring etc. - which in itself spoils the experience) and we were right in the middle only a couple of rows back. And the noise swell from round the sides and the back really filled all the quieter bits. Aren't there any pubs with good jukeboxes for people to go to these days? It seems to happen all the time and is really beginning to put me off going to gigs.

But don't want to end on a bad note - the gig itself was wonderful! (When I could hear it )

went to see Mogwai last night (Elbow on the 30th) and in the quiet bits the crowd would shush itself when it released we were in for a quiet bit.

How rude. What's the matter with people? Why are they even there?!

Indeed.
A classic quote - a lad behind me asked (very nicely, at first) two women behind me to shut up. The reply he got was: "Look, we're just a couple of adult women trying to enjoy a night out, alright?" The surprising thing was that from some of the things they said, they actually know and like Elbow! (I mean "surprising" because they then chose to talk most of the way through). Fortunately they seemed to move at some stage, but there were plenty more... *sigh*

I read somewhere that the under 35s seem to think that the "in thing to do is talk at gigs", am sure it was in the Daily Mail or somewhere. Anyways i am 22 (nearly 23!!) and i dont find it the in thing to do.

Agreed. Talking at gigs is rude and inconsiderate. We pay to watch and appreciate the bands, not to hear some loud mouth drunks shouting "enchilada" every couple of minutes (as was my experience).

Aye, we were surrounded by talking people in Leeds, we were on the balcony. I put up with it, though. Right until Scattered Black & Whites, when I turned to them and said "Hey, this is the last song." They didn't get it. "It's the last song, so *finger to mouth*". "Ohhh, right. *rolls eyes*" they say. What! Some people, eh.

The Portsmouth gig was great. A really respectful crowd who kept quiet in the quiet bits and went wild at the end of every song.

Not so my experience of the cinema the other night where some teenage ****wits thought that it was more interesting to talk and play with their ****ing phones all the way through the film. WTF??? Why were they even there??

takemeanywhere wrote:

We were down the front on the right hand side and believe me, you couldn't filter out what was going on down there. People had their backs to the stage and were chatting like they were at the pub. If a song got louder, so did they. Polite requests like "Shut the fuck up" were ignored and I almost left during Great Expectations. At least I have next Thursday and I'm very tempted to go upstairs.

We were also down the right hand side about three rows from the front but didnt have any problems with people chatting near us.
It was an immense gig last night, one of the best ive been to.
Me and the other half went for a few drinks after and I somehow stumbled upon the bands aftershoe soiree quite by accident, walking stright in, then suddenly realising who was there and walking straight back out again in shock. Unfortunately i was then too chicken to gatecrash......if only

Which bar was it in Betty?

Hotblack wrote:

The Portsmouth gig was great. A really respectful crowd who kept quiet in the quiet bits and went wild at the end of every song.

Not so my experience of the cinema the other night where some teenage ****wits thought that it was more interesting to talk and play with their ****ing phones all the way through the film. WTF??? Why were they even there??

We had a mixed crowd, talked all through Jesca hoop, except for the front four rows, but for elbow them selves, you could not have wished for better, quiet and also up for it!
Can beat you on the cinema story though, when we went to see Prince Caspian (Phnar!) the woman next to us sat in the wrong seats originally so started a fight when asked to move, and swore at a kid. She then took two phone calls and MADE another two... IN the film!

I didnt experience any talking during the Wolves gig but I was second row from the barrier. In front of me were two young girls who were a right couple of doughnuts. They kept leaning forward and sticking their bums in peoples crotches and then during the gig they didnt seem to know one word to even one song. One of them was texting. Im usually quite passive but I dont have many nights out due to being a mum and I was determined to enjoy myself so during the gig I accidentally banged one of them with my elbow (no pun intended) during photo taking and I did a fair bit of pushing and shoving. They were a pain in the arse and I really felt like smacking them both. I really feel like SOME young people today through lack of education haven't any social skills or respect. I really dont know know what they were doing there at the barrier. I can only assume they had nothing better to do. Fuckwits.

there was a guy behind one of my friends trying to rub up against her, i found it quite amusing myself but i can see why it would piss people off

My mate has started a facebook group on the subject of talking at gigs after a bad experience at The Courteeners gig in London on Friday.

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39802149461&ref=mf

I know totally what you mean. I won a ticket to my first Elbow gig. Awsome night. They did a gig for Warchild (2003?) at the Masque/Carling Academy in Liverpool. Me and my wife got there a bit early and started to watch the support band. I had just given up smoking and this big drunk guy in front insisted on blowing lots of smoke and coughing through most of the set. Once the band had had finished the bloke infront turned round and walked out. It was Guy Garvey. The nerve of some people.

I thought Manchester was great but I was sat upstairs. Everyone was respectful but I can imagine it being a different story at the front. Shame Guy's Dad didn't turn up for the the gig.

Guy - "Shit! Maybe he's coming to the other one! ......I've f##ked up!"

Very funny.

Really enjoyed it.

If anyone is interested here is my review of the Glasgow gig which got put into the Edinburgh Unviersity Student newspaper. It is my first piece of music journalism and hopefully not the last. I was so chuffed to see that they used my picture as well. Enjoy:



If you can't read it here is a transcript:

Elbow
Carling Academy, Glasgow
Sunday 19th October
ÙÙÙÙÙ

Elbow are a lovely band. There, I said it. A 19-year-old male student just called a band lovely. On the back of their well-deserved Mercury Music Prize win for album “The Seldom Seen Kid”, Elbow are in the form of their lives and they are clearly enjoying playing to live audiences. Lead-singer Guy Garvey took the time to welcome the support, Jesca Hoop, on to the stage for example. If that wasn’t enough to endear you to the bearded front man they sang a duet later on in her set. Listeners to Guy’s BBC 6music show will know that he and the band care a great deal about music and this was more than apparent during the evening’s entertainment. Good banter with the crowd, appreciation for our attendance and even the odd joke told in the style of Richard Hawley made the atmosphere just that little bit more enjoyable and relaxing.

Sure, the set list was heavily focused on material from this year’s album and (sadly) there was nothing from 2003’s “Cast Of Thousands” but that didn’t detract from a great performance that featured their wide-ranging song styles. One minute it was bluesy rocker “Grounds For Divorce” and the next it was the tender fan-favourite “Great Expectations”. Amongst the relatively short set there were some absolute gems. “Newborn” from 2001 debut album “Asleep In The Back” was delivered with more passion on Sunday night than most throwaway bands will utilise in their entire ‘careers’. “Press your lips to my eyes, taste my tears on your tongue. Pull the blinds, play our song. Nothing’s changed, nothing could be wrong,” sang Garvey in a hypnotically empowering swirl that left the crowd near enough speechless.

The main set was punctuated with the likes of “Station Approach”, “The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver” and the song about Elbow themselves “Weather To Fly” but after singing “Sailing” by Rod Stewart to get the band back out, we were treated to an encore featuring a bit of nostalgia for Elbow fans. The simple, delicately beautiful “Scattered Black And Whites” backed by Craig Potter’s masterful piano work closed the set. It was yet another impassioned performance that left Guy looking like he was going to cry with joy: “And he talks of people ten years gone like I’ve known them all my life.” If you are lucky enough to see Elbow live and listen to their music, which you really should, it will indeed feel like you’ve known them all your life and, as clichéd as it sounds, they just might remind you of those people ten years gone. Lovely.

Thomas Edmunds