Bristol 10th March

Set list (seems to be the standard for the tour)
Starlings
Bones Of You
Mirrorball
Leaders of the Free World
The Stops
Mexican Standoff
Any Day Now
Grounds For Divorce
Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver
Newborn
Switching Off
Weather To Fly
One Day Like This
------------------------------------
Some Riot
Station Approach
Scattered Black and Whites

Excellent gig. I shall say just one word. 'RHUBARB'. Anybody else that was there will know what I mean
Good banter and chat from Guy as usual
Great night with a really respectful crowd. I heard not one murmur where I was stood. Everyone was there for the music. They started a bit earlier than usual last night (8.45 instead of the more usual 9pm).

Hotblack! Where were you? We were the ones who shouted STEPHEN...If you heard that!

I was having serious gig rage before and after the gig - we were stood behind a group of girls who seemed less than interested in any songs that weren't TSSK. Which is fine, you don't have to know EVERY song, but a. try actually listening instead of looking bored, they're brilliant! And b. WHY stand right at the front? Two of them spent most of their time talking over everything. Hmph.

Gig was cracking though. Any Day Now and Switching Off were personal highlights - I will always be happy with more from the first two albums! They sounded great, more than enough to tide me over till the next time they tour - which could be a while, I guess!

Love the photos! And I heard the 'Stephen'! I was very near the front on the left side.

Know what you mean Al - there did seem to be quite a lot of people there who were only into TSSK, but I suppose that's to be expected really given it's rise in fame over the last few months. I definitely noticed that compared to the Cardiff date I went to in October. However it was still an amazing gig.

Switching Off, Newborn, Station Approach and Weather To Fly were all amazing - Weather To Fly's little huddle wasn't quite as good as the last time I saw it, but was rather entertaining due to Guy's 'Pete, don't fuck it up, don't fuck it up Pete ..... oh, I fucked it up' comments....

I want to go again!

rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb.......

al wrote:

Hotblack! Where were you? We were the ones who shouted STEPHEN...If you heard that!

Yep! I heard you shouting. Didn't get the reference though. What was it about?

I was towards the back of the standing section just in front and to the right of the mixing desk. I was the one who shouted 'Rhubard' and Guy asked 'Has he got a decibel meter so he knows when to shout?' (or something along those lines)

Loved the bit where somebody shouted 'Crumble' and Pete got all confused.

Ooh, we went to the Cardiff gig too! And I agree, it seemed to take up to Grounds for Divorce for the audience to really go for it this time. Weather to Fly was wonderful - I kept laughing at Jupp cracking up!

Shouting STEPHEEEN is something from the Adam and Joe radio show - we figured there'd most likely be a 6music contingent at an Elbow gig! Crumble was very funny though

I'm a big Adam and Joe fan, so hearing the 'Steeephen' call and it's reply really made me smile....

Crumble was brilliant as well. As was, 'This next one's about jealously....'.

I have to say i think the atmosphere at Cardiff was slightly better than last night, but am oh so glad I got the chance to see them twice within 6 months....

al wrote:

Shouting STEPHEEEN is something from the Adam and Joe radio show

Of course it is. I should have remembered that. I just didn't make the connection.

Did anyone respond back with "Just Coming?"

Yes!

I so should have responded but I wasn't quick enough! Whoever did got in rather speedily! I was surprised Guy didn't comment on it at all....

I was right at the front / centre with my girlfriend, sister and a mate from work, and also in the crowd were my ex-wife and her mum, and my housemate and her boyfriend...Reports I've had back from everyone were that a great time was had by all.

I was standing next to the two bored-looking girls at front / centre, and I wanted to kick them up the ar%e! Why get there early and claim a prime spot like that if you don't actually seem to be interested? For my 'group', this was a better experience than Cardiff, mainly for the better viewing position and a much less 'talky' crowd (at least from where we were standing). My girlfriend shouted out 'nice haircut!' to Guy, which got her one of his trademark 'cheers mate' nod-and-grins in return, and he also acknowledged my belated happy birthday wishes.

I loved the 'spooky silence' after 'Starlings', especially when Guy dropped the lid from his water bottle, and the 'tick-tick-tick' of the lid bouncing off the stage was probably audible throughout the hall. Also loved the 'this song is about jealousy....err, no it isn't' bit. I wasn't sure if Pete was being deliberately sh*t on the percussion during the acoustic opening to WTF, but Guy definitely seemed like he almost cracked up laughing. Newborn just brought the house down, and the reception was huge...the boys seemed genuinely touched to me...and knackered! :-)

Overall I thought the sound quality was superb, and I'm still buzzing from it now.

*************************************************************

Review of the show from the Bristol Evening Post:

Elbow: Colston Hall

Crackerjack rating: 9 / 10.

By rights, Elbow should not be playing in Bristol any longer.

Their visit to the Colston Hall was part of an arena tour – next stop Wembley – and thanks to a lack of funds, we don’t have one of those.

But they were here again, after playing this very stage last year.
That was before they changed from perennial underachievers to national treasures, winning the Mercury Prize for their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid; creating a perfect Glastonbury moment as the sun went down on the Other Stage, and last month performing The Seldom Seen Kid in its entirety at Abbey Road with the help of a 56-piece orchestra.

There was a string quartet to support them at the Colston Hall, and somehow their songs sounded even more magisterial live than on record – with the soaring Starlings and One Day Like This proving particular favourites with the, at times, reverential fans.

Guy Garvey, dressed in jeans and a black shirt, chatted to the audience throughout the show like old friends. His gruff Mancunian tones belie a lush falsetto when he sings about love, jealousy and the loneliness of being a tower crane driver. He is an everyman for our times.

After almost two decades together, a lot has changed for the band that very recently were without a record deal and down to the last crumb of their collective savings.

Elbow are now a band to sell out arenas and make grown men weep at festivals. They can be rightly proud of their new national treasure status.

Support act The Acorn provided lush Canadian folk-pop for fans of Sufjan Stevens and Midlake, with nods to fellow countrymen Arcade Fire and nu-folk sensations Fleet Foxes.
Any band who employ a ukelele and write songs named after their mums deserve to be a success.

Martin Booth

************************************

Can't wait to see them again at V Festival in August!

bowjam wrote:

I loved the 'spooky silence' after 'Starlings', especially when Guy dropped the lid from his water bottle, and the 'tick-tick-tick' of the lid bouncing off the stage was probably audible throughout the hall.

It definitely was. I heard it quite clearly from where I was stood. I loved the aura of anticipation that accompanied that moment when the crowd were totally silent awaiting The Bones Of You. But I also thought that the 'rhubarb' was funny.

Couple of photos...





The last one cracked me up as i noticed just after i took it how angry Jupp was, couldn't work out why he was staring over his sholder and swearing... It then dawned on me the *flash* of the light house and the cymbal had creeped out of synch!

Oh Mummy, oh Daddy let's play some Kabadi!!!

NICE pics! They have to come back to Germany sooooon!!!!!