Move - Day 4 - eFestivals

MOVE 2002

Wednesday 10th to Saturday 13th July 2002
Lancashire C.C.C., Old Trafford, Manchester, England MAP
Wed £27.50, Thurs £25, Fri £27.50, Sat £28.50

LINE UP: Hanky Park, Alfie, elbow, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Doves, New Order.

A band called Hanky Park had the task of opening the final day of the MOVE event. Sadly they had to play to just a handful of people because no one knew that they were scheduled to play at today's event.

Despite the very small crowd, Hanky Park put a brave face on the situation and tried to make the most of it. However you could tell that they were annoyed with the lack of people that turned up - who wouldn't be annoyed?

Alfie
The audience had grown in size by the time Alfie had arrived on stage. They couldnÂt captivate the audience. DonÂt get me wrong - musically they were fine. However the audience seemed more interested in buying alcohol than listening to their music.

Elbow
Elbow had the benefit of playing to quite a large audience. They were quite boring to watch live, but what they lacked in visual stimulation they made up for with their music.

The weather was scorching hot; there was no breeze at all.

The arena all of a sudden became overcrowded. This was quite surprising because I didn't think that Echo and The Bunnymen would be so popular. They were fantastic live. I don't know the names of any of their songs but a lot of their tunes were familiar to me.

The stage was then prepared for The Doves. They received one of the loudest cheers of the day. Sadly I always find their live performances lifeless and boring. This was no exception. However the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it and they were singing along to most of the tracks.

Doves
Once I had awakened from the Doves dull performance, I noticed that the entire arena was buzzing with excitement. Everyone was waiting with great anticipation for the arrival of New Order.

I have always had a pre-conception that New Order would be one of those bands that are extremely boring live. Thankfully my pre-conception was completely wrong.

From the moment New Order walked onto the stage, I was under their spell. They could do nothing wrong. They definitely know how to put on a great live show. The audience were treated to some of New Orders classic tracks like 'World in Motion' and 'Crystal'.

Overall this whole event (four days) was brilliant. Some of the bands that performed were not worth the time of day, however majority of the bands were amazing. My personal highlight would have to be David BowieÂs entire performance. There was just something magical about it.

However there are a couple of criticisms that I have about this event.

The first major problem was the cost of parking. It cost £10 for each day to park in a dodgy unlit car park, which was nowhere near to the arena. That might sound like I am being petty. However if you went to all four days like I did, that is £40 spent before even getting into the arena. Maybe next year they could organise a special parking ticket, which you can buy in advance to cover all four days at a slightly cheaper rate.

The second problem was the lack of signs to direct you to important things like toilets, merchandise, stalls, and drinking tents. This was extremely inconvenient.
The third and most important problem was the fact that security refused to eject the person who 'injured' my leg during the day that Green Day were playing. Despite the fact that I pointed the person out.

Apart from these problems the entire MOVE event was enjoyable and certainly worth going to. However unless the parking situation changes, I won't be going back to this event.