Live gigs - Who you've seen were they good, bad etc.

[WestCountryGirl]

Saw Bruce again at Villa Park last night. I enjoyed it so much more than Dublin last month.. So glad to have heard The River again, wasn't expecting it. And so thankful that he didn't exclude Thunder Road this time.

If this is to be the last time I get to see Bruce and the E Street Band live, I am glad it was at a gig such as that.

[Badlands]

I keep getting goosebumps when I think back to last night. Bruce and the band were phenomenal - such a brilliant show. Was impressed how quiet the crowd would be when he was doing his solo parts.

Villa Park was the pits for a venue mind. Terribly organised. 

[Padjeq]

37 minutes ago, WestCountryGirl said:

Saw Bruce again at Villa Park last night. I enjoyed it so much more than Dublin last month.. So glad to have heard The River again, wasn't expecting it. And so thankful that he didn't exclude Thunder Road this time.

If this is to be the last time I get to see Bruce and the E Street Band live, I am glad it was at a gig such as that.

Bruce doing I'll See You In My Dreams solo really felt like a goodbye.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Obviously its a show concerned with endings and mortality and you never know whatll happen down the line - but in Edinburgh he said 'we won't leave it so long next time'

[Olshansky]

1 hour ago, WestCountryGirl said:

Saw Bruce again at Villa Park last night. I enjoyed it so much more than Dublin last month.. So glad to have heard The River again, wasn't expecting it. And so thankful that he didn't exclude Thunder Road this time.

If this is to be the last time I get to see Bruce and the E Street Band live, I am glad it was at a gig such as that.

My boss is on the whole tour taking photographs. he's redemartin on instagram in youre interested.  

39 minutes ago, Padjeq said:

Bruce doing I'll See You In My Dreams solo really felt like a goodbye.

Bruce isn't stopping anytime soon. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

I don't think I've mentioned on here how good the Edinburgh show was. Helped by the amazing weather and the great sound where we were standing in the stadium it was proper taps aff times. Took some newbies who were blown away by it.

My first time hearing Backstreets live and when Professor Roy started laying down that opening my knees properly buckled.

[Gnomicide]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:25 PM, Padjeq said:

Def Leppard with Motley Crue at Brammal Lane, Sheffield 22.05.23

First band on was Vivas at the dinner-bothering time of 5:45pm. One of the members is the son of Leppard's bass player, so I doubt we missed anything worth seeing. We got through the turnstiles as their set was closing. Toilets and bars were rammed unless you had the foresight to walk 30 seconds to the next, empty ones. The bar at the back of the pitch provided instant beer purchasing throughout this monday night.

The atmosphere in the stadium was near terminal as the crowd listened to 70's parish hall favourites such as Brand New Cadillac and Leo Sayer's 'You Make Me Feel Like Dancing'. When Motley Crue took the stage an assault of drum and bass rattled the chest, while cupping an ear allowed one to hear the squeaks of miniature frontman Vince Neil. Murky and muddy, songs unrecognisable until the chorus hit, the only thing worth paying attention to was the Crue's 2 dancers.


Halfway through Tommy Lee (the absolute spitting image of modern day Fatima Whitbread) came out from behind the skins to politely ask the audience to show their breasts. A few shoulder-hoisted women obliged for the big screens, which mustered a few soft cheers, but it was more sad than raucously debauched, the awkwardness outweighing any titillation. This would oddly be the prelude to the saccharine power ballad Home Sweet Home.

People used to say Motley Crue looked like girls. Now they look like nans in fancy dress.

Def Leppard came out strong and were relentless. 6 songs from Hysteria punctuated with their other hits that were somehow even bigger.

Sound was quality, and both lead guitars sounded wicked. Lovely to see a band of this ilk still blasting it out, even if no one was up to doing a starjump off the drum riser. A fair amount of the crowd seemed to come here just for the opportunity to sit and be quiet, but Pour Some Sugar On Me was the one to finally pull them up by the ears.



No encore or anything specific to this homecoming gig - likely a condition of their co-head tour with the Crue - the set was over a neat 90 minutes after starting.

 

On 5/26/2023 at 4:25 PM, CaledonianGonzo said:

The gulf of quality between Mõtley Crue and Def Leppard is f**king ridiculous.

Really. Can someone of seniority please book Def Leppard for that dad rock slot.

 

On 5/29/2023 at 7:05 PM, 4AssedMonkey said:

The Beths were great in Manc last night and really like the New Century Hall as a venue. Pretty sure the band said “see you at Glasto” at one point, but I was quite drunk.

Then got some Glasto practice in by going dancing down Canal St until nearly 4:00am. f**ked now.

In my youth, Motley Crue were my band, first act I ever saw at a festival and I went on to see them countless times after that. 

They've released some fantastic albums and some bloody awful ones.

They were always a little ramshackle but that was part of the fun. The last time I saw them was on the farewell tour (signed contracts in blood and would definitely never be back again, yeah right) and they were pretty poor. Ironically, the only one still able to deliver was Mick Mars. I was glad they were quitting.

So reading all the reviews from this tour and tge accusations of backing tracks, I'm glad I avoided it.

[DeanoL]

13 hours ago, Badlands said:

I keep getting goosebumps when I think back to last night. Bruce and the band were phenomenal - such a brilliant show. Was impressed how quiet the crowd would be when he was doing his solo parts.

Villa Park was the pits for a venue mind. Terribly organised. 

Having never been to a stadium gig before, is it usual to leave the house lights up the entire show? I know it started while it was light outside but when they took them down for the last song the atmosphere was improved so much.

[Badlands]

5 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

Having never been to a stadium gig before, is it usual to leave the house lights up the entire show? I know it started while it was light outside but when they took them down for the last song the atmosphere was improved so much.

.

Floodlights only went on for the encore, something I’ve never seen before. I’ve watched bands put them on for one song but never a sustained period. I quite enjoyed it, we were a lot louder with the lights on

[Kalopsia]

I've been given a ticket to The War on Drugs at The Eden Sessions tonight, about an hours drive for me and I've never listened to them worth a trip?

[panda97]

Saw the Pet Shop Boys last night at Wembley Arena, bought tickets off the back of watching their Glastonbury set on BBC

Such a good show, the last 10 songs alone would make for a fantastic show, let alone the rest of the set

The most I've seen my mum enjoy a show as well

[CaledonianGonzo]

Their G22 set was an all-timer.

[maelzoid]

10 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Their G22 set was an all-timer.

I concur.

[maelzoid]

16 minutes ago, Kalopsia said:

I've been given a ticket to The War on Drugs at The Eden Sessions tonight, about an hours drive for me and I've never listened to them worth a trip?

I'd say they're worth an hour's drive. Maybe worth checking them quickly on spotify/youtube to see if they're in your ballpark. Add to that, Eden is a great venue to see bands, and I'd got just for that.

[dondo]

Depeche Mode at Twickenham last night were superb 

[Badlands]

14 hours ago, Badlands said:

.

Floodlights only went on for the encore, something I’ve never seen before. I’ve watched bands put them on for one song but never a sustained period. I quite enjoyed it, we were a lot louder with the lights on

My mate reckons Bruce does the lights thing for his encore every night - cannot remember that happening at any the others I’d been to mind

[Kalopsia]

3 hours ago, maelzoid said:

I'd say they're worth an hour's drive. Maybe worth checking them quickly on spotify/youtube to see if they're in your ballpark. Add to that, Eden is a great venue to see bands, and I'd got just for that.

Yea saw QOTSA and Chic at Eden, great venue.

I decided to come, free ticket would be silly to miss!

[anditmakesmesmile]

Don’t normally do big gigs - but this week I’ve ended up seeing 
 • Harry Styles
 • Arctic Monkeys
 • Depeche Mode

They all put on a good show but, far and away, Depeche Mode were the best. 

[incident]

3 hours ago, Badlands said:

My mate reckons Bruce does the lights thing for his encore every night - cannot remember that happening at any the others I’d been to mind

Prior to this tour, the standard was that the house lights came on at the start of Born To Run, maybe stayed on for the song after (depending on what it was) but then off again.

[kevtamuk]

Loved Bruce on Friday night.  Sound not as good as Edinburgh in the pit in our opinion but atmosphere better.   Next gig BST after Glastonbury then twice in Copenhagen.   The Boss hasn't disappointed us so far. 

[Padjeq]

Aziya at the Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham 14th June 2023

No set-times listed, none of the 'special guests' named, we headed into the Sunflower at 8pm hoping for the best. The gig room was empty and the guy on the door told us Aziya would be on at 9pm 'or earlier, if it fills up'. We went upstairs for a drink and found ourselves reminiscing 20 years worth of memories of this place. Our first date, hearing damage at Orchards, some people coming fancy dress to my mate's party because they read the invitation wrong, 'The Farmfooders', 'Fat Lee'. An exodus from the smoking area was our cue to move. Excitedly entering through the mixed 50 strong crowd, and dressed like a catholic school teacher, Aziya went straight into things with 'Blood'  - which sounded like VV Brown covering 'Smile Like You Mean It'. Later she pinballed her way into the crowd for a song, her infectiousness and youth reminiscent of Annabella Lwin. Very short gig with nothing else around it (a post gig offy visit and we were back home by 9:45pm), but a nice taster of someone likely to be involved with the Wet Leg/Last Dinner Party sartorially-antiquated girls-with-guitars movement.

 

[charlierc]

On 6/18/2023 at 3:54 PM, anditmakesmesmile said:

They all put on a good show but, far and away, Depeche Mode were the best. 

I would've been up for their London date the other day but coming in from London via the north to get to Twickenham seemed like a nightmare. Maybe I'll see if this rumour of 2024 O2 shows comes to pass.

[charlierc]

Not just Glasto this weekend ofc - went to see Muse at MK Bowl. Not a sell-out but absolutely looked over 85% full, and I did like Matt at one point cheekily going "We know you had other options - maybe Glastonbury or whatever"

Favourite band in a venue near my house, so made sense to go. Not disappointed either. The new songs were great, and while I'd like some more variety in the oldies picked, still happy with how it went.

Royal Blood and The Warning were both great beforehand as well.

[JayDiesel]

I wasn't there, but did anyone see the hilarious state of Def Leppard/Motley Crue's Wembley show? I saw a TikTok from someone there, and I'm not being overdramatic to say that it looked as if it sold ~10,000 tickets max. The standing section must have been 5% full.

If anyone on here went, I'd bloody love to hear about it.

[-TLR-]

Bruce in Hyde Park this past thursday and saturday.

ok - i'll start with the caveat that i went into these gigs with something of a heavy heart, so its entirely possible i just self sabotaged myself... 

having been to 3 x dublin and villa park on this tour i was just expecting to have a great time with mates at an ok at best Bruce show.

on thursday that largely happened - set list was exactly as expected, and had a nice day with friends.

saturday rolled around and i was pretty much over it all at that point.

i had "gold  circle" tickets both shows - we always go to the same place in the pit - along the back rail, left hand side. which is where we were. then at some point closer to show time the back rail was removed (they had used railing to create a sort of large moat of a walkway around the back area of GC all day up to that point) which meant we were then just in the middle of the GC.

this wouldn't have been a problem - except for the fact that this show (like all the others i have been to on this tour) was in my opinion completely oversold.

where i was stood in the GC it was like being crammed in together with no space to move or enjoy it(the reason we always go to the back of the pit is to have room to move and dance).

i really hate Hyde Park as a venue - i really wish he'd played Emirates, Spurs, Wembley or wherever.

on saturday i couldnt be bothered with it all and gave my GC wristband to a friend who just had GA - i spent the show right at the very back of the whole field, basically in front of the little stage at the other end - i'm glad that i did as i actually quite liked it back there, and i found out afterwards there had been some kind of scuffle in the pit which i am glad i missed.

its kind of heartbreaking to think that could well have been the last time i ever see him (saturday was my 53rd Bruce show).

but when the intro to Backstreets rang out, all i could think to myself was - oh no, not again...

when a song that used to bring you to tears... just makes you feel bored... i think its a sure sign that its time to move on...

on the plus side - i thought the sound at both shows was amazing.

i also thought the toilets were great!