Arena Gigs? Why bother?

Philly_Q

LionAquaLooper said:

I've had the good fortune of seeing Snarky Puppy at small London venues when they were still up and coming and those were THE best gigs I've ever been to bar none. But as soon as they moved to arenas I stayed away. The admission fee alone is a turn off. The biggest venue I saw them at was Scala in Kings X and I was up in the rafters and it was just a crap experience. 

That confused me for a moment, I once saw King's X at the Scala.  King's X at the Scala in King's X.

GoldenEraGuitars

Our “local” venue is the SSE in Belfast. Absolutely superb venue for sound. Every seat has a decent view as well

lamf68

barnstorm said:

lamf68 said:

Blur at Wembley on Saturday night was quite possibly one of the greatest gigs I’ve witnessed, top 5 definitely…sound was phenomenal where we were sat which was roughly halfway line in the lowest tier. Sleaford Mods sound was diabolically bad but think that was just them(never heard such fakery in my life) Jockstrap first support act, singers voice was amazing through whatever they put her through but the mix from the keyboard guy was too fucking high, other support band Self Esteem I had zero interest in and didn’t listen to more than 30 seconds of them before staring at my phone for the half hour they were on…only thing with the blur sound was the bass could have been louder but that may have been my seating position. 

One of my mates, a non-native speaker, loves Sleaford Mods. I always enjoy it when he gets in touch to ask about a lyric that turns out to be about a Nottingham bus route or something, but the music is utterly beyond me.

I’d never listened to them before Saturday, was stunned they actually were a real thing!!! Absolute shit on a biscuit, some fella wandering around the stage seemingly fucked up on ketamine while doing all weird (again what felt like) fake ticks and shit, and some other bozo doing a shit Bez impression the other side of the stage…really didn’t get it! I’m all for new and exciting stuff but this was beyond comprehension. I’ve had a quick look at them on YouTube today and can honestly say I’ll never waste a minute of my time doing it again. 

stickyfiddle

Agreed on Sleaford Mods. I assume it's some sort of ironic art project that got out of hand. 

As for the actual question from OP, I think my actual answer is "because you can't see those acts in a club or theatre". Sprignsteen/U2/Blur/Taylor Swift/etc ain't doing small shows, so if you want to see them you have to go to a big show. 

I love a good small gig but I'd rather see a band I adore in a stadium than one I'm meh on in a club

lustycourtier

Sleaford Mods are incredible. Ive never heard anyone say otherwise until I read this today. Was completely baffled by them at first, but once you get it, wow. Same with Yard Act. 

Creed_Clicks

I find the people giving out about the Sleaford Mods in this thread hilarious. Grrrr.... no guitars.....

sweave

Saw AC DC at Wembley a few years back and, where I was sitting, the sound was so bad I couldn't even tell what the track was!

Jfingers

EricTheWeary said:

My son was at the Blur gig on Saturday. I shall quiz him later but I think the sound was okay from what he said (sound recording being his specialist thing). The behaviour of other people constantly tatting about with mobile phones and engaging in long, shouty conversations I find off-putting. 
My son's friend is an injured serviceman (he got punched in the head at a club in Peterborough where apparently there are locals who don't like the local RAF, sort of a down at heel Top Gun, unscathed from the actual service business) and went as the carer for him as Blur had given a bunch of tickets to Help for Heroes. 

Is that RAF Marham? We passed through that area at the weekend and the locals did come across a bit 'fighty' Nice part of the country though.

roberty

lustycourtier said:

Sleaford Mods are incredible. Ive never heard anyone say otherwise until I read this today. Was completely baffled by them at first, but once you get it, wow. Same with Yard Act. 

I am also a fan. Seen them a handful of times and have maybe 10 of their records. My dad hates them though... ;-p

As for stadium shows, it's not just about the music, it's a collective experience. Which is why I try to avoid them

Jfingers

I much prefer small gigs. Grant Lee Phillips at the blue moon in Cambridge was like a religious experience. Green mind promote gigs there, I've just had a quick look at their website. Upcoming they have Robyn Hitchcock, Kristin Hersh, Tom Robinson. You can keep your stadiums ta.

I'm a big fan of Dan Stuart of Green On Red. The last few times myself and Mrs J have seen him we've been sat at a table with our drinks or on a sofa with our drinks. It's much more civilized.

gumbothewiddler

Blur were amazing on Saturday, sound was great and atmosphere great. We were sitting in the lower tier and whilst still a way from the stage the view was fine. Thing is with blur, Those songs are so ingrained in many peoples youth that it was a massive singalong at times and it does work. Tender with London community gospel choir was quite something to behold.  I’d echo others and say it was one of my top 5 gigs of all time. 

I quite like sleaford mods but they were an example of something that didn’t work in a stadium. 

As an aside, I’d never heard her before but I quite liked self esteem and the big harmonies of her backing singers worked very effectively in what is a flippin massive cavern of a place.

DefaultM

I always wonder what the point is when I watch wrestling. Some of those seats are so far back that the video screens are too small to see.

roberty

DefaultM said:

I always wonder what the point is when I watch wrestling. Some of those seats are so far back that the video screens are too small to see.

As long as you can hear them

Philly_Q

roberty said:

DefaultM said:

I always wonder what the point is when I watch wrestling. Some of those seats are so far back that the video screens are too small to see.

As long as you can hear them

Oh no, he's thrown him onto the concrete apron!  He's hitting him with the steel chair!

EricTheWeary

Jfingers said:

EricTheWeary said:

My son was at the Blur gig on Saturday. I shall quiz him later but I think the sound was okay from what he said (sound recording being his specialist thing). The behaviour of other people constantly tatting about with mobile phones and engaging in long, shouty conversations I find off-putting. 
My son's friend is an injured serviceman (he got punched in the head at a club in Peterborough where apparently there are locals who don't like the local RAF, sort of a down at heel Top Gun, unscathed from the actual service business) and went as the carer for him as Blur had given a bunch of tickets to Help for Heroes. 

Is that RAF Marham? We passed through that area at the weekend and the locals did come across a bit 'fighty' Nice part of the country though.

Oh I don’t know, somewhere near Peterborough. 

RocknRollDave

Depends on the band, the show and the venue, but generally I hate bigger gigs. 

That said, done right it works brilliantly. U2’s 360 Tour shows were amazing.

Rolling Stones at Cardiff Stadium, up in the cheapest (but still expensive) seats…one of the worst gigs in my life. Could barely tell what they were playing, and the view was terrible too.

Trude

When I saw the thread title, I thought you meant you were done PLAYING arenas. I agree, they can be tiresome after a while...

DefaultM

Philly_Q said:

roberty said:

DefaultM said:

I always wonder what the point is when I watch wrestling. Some of those seats are so far back that the video screens are too small to see.

As long as you can hear them

Oh no, he's thrown him onto the concrete apron!  He's hitting him with the steel chair!

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/BeautifulSoulfulDouglasfirbarkbeetle-size_restricted.gif 

darthed1981

I have a thing about the Muse song "Madness".  It's one of my favourites of theirs as it builds very slowly to an epic, almost operatic crescendo, not sure why, but to me it's what music is for.

I saw Muse in MK Bowl a couple of weeks back, 40,000 people there, and I was on the hill a good distance from the stage.

But singing along to that song I actually teared up a bit, because ultimately I was singing along with Matt Bellamy...

There aren't many bands I'd say that about, but Muse were worth the huge gig.

MagicPigDetective

I love the Sleaford Mods but I can see how it might not work in a stadium. 

Never been to a stadium gig, doesn’t really appeal. Give me the Melvins in a small club anyday, like I did recently whilst Coldplay were playing in a stadium down the road.