Arena Gigs? Why bother?

ElectricXII

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. 

My eldest loves them and just received their latest album on vinyl in the post yesterday. I quite like them too.

rze99

I agree. I hate them. 

munckee

darthed1981 said:

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.

I saw REM supported by Blur at the MK in 95. Amazing concert and loved being in a grassy bowl rather than a traditional venue. Sound was brilliant and felt close to the band. Nowhere to get shade which was draining as it very hot but would go again to see a great band. 

Danny1969

MK Bowl is actually a really good venue as long as the wind behaves. Saw ZZ Top  / Bryan Adams / Thunder / Little Angels there in 91. One of the best big gigs i've been to. 

Jonathangus

Danny1969 said:

MK Bowl is actually a really good venue as long as the wind behaves. Saw ZZ Top  / Bryan Adams / Thunder / Little Angels there in 91. One of the best big gigs i've been to. 

And The Law, with Paul Rodgers.  Great gig, but stupidly, stupidly hot.  St John's Ambulance were getting through calamine lotion by the flagon.

EricTheWeary

Jonathangus said:

Danny1969 said:

MK Bowl is actually a really good venue as long as the wind behaves. Saw ZZ Top  / Bryan Adams / Thunder / Little Angels there in 91. One of the best big gigs i've been to. 

And The Law, with Paul Rodgers.  Great gig, but stupidly, stupidly hot.  St John's Ambulance were getting through calamine lotion by the flagon.

I was there and remember the heat more than anything. Someone offered me a tenner for my bottle of water (on the walk in) and I refused. 

Chuffola

gumbothewiddler said:

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.

I was there on Sunday with Paul Weller supporting.

I've been to a lot of gigs over 40 years and this was, maybe, the best I've ever been at. Setlist, performance, atmosphere were all fantastic. 

We were in the first tier about half way line and sound was excellent. 

I don't usually like stadium gigs but this was just epic.

darthed1981

Danny1969 said:

MK Bowl is actually a really good venue as long as the wind behaves.

Matt Bellamy actually said "this is a great venue, like a lovely big bowl full of people".

Apparently seven years since there was last a gig there though!

JayGee

Not all Arenas are equal. Not all acts are equal. Not all productions are equal.

Muse at Wembley were stunning, possibly because they’d put a lot of effort into designing a production which worked on that scale, Iron Maiden at Twickenham were stunning, again they’d put together a spectacle which matched the scale of the venue, Foo Fighters at Wembley were, I’m sorry to say deeply disappointing, largely I suspect because the promoters had got greedy and opened up seats with (in spite of the nominally “in the round” staging[1]) utterly unacceptable sight lines.

[1] In practice the revolving stage stayed resolutely stationary pointing down the centre line of the stadium for pretty much the entire show. Dave Grohl seemed to find it terribly amusing that some people in the audience had paid Quite A Lot Of Money to, as he put it “spend two hours staring at my ass” - our seats weren’t quite that bad but I still found joking about the fact that a big chunk of the audience had lousy views and mediocre sound a little graceless…

Offset

Last stadium/arena gig I went to was RHCP at the Docklands Arena.  The sound was awful, they were (disappointingly) very poor and from our vantage point, they were dots on the horizon.  I'd have been better off staying at home with a couple of their CDs and a bottle of plonk thus saving myself the cost and the aggro.

TeleMaster

I like going to festivals, and have been to many of the Hyde Park BST days but I prefer them to stadium and arena gigs. At least at festivals, BST you can do what you want, you're not tied to a little seat in the rafters. 

dindude

Haven’t heard a bad word about the Blur Wembley gig, so that’s probably the answer to “why bother”. The big outdoor ones that I’ve been to that were poor were exactly because it look like no one bothered, the Chli Peppers was an under powered PA with a dialled in performance. Conversely Roger Waters was hi fi sound on scale and REM was always great in this environment. 

Neilybob

Danny1969 said:

MK Bowl is actually a really good venue...

Until everyone tries to exit the car park/field via the one gate! 

Alterlifeson

There is a big difference again between arenas and stadiums. Most bands I see are in arenas and a smaller production  work well. Pearl Jam are an arena band here and have no video backdrop, no pyro and have only recently introduced a couple of moving light trusses. Easily the best shows I've seen though. Same with Iron Maiden, relatively simple production that works great in an arena setting, and judging by their live DVDs works well outside too.

In a stadium, smaller productions just don't work the same with the exception of Springsteen and maybe Maiden as above. U2 are in the best of both, 360 was ground breaking (and excellent) with 'the claw' and the Joshua tree used a relatively plain production (big screen and catwalk) however the use of the screen was exceptional. U2 in an arena is arguably even better, the last two tours making use of a huge video wall and an in the round set up. 

Normally the let downs are the bands that are only just big enough for arenas, Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry. Not impressive production wise and the room just feels a bit big.

Creed_Clicks

Sleaford Mods, I can understand how they would tank in a stadium or arena. Just not suited to it.

stickyfiddle

Neilybob said:

Danny1969 said:

MK Bowl is actually a really good venue...

Until everyone tries to exit the car park/field via the one gate! 

Oh god you'll give me flashbacks to Oasis in 2005-ish. I think I spent longer sitting in the queue to get out than I did inside the venue... 

mrkb

stickyfiddle said:

Neilybob said:

Danny1969 said:

MK Bowl is actually a really good venue...

Until everyone tries to exit the car park/field via the one gate! 

Oh god you'll give me flashbacks to Oasis in 2005-ish. I think I spent longer sitting in the queue to get out than I did inside the venue... 

That’s a beginners mistake, just walk back to the station car park and drive directly away. I was home (25 miles away) one hour after the end of the Muse gig.

Jonathangus

stickyfiddle said:

Neilybob said:

Danny1969 said:

MK Bowl is actually a really good venue...

Until everyone tries to exit the car park/field via the one gate! 

Oh god you'll give me flashbacks to Oasis in 2005-ish. I think I spent longer sitting in the queue to get out than I did inside the venue... 

So true... https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/3606233/#Comment_3606233

darius

I agree stadiums are just too big for most gigs to be great but I don’t see how we have a choice?

If the band you want to see is big enough for arenas and stadiums you’ve got to see them at the arena and the stadium. They’re not going to be playing the Dog&Duck unfortunately, even though that would be 1000x better as a gig. 

Floor standing is about the closest I can hope to get to a pub gig at a stadium. 

Conversely I always play all my pub gigs like I’m at Wembley. Cos it must be the most feckin awesome feeling actually playing Wembley to 100000 people. I mean who would honestly downsize if they were offered the chance??

prowla

I like to be able to see the act I've gone to "see", rather than watch them on a screen; if I have to watch them on a screen (or they don't even have screens), then what's the point of being there?

I've been to a few gigs where the sound was awful which made me question the point of going: Linkin Park at the O2, Mars Volta at somewhere in London, Marilyn Manson at the Brixton Academy.