Bloc Party apologise for Oxegen "shambles"

eskimo · 23-07-2005 2:51am #1

Bloc Party posted an apology online for the mess that was their set at Oxegen. If you haven't already seen it, here it is:

Hi all

I just wanted to apologise to anyone who came to our Oxegen gig today and went away feeling a little short-changed by the shambolic, indeed destructive nature of the set. I'd certainly like to apologise to the organisers and stage technicians if I came over as arrogant and ****ty. I got very frustrated by the conditions onstage today and this led to me taking it out on our rented gear at the end of the set. All of us were frustrated today - band and crew - and I was the one who allowed it to spill out.

The quality of the gear we rented today was not particularly good and we were also having problems with feedback that apparently had been dogging the stage all day. The Ampeg amp I used was not a good amp (I'm an Ashdown man), and Matt had trouble with the kit too. While we struggled on with the show a bunch of chance problems like a broken guitar strap added to my frustration and I got increasingly wound up. It was frustrating not to be able to give as good a show as the amazing Irish crowd - one of our best - deserved. After 40 minutes of this, come the end of our set, I just gave up and flipped and Matt and I both set to on the drums - which were not our own.

Obviously we'll pay for the damage - it's what bands do - and we can all learn a lesson from it. Our sound and monitor guys both had trouble with equipment, as well as the band. I just feel for any of the audience who might have felt we were under par or giving a substandard performance. We're not in Ireland as much as we'd like and it's a pity that a show that so many people were looking forward - not least us - was spoiled by these annoyances. We tried to struggle through and kind of lost the battle. Smashing things up is a very therapeutic, if rather puerile, way of dealing with things, and not something I plan to make a habit of, certainly not when the equipment isn't my own.

That said, for those of you who went away from our gig having had a good time, as I hope some of you did, it was a pleasure to be here and we hope we'll back soon under less strained conditions. I hope we managed to entertain you in some small way at least.

Cheers.

Gordy.
x

http://www.blocparty.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6680

weemcd · 23-07-2005 4:41am

so basically he was frustrated

too busy trying to do the rock and roll thing tbh

roxy · 23-07-2005 11:11am

I thought that was going to be an apology for their referring to Ireland as being in the UK...

0utshined · 23-07-2005 7:51pm

roxy wrote:

I thought that was going to be an apology for their referring to Ireland as being in the UK...

hah, me too.

The apology he gave isn't needed though, watching them trash the gear was quite entertaining!

darraghrogan · 24-07-2005 8:02pm

You know - notwithstanding their location gaff, at least they mentioned they were in punchestown and not dublin!

I'd see them again I reckon - after a listen to that remix album they brought out

Darragh

Zyox · 24-07-2005 11:22pm

Cheers.

Gordy.
x

Wow. Nice touch.

k_money · 25-07-2005 9:43am

Yeah they should've apologized for acting the idiot in calling Ireland part of the Uk, didn't go down too well! Personally had a ball at them!

eskimo · 25-07-2005 7:43pm

darraghrogan wrote:

You know - notwithstanding their location gaff, at least they mentioned they were in punchestown and not dublin!

I'd see them again I reckon - after a listen to that remix album they brought out

Darragh

Lol it was sickening how many bands said hello DUBLIN! Although in fairness the vast majority of the crowd were prob Dubliners. But still.

Waltons · 26-07-2005 9:16pm

I don't know about that! The only Dublin accents apart from our group I heard were from people I ran into that I knew.

karlh · 27-07-2005 5:21pm

classy band, classy guy.

fair play fella!

k_money · 28-07-2005 9:03am

Welll I mean, punchestown's alot closer to Dublin than it is to Belfast or Mayo like! I think it's much more embarrassing to call Ireland part of the Uk, I mean their tour manager prob just said : You're in Dublin tonight. To call it the UK is just plain stupid!

Dave · 28-07-2005 9:14am

The sound was terrible but I had a great time none the less. Seeing them trash the stage was quite cool.

polarbelly · 28-07-2005 7:45pm

k_money wrote:

Yeah they should've apologized for acting the idiot in calling Ireland part of the Uk, didn't go down too well!

they did in another thread and somewhere in that one...

Bloc Party apologise for Oxegen "shambles"

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