[MMD]

Truly one of the most bizarre gigs I have ever seen.

Loved the beginning to the interval...and then we entered the twilight zone...I was unsurprised people left in their hordes...it was awful, self indulgent, uncomfortable and I felt embarrassed for him.

It reminded me of Spinal tap to be honest.

People did not fork out €100 to see a west end style musical based on Cat Stevens catalog of music...they wanted, expected and deserved what should have been a greatest hits show seeing as it was his first tour since 1976.

If he hadn't have "rescued" it towards the end, there would have been a riot methinks.

[dolittle]

the people leaving, booing and slow hand clapping were a disgrace
the billboards did indicate that he would be showcasing his new show
i loved the show

[tannapol]

Agree with MMD except wouldn't describe it as bizarre. 'Dire' is the word that springs to mind. First half was so-so as he went through some of his lesser back catalogue. Great, we thought, he's saving the best till last.
Then second half started with a truly awful musical - think very bad 'Fiddler on the Roof', with dated choreography and a butchering of Mattew & son, father and son, Wild World, sung by High School Musical type ensemble, i.e. no Yusuf Islam - this went on for 30 mins. Crowd very restive - boos and catcalls - I truly thought there could be a riot.
Then he came back on and more or less apologised - better than the musical but he never did the big three songs. Perverse or what?
Did he not realise the implicit bargain - he could bore us with some lite Islamic stuff as long as he gave us the Greatest Hits. Why otherwise charge €75 - €100.
Punters very unhappy leaving - and some of them vociferous about it - I saw a man and a woman taken away in handcuffs by Gardai.

[MMD]

Originally Posted by dolittle

the people leaving, booing and slow hand clapping were a disgrace
the billboards did indicate that he would be showcasing his new show
i loved the show

did you not think that particular section of the show was even remotely self indulgent? I mean come on...having west end actors signing some of your classic songs is in my opinion a disgrace.

All in, how long was he actually on stage??

Onstage 8pm...8 songs, interval...THAT section...then 3 encores.

Don't get me wrong Dolittle, when he was good, he was awesome, but that section of the show was just a very very bitter pill to swallow. I, unlike a lot in my section, stayed to the end.

As a very frequent gig goer, I cannot remember anything like this happening at a gig before.

[Sonic_exyouth]

Originally Posted by tannapol

Agree with MMD except wouldn't describe it as bizarre. 'Dire' is the word that springs to mind. First half was so-so as he went through some of his lesser back catalogue. Great, we thought, he's saving the best till last.
Then second half started with a truly awful musical - think very bad 'Fiddler on the Roof', with dated choreography and a butchering of Mattew & son, father and son, Wild World, sung by High School Musical type ensemble, i.e. no Yusuf Islam - this went on for 30 mins. Crowd very restive - boos and catcalls - I truly thought there could be a riot.
Then he came back on and more or less apologised - better than the musical but he never did the big three songs. Perverse or what?
Did he not realise the implicit bargain - he could bore us with some lite Islamic stuff as long as he gave us the Greatest Hits. Why otherwise charge €75 - €100.
Punters very unhappy leaving - and some of them vociferous about it - I saw a man and a woman taken away in handcuffs by Gardai.

The musical was featured very heavily in all advertising.
I don't get why people thought it wasn't going to happen.
And booing the singers, thats just horrible.

I'm glad the ignorant muppets who left missed the fantastic version of Moonshadow, and indeed the Ronan Keating bit at the end. The drunken imbeciles shouting random song titles all through the show were a disgrace - I've seen Christy Moore flat-out stop gigs for less.

I really enjoyed the concert all in all, but, the audience annoyed me!

[John Mason]

i really enjoyed the musical part and will go and see it.

i was disgusted at the behaviour of the people around us. it was made very clear that he was going to show a preview of the musical.

the amount of people i heard on the way out saying they were going to contact joe and gerry about the show was laughable, what is wrong with this country.

i have to say i did get a bit scared at one point and thought there was going to be a riot, and was frantically looking for the emergency exits. i seen the gardai come in alright but didnt notice them taking anyone out

[Sonic_exyouth]

Originally Posted by MMD

did you not think that particular section of the show was even remotely self indulgent? I mean come on...having west end actors signing some of your classic songs is in my opinion a disgrace.

All in, how long was he actually on stage??

Onstage 8pm...8 songs, interval...THAT section...then 3 encores.

Don't get me wrong Dolittle, when he was good, he was awesome, but that section of the show was just a very very bitter pill to swallow. I, unlike a lot in my section, stayed to the end.

As a very frequent gig goer, I cannot remember anything like this happening at a gig before.

He said he'd show highlights from a musical he wrote based around his songs.

I'm curious as to what you would have expected

[sdeire]

I was working for this...now I was upstairs but I'm told downstairs got quite volatile for a while with people demanding money back (and we are nothing to do with that whatsoever). Very strange, bizzare format though I didn't see much of it obviously.

What was the song in the middle that some kid was singing? Pity it wasn't himself singing, but I liked the tune, wouldnt mind googling it.

Slightly larger Garda presence than normal towards the end I thought.

[dolittle]

of course it was self indulgent
its represents his journey of finding himself, his rebirth so to speak

[MMD]

Originally Posted by Sonic_exyouth

He said he'd show highlights from a musical he wrote based around his songs.

I'm curious as to what you would have expected

a half an hours worth? Fine, if he was singing it....but not the actors.

he was barely on stage for that time, and actors sang some of his classics! That is the point!!

[mattfender]

He always wanted to do a musical so let the man do his musical!

I thought it was a pretty good gig, the musical did go on too long in fairness but it didnt wreck my night!

[mattfender]

Originally Posted by irishbird

i

the amount of people i heard on the way out saying they were going to contact joe and gerry about the show was laughable, what is wrong with this country.

everyone wants an excuse to call joe especially all those geriatrics pricks who walked out

[Stain Boy]

What a great show, and what a moronic audience!

Billboard: Yusuf, featuring his new musical "Moonshadow"
Audience: "We want Cat Stevens!"
Me: Then start working on a time machine because Cat Stevens is no more, and hasn't been for 33 years!

In a way I hope this gets the same reaction in the 3 English dates, then I won't have to be ashamed of being part of an Irish audience.


One negative I will say about the show, I do think it was improperly structured. I reckon the musical should have been on first with an intro by Yusuf, like the one he did anyway, but more highlighting the fact that this was a SAMPLE of the musical. Not excusing their shameful reaction, I do think a lot of people were confused and thought that when the musical started that it would be for the rest of the show.

[Stain Boy]

Originally Posted by MMD

All in, how long was he actually on stage??

Onstage 8pm...8 songs, interval...THAT section...then 3 encores.

"The truth, the _____ truth, and nothing but the truth!" I think your missing the middle bit there. Your comment "then 3 encores" is rather misleading. Because Yusuf didn't play 3 SONGS, did he? I remember (after Musical section):
Don't Be Shy
This Glass World
Breakdown
Moonshadow
Peace Train
All Kinds of Roses
Lilly White
Tuesdays Dead
Father and Son

The 8 songs you mentioned from the start, these nine, and probably 1 or 2 I can't immediately recall, thats about TWENTY Yusuf/Cat songs in all. Thats the whole truth.

I saw Neil Young this year. 17 songs
I saw Leonard Cohen this year. 25 songs
I saw Nick Cave this year. 15 songs
I saw Metallica this year. 19 songs
I saw Eric Clapton this year. 18 songs
I saw plenty more this year. Average less than 20 songs
I saw Yusuf Islam this year. TWENTY(estimate) songs

[Makikomi]

I'm not going to argue with the people here who thought it was a good gig, your entitled to your opinion - but I think your deluded.

This truely was the worse gig I've been to in my life, only other time I walked out of a gig was Bob Dylan, Slane '84.

And yes, at one stage I thought there was a real risk of crowd trouble. As I was leaving (early) there was a significant Garda presence, I met a friend of mine was is a member of AGS who told me he'd been sent down as part of AGS re-enforcements because security were concerned at the amount of unhappy people.

I feel like Yusef took the piss, damned disgrace.