Peter Kay At the O2 - Value for Money?

livEwirE

Hi all,

My wife and I went to see the show last Thursday and were a bit disappointed to say the least. We found a lot of his material we had heard before, even though we haven't watched his dvd's The show ran as follows:

8:00 - Advertised start
8:20 - Show started
8:55 - Intermission until 9:25(this were never previously announced!)
10:00 - Show finished
10:10 - Encore finished and show ends

We thought it was pathetic that Kay went on a 30minute break! Obviously the drinking culture of his fans was taken advantage of:rolleyes:

We had been to see Andrea Rieu in the O2 two days before on the Tuesday night, the show started at 8pm sharp, 15 minute break at 9, and ended at 10:55 - fantastic value!

Just wondering what other people thought of Kay's show? We bought our tickets 2 weeks previously but most people had bought them 18 months in advance:eek:

Arthur Scargill

I think you will get alot of agreement on here. We went on the Fri nite having waited with tickets since Xmas '09 :eek:

I have to say we thought he was brilliant but finished way too soon. I felt cheated at the end. Couldn't believe it finished so soon. :mad:

MagicMarker

I forgot all about it.

Taking a 30 minute break after only 30 minutes on stage though is taking the piss!!

M.J.M.C

What makes it worse if you all waited nearly 2 years for that gig.

Grumpypants

I was at last nights show and thought it was brilliant. The break is that long to let everyone get out and go to the toilet and get another drink. More to do with Irish crowds thinking it fine to get up and go to the toilet when ever they want in the middle of previous shows without any consideration for the people around them and the need for the Venue to sell another round of drinks, than his need id would say.

He went on stage around 8:15 took his break at 9 and back on at 9:25ish (very rough times) There was 5 mins at the start with Keith Duffy as the money from the show was donated to Autism Ireland. Even the staff worked for free last night fair play to them.

My show was kind of ruined by some silly woman in front of me who got slaughtered before hand and went from singing the songs before he comes on stage at the top of her voice, to shouting B*****d at him for telling a joke about Michael Jackson, to throwing a drink on a couple in front of her because the guy had his arm around his girlfriend, screaming at them to get a room. She then complained about the couple to an usher who took her out to the supervisor who just left her back to her seat 10 mins later and then she got upset at another joke and went to storm out and and fell down the steps.

felt sorry for the people beside her who had to get up to let her out of her seat 4 or 5 times in 40mins.



OP All the material was pretty much new he did touch on some old jokes to make new jokes but ive seen all his DVD's a million times and this was new stuff. Similar style but all new.

livEwirE

Grumpypants wrote: »

My show was kind of ruined by some silly woman in front of me who got slaughtered before hand and went from singing the songs before he comes on stage at the top of her voice, to shouting B*****d at him for telling a joke about Michael Jackson, to throwing a drink on a couple in front of her because the guy had his arm around his girlfriend, screaming at them to get a room. She then complained about the couple to an usher who took her out to the supervisor who just left her back to her seat 10 mins later and then she got upset at another joke and went to storm out and and fell down the steps.

felt sorry for the people beside her who had to get up to let her out of her seat 4 or 5 times in 40mins.

That sounds nasty, glad I didn't have to endure some idiot like that, WHY was she not thrown out of the venue though

Boooourns

I was at the show as well last night, thought it was quite funny in parts but overall i was disappointed especially at the ending with the spade air guitar (was funny for a minute) and then the songs he went on to sing, that was pretty cringy.

delbertgrady

OP, I agree with you for the most part, but I wouldn't compare the duration of a stand-up show to that of a concert, be it a rock band or Andre Rieu. With the exception of Billy Connolly (whose lengthy performances are bordering on legendary), most stand-up shows don't go on very long. Also, there is unfortunately a "drinking culture" associated with comedy shows, so the interval was hardly unexpected.
I enjoyed it well enough (I was there on Sunday), but my fourth row seat meant I had a great vantage point, which no doubt colours my impression of the night. I voted for the middle option in the poll (average show, average value), as I thought it was neither sumptuous banquet nor dog’s dinner.

However, I do think he took ages to get going, which I'd excuse for a first night, but not well into the tour. He was definitely not as polished as he used to be. Clearly, his time away from a live audience has meant he's lost his standup mojo a little bit. He frequently looked at either a teleprompter or (more likely) a "set list" to ensure he was sticking to the script, and I have heard from others that several of the jokes have been doing the rounds already.
There was definitely something slightly surreal about seeing a show on such a grand scale (i.e., a large auditorium, full to capacity) and to have it be so brief. "Yeah, we're really getting into it now... oh, it's the interval already?". "Yeah, this misheard song lyric schtick is gold... oh, that's it, he's finished?". (He'd already done a version of the misheard lyrics routine in Croke Park when he "supported" Billy Joel, and it was better then).

What I thought was most telling on the night (from a monetary point of view) was the business that was being conducted at the merchandise stands. Or rather, the total lack of business.

Oh, and - prompted by the last post - while I really enjoyed the spade guitar (especially the messing with the pedals routine), he REALLY needs to give Amarillo a rest (something I suspect you'd agree with). It's not even funny in a postmodern, self-deprecating way at this stage.

AnonoBoy

Like Delbertgrady said stand-up shows can't be compared to music gigs length wise.

Besides some exceptions most stand up shows run roughly between 70-90 minutes and a lot of them will take a break in the middle.

Rigor Mortis

OP the interval was listed on the running order on the MCD site. Checked this to see the starting times in advance.

Also intervals are pretty standard at stand up gigs. Have seen same from Tommy T and Des Bishop and regularly at most other clubs.

Like everyone else said its not a rock gig so it tends to be shorter. This was at the shorter end of the spectrum though.

df1985

I went on friday and while I laughed pretty much all the way through I did think it was pretty short. Looking back though the few drinks in me made it a lot funnier, was simple enough humour, no thinking involved.

Ill never get tickets that far in advance again though.

livEwirE

Gotta agree with delbertgrady, the misheard lyrics routine was waaaaaaaaaay too long, he must've spent 10 minutes on that alone:eek:

blastman

livEwirE wrote: »

That sounds nasty, glad I didn't have to endure some idiot like that, WHY was she not thrown out of the venue though

Pity she didn't produce a camera, there would have been three of them on her in a flash (pun intended). Staff were adamant there was to be no cameras, is this a sign of a tightening up on them again or a specific request by the artist/the artist's management, I wonder.

harr

was there on Saturday night and enjoyed the show but would have preferred to have seen him in the likes of vicar street as pointed out most stand ups i have seen there set last between 70-80 mins while i enjoyed it i do not think the O2 was the right venue.
Another thing which annoyed me was no support act,what harm would it have been to have a local act on before and during the interval?

argentum

blastman wrote: »

Pity she didn't produce a camera, there would have been three of them on her in a flash (pun intended). Staff were adamant there was to be no cameras, is this a sign of a tightening up on them again or a specific request by the artist/the artist's management, I wonder.

Peter Kay asked for this as he didn't want the videos appearing on youtube to ruin it for people who had yet to see the show.I can understand why, because if you were doing the same jokes night after night and had spent a long time putting the show together you would not like the audience to know the punchlines.Its different if its a band you go to as you know what songs they are going to sing and look forward to them .A comedy gig needs the element of surprise to work.Also the encore in fairness is the type of thing you need to be surprised by and it works very well.maybe if you heard about it before hand it wouldn't have been any good

delbertgrady

argentum wrote: »

The encore in fairness is the type of thing you need to be surprised by and it works very well. Maybe if you heard about it before hand it wouldn't have been any good.

I agree. I didn't go looking for spoilers, but I would have been disappointed if someone had told me what the big finish was.

run_Forrest_run

a mate was at the show on the final night and he was disappointed with the duration also. He loved the material though.

On a side note, the only reason an artist doesn't want people recording the show with cameras is monetary, don't be fooled by the 'I don't want to ruin it for others' excuse

Miguel_Sanchez

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

On a side note, the only reason an artist doesn't want people recording the show with cameras is monetary, don't be fooled by the 'I don't want to ruin it for others' excuse

I don't agree that it's the only reason.

If you've seen a lot of a comedian's show up on Youtube already before you go to a gig it will ruin it for you. It's not the same as watching footage of a band on Youtube before you go to see them live.

run_Forrest_run

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

I don't agree that it's the only reason.

If you've seen a lot of a comedian's show up on Youtube already before you go to a gig it will ruin it for you. It's not the same as watching footage of a band on Youtube before you go to see them live.

yes correct but the artist does assume that the punter can work this out themselves. What I'm saying is if an artist instructs security to forbid cameras it's really for to do with the fact that they more than likely plan to release a video of the material themselves, usually at the end of the tour.

stargazer 68

No cameras?? I was blinded the other night by the camera flashes from the audience - so much for that then!

washiskin

delbertgrady wrote: »

OP, I agree with you for the most part, but I wouldn't compare the duration of a stand-up show to that of a concert, be it a rock band or Andre Rieu. With the exception of Billy Connolly (whose lengthy performances are bordering on legendary), most stand-up shows don't go on very long.

Unless it's a Bill Bailey show.

furtzy

The late start and the overyly long intermission meant the actual show was way too short. The routine seemed very tired and he stayed way too long on the misheard lyrics bit.

As for the rip off drink prices in the O2...shocking

Exclamation Marc

Great show, thought the length was perfect.

75 minutes for a comedian is the industry standard. Go to any gig in Vicar Street or Olympia and you'll get a gig the same length. I assume people who are complaining about the 75 minute length don't go to comedy gigs very often. You can't compare a music gig length to a comedy gig length as they just don't relate.

I just pulled out some of my favorite comedy DVDS and here are their lengths.

John Bishop 75 mins
Milton Jones 72 mins
Stewart Francis 90 mins
Lee Mack 71 mins
Rhod Gilbert 83 mins
Michael McIntyre 83 mins
Tommy Tiernan 73 mins
Jimmy Carr 80 mins

The only difference here was that unlike most other gigs there was no warm up act which meant that a lot of the crowd were flat at the very start. Despite whether you like/dislike warm-up acts, they do get you going so when the comedian comes on you're hot, and when there's no warm up act, it does take a while to get into it.

Fantastic show, well worth the wait, and well worth the value.

DamienOB

FireballPitcher wrote: »

Great show, thought the length was perfect.

75 minutes for a comedian is the industry standard. Go to any gig in Vicar Street or Olympia and you'll get a gig the same length. I assume people who are complaining about the 75 minute length don't go to comedy gigs very often. You can't compare a music gig length to a comedy gig length as they just don't relate.

I just pulled out some of my favorite comedy DVDS and here are their lengths.

John Bishop 75 mins
Milton Jones 72 mins
Stewart Francis 90 mins
Lee Mack 71 mins
Rhod Gilbert 83 mins
Michael McIntyre 83 mins
Tommy Tiernan 73 mins
Jimmy Carr 80 mins

The only difference here was that unlike most other gigs there was no warm up act which meant that a lot of the crowd were flat at the very start. Despite whether you like/dislike warm-up acts, they do get you going so when the comedian comes on you're hot, and when there's no warm up act, it does take a while to get into it.

Fantastic show, well worth the wait, and well worth the value.

Twas in its Bolix good value, Material was terrible, he had 8 years to come up with new stuff and still had to touch on old material for inspiration? i'll say it again, 8 years.. Every comedian on the scene comes up with new material every year now.... he had 8.

Lost any ounce of respect i had for the man, shocking...

And on the sunday, he was on for a total of 63 min (I timed it on my phone, stopwatch and split timed his breaks etc)... thats terrible... €€€€€€

Exclamation Marc

DamienOB wrote: »

Twas in its Bolix good value, Material was terrible, he had 8 years to come up with new stuff and still had to touch on old material for inspiration? i'll say it again, 8 years.. Every comedian on the scene comes up with new material every year now.... he had 8.

Lost any ounce of respect i had for the man, shocking...

And on the sunday, he was on for a total of 63 min (I timed it on my phone, stopwatch and split timed his breaks etc)... thats terrible... €€€€€€

Seems like your mind was made up pre-show if you were timing it tbh.

My value for money comment was not related to the content but more so the length of the show, some people who went to my show said they expected it to be 2 hours plus.... Not sure where they got that idea.

DamienOB

FireballPitcher wrote: »

Seems like your mind was made up pre-show if you were timing it tbh.

My value for money comment was not related to the content but more so the length of the show, some people who went to my show said they expected it to be 2 hours plus.... Not sure where they got that idea.

Timed it due to comments on here, i was thinking they were ridiculous times been stated so i timed it for proof.... Wasnt much effort, start when he started an stop when he stopped....

Comparison, i went to see John Bishop in Odyssey in Belfast last night, he was ON STAGE for over 2 hours, in front of 6,000 people, with half hour break.... €32 including booking fee... Now thats value for money, Plus his stuff was new, and not re-worked old material

grames_bond

FireballPitcher wrote: »

John Bishop 75 mins
Milton Jones 72 mins
Stewart Francis 90 mins
Lee Mack 71 mins
Rhod Gilbert 83 mins
Michael McIntyre 83 mins
Tommy Tiernan 73 mins
Jimmy Carr 80 mins

you have got to remember that these shows are completely edited to f*ck before they come out on dvd! Jimmy carr does 2 hours every show and that gets cut to 80-90 minutes. Michael Mcintyre does 2 hours plus, same with tommy and john bishop (and they're the only ones from that list whose full show i have seen)

Ill be honest 68 minutes (lets split the difference) for that venue, for that price, id feel a bit hard done by (again though I haventy seen the show i just wanted to make the point)