Neil Young & Crazy Horse - RDS - 15th June

Flysfisher

yogicolly wrote: »

Worst gig I've ever been to in my life, nothing to do with what Neil Young did or did not play, the sound and setup were simply a disgrace! Seen him numerous times, he always does what he wants and in fairness that is perfectly fine he's entitled to it and most fans know that and accept it! The problem was the sound, it was simply way to low, when u can barely hear the gig and your standing in the pit then something is very wrong (there pretty much was only a pit size standing section as over half the pitch was blocked off due to poor sales). Having no screens for the people in the stands who forked out the 90 quid is also inexcusable, also not having the traditional crazy horse stacked amp stage rig is also very strange considering they used it in the UK during the week.

To be honest it was if they looked at the sales and said they couldn't be bothered. Aiken really need to apologise for this gig! I left the gig looking for a refund after 4 songs, Aiken in fairness took one of our group up to their offices to listen to our concerns, we didn't get a refund but we are waiting their response and were assured they will be in contact! The negativity of the masses leaving after 6 or 7 songs was incredible, nobody was happy about this gig! They really need to look at the rds, if there is sound restrictions there that will ruin the gig then don't put a gig on there, the gig would have been much better suited to an indoor show! The prices they charge these days needs to be backed up with quality, in this case it certainly was not!

You have summed it up perfectly.

Mental Mickey

Was at the gig last night. Sound wasn't brilliant, but even Neil Young can do f$&k all about the weather!!!! If ya want to hear it like it sounds on CD, well stay at home and listen to your CD!!!!! Its a LIVE gig, its gonna sound different!

Neil Young gigs are always gonna be weird.....


Highlights for me were Walk Like A Giant, Cinnamon Girl, Hey, Hey, Cortez, and the acoustic bit in the middle.

loveisdivine

This was my first NY gig. I was expecting to head a lot of songs I didn't know and that was what happened, however, I still really enjoyed it. The sound was fine where we were, barrier to the right.

The only downsides for me where the end of the first song that went on way too long and I really wanted to hear rocking in the free world, but I knew it wasn't a guarantee.

dots03

Flysfisher wrote: »

There's an awful lot of people on here saying it was to be expected from neil and crazy horse. That's true to a certain extent. But still stuff like ramada inn and giant while good tracks are not ever going to work live with a big wide ranging audience. The set list was a poor selection.
Blown in the wind? Why? It's not like he short of his own excellent material.

Neil Young is still making music people and is not a karaoke dinosaur (like some of the other acts that have been or will be in town over the summer).

Ramada Inn and Walk like a Giant are 2 of the best songs Neil Young and Crazy Horse have written and it was an honour to see them played live. Ramada Inn especially was exceptional...gave me goosebumps.

Blowin in the wind was also pretty cool...in Waging Heavy Peace he gives a big nod to Dylan as having influenced his carrer and it's obvious he is a big Dylan fan. Given the history of the song, the politics of Neil Young and the recent revelations about the tens of thousands of deaths in Syria it had a deserving 2 minutes in the setlist.

We were pretty close up front and the sound etc. was great, but agree that if you were further back it would have been a pretty poor experience (especially with all the drunk idiots complaining that he wasn't playing the 'hits')

dharn

The ending to walk like a giant, was just stupid, it killed the gig, no atmosphere, until cortez, which was a bit late

Flysfisher

A stage of a few scaffolding poles and a load of black plastic bags.
Pathetic effort from the promoters.

comet

I was up the front where the sound was good, had a perfect view and enjoyed the concert.

There's no excuse in the internet age for people to be surprised by the setlist, that's just lazy. Anyone with any interest knew this was going to be a setlist heavy with songs from the new album with one maybe two acoustic numbers.
I agree he completely overdid the outro on Walk like a Giant, it did get boring and lost the crowd although when he was hanging off the Baldwin Exterminator amp twiddling the knob for feedback it was cool.

I do think it was shocking there was no big screen considering how far back some of the seats were. A cost cutting measure no doubt. Is it good enough that if a concert sells well big screens go in but if it doesn't costs have to be cut and it's bye bye big screens. That's not acceptable.

I don't know if it changed later in the day but I saw no screening of tickets to get into the standing area. This meant you could have bought a cheaper seated ticket, saw there was no big screen and the sound was poor and headed for the standing area.

As for support really enjoyed Little Green Cars and The Waterboys.

comet

yogicolly wrote: »

when u can barely hear the gig and your standing in the pit then something is very wrong

Indeed, time for a hearing aid!
You make valid points to be fair but I had no problem with the sound up towards the front, I can understand it might have been a problem further back the venue though.

RainyDay

I wouldn't be a huge NY fan. The only NY material in my collection is a greatest hits album. I was brought along by a good friend, and we stood near the front.

I loved the gig. I'd be a big Waterboys fan from years back, so that was a great start to the day. Even the heavy shower didn't put me off during the brilliant Don't Bang The Drum - best album intro ever.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse were brilliant for me. It's great to see four sixty-something year old men putting out quality music with no fuss or drama. No fancy lights, no big screen - just brilliant music. The crowd near the front were enjoying themselves, though I did notice a few of the ladies who had been dragged along by their hubbies who were watching their watches and phones rather than the stage. Peter Coonan from Love/Hate was just in front of me, and Anne Cassin from RTE was beside me. Bobby Kerr from Dragons Den passed by me at one stage.

I was at Robbie Williams in Landsdowne on Friday night, having been dragged along by the missus. It was a huge production event - massive stage, lighting, sliding entrance via a zip line, fireworks, huge moving props around the stage. Robbie's show was all shiny, but empty. Neil Young and Crazy Horse had soul.

thebaz

RainyDay wrote: »

Robbie's show was all shiny, but empty. Neil Young and Crazy Horse had soul.

and thats sums up what one would expect , or certainly me

LoGiE

Of all the gigs I've been too, that was one of the worst. The venue was **** and the gig was self indulgent nonsense. Would it have hurt to even acknowledge the crowd? People voted with other feet and left in there droves.

who_ru

the rds needs to be demolished completely and build something that can actually host big concerts/sporting events without a gale force wind blowing right through the place, where you don't need to walk half a mile for a beer or leak.

that terracing to the left of the 'stage' is an eyesore.

again as with springsteen last year the sound was dreadful, aiken are just taking the piss now with the irish public if they think lashing up a stage made of bin liner and speaker stacks blowing around to the side of the stage is acceptable.

for 76 euro is really felt a right rip off.

never again will i set foot in that kip which is the RDS.

kingsriver64

I did my research in advance. The set lists from all his shows are readily available on the net. This website allows you to see them side by side and last night's setlist was almost identical to the current tour:

http://www.sugarmtn.org/getshowsgrid.php?tour_key=186&flag=2

There's one mistake for Dublin. He did Comes a Time and not Heart of Gold as the 6th song. The Setlist.fm listing is also wrong at present because he didn't do The Singer Not The Song. So 13 songs in all, which probably came to about 2 hours 10 minutes including the wonderful encore of Cortez the Killer.

There is no excuse for anyone who is surprised at what he played. 8 of the songs are on the Weld live album from many years ago. Just 3 songs - 2 of them very long - are from his current album. When someone is touring with an album recently out, 3 songs is the least you can expect. Once you knew what Crazy Horse meant, this was a much less obscure setlist than when he did the Greendale album in Vicar St.

Do a lot of people get their tickets for nothing? Or is our recession not really all that bad? I don't see how you can pay 70 to 90 euro for a ticket and know so little about what you are buying.

It confirms my own strong bias against outdoor shows at least in Ireland. Everyone knows this is a rainy country. The stats show there is pretty much the same chance of rain in June as any other month:
http://www.met.ie/climate-ireland/1981-2010/dublin.html

Wind is always going to play havoc with sound outdoors. I'm sure they can be very pleasant in places where you have guaranteed sunshine and a well-configured venue. But that's not the case in Ireland. What outdoor venues would anyone here consider a good venue?

I made an exception to my personal ban on outdoor shows because it was Neil. I agree this venue is poor for seeing the show. It was very nice to be able to move in and out of the Paddock area to sit on the grass and eat and drink in the sunshine between acts. But when they put the stage at the goal end, anyone in the stands either has a poor viewing angle or is very far from the stage. Sometimes they put the stage in front of what is now the newer stand (Radiohead, Paul McCartney) which at least gives a better angle from the grandstand. Don't know if that is still possible with the extra stands erected for rugby.

Personally I was thrilled to hear Powderfinger. I bought the latest album a few hours before the show so I had heard Ramada Inn and Walk Like a Giant a couple of times before hearing them live. They are excellent songs and they played them both very well. The long feedback session at the end of Walk Like a Giant came across like either a test of the audience or a two fingers to them. Surely it's not a surprise to Neil that a lot of the audience would have hated that, and I doubt if he cares. But he and Frank made a couple what I assume were sarcastic remarks. They said very little all night, but I think Frank at one point said "thank you for booing us" and Neil later said something like "you're the best rock'n'roll audience we've had in years".

There was some really fantastic guitar playing from Neil all through the show. I had a pair of binoculars with me and you could see how much the three guys enjoy playing together. They spent an awful lot of time standing facing each other in a really close group playing as if they were just playing for each other and totally engrossed in each other's playing. I can't remember seeing that kind of closeness with anyone else. Bit lonely for the drummer though, they seemed to leave him out.

Really a shame about the weather. It had been really nice until it started raining during the Waterboys (any possible connection there?). And then it got cold too, at least it did in the stand where we got the wind but not the sun.

Little Green Cars were great, they came across really well in the sunshine. They have oodles of talent and are working very hard so let's hope they have lots of success. I don't know Los Lobos at all apart from the hit they had with La Bamba. They had a much heavier sound than that would have led me to expect and I was a bit disappointed. I never got into the Waterboys from what I heard of them on the radio and yesterday hasn't changed my opinion.

So al in all it was well worth the money for me despite the venue and the weather.

Catmologen

Rock and roll in its purest form. It was sheer bliss. Incredible gig overall. The venue and weather are not important when performance is that amazing. There were too many drunk idiots talking the whole way through the show but thats Irish audiences for you I guess.

C.K Dexter Haven

kingsriver64 wrote: »

There is no excuse for anyone who is surprised at what he played. 8 of the songs are on the Weld live album from many years ago. Just 3 songs - 2 of them very long - are from his current album. When someone is touring with an album recently out, 3 songs is the least you can expect. Once you knew what Crazy Horse meant, this was a much less obscure setlist than when he did the Greendale album in Vicar St.

Do a lot of people get their tickets for nothing? Or is our recession not really all that bad? I don't see how you can pay 70 to 90 euro for a ticket and know so little about what you are buying.
.

Good point. I thought the set list was spot on. It was very much a Crazyhorse gig so no surprises there for me at all.

jimosterberg

Catmologen wrote: »

Rock and roll in its purest form. It was sheer bliss. Incredible gig overall. The venue and weather are not important when performance is that amazing. There were too many drunk idiots talking the whole way through the show but thats Irish audiences for you I guess.

I had the same experience you had. Was right up the front and thought the show was incredible. It was Neil and Crazy Horse so people should have done their research and moaning about the setlist is ridiculous. Neil was full of smiles during the show. Seemed to be having a brilliant time. I think everyone knew that this show would divide opinion. If sound was crap further back thats a pity. I was right up the front and it was great there.

Chelon

I don't think people were turned off by the setlist - you'd have had to be living under a rock if you came to this gig expecting Heart of Gold, etc.

Why did he persist in the indulgent solos and closures to numbers? If he hadn't done that he could've included another half dozen songs. Really bizarre to see him playing with his back to the audience for about half the gig - he didn't seem to address them vocally or physically at all.

Thought the venue was ok from where we were near the front, but can't say it's the most scenic of venues to cast an eye over....

On the plus side the Waterboys were absolutely perfect :-)

simonw

I thought the setlist was fine and the crazy horse classics were unreal, but the 10 minutes of feedback at the end of walk like a giant (song 4?) was absolute ****. I was in the stand and people left the gig at that stage. It actually stopped being music and became a big social experiment to see how long people would listen to noise. Absolutely killed the gig. I like the jamming stuff, but it was like he was going out of his way to turn people off.

cruhoortwunk

jimosterberg wrote: »

I had the same experience you had. Was right up the front and thought the show was incredible. It was Neil and Crazy Horse so people should have done their research and moaning about the setlist is ridiculous. Neil was full of smiles during the show. Seemed to be having a brilliant time. I think everyone knew that this show would divide opinion. If sound was crap further back thats a pity. I was right up the front and it was great there.

Same here. I was standing near the front, close to the middle. Sound was great, show was great. Loved Hey Hey, My My, Cortez and Feckin Up.
People in the stands should have come down to the standing area if the sound was bad up there. Rain mostly held off well til the end.
Talked to a lot of dissatisfied people on the way out, who had the wrong expectation of what he would play.

cruhoortwunk

Chelon wrote: »

I don't think people were turned off by the setlist - you'd have had to be living under a rock if you came to this gig expecting Heart of Gold, etc.

Why did he persist in the indulgent solos and closures to numbers? If he hadn't done that he could've included another half dozen songs. Really bizarre to see him playing with his back to the audience for about half the gig - he didn't seem to address them vocally or physically at all.

Thought the venue was ok from where we were near the front, but can't say it's the most scenic of venues to cast an eye over....

On the plus side the Waterboys were absolutely perfect :-)

I don't see why extended jamming and outros are self indulgent. I loved them, they were really enjoying playing together. You just have to take a look at the last album and see all the plus 10mins songs to have an inkling that they are back to enjoying the jamming. I can see that it's not for everyone, but I loved it

GoldenTickets

kingsriver64 wrote: »

There is no excuse for anyone who is surprised at what he played. 8 of the songs are on the Weld live album from many years ago. Just 3 songs - 2 of them very long - are from his current album. When someone is touring with an album recently out, 3 songs is the least you can expect. Once you knew what Crazy Horse meant, this was a much less obscure setlist than when he did the Greendale album in Vicar St.

Do a lot of people get their tickets for nothing? Or is our recession not really all that bad? I don't see how you can pay 70 to 90 euro for a ticket and know so little about what you are buying.

C.K Dexter Haven wrote: »

Good point. I thought the set list was spot on. It was very much a Crazyhorse gig so no surprises there for me at all.

kingsriver64 does make a good point, but I think stankratz's point below is worth bringing to the debate:

stankratz wrote: »

Yes the gig was advertised as Neil Young and Crazy Horse, but no one told that to the guy doing the song cuts for the TV and radio ads.

Aside from Neil and Bob Dylan, most of the heritage acts touring at the moment are delivering exactly what the bulk of their audience would want and expect, even when touring a new album. Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Billy Joel, Neil Diamond etc all deliver the hits and a few new songs. There's reliability there.

Most people who post on this thread will have originally heard about the Neil Young Crazy Horse gig here or on some website. And they'll be clued in to previous set lists from the tour and what Neil is currently up to style-wise. But a lot of people who aren't totally up to date with his output (but who are familiar with older releases and remain fans) will have heard about the gig through radio advertising and the like. It's out of order to have a Neil Young Crazy Horse show coming to town that is advertised with snippets of songs that the promoters know well (or should know) are very unlikely to be played at the gig.

I say this as a huge Neil Young fan, but it seems to me that Neil and the promoters involved want to have their cake and eat it too. If Neil wants to do a jam/solo/feedback-heavy tour fair enough, but it's only fair to advertise it for what it is since only a small proportion of any gig-going audience will research recent set lists in advance of a show.

If you believe you're touring a good show then sell it on it's own merits, don't mislead people with the advertising and then blame them later for being misled.

comet

kingsriver64 wrote: »

But he and Frank made a couple what I assume were sarcastic remarks. They said very little all night, but I think Frank at one point said "thank you for booing us" and Neil later said something like "you're the best rock'n'roll audience we've had in years".

Most certainly a sarcastic piss take on the usual insincere remarks "wow this is why we love playing Ireland cos you guys are the best audience!".
Although I think he actually said "you're the second best audience....."

Interesting as more comments are being posted the feedback is starting to swing very positive about the show.

Pinkman

It was pretty awful to be fair. I was standing near enough to the stage and I have never been at a gig with such a bad atmosphere. No-one around me were singing along to the vast majority of the songs and people were getting really pissed off with the incredibly long solos - I mean FFS - 25 minutes for Walk Like A Giant and another 20 odd minutes for one of the other songs is just taking the piss. As someone else said it was like he was just jamming with his mates in his garage. He didn't give a **** about the 20,000+ who paid €80 a ticket and had his back turned most of the time. I had seen setlists before the gig so certainly didn't go expecting a greatest hits show but he had played the likes of Heart Of Gold and Rockin In The Free World at recent gigs. There has to be balance of some kind when you are doing a big stadium show and charging people so much. If it were in Vicar St then fair enough but when you are playing to over 20,000 at €80 a ticket then at least play even a few more songs that your audience can actually sing along to and get involved in the show. I really felt sorry for those sitting, especially towards the back. I have never seen such a pissed off looking crowd at a gig. The fact there were no screens up is a bloody disgrace. Neil and Aiken would've made a fortune off people and seem to go out of their way to not give value to money. I don't expect or even want big production for a Neil Young gig but there is no way it is acceptable not to have screens up in such a large venue. First time I have been at a gig where no-one around me was calling for one more song.

mrblondecutsear

As a side note to the drunk girl who asked me if I knew all the words when he played the Bob Dylan cover and when I replied no she said "then why are you even here?" I hate you.

Ninjavampire

The sound was extremely poor and the volume was inconsistent all night for everyone in seated (myself included). Maybe the feedback and jamming sounded a bit better up the front, but from where I was, many people were under the impression that there was a problem with the equipment and they were in the middle of fixing it, when in actual fact, he was in some trance like state jamming away, as if he was unaware thousands of people were watching him.

The lack of a big screen was a big let down. For the first song I was actually unsure who was Neil as a result of a pillar in front of me and him looking like an ant. A big screen would have helped everyone in seated be a lot more invested in the gig, especially in the absence of his biggest hits. Either that or they could have moved the pathetic excuse of a stage closer to the stands. Half the stadium wasn't even used yet they set up the stage ages away, made no sense. I actually got to move much closer towards the end as so many people had left and gone home.

In relation to the setlist, I have to say I was let down to a small degree. While I enjoyed Cinnamon Girl and Hey Hey, My My loads, I was expecting to hear at least either Heart of Gold or Rocking in the Free World, as I had seen other gigs had them. I expected the Crazy Horse stuff, but it wouldn't have killed him to half the length of all his outro and fit in another 6 or 7 songs that could of helped the horrible atmosphere instead of having such a short setlist.

Apart from that however, Neil is still as amazing as ever. His voice was brilliant (underneath the rubbish sound of the RDS) and his guitar is still top notch. He truly is one of the greats but I will not be back to see him at the RDS any time soon, perhaps if he has an indoor gig in the future.

Bstrutty

I enjoyed the set list. With such a catelogue to choose from you're never going to get all your favourites. Good to hear Ramada inn and walk like a giant. Cortez was the perfect ending made extra spell binding by the rain. Agree NY does get more than a bit carried away with his outros but the quality of the material generally more than makes up for these indulgences. Neil Young Rocks!

ponceprhea

Last time for me going to a gig in the RDS, what a crap venue. If you were seated at the back you would have been well peeved off due to low sound and no atmosphere looking onto empty grass field.
First time was bruce springsteen, sound better then but still too low and it was similar weather yesterday,windy and rain .
The Neil Young gig though was atrocious, sound much too low. I was standing at the left of the stage at the beginning and moved towards the centre that helped but the atmosphere was poor due to the low sound. Liked most of the songs but I'm just not a fan of cinnamon girl, never liked it.

Nothing against the artist as I love almost all his music but the venue ruined it.

Fuuuck of RDS!!!!

Not Now John

I am a huge NY fan, and had a couple of mates from overseas over for the gig.

The performance itself was exactly as expected... I was avoiding setlists prior to the show, but we knew there would be long guitar solos, feedback etc. The new album is excellent, so was happy to hear Ramada Inn and Walk Like a Giant.. I can understand some people not liking the outro, but this is Neil, he always does what he wants, that's part of his makeup, and what makes him interesting. If you want karaoke, you could pay 250 pounds (face value!) and travel to see the Stones. I've seen him 6 times now, and never saw Cortez the Killer until last night, so was delighted with that. Cinnamon Girl, Hey Hey My My, Powderfinger and a Dylan cover were other hightlights... People saying he had his back to the audience half the time are exaggerating, yes he was jamming in that position sometimes, but it was not meant to be insulting.. look at photos from other gigs on the tour. That's what they do. I have never been to a Neil Young gig where I didn't hear people complain that he "wasn't playing any classics". He has 35 studio albums folks, and yes there were amazing classics last night.

My complaints about yesterday are about the production.. The stage was a disgrace, as somebody said it was a bit of scaffold and a few bin liners. Cheap, insulting to artist and audience, penny-pinching once again by the promoters. Not the fault of the band.

The sound was terrible from where I was, to the right of the sound desk. Breezy conditions were forecast all week, yet the speakers were left dangling and swinging, which wiped out the sound unless you were up front. I don't know why the band's stacked speaker system (which has been a hallmark of this tour and other NY/CH gigs) was missing. If it is a decibel issue, why are the promoters bringing a great artist like NY and putting them in the RDS instead of an indoor venue where they can play the full effect of what they are about. This was not about providing great music to the paying public, it was just greed and gombeenism once again by our promoters. "Ah sure it'll do"; the Irish disease. Again, not the fault of the band in my opinion.. they came and did what they do with sound equipment and a stage in a venue that was not fit for purpose for a Neil Young gig.

My other complaint is about some of the crowd.. there were a lot of obnoxious drunken ar$eh0les there who care not about real music. Don't get me wrong, I love a few beers myself... but there were a group beside us who drank copious cider an talked loudly throughout and spoiling the buzz of everybody around them, and proceeded then to take the pi$$ out of random people in front of them, tapping them on the shoulders etc. Obnoxious louts, I hated them. There was other messing too.. drunken girls in tears fighting etc, no interest in the music. Then on the way out, I was minding my own business and some bloke started on me after asking what I thought of the concert and I said it was a good performance but with bad sound, stage and crowd... he starts sticking his face into mine going "what classics did he play", I mentioned a couple, he then starts trying to goad me going "it was shoih, fookin shoih" right into my face. I just walked away from that soulless, lost, loser, who is not fit to stand in the same city as Neil and wouldn't know good music if his life depended on it, the scmbag.

All in all, a bittersweet experience but certainly not the band's fault in my opinion. Obnoxious, corporate, drunken Ireland won the day this time. We have a very nasty streak in our nation which comes to the fore quite often.

By the way, my overseas mates will never come to a gig in Ireland again I don't think. I was embarassed.

ponceprhea

Not Now John wrote: »

I am a huge NY fan, and had a couple of mates from overseas over for the gig.

The performance itself was exactly as expected... I was avoiding setlists prior to the show, but we knew there would be long guitar solos, feedback etc. The new album is excellent, so was happy to hear Ramada Inn and Walk Like a Giant.. I can understand some people not liking the outro, but this is Neil, he always does what he wants, that's part of his makeup, and what makes him interesting. If you want karaoke, you could pay 250 pounds (face value!) and travel to see the Stones. I've seen him 6 times now, and never saw Cortez the Killer until last night, so was delighted with that. Cinnamon Girl, Hey Hey My My, Powderfinger and a Dylan cover were other hightlights... People saying he had his back to the audience half the time are exaggerating, yes he was jamming in that position sometimes, but it was not meant to be insulting.. look at photos from other gigs on the tour. That's what they do. I have never been to a Neil Young gig where I didn't hear people complain that he "wasn't playing any classics". He has 35 studio albums folks, and yes there were amazing classics last night.

My complaints about yesterday are about the production.. The stage was a disgrace, as somebody said it was a bit of scaffold and a few bin liners. Cheap, insulting to artist and audience, penny-pinching once again by the promoters. Not the fault of the band.

The sound was terrible from where I was, to the right of the sound desk. Breezy conditions were forecast all week, yet the speakers were left dangling and swinging, which wiped out the sound unless you were up front. I don't know why the band's stacked speaker system (which has been a hallmark of this tour and other NY/CH gigs) was missing. If it is a decibel issue, why are the promoters bringing a great artist like NY and putting them in the RDS instead of an indoor venue where they can play the full effect of what they are about. This was not about providing great music to the paying public, it was just greed and gombeenism once again by our promoters. "Ah sure it'll do"; the Irish disease. Again, not the fault of the band in my opinion.. they came and did what they do with sound equipment and a stage in a venue that was not fit for purpose for a Neil Young gig.

My other complaint is about some of the crowd.. there were a lot of obnoxious drunken ar$eh0les there who care not about real music. Don't get me wrong, I love a few beers myself... but there were a group beside us who drank copious cider an talked loudly throughout and spoiling the buzz of everybody around them, and proceeded then to take the pi$$ out of random people in front of them, tapping them on the shoulders etc. Obnoxious louts, I hated them. There was other messing too.. drunken girls in tears fighting etc, no interest in the music. Then on the way out, I was minding my own business and some bloke started on me after asking what I thought of the concert and I said it was a good performance but with bad sound, stage and crowd... he starts sticking his face into mine going "what classics did he play", I mentioned a couple, he then starts trying to goad me going "it was shoih, fookin shoih" right into my face. I just walked away from that soulless, lost, loser, who is not fit to stand in the same city as Neil and wouldn't know good music if his life depended on it, the scmbag.

All in all, a bittersweet experience but certainly not the band's fault in my opinion. Obnoxious, corporate, drunken Ireland won the day this time. We have a very nasty streak in our nation which comes to the fore quite often.

By the way, my overseas mates will never come to a gig in Ireland again I don't think. I was embarassed.

Agree with your statements but feel depressed now due to how corporate greed ruins everything.

cruhoortwunk

Not Now John wrote: »

My other complaint is about some of the crowd.. there were a lot of obnoxious drunken ar$eh0les there who care not about real music. Don't get me wrong, I love a few beers myself... but there were a group beside us who drank copious cider an talked loudly throughout and spoiling the buzz of everybody around them, and proceeded then to take the pi$$ out of random people in front of them, tapping them on the shoulders etc. Obnoxious louts, I hated them. There was other messing too.. drunken girls in tears fighting etc, no interest in the music.

Seems like the younger drunken arsehole types were back near the back, as the bars were nearer the back. Up front was older crowd, and people much more into the gig.