<--- exhausted!

So last night I went to see Scissor Sisters at Wembley Arena, went out dancing a bit at a pub, went to my friend's, then to sleep at 8am, then got up at 1pm, headed to the pub, and went to see The Killers at Brixton Academy tonight.

Scissor Sisters were great, though I saw them earlier this year at a much smaller venue (a couple of hundred as opposed to 12,000) which felt very different, more intimate obviously, and like you can connect with the band. When they played Mary at the first gig they talked a little about who she was and why they wrote the song which just made it kill me even more than it already did. The main problem with last night was the venue. Wembley has become the most disgusting corporate craphole. They gave out wristbands and took our tickets away, but wouldn't allow re-entry. There is no smoking anywhere in the venue, which obviously pisses people off. Last time I was there they opened the doors between the support and the main act so people could smoke just outside then come back in, but for some reason they didn't do that yesterday. Drinks are £4 each which is appalling. They don't take credit cards and the ATMs charge £1.75 for cash withdrawals. I'm sure there were more things that we got annoyed about but I can't remember any right now.

The band was still amazing though, and since we'd seen them earlier this year, my friend and I weren't that bothered with being down the front for the whole thing. We went right to the back of the standing area, where we discovered a bar, which was very handy. There was loads of space since everyone obviously moves forward. So we put our bags down on the floor (oh yeah, another stupid thing - no cloakroom) and danced around like crazy people. You could see all the people in the seats above us really wanted to be able to dance properly. Then on the tube back, which was just full of people coming from the gig, my friend and I played some songs on my mp3 player and sung our hearts out (not hitting a single note, but who cares!)

The Killers was just incredible. I was so tired today I really just wanted to go home, but obviously I've been looking forward to this weekend for ages, so I pushed through. Brixton Academy is a great music venue. The floor slopes so that most standing people can see, which is good. We got pretty close to the front, down on the right hand side, but it wasn't as crushed or moshy as we'd imagined, so by the end of it we'd managed to snake our way to about 10 people from the front, and were able to see everything, which was brilliant. They played Indie Rock and Roll, which I wasn't really expecting them too, but I love, so obviously that was great.

Anyway, I just felt like sharing and finding out about people's best gigs and such. Can we please try to avoid insulting other people's music tastes - arguing over opinions is frustrating, stupid and completely pointless.

When I go to concerts/sporting events drinks are usually $8+ for domestic beer.. thats just the way it is

Excitement! I saw Ben Folds on campus a few weeks back, that was sweet.

I've always liked the set-up at Brixton Academy, as well as the sloping floors, there's easy access in and out of the front via the sides and those anti-crush barriers work wonders in stopping the crowd from surging forward too easily.

Compare that to the Astoria, that's flat, with a main dance floor that's too small and has a weird ledge that I've seen many a person twist their ankle on. As for Wembley, I was there once at least 6 years ago now and it was bad enough then, it seems it's only got worse.

I haven't seen a live band in almost two years now though The last one was Capdown playing at Nottingham Rock City, who were absolutely great and I skanked my socks off to them.

Ugh. I just sneezed, reminding myself that my neck's been buggered all day. I assumed it was just from sleeping on too many pillows, but then I remembered that last night they played The Darkness and Bohemian Rhapsody in the pub and I was headbanging like a maniac.

I like the Astoria, but I know what you're saying about it. Apparently it's been bought up and could be turned into flats or offices or something. I think that would be such a shame, it's got a great history.

The Killers are great. I need their new album.

I find smaller venues to be the most fun, you get an intimate gig and the chance to chat with the bands before and after.

The best live act i've seen is my friend's band Replica X. Each gig has a specially written cheesy introduction about heavy metal, Steve Vai and destiny. They practice the songs to a ridiculous standard (even though they improvise most of the instrumentals). For their (close to) Halloween gig the keyboard player got an extended solo spot (about 7 minutes) including a highly awesome (and improvised) rendition of the Monkey Island theme. I've seen the exact same songs about 10 times now and I never tire of seeing them.

For other bands, i've seen Idlewild who were incredibly meh. They performed the songs but did nothing else, they may as well have just put a CD on. The Zutons were also pretty dull. PowerQuest were much better the second time I saw them when the sound guy actually bothered to put the keyboards higher on the mixer (their best songs are keyboard-led and you couldn't hear the keys the first time). Their singer has an incredible range, but he also looks more like he should be in a boyband than a power metal band. Pagan's Mind were pretty damn awesome (how could they not be? On the way to Birmingham they decided to go to Stonehenge and were late for the gig) but needed a bigger venue and better mixing. Epica and Intense were decent and Finntroll was amazing fun (if a little repetitive).

I've never got round to seeing Edguy or DragonForce but i'd imagine they'd be excellent live, hopefully i'll get round to seeing them soon.

However, there are very few bands who I can imagine topping Sonata Arctica for my favourite gig ever. 45 minutes of waiting during soundchecks, more soundchecks and Tony Kakko singing the Ghostbusters theme did not diminsh anybody's mood. These guys just love playing, you can see it on their faces. Jani and Henrik pulling off the most awe-inspiring instrumentals on guitar and keytar whilst dancing around the stage and being silly is something to behold, and Tony dancing around doing bunny ears with his hands whilst singing Victoria's Secret is the most fantastic thing ever. Fact. Then, they played The Cage.

The last concert that I attended was Nickel Creek at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. Every concert that I attend for the rest of my life will be a disappointment compared to that. I wanted to see them for years but could never get off of work. My girlfriend and I drove through tornado warnings, flood warnings, and some of the worst wind that I've ever encountered and it was worth every second.

It's really good. It took me quite a while to get into it, after Hot Fuss which was just amazing. That album has so many songs on it that I love, rather than most which will only have a couple.

That damn Scissor Sisters song was in my head all day today!! But I dont feel like dancing no sir no dancin today...


Best gig I ever went to was probably Oasis a few years back. They hadnt toured Australia for about 5 years and played a small venue, so it was only the die-hards like me and my friends who were there. Great atmosphere.

It's a very high probability my 'best gig ever' will be Muse when they tour in January. That gig really cant come soon enough. The last time they toured is a close second to Oasis, and this time they'll be playing Black Holes and Revelations...

My best show so far was the Street Dogs in a smallish club in Boston. I had been looking for a show to go to while I was in Boston and I lucked out completely. I hadn't known about the Street Dogs, but know they are one of my favorite bands. There were also 4 opening bands, two of which were also amazing.

There was another show that I went to in California that should have been amazing, but wasn't because of stadium seating. It was Flogging Molly, The Vandals, and Goldfinger! That could have been the best show of my life if it weren't for those stupid little red seats!

You should come north of the border, we've banned public smoking. So if folk sneak off into the toilets to smoke, they get thrown out.

Best gig I've been to was We Are Scientists and the Glasgow Carling Academy. There just aren't words to describe how good that gig was. [They had the best enconre ever when the band and the 2 support acts came out and covered End Of The Road by Boyz 2 Men. :P]

best show ever was probably OKGo at the Grog Shop in cleveland heights, feb. 2004. i got right up in thier faces and took pictures. then afterwards i got them to sign my cd. it wasnt as cool the following year, cause there were tonnes more people there cause people finally caught on that they were a good band. they didnt come to cleveland this year.

next best would probably be cake in the summer of 05.

Best gig I've been to was this Jean-Michel Jarre gig in the 1990s or so. Lasers, fireworks and projections are neat.

Nickel Creek is a great, great show. I saw them last year at the Vic in Chicago.

I'm all for banning smoking in public places, and welcome that we're doing it soon. But since it isn't banned, it just seems ridiculous to do it in individual venues.

I'd love to see We Are Scientists, got an invite to the filming of one of their videos but it was during the day and sadly, I have a job.

When I saw Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly recently he did a great finale with the two support acts, the soundcheck guy and a bunch of cowbells - a cover of Abracadabra


I quite liked them when I saw them at the Roundhouse with James Brown as part of the BBC Electric Proms thing. Did a cool cover of Suffragette City.

You should see them as soon as you can, for they are amazing live. Also, next time you get an invite, tell me. I'm unemployed!

I thought this thread was called "a weekend of giggling", and I was going to be like, lay off the weed, seriously

But it wasn't

So yeah

Best show I've been to was back in 2000 or 2001, Ani Difranco was playing at Red Rocks amphitheatre. It's really an incredible venue, I can't imagine any show being too awful there.

Here's a (large-ish) picture of it, which can't really do it justice because the sunsets here are incredible because of the mountains to the west and they generally schedule the concerts to occur during sundown and for hours afterward. You're also surrounded on all sides by these massive vibrant red rock formations that create awesome acoustics, like it was naturally made for the purpose. It's been in use forever, the Beatles played it once upon a time.

Edit:

Oh! and I forgot to mention that on the ride back we had car trouble, up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere and had to pull over at this little mom+pop joint to call AAA, and you wouldn't believe the car the owner drove. It was a freaking batmobile replica! So it was a fun night even with the car trouble.

2004

Joe Satriani
Deep Purple
Thin Lizzy

One Concert

Best f****** thing ever. Joe is the greatest guitarist I have ever seen.

*drooooools*. I want to see Satriani badly

I recently went to a Primus concert, where they played Sailing the Seas of Cheese in its entirety, which was pretty cool. "Here Come The Bastards" was f'n awesome, and Claypool was jaw-dropping amazing.

Awesome, I'm seeing Primus this thursday. I cant wait. \o/

Flogging Molly in Rochester, was a crazy fun show, preceded and followed by Irish Whiskey.

It was a fun night

yeah, I was a little confused when I read it

WOW.

Oh, btw, forgot to mention I went to the Yanni Laser Show a few days ago

It blew my mind

Yeah, I had the same problem when I went to see Nine Inch Nails back in November of '05. No smoking was allowed, but we just sat down to smoke, cause everyone else was standing.