Gigs gigs gigs

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I'm going to see Placebo in Margate this Friday. Good times.

[Naitch]

Just got Bring Me tickets for Sheffield in January! I've also got Enter Shikari in London for my 30th a month later, 2024 is looking good for gigs so far... hopefully ADTR finally play Slam Dunk next year and I'm pretty much set!

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

My 2024 so far is Bowling for Soup and Bring Me the Horizon. Not sure how much more I'll get away with given I'm meant to be wedding saving

[Skummy]

had a pretty good run of it so far this year - saw Sparks at the Royal Albert Hall, which was absolutely phenomenal, and then The Mars Volta more recently, which was superb. PJ Harvey coming up in September as my next "big" gig, though may try and fit in the Sun Ra Arkestra again in August.

[lanky316]

My year as it stands is now going to be quiet, did Sabaton earlier in the year and then on impulse booked a weekend in New York to see Alestorm and Gloryhammer before nothing until November when it's Babymetal as a headliner. I'm sure I'll end up going to something else but regained that taste for live music. Not as on the pulse with tours as I used to be but starting to keep an eye. Miss picking up Kerrang and going through the upcoming gig guide and just working out what was doable. To be young and not having to balance the books as much again eh? 🤣

[Naitch]

Just added Foo Fighters to the list for 2024. Going big for my 30th, apparently.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Nice, got mine in the pre-sale Wednesday surprisingly easily, a lot of people seem to have struggled this morning.

[Naitch]

@Brandon Cutler Fan Account I didn't have any issues, certainly smoother than getting Bring Me tickets was a few weeks ago! I do find it odd that the 2x tickets I've bought are consecutive numbers but two rows apart from each other, so we're like a knight chess piece away from each other if that helps visualise it.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

That's really weird, never seen it do that before!

I had no issue with the BMTH tickets either, Spotify presale breezed me through that too. It's not often I don't manage to get tickets I want  really, and it usually ends up being when I'm trying for other people.

[RPS]

Me, my hubby, my son and my daughter went to see Bluesfest here in Ottawa last night. My daughter and hubby saw Charlotte Cardin and us Fleet Foxes. We saw a few opening bands and split up. It was jam jacked on a side stage and we found a place with an obstructed view and sat on the grass. We barely saw the band,  but saw the rest of the set. Fleet Foxes was a top concert experience of my life and a top experience as a dad. My son knew a half dozen songs and we sat down holding hand, singing the songs, staring at the stars and taking in the whole experience. My son at one point said "I think they will play White Winter Hymnal" and it was the next song. Singing his over tired mind being blown was something else to behold. 

My daughter apparently loved Charlotte Cardin. She danced the whole night and told my husband that every time the next song came on it was her favorite song ever. She thought it was overly loud and hated standing,  but the crowd was not overwhelming and they could take a seat on the grass before going back to the main stage and get a glimpse. 

We saw PUP, Billy Talent and Weezer last Friday. My son lost his mind the whole night. We got super close for PUP and he lost it seeing people crowd surf, the band, the energy. Seeing the weird punks zip through the crowd. They played all his favorite songs. He enjoyed Billy Talent and Weezer, but truthfully knew none of their songs. He was just content dancing around. 

I know it is sappy and saccharine, but music is so incredible. It's a great gift you can share with your kids. Sitting in a field, not being able to see a band, having your son sit on your lap as you sing out songs is just a magical moment. It told my son I would never forget the night and he told me he works never forget it. But he said he had one regret- he couldn't bring his stuffed animals to see the concert so they would never forget. To be 8 again.

[LittleDaniel]

Went to an outdoor show last night at a house/little farm in the city. I love this shit. It was raining for a while beforehand so I wasn't sure if the show was gonna happen, but eventually I left my house while it was still sprinkling. Luckily the show space (basically this house's backyard) had a big tree growing to the side of the yard but in the middle of the lot so the leaves blocked most of the rain for the like twenty people who were there, congregated under the tree while the bands played under tarps set up next to the house.

This little metalhead kid who lives in the house was clearly having a wonderful time, going around introducing themselves to everyone who showed up and asking them about D&D and music or asking them to play chess in the back of the yard.

The bands were all fun -- a friend's emo band, a screamo band from Georgia, and then the main event. The vocalist with a million pedals wore wizards robes and the drummer wore an executioner's hood and skull mask while they played metal songs about Diablo I think? There was also an orb to ponder.

Spoiler

Fucking love this dumb shit. Makes me wanna start a gimmicky wrestling band, right now I'm leaning towards emo/pop-punk Tokyo Joshi cover songs.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Went to three gigs at Cardiff Castle this summer; Blondie, The Cult, and Bastille. Love it as a venue, great set of gigs too, was cool ticking off Blondie and seeing The Cult again.

[Bobfoc]

I often wish more gigs took place where I live. It's better for my bank balance that they don't, but the occasional one or two would be nice. I'm sure it sounds ridiculous to those in other countries who have to journey for hours to get to the nearest venue, but, as someone who isn't very confident with long-distance travel, anything that isn't under a couple of hours away just isn't viable.

[RPS]

Husband and I went to The Smile and Alvvays. My husband really enjoyed Alvvays. It was dripping with nostalgia but layered with scuzz, reverb and fantastic song writing. 

The Smile were incredible. I know lots of people hate Radiohead here. I don't agree, but I see the complaints. They are up their own ass, overwrought at times, and perhaps leaning too hard into their electronic influences. That is fine for me; I would never call Radiohead my favorite bands but I'll gladly listen to anything they put out. 

The Smile feels like they lean so heavily on what people hate about them and the concert was that exact way. Straight up I saw lots of people leave - songs had jam sessions, lots of electronic elements added, new songs lacking a conventional song structure. But I thought it was so grandiose and a spectacle. A song like the Opposite felt less like a rock song and almost something made for the club with the way the vocals were auto tuned, the overwhelming drums, the focus on rhythm.  Definitely made an enormous fan out of me. My husband had never attended a rock concert before and said it was incredible and overwhelming.  

[Skummy]

My last gig was The Bronx - a great gig let down by the venue; The New Cross Inn is fine for small punk gigs, but was massively oversold for this. I've been to "sold out" gigs there before and I swear there was 100 more people in there than its usual capacity. You couldn't move, people kept piling in, and it was sweltering - the place is a sweatbox at the best of times, and it was just unpleasant. I ended up going outside and just listening from the smoking area for the tail end of the gig. 

Also put off by the very American "punk rock" thing of Matt Caughthran getting the audience to stick middle fingers in the air, and saying how you should never change and never compromise and never letting anyone tell you what to do - grow up mate, you're in your mid-40s and talking like a snotty teenager. The music was fantastic, and would have been so well suited to that venue under less uncomfortable circumstances. I'm not a huge fan of the band - I love Mariachi El Bronx a lot more than the main band - but was there with people who adore them, so that definitely helped.

 

I bagged tickets for They Might Be Giants later in the year, which I am extremely hyped for. It's billed as "An Audience With...", with one half of the show being them playing Flood in its entirety, and one half predominantly stuff off the new album mixed in with some deep cuts, but apparently they're doing it differently every night; on the US tour they played Flood backwards one night (which actually makes sense, the bigger hits are near the start of the album), and play different arrangements and interpretations of the songs each time.

[Fitzy]

Has anyone seen Timecop1983 live? I'll be seeing him live for the first time next month.

[LL!]

1 hour ago, Fitzy said:

Has anyone seen Timecop1983 live? I'll be seeing him live for the first time next month.

Luckyyyy! I'm sure it's just like watching a DJ set with kickass visuals. 

[Fitzy]

Should be fun I am sure! Then I'll get the chance to also see the Midnight live for the first time the following month. Very excited for that one too.

[Fitzy]

Timecop1983 was amazing. Such a fun show! Seeing him just vibing up there doing his thing while they had Josh Dally sing, so so good. He also brought out the Bad Dreamers to sing his Back to You song (he also did a half hour set to open the show, good stuff).

 

They did the Midnight/Timecop's River of Darkness. Not the same with out Tyler's vocals, but still really good stuff.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Felt under the weather today so I've made myself feel better by booking to see Spanish Love Songs in January.