Johndenis

Hiya, on Wednesday I failed to get GC or standing for Saturday, so i chucked it thereafter. Would be happy to buy 2 Saturday standing from you. I can see loads of twickets tickets appearing nearer the time, but not necessarily standing on. I am pretty surprised by Saturday selling out. And the second date. The motivation for these mega gigs is unclear to me, the blur publishing deal is apparently pretty egalitarian so I am surprised someone is skint. If there is reluctance to tour, due to addiction issues, that's understandable.

Genuinely quite surprising. Definitely better than Hyde Park. But what's the goal or purpose of this kind of mega gig? As much money as possible for as little commitment? Is it making a statement about the size and status of the band? "we are now huge, and you the UK and European fans, will come to us"? Or is it partly "Graham can't or won't tour"?It sounds to me like a pretty big venue for blur to fill. But whoever is Gorillaz agent for live gigs seems to have a great grasp of what is and isn't possible. I assume the same people are involved here. And one - off gigs can drive demand. (Just an an example, a few years ago soft cell implausibly sold out the o2 with a one off "Farewell" gig that loads of fans across UK, Europe and even the US travelled to. I say that as a Marc/Soft Cell fan who saw them last year in Glasgow, before anyone has a go 🙂 ) On price - Damon did a completely free Gorillaz gig at the 02 for NHS workers just last year. and obviously must pay £££s to line up all the Gorillaz live guests. So I don't think it's him driving the pricing. A round of drinks for a group of pals can set you back £40 or £50 these days, so it is what it is. The Golden Circle however isn't a great look.

Thanks very much. The example I used for NFTs was that you may own a print of the Mona Lisa (comparable to a screenshot of a digital asset), but the only actual copy of it is hanging in the Louvre (and if you have an NFT you can prove ownership - or at least certain exclusive rights to use - the actual digital asset). I'm also intrigued by the video shared by @bencwhich suggests that NFTs are a big scam to introduce liquidity to cryptocurrencies! I agree that blockchain could have implications for secondary markets and touting. Of course, there is also the argument that touts create scarcity by buying up tickets. And if they're cut out of the loop, a lot of expensive tickets may actually go unsold. I think the Stones and Ed Sheeran have each come up against this conundrum.

Have Pulp possibly said that they will only take headline slots? Regarding how weird the Friday looks (and it does 🙂 ), I do think "curated" festival days is a more recent thing. I've been going to fests since about 1997 and certainly if you look back at festival line ups from say the 80s, if it wasn't a specialist fest (eg Reading) they often have a high "WTF?" value in terms of totally different acts being all lumped together. Some of the Glastonbury line ups (easy example) look bonkers.

UK

Thanks for this. I'm finding The Car surprisingly challenging listen. The setlists are potentially going to be pretty languid. Not sure how that will work for these huge UK gigs they have planned.

Hello all, I'm aware there was controversy last year over the suggestion certain acts would release NFTs. I don't fully understand the details but am going to deliver training to work colleagues this week regarding the metaverse, the music biz, and NFTs. I'd be grateful for any helpful articles, podcasts or YouTube videos that anyone could point me towards. Thank you.

All interesting thank you. Is he possibly having to concentrate on playing keyboards more regularly? I'm unsure of the keyboard/electric piano on stage for his use is something of a prop, or if he does actually play it on a lot of the TBH&C material?

Do they have a patchy liv rep? Not trolling. Curious as to what folk's opinions are. I lived pretty close to Finsbury park when they played it, but I was on holiday, was close to TRNSMT when they played it, but was on holiday. Haven't seen them live for about a decade. Saw TLSP and was pretty underwhelmed. Tranquility Base is my fave of their albums though. Real artistic progression imo. I currently live a mile from Bellahouston Park so will probably get a few tickets.

I have tickets for Glasgow on Monday. And I do feel a bit weird about it. Have there been further allegations since the Pitchfork piece? I feel that either its claims of serious sexual assault, or it's smut about a rock star having sex with fans and subsequently treating them badly, and possibly cheating on his long term partner, who is also in his band. In either case, is Pitchfork the correct medium for that? Regardless, it's now out there. If he has assaulted anyone, he deserves the "full force of the law". If he's just been a dickhead following consensual sex, it gets more complex. I don't delude myself that my personal faves - folk like Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Aretha, Madonna, Michael Stipe, Thom Yorke, Bowie, Bjork, Kate Bush, Damon Albarn - were or are terrific people all the time. They've probably done some very disappointing stuff. Haven't we all? They were or are really famous artists, often struggling with addiction problems. Some of the things they do are not going to be very pleasant, by what society may set as "normal" standards anyway. In specific regard to Win Butler, I struggle with imbalance of power being mentioned, because it's the guy's power (frontman of big rock band) that presumably made him attractive in the first place.

Where did you see that reported? I suppose that's a pretty huge number nowadays - to actually sell that many albums? Or is that counting streams (if "per album" stream numbers are A Thing)?

Ah but is it really? It's a lovely melody, yes. But what about that arrangement? The plodding piano and apologetic drums. The guitars on The Scientist, particularly towards the end, are staggeringly workmanlike. Why? As @CaledonianGonzohas said - "it's the music". A very easy comparison would be to stick on "Love is Blindness" after it. Another stadium rock band ballad, but so much more emotion in the instrumentation.

Getting plenty of efests ads about this 🙂 . Nobody I know is that bothered. It's like they've got the blend of acts on each day slightly wrong or something. I know Primavera preplaced Massive Attack with Idles but it's not an intuitive substitution. Not sure Idles are very "big" in Scotland at all.

I said a few pages ago that imo he rolled out all his biggest songs, and nailed the delivery. He rose to the occasion. I would prefer more of a live band. There's no clear consensus as to whether some tracks were edits, or if he had a drummer. I know a choreographed show like this is exciting and a bit of a novelty at a music fest, but ultimately I enjoy hearing and seeing live music performed. I think David Byrne's approach to incorporating dance and theatre elements takes some beating. I'm also definitely conflicted as to Kendrick's overall status as an all-time great. My example is "Element" - I think it's about committing to still do properly things that he doesn't like. But the chorus is about slapping pussy assed n-words, making it look sexy etc. Makes me wince. Choruses of "fuck it, fuck it, fuck it" make me wince too. Is this the point?

Was this the line up for 2020? Cancelled? 2022 TI line up is bizarrely thin. Announcing Tom Ravenscroft unlikely to sway anyone sitting on the fence.

I was on holiday , otherwise would have attended Strokes day. Had a look at Paolo's setlist. Very surprised he doesn't do Last Request. Would work better than Caledonia imo. Does his band still do the disappointing rock take on Pencil Full of Lead. Reminds me of when I've seen Morrissey's band try their hand at the Smiths' trickier material.

? Self Esteem were always playing the Saturday. I could add Jimmy Eat World and Maximo Park to the "obviously bands for slightly older people" list as well. Clearly DF loaded the Saturday with bands for an older crowd, topped with the Strokes. I'm not claiming Julian hand picked any of these acts. I doubt he had much input on the APE day either.

"built around them" - they clearly tried to put other bands that would appeal to older folk on the same day - wet Leg, Fontaines, self esteem and obvs Foals. Nevertheless, I hear Julian was confused by the apparent low average age of the punters 😂

TRNSMT doesn't seem appropriate for Blur, unless they built a tasteful day around them, as they seem to be doing today for The Strokes. Blur are still huge in England but I don't think it quite translates up here eg Gorillaz played the Hydro in 2017 and I don't think it even sold out. Connect would be more liley for them. Florence is IMO very hard to place now and I can't see her headlining TRNSMT. 1975 seem a fair shout. AM have done it already and would surely prefer their own show.

Do you mean watching Tyler's set be built during Gorillaz? Damon had an obvious comical look at it at one point. The side by side stages is in theory very clever, but in reality the crushes during the intervals between sets (an obvious example) Nick Cave and Gorillaz W1 sets) was horrible to be in the middle of.

The Quietus review refers to the absence of a live band. I don't think it's credible to suggest - for example - the track for "i" was being performed by a band behind a screen. Live percussion was perhaps occurring.

Some amended performances to accompany the show doesn't prove there was a live band. There were Kendrick backing vocals, but you'd be a dope to assume there was a second Kendrick behind the screen.

Indeed it was, the guy reporting from glastonbury for BBC 5 live didn't seem to recognise it. I could tell that the presenter he was speaking to wanted to ask why the Luther music was playing 😂 Having been to primavera, which massive attack pulled out of, I really hoped it wasn't a secret set!

I thought some of them sounded like they had - less drums? I didn't know if that was to help make him easier to hear. Don't know.

There was no shadow boxing from Kendrick, he rolled out all his biggest songs. Imo he has 5 or 6 truly great ones. He absolutely nailed the delivery. Technically amazing. I thought he had a live band, so I was a bit surprised to see dancers and lights. I always prefer a band. But as noted by another posted above, as a spectacle he was far better than Kanye (which is an obvious act to compare him with). I'm definitely conflicted though. Just for example, I think "Element" is about committing to still do properly things that he doesn't like. But the chorus is about slapping pussy assed n-words, making it look sexy etc. Makes me wince. Choruses of "fuck it, fuck it, fuck it" make me wince too. Maybe that's the point. Happy to discuss as I appreciate there's a few folk on here who think he is a stevie wonder type talent. I don't hear it myself.