Gorillaz snobbery

[llcoolphil]

He was a bit of a car crash but it was Lou Reed FFS, not many people can claim that. I didn't expect him to be there.

Rest of the set was amazing IMHO. Never saw anyone leave from where I was standing which was fairly near the front (not as far as the golden circle). Took me 45 minutes to get out of the Pyramid stage area after it.

[llcoolphil]

I'm making that assumption (and it is an assumption) based on the people around me at the gig, the number of people who left, the crush to get away from the pyramid field, the reviews afterwards and the survey which was done on here.

To extrapolate from this thread would be silly, especially as I think the percentage of people who enjoyed the gig on here seems higher than that which would be representative of the opinions of the crowd at the gig (as gleaned from the above).

[philreeduk]

wow remember the days when this use to be a fun place to hang out on teh internetz?

[budvar]

So based on a handful of people around you at the gig, a number of people that left that you have no idea what that number is and less than ten people who reviewed it. You're right, its a hell of an assumption you are making.

[In transit]

Forgive me for getting protective of the survey I put together but I thought it would be useful for debates like this.

105 people who saw Gorillaz (or at least claimed to) gave them a rating out of 10. More people gave Gorillaz a rating than any other act.

The avearge score given by those 105 people was 6.2. This was pretty low compared to other acts (Muse got 8.5 and Stevie Wonder 8.7)

The original data is here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArhmezzLBhzBdFo2clEwY0xVMDNCX1lmbmhVM2RBOGc&hl=en&authkey=CLjwn6cJ

[MEGABOWL]

wow remember the days when this use to be a fun place to hang out on teh internetz?

[MEGABOWL]

Statistically though 9/10 people are disinclined to trust crowdsourced data compiled by men with hair longer than two inches.

[Mardy]

f**king hell, this all kicked off last night eh?

as it goes, I'm with Wooderson on this. Sure there's room for discovering new bands, there's room for easy music, but not everything on the Pyramid need to be hands aloft, mass bellowing along with some 'anthem' (dread phrase). There's also room for music which challenges, room for music that's not easily accessible, room for something where the effort you put in means you get a little more out. One of the biggest problems with art/culture today is this idea that everything has to be accessible to everybody and nobody needs to work at it. Some of the most satisfying artistic experiences of my life have been those I've needed to work at, those where everything wasn't easy, those where I've needed to do some homework around it.

YOu can listen to Oasis mooing out there half a dozen words words ad nauseum, you can read Dan Brown. Easy, no preparation needed, turn up and join in. Off you go.

Me, I'll take the Gorillaz on the Pyramid and James Joyce on my bookshelf. The rewards are infinitely more satisfying, but you know what, it ain't on a plate and you might need to engage with it a bit.

[In transit]

Excellent post Mardy.

[cejx]

bloody hell - is this thread still going.

Some think they were shite.

Some think they were the best thing since sliced bread.

Some are indifferent.

Regardless of who thinks what, you ain't gonna change someones elses opinion on them after they have made that opinion based on experiencing the Gorillaz themselves. Chalk and cheese. Ying and Yang. Bodger and Badger.

I saw them. My opinion - thought they were rubbish. Not losing any sleep over it.

[amfy]

From where i was in the Pyramid field i didn't see any more comings and goings that i have for previous headliners. However - I did, even during the set, get an impression of really strong opinions.

A bloke near to us came over to us shouting that this was "the best thing he'd ever seen in the world ever" - we were enjoying it but felt this was a bit of an exaggeration so we were just laughing good humouredly and my partmer said to him "Are you a bit excited mate?" but then he was quite upset and angry telling us people were walking off saying it was shit and boring - and he didn't know how they could say that. He then wandered off and we carried on enjoying it. Other than his little tirade i didn't notice any of that, but I guess this was an early indication that they brought out really strong feelings in people either way. Someone said "a bit marmite", but more than that - I've never known such extremes of opinion right there in the middle of a set. I've known people drift off in numbers, or talk amongst themselves most of the way through, but having shouty arguments over whether this is the best or shittest thing ever, whilst it's still happening, is pretty unusual!

I think this is a good thing - I think it's good that a band can bring out strong reactions in people either way - surely it means they're doing something right. The Arctic Monkeys were a bit so-so a couple of years ago, but people mostly just said that was "pretty good", "Ok", or "didn't quite cut it" - all quite middling views. I think the strong reactions here are better but then again - people could be a little less angry - it was weeks ago now.

[The Nal]

f**king hell, this all kicked off last night eh?

as it goes, I'm with Wooderson on this. Sure there's room for discovering new bands, there's room for easy music, but not everything on the Pyramid need to be hands aloft, mass bellowing along with some 'anthem' (dread phrase). There's also room for music which challenges, room for music that's not easily accessible, room for something where the effort you put in means you get a little more out. One of the biggest problems with art/culture today is this idea that everything has to be accessible to everybody and nobody needs to work at it. Some of the most satisfying artistic experiences of my life have been those I've needed to work at, those where everything wasn't easy, those where I've needed to do some homework around it.

YOu can listen to Oasis mooing out there half a dozen words words ad nauseum, you can read Dan Brown. Easy, no preparation needed, turn up and join in. Off you go.

Me, I'll take the Gorillaz on the Pyramid and James Joyce on my bookshelf. The rewards are infinitely more satisfying, but you know what, it ain't on a plate and you might need to engage with it a bit.

[The Nal]

Lou Reed?...so what..?

[Kowalski]

Wrapping paper Tony. "I saw Lou Reed - best gig ever!!".

[grandadcollective]

Same with the rest of them, including Mark E Smith. Most people were like: "Who the f**k is this guy?". Unless youre a Fall fan, which most people were not, the point was totally missed.

They had 3 of the worst "singers" ever on stage - Reed, Ryder, Smith - if you weren't already fans of them.

[grandadcollective]

Don't agree.

This year was a vintage year for the festival I think and there are loads of positive threads. I've seen as many positive comments about Stevie as I have negative comments about Gorillaz.

This is a discussion forum about the Glastonbury Festival and we're discussing the Glastonbury Festival. That includes discussion of the bands, some of which is positive and some of which is bound to be negative, that's just the way things go and it would be a very boring discussion forum if it was just a massive love-in.

[The Nal]

For my money Ryder is the best frontman still living to come from Manchester. mark E Smith is one of the most odd ball vocalists around and a gurning Reed was a highlight. Tbh the state I was in you could have given me a balloon to play with and an album of Rod Jane and Freddie's greatest hits and I would have been chuffed.

[grandadcollective]

See, there are people on this thread saying that you should leave if you're not enjoying a gig and others saying that their moment of the festival was at the end of a set that I left.

Still have no idea if I made the right choice.

[bombfrog]

We are indeed. Except you keep presenting yours as statements of fact

[glastoman417]

f**king hell, this all kicked off last night eh?

as it goes, I'm with Wooderson on this. Sure there's room for discovering new bands, there's room for easy music, but not everything on the Pyramid need to be hands aloft, mass bellowing along with some 'anthem' (dread phrase). There's also room for music which challenges, room for music that's not easily accessible, room for something where the effort you put in means you get a little more out. One of the biggest problems with art/culture today is this idea that everything has to be accessible to everybody and nobody needs to work at it. Some of the most satisfying artistic experiences of my life have been those I've needed to work at, those where everything wasn't easy, those where I've needed to do some homework around it.

YOu can listen to Oasis mooing out there half a dozen words words ad nauseum, you can read Dan Brown. Easy, no preparation needed, turn up and join in. Off you go.

Me, I'll take the Gorillaz on the Pyramid and James Joyce on my bookshelf. The rewards are infinitely more satisfying, but you know what, it ain't on a plate and you might need to engage with it a bit.

[BadgerMatt]

I enjoyed the Gorillaz set, but could understand why it was not everyone's cup of tea.

However, I just want to say that since coming home I have bought the Plastic Beach album. It's a slow grower, but after my third listen I now think that it is the best album I have heard for probably 5 years or more. It's completely eclectic and quality shines through in almost every one of the 16 tracks. I can't listen to anything else at the moment.

So all I am saying is even if you didn't enjoy the set, or were ambivalent about it, stick the album on a couple of times. It won't be for everyone, but you might just surprise yourself.

[llcoolphil]

Forgive me for getting protective of the survey I put together but I thought it would be useful for debates like this.

Ultimately it isn't right or wrong but we can talk about fact.

105 people who saw Gorillaz (or at least claimed to) gave them a rating out of 10. More people gave Gorillaz a rating than any other act.

The avearge score given by those 105 people was 6.2. This was pretty low compared to other acts (Muse got 8.5 and Stevie Wonder 8.7)

The original data is here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ArhmezzLBhzBdFo2clEwY0xVMDNCX1lmbmhVM2RBOGc&hl=en&authkey=CLjwn6cJ

This doesn't 'prove' anything. Opinions are personal and, indeed, some people clearly loved Gorillaz. I feel comfortable, however, coming to the conclusion that the majority did not.

[grandadcollective]

Couldn't put it better myself!

I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that in my day there wasn't a lot of music I liked being played on the radio (especially during the day) so I was forced to be adventurous to seek out music that sat well with me, sometimes going out on a limb spending £12 on a CD possibly on the strength of a single, or recommendation or whatever. If it didn't immediately grab me I'd persevere and keep going back to it, before finally giving up and putting it in the back of the cupboard. I hated some of what became my favourite albums when I first played them

But for anyone growing up now, when you can download 30 albums in a morning without breaking a sweat or paying a penny (not that I condone this behaviour ) I'm sure it encourages people to cherry pick and only listen to the stuff that grabs them immediately, which is a shame because I also believe that the best things in life, whether food, music, film etc are the ones that initially make you say "WTF?" but abundance dillutes appreciation.

[Badlands]

abundance dillutes appreciation.

[doubledutch]

I wouldn't say they were bad but on the strength of that performance they just weren't up to the job. On a side note I wonder if age is a factor as everyone I spoke to who was under 30 were very positive about the performance and everyone over 30 were at best indifferent.