The National

[1986]

Are those Castle Venues a step up in size for them? My very first gig at 14 or something was Green Day at Cardiff Castle and it felt huge at the time...I'm 37 now mind.

[fightoffyour]

Where are we expecting double dates that’s the main question?

Big gap to fill between London and Edinburgh so I’m guessing 2 in london again unless that’s a “festival” thing like Castlefield? Same goes for Edinburgh?

Maybe they’ll just stick 2 nights in the Piece Hall in the middle, or is that weekends and later in the year?

[Wakey321]

14 minutes ago, Badlands said:

Potentially will end up seeing them in Milan (im there for the 2 Springsteen gigs and they play the night in between!), Manchester and Glastonbury! 

[Yokel Again]

Got to be doing Glastonbury, haven't they?

[aj6658]

Never seen them live - how are they? 

Do we reckon they would headline a stage? Reddit seems to think clash with Madonna 

[The Nal]

2 minutes ago, aj6658 said:

Never seen them live - how are they? 

[FloopFiller]

5 minutes ago, aj6658 said:

Never seen them live - how are they? 

Do we reckon they would headline a stage? Reddit seems to think clash with Madonna 

Yeah Other Stage headliner vs. Madonna is a given if they’re there.

[JRhys29]

Definitely gonna get tickets for Cardiff Castle in case next Sunday doesn't go to plan!

[brendan84]

I missed the ally pally dates as just had my first child (I sold some tickets on here! ) so chuffed another London date next summer.

Those dates look a cert for glasto!

[Guest]

Would be happy with them as an option on the Sunday.

[st dan]

18 minutes ago, aj6658 said:

Never seen them live - how are they? 

If you like them on record, then chances are you’ll enjoy them live. If you’re not really into them, or are even just a casual fan, then I don’t think they’d blow you over by them live.
They have somewhat of a huge cult following, which makes for fantastic atmospheres at their own gigs - I don’t think they are a great festival band for this reason. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, st dan said:

If you like them on record, then chances are you’ll enjoy them live. If you’re not really into them, or are even just a casual fan, then I don’t think they’d blow you over by them live.
They have somewhat of a huge cult following, which makes for fantastic atmospheres at their own gigs - I don’t think they are a great festival band for this reason. 

Will probably be a good crowd if they're up against Madonna, though. Hardly gonna be many just going along to check them out.

[FloopFiller]

2 minutes ago, st dan said:

They have somewhat of a huge cult following, which makes for fantastic atmospheres at their own gigs - I don’t think they are a great festival band for this reason. 

It depends. Stick em on as a sub to Foo Fighters and yeah, they’re not gonna fair too well, but I saw them at Primavera last year which is very much more their crowd and they were great, and I think with them playing opposite Madonna they’ll have a small but very passionate crowd similar to QOTSA this year or LCD in 2016 and it’ll be great for anybody there.

[st dan]

1 minute ago, SomeoneListeningIn said:

Will probably be a good crowd if they're up against Madonna, though. Hardly gonna be many just going along to check them out.

Maybe, but I think you’ll end up with a lot of people who won’t be impressed with either to be honest - particularly the younger attendees. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, st dan said:

Maybe, but I think you’ll end up with a lot of people who won’t be impressed with either to be honest - particularly the younger attendees. 

Sure, and they'll probably go elsewhere.

[chickenfire]

I loved them at Primavera last year and reports of their arena tour recently were great, so I'm very tempted by that Edinburgh Castle show

Edited November 10, 2023 by chickenfire
typo

[nikkic]

My favourite band in my favourite place, but Madonna would still win (I think).

So Crystal Palace it is.

[Robofish]

They would win against pretty much anyone for me. And Crystal Palace too as a bonus, pretty much most a local gig 🙂

Do we think Madonna will draw a Macca/Elton sized crowd?

[incident]

1 minute ago, Robofish said:

Do we think Madonna will draw a Macca/Elton sized crowd?

Large, maybe close to Macca.

Nowhere near Elton. That's not getting touched ever again.

[CaledonianGonzo]

While you could well be right, isn't Elton the first time we've had proper ariel / drone shots of a ginormo-crowd to get a proper sense of the scale / dimension? So we don't really understand how much bigger it was than e.g. the Stones, Dolly, etf

[Drinky]

Edinburgh is 8.5k but a narrow standing space with massive side-on

Crystal Palace is even bigger and open so if it rains everyone is screwed

[CaledonianGonzo]

Just now, Drinky said:

Edinburgh is 8.5k but a narrow standing space with massive side-on

And no bars 

[Skip997]

Just now, CaledonianGonzo said:

While you could well be right, isn't Elton the first time we've had proper ariel / drone shots of a ginormo-crowd to get a proper sense of the scale / dimension? So we don't really understand how much bigger it was than e.g. the Stones, Dolly, etf

Only one I was at was The Stones, it was remarkably easy to escape from fairly close to the pit

[FloopFiller]

1 minute ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

While you could well be right, isn't Elton the first time we've had proper ariel / drone shots of a ginormo-crowd to get a proper sense of the scale / dimension? So we don't really understand how much bigger it was than e.g. the Stones, Dolly, etf

I think the various photographs of the other main stages being deserted is a pretty good indication. I remember a few similar photos during the Stones set of the Park being pretty empty, but the rest of the site during Elton looked like a completely different beast altogether - hilariously empty at the start of his set at least. 

[incident]

Just now, CaledonianGonzo said:

While you could well be right, isn't Elton the first time we've had proper ariel / drone shots of a ginormo-crowd to get a proper sense of the scale / dimension? So we don't really understand how much bigger it was than e.g. the Stones, Dolly, etf

I'm thinking more about the future than the past - I can't see any other act with such broad appeal also being the "right place, right time" in the way Elton was.

But relative to previous acts - the fact that the Pyramid field was substantially larger this year, with more people on site than ever before, makes me think Elton almost certainly took any record by a comfortable margin.