05/06/15 Cardiff Castle

[Littlesue]

I can't find it on the telly, where do I look?? I have Virgin.

[centralscrutiniser]

It's on iplayer - search 'manics' in the on demand bit, and the shows called something like 'manics live at Cardiff castle'

[framedadolescence]

Ok, I'll get the small bits of negativity out of the way first.

-There were way too many pissed up "ladz" in the crowd who didn't care who they were barging into as they couldn't even stand or jump straight while trying to hug their bezzies.
-Also people taking selfies when a band is playing. STOP THAT.
- Wayne. Quit with the singing. Seriously.
- YLA needs to be dropped now

Other than that I had a fantastic time. It was always going to lose a bit of intensity from the December shows by the nature of being a big outdoor event. As a change of scenery and an occasion I think it worked really well. It was certainly strange at first to see THB in daylight but once the sun starting setting it was spectacular. The castle looked beautiful. I didn't think it was loud enough but then I rarely do at gigs anyway! The guitar smashing was a brilliant end and it will probably take me a week to stop laughing at that. I also loved the butch security guy in front of the stage, stood sternly surveying the crowd while singing 4st 7lbs and The Everlasting to himself. Respect.

As for the BBC thing, I watched it last night and was impressed by the coverage EVEN IF the best Bible songs of the night (Mausoleum, DITS and Humming) weren't shown. I think it's amazing we got eighteen songs. Well done to the beeb for that.

As for the crowd being dead, it wasn't in the first few rows where I was. Yes, it looked a bit flat on telly but you have to bear in mind that only the first few rows bounce about at their gigs anyway, it's just that they're not filmed. Also, being in the day and such a big crowd essentially showed an exaggeration of what happens all the time.

All in all, wonderful night which I wouldn't have missed for the world. Made better by the FD'ers who I met. I flipping love this band with all my heart.

[Dancing Kirby]

If they do ever release it as a DVD, for the cover artwork they should do their own take on one of their favourites...

[Dancing Kirby]

Half an hour later...

Proud of my skills.

[MoMoney MoJunk]

Ever think about going into design Kirby?

[pineapple]

On my way home -at Cardiff airport. On a complete high. Thanks to the Manics and the amazing FDers I met.just what I needed

[hummingbird]

Originally Posted by Dancing Kirby

Half an hour later...

Proud of my skills.

That would go straight up on my wall

[Porco]

Originally Posted by Dancing Kirby

If they do ever release it as a DVD, for the cover artwork they should do their own take on one of their favourites...

Originally Posted by Dancing Kirby

Half an hour later...

Proud of my skills.

I took your excellent idea and tried my own spin on it

[Beej]

Originally Posted by Takk

I do believe she was overcome by Nicky's legs

Originally Posted by Dancing Kirby

Half an hour later...

Proud of my skills.

That's so typically Nicky I think he should hold on to it until his next solo venture.

[UEF]

Just watching the bbc footage. On Revol James sings "Kruschev rubs off in his mirrors"

[Damian]

I thought it was brilliant. The fact that there was so much space (I suspect the fire limit is very low due to the restriction on exits) made it really easy to get a good view anywhere, although I went down the front anyway, right under Swingcam. Directly underneath, in fact, which means I didn't see myself once on the coverage!

It's funny though. There's me, 42 years old, stood in my hoodie, next to a someone younger than me with the leopardskin scarf and a smuggled-in bottle of Rose. Looking at the two you'd take an educated guess at who was the "hardcore" fan and who wasn't. For the Holy Bible set she blethered constantly to someone else and the stage may as well not have been there. I moved a bit (you can't move much without leaving the front because then you feel guilty about blocking someone's view who has been there ages), and then at least the music was louder than her except during the quieter songs. Then in the second set she managed to magnetise back towards us. I got twocked in the face three times and hit on the head by her bottle twice. After she finished with that she was taking countless drunken selfies (her friend/ co-conspirator now gone) but she could barely hold the phone so they'll look especially rubbish. Then she tried sending a few texts to people. It didn't bother me unduly (I'd have moved further away if it had, although I wanted to be down the front), but you do wonder why some people would pay £30/£40 to experience a gig in that manner...

Anyway the tl;dr version is: what a gig.

[Littlesue]

Originally Posted by Damian

I thought it was brilliant. The fact that there was so much space (I suspect the fire limit is very low due to the restriction on exits) made it really easy to get a good view anywhere, although I went down the front anyway, right under Swingcam. Directly underneath, in fact, which means I didn't see myself once on the coverage!

It's funny though. There's me, 42 years old, stood in my hoodie, next to a someone younger than me with the leopardskin scarf and a smuggled-in bottle of Rose. Looking at the two you'd take an educated guess at who was the "hardcore" fan and who wasn't. For the Holy Bible set she blethered constantly to someone else and the stage may as well not have been there. I moved a bit (you can't move much without leaving the front because then you feel guilty about blocking someone's view who has been there ages), and then at least the music was louder than her except during the quieter songs. Then in the second set she managed to magnetise back towards us. I got twocked in the face three times and hit on the head by her bottle twice. After she finished with that she was taking countless drunken selfies (her friend/ co-conspirator now gone) but she could barely hold the phone so they'll look especially rubbish. Then she tried sending a few texts to people. It didn't bother me unduly (I'd have moved further away if it had, although I wanted to be down the front), but you do wonder why some people would pay £30/£40 to experience a gig in that manner...

Anyway the tl;dr version is: what a gig.

lol, dozens like that round by me, I said earlier in the thread I could'nt understand why people pay 35+ for a gig just to sit on grass and talk.

[Damian]

Originally Posted by YouLoveMe

While I'm at it, I cannot be arsed with people moaning about 'casual' fans. I'm pretty sure there were a lot of casual fans there, but not everyone who stands a little bit further back and doesn't jump about much is a casual fan. I've been following the Manics since way back at the start. I'm 40 next year and my days of jumping around at gigs are in the past. Now I like to just listen and soak it in. Don't think it makes me any less of a fan than someone who shouts every lyric... and just because I don't shout every lyric, it doesn't mean I don't know the lyrics... or understand them (which is more important).
As for the casual fans, I have absolutely NO problem with them - if it wasn't for casual fans, they wouldn't be playing gigs like last night's! Still having the pull to do special shows in front of big crowds, like the castle gig or the National Treasures gig, is one of the things that keeps the Manics going, in my opinion. For what it's worth, I was there and thought the gig was amazing.

A perfectly put point. I've been seeing them since 1991, and this gives me no more sense of entitlement than anyone else. The only "rule" of a gig is: don't be a dick. If someone's way of enjoying it is standing there, not singing a word, that's fine.

(I'm 42 as mentioned above and still jump around a bit. I recommend taking up running aged 37 as the means to a new lease of life. )

[A boy called Rita]

I enjoyed this.

EDIT: I even stayed for the second set this time