11/12/14 Manchester Albert Hall

[StrummerMan]

Was at both nights and loved them both but Thursdays was just absolutely un believable !! I was on the balcony ( on Bradders side ) and THB set was highly emotional and mentally draining......truly fckng awesome set and without a doubt Thursdays gig is in my top 3 gigs of the last 24yrs....just an amazing night of Entertainment that will stay with you for the rest of your days !!!!

[The Holy Bum-Bum]

Still processing the awesomeness... one of the best nights ever.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by strawdogrob

My audio recording of the Dec 11th show is now up and running on dimeadozen.org. If anyone downloads it please feel free to share on *** on here, but please try and share in a lossless format as .mp3 reduces the quality.

Thanks

Rob

Thanks!!! Have d/l it. It sounds great!

[Beej]

Originally Posted by strawdogrob

My audio recording of the Dec 11th show is now up and running on dimeadozen.org. If anyone downloads it please feel free to share on *** on here, but please try and share in a lossless format as .mp3 reduces the quality.

Thanks

Rob

You fucking gem

[Futurologist]

Originally Posted by strawdogrob

My audio recording of the Dec 11th show is now up and running on dimeadozen.org. If anyone downloads it please feel free to share on *** on here, but please try and share in a lossless format as .mp3 reduces the quality.

Thanks

Rob

Thank you sir!

[Futurologist]

Originally Posted by Abby Grissom

During the first set I got the impression he really wasn't okay. He was happier and angrier in the second, and he and JDB praised the crowd frequently (and rightly so - the atmosphere was fucking incredible)

Even better than last night. The crowd had so much energy and sung so loud. Design For Life was the best crowd participation I've ever heard at a Manics gig (before which Wire shouted "this fucking song is about working class empowerment" amd everyone went batshit). Could tell they really enjoyed and appreciated us. The new songs sounded really great too, why didn't someone tell me to listen to Futurology?! nice to see people again and meet new faces. utterly amazing, the best gig of my life

Shout out to the dude I spoke to afterwards about Tim Roth's nipples if he's here.. amd also the lovely Shug

Oh shit, I forgot to mention... I hope all those that got air lifted, stoved in by crowd surfers or fainted are okay. There were so many tonight.

It was so nice to meet you! I want your hair! Best hair in the room.

If I hadn't have been surrounded by knobheads I would have enjoyed that so much, as it was, despite Jamesy knocking it out of the park, I couldn't quite enjoy it: don't hurt my friends because I get angry and don't grope me either cuntfaces.

[Abstract Unknown Girl]

I've been umming and ahhing over whether this night or the Wednesday was the best night and tbh, I still can't decide. Nicky was definitely in much better spirits the second night and I think I preferred the second set more on the Thursday, seen as they mixed things up a bit from the previous night. Running Out Of Fantasy was a nice addition (although there was far too much talking from some RUDE crowd members) and I was happy to see Europa back. Plus Last Christmas

I know a lot of people encountered some total dicks in the middle at the front, which ruined the gig for them. We got lucky I think, as we were towards the left on the barrier and the crowd were fine round us. I did see a hell of a lot of crowd surfers though (one before the end of Yes...talk about peaking too soon!) and lots of items being chucked towards the stage (bottles, drinks and weirdly shoes) and a few people had to be pulled out. Manchester gigs always tend to bring out the crazies. Overall though, the crowd seemed really up for it and appreciative (taking the selfish trouble causers out the equation of course).

The only negative for us was James managed to lose his bag afterwards. Luckily it didn't have anything of real value/importance in it, but still quite annoying. Oh and also this:

Originally Posted by Nobody

Also i might add that the venues staff make to keep us well watered handing out bottles between every song, maybe excessive at points though it was greatly appreciated.

The first night was ok for this and I thought the security were doing a great job compared to a lot of other venues, where they barely hand out a sip, let alone full bottles. The second night, they went into a water bottle freebie frenzy and seemed to have given out a whole crate of it before the band even came on stage! In between every single song and sometimes during the intro of a song, I had a security guard stood up on the barrier step trying to shove water in every available direction. They kept nudging us and asking us to pass them back during the bloody songs when I was trying to watch the band. I kept having to lean round them to see the stage, as they were blocking my view. I get it, the crowd needs to be kept hydrated, but they were being so OTT and intrusive on the Thursday. Not only that, during the heavier THB tracks, I ended up with about four bottles of water being chucked back towards the front and got soaked. It just became farcical by the end and resembled something on the news when they hand out emergency aid following an earthquake.

Originally Posted by Nobody

I could barely see nicky in the first set. There was so much smoke. But he did seem better tonight then how people discribed from other nights.

The smoke in the first half was a tad OTT; I could barely see Nicky. The second half was much better and I felt like either I'd finally put my specs on or I'd switched over to HD

Originally Posted by Marwood

Oh, and in case you didn't notice THEY DID NOT PLAY YOUR LOVE ALONE. I nearly died of shock.

Hurrah! I didn't realise this until afterwards, which goes to show how much I obviously missed it...

Originally Posted by Smugsy

Perhaps it was the sing along atmosphere but I got the feeling that tonight was a more celebratory night for THB than previous gigs.

Yep, it definitely had a more celebratory feel the second night compared to the first.

Originally Posted by Marwood

One sour note, really - I couldn't believe how much chatter there was during Running Out Of Fantasy. Utterly disgusting and disrespectful behaviour. Really think everyone responsible should be chemically castrated for the good of the gene pool.

Agreed, this really hacked me off too. Why people think acoustic songs are the perfect time to hold a conversation, I've no idea.

Originally Posted by amay

The front row was filmed for most of The Holy Bible set - or at least I think it was, everytime I looked over the camera was pointed at the audience! I dread to think what I look like on that video

Oh god. I've already seen a short clip of ADFL on Twitter filmed by Kieran Evans, where I can be seen singing my heart out. Pure cringe!

[astrogirl]

Here's some piccies for ya eyes... https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennyx...7647424668954/

Kev, I think we managed to be on opposite sides of the balcony to each other each night!

I really enjoyed this one - the wait was a lot more fun with friends and Nicky was a lot perkier in the second set. And towards the end it just went bonkers! From the safety of the balcony, it was a pretty awesome experience, although appreciate those on the front got a rather different perspective.

[Abstract Unknown Girl]

Originally Posted by Son of Stopped

Ah! It was you and MSPKYE I walked past this morning! Sorry if I spoke to him a bit more. I can sleep easily tonight knowing I know who you were.
And enjoy the gig!

Only just seen this...nope, that wasn't us I'm afraid. We were both at work in Leeds until 1pm and didn't start queuing until late afternoon

[Beej]

Originally Posted by Futurologist

It was so nice to meet you! I want your hair! Best hair in the room.

If I hadn't have been surrounded by knobheads I would have enjoyed that so much, as it was, despite Jamesy knocking it out of the park, I couldn't quite enjoy it: don't hurt my friends because I get angry and don't grope me either cuntfaces.

Lovely to meet you too, and thank you

Unfortunately a lot of men use gigs as an excuse to grope women, and even more unfortunate than that, they are rarely shoed in for it. Pigs.

Originally Posted by astrogirl

Here's some piccies for ya eyes... https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennyx...7647424668954/

Thank you for these, there's somg great shots

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by Abby Grissom

Unfortunately a lot of men use gigs as an excuse to grope women, and even more unfortunate than that, they are rarely shoed in for it. Pigs.

That's because a lot of men are twats, and need gig etiquette and decency drilling into their neanderthal brains.

[Beej]

Originally Posted by NasalScarecrow

That's because a lot of men are twats, and need gig etiquette and decency drilling into their neanderthal brains.

Yup. Less gig etiquette and more anti-abusive-fuckwit though.

[ic1960]

My pics from 11 December can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=3c130189f1

Totally awesome night in Manchester!

[DaveR]

Hello. New here, and I just wanted to share what was a very special experience.

I've been listening to MSP for probably 20 years or so. I'm not totally sure how I started listening to them but I just liked what they did and how they did it. Certainly their social and political stance was something I was not averse to either.

For years I'd been meaning to get to a gig, but it just never seemed to work out. Then it seemed the opportunity was lost as tour venues got bigger and certainly I was put off by comments made by friends that had attended gigs at large venues.

Then a few months ago I learnt of the THB tour and the venue in my area, Albert Hall.

First thing that bemused me was not even being aware of the place and I've been attending gigs in Manchester for a long time. I saw the pictures of the place and was intrigued. It seemed perfect, and poetically the right sort of venue. On the morning of ticket sales to succeed in bagging a couple was exciting to say the least.

Well, I was there on Thursday night and am still buzzing from it.
After some travel delays I arrived 15 mins before the start, worried that timing and my unfamiliarity with the venue would be a disadvantage. Not so. Me and a mate were ushered to the upstairs gallery. Fat chance of a seat I thought. Nope. I said hello to a girl who seemed to have spare seats around her, to see if they were taken. Nope and we joined her for a brief chat. My excitement was probably apparent but perhaps puzzling to her as I'm now a middle aged guy, but such is life. If you read this it was nice to meet you.

As the show intro got the audience stoked I knew this was going to be something else. The electricity grew as the lights played through the smoke filled stage. When the show started I could not believe how good that night was going to be. Sound, great. View, great. Audience, all over it.

There's little point in taking through the set list as I'm sure that's already been discussed, but I was blown away. I could not think of a more perfect way to finally see the band for the first time.

Utterly astonishing.
Manics, I thank you.

[nimrod]

The third time I'd seen the boys - previous gigs were Wembley 2004 (Lifeblood tour) and Leeds Uni 2005 (PPF). This one completely blew the others away - crowd were much more rowdy than I expected but luckily was stood on the far right outside of the melee. Mausoleum the unexpected highlight for me