29/06/2019 Cardiff Castle

[pickefoo]

Bar - We only went twice, but both times were relatively quick.
Toilets - I queued once for about 10 mins, and the second time for about 8 seconds..
Crowd - As per expectations, the hits were warmly welcomed by the whole crowd. The second half of TIMTTMY went down terribly with most of the people around us who seemed more interested in their conversations amongst themselves.
Manic Street Mania afterwards - was very excellent

[The Crow]

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-...e-16503354.amp

[The Crow]

Just seems like another Bland Performance in terms of what we are used to, nothing really special or any surprises.

Just easier for them to do 1 night then 3 at the Arena etc

[almostfamous]

Originally Posted by The Crow

Just seems like another Bland Performance in terms of what we are used to, nothing really special or any surprises

I really think this has been an anniversary waltz too far. I love them like family but I'm utterly bored at this point. They need to go away for a while and find their fire, take some risks and stop this relentless ground hog day of bland gigging opening with ME and closing with ADFL.

[LA ex]

Time for another Past, Present, Future style tour.....

[The Crow]

Originally Posted by LA ex

Time for another Past, Present, Future style tour.....

Definitely

It's true though MSP are boring us & the very generic set lists and repeated singles is too much for me hence why I opted out of the RFT because it was very average & wrong venues to tour it in.

I think 5 yrs off would possibly flock some new fans in and give us something to be excited about.

There was a time it would take some beating to beat the MSP on the Live scene & LP's but now even Boris Johnson is more interesting and I hate him.

I didn't do the EMG tour but listening to some of the non singles it buries alot of the past 15 yrs.

[FacelessSenseOfVoid]

I really enjoyed it, surprisingly. I could have a moan about the setlist, which is what I would usually do but the atmosphere was pretty good and I was in the corner, off to the side of the stage towards the front of the right hand side. But I agree with the points around changing up the types of gigs they do. For me, I last really enjoyed a Manics tour in 2007, both in terms of setlists and the memories of gigs. Hasn't quite been the same since unfortunately.

[everlasting]

I guess that's it now for the anniversary shows? I hope they focus now on a new album or maybe Nicky can finally get the band biography written
I watched a few videos on Youtube from this concert. Think the best thing this tour from videos I've seen is the SCOM cover as it rocks. I did put on the anniversary CDs of Truth the other day but wish there was a packed DVD on there too, seems like missed opportunity a bit.

[Abstract Unknown Girl]

I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to actually. I was a bit fatigued after the main tour and was kind of expecting to feel the same about this gig, but it exceeded my expectations. I was just to the left of James on the barrier, so the crowd were pretty good round me...not overly pushy, but plenty of jumping up and down and singing along etc.

I noticed they switched Tsunami and My Little Empire around, presumably to break up the slower album tracks a bit more. Playing Truth in this setting was always going to be a bit odd and really, I'm surprised they did another album gig for this one, rather than just a standard set list, but then I realise they didn't play Wales on the main tour. The second half wasn't anything that unusual, but at least it was a bit different to the rut they got in towards the end of the tour. What they did play seemed to go down well at least. The band seemed happier than at some other recent gigs as well, but then if they weren't going to make an effort for this of all gigs, they never were! I thought it was particularly funny that you could hear James doing his vocal warm-ups just before they came on stage...he really does have a loud voice

We saw The Killers the night before the Manics as well (two of my favourite bands in the same venue on consecutive nights...I couldn't believe my luck when The Killers were announced for the Friday, as I already had my Manics tickets by then), so it was a really great weekend overall and we got decent weather. In fact, I was glad it cooled down a lot by the time the Manics came on.

I can't pretend I won't be glad of a break now though I kind of hope they go quiet for a bit and go away to work on a new album or something. That's not to sound ungrateful, but I do wonder if they even have a say in the number of gigs they do. The live entertainment industry is where a lot of the big money is made now. Personally I don't think they needed to do as many gigs as they did for Truth, but they sold out most (if not all?) of the venues, so of course they'd do it. Towards the end of the tour, they didn't seem to be having quite as much fun as they were at the beginning of it and they stopped changing even one or two songs for the last few gigs, but as I said, they may not get to decide the length of their tours, especially if the label know there is a market for it.

A few photos from my iPhone:

[darkanddivine]

Originally Posted by Abstract Unknown Girl

I do wonder if they even have a say in the number of gigs they do. The live entertainment industry is where a lot of the big money is made now. Personally I don't think they needed to do as many gigs as they did for Truth, but they sold out most (if not all?) of the venues, so of course they'd do it. Towards the end of the tour, they didn't seem to be having quite as much fun as they were at the beginning of it and they stopped changing even one or two songs for the last few gigs, but as I said, they may not get to decide the length of their tours, especially if the label know there is a market for it.

With Truth specifically, I imagine the decision was mainly based on the nature of the album. I'm guessing even the powers of JDB and co in full flight would have their work cut out doing SYMM in an enormodrome. But once you've made the call to go small, then you probably have to do more dates to make it economically viable. The economics of most tours is 30-50% touring costs, 15% to the promoter, and most of the rest to the band. That typically means a short tour in big venues is better (financially) for a band because you hit more fans with a production in one night, which keeps the costs for that and the promoter down.

The bottom line though, is that bands do gigs in part for their image. Most bands would pick a 16 date run in theaters over 8 half full arenas, even if they'd prefer to play less. That's because what all bands really want is shows that sell out. And even better if they sell out quickly, because that means their shows are massively over subscribed which tends to keep fans coming back for more.

The other thing about 90's bands, is that the demographic most associated with those bands are still more likely to buy music rather than just stream it. This, I think, partly explains all these festivals like Kendall Calling with plucky up and coming bands in the day and feelgood retro acts at night. Unless you're Radiohead or one of the Gallagher Bros, most bands still need to tour to remind folks to go back and buy those plush re-issues. Judging by the number of similar festivals cropping up (and the expansion of heritage rock in general) you're definitely right that there's a market for that kind of thing.

[Abstract Unknown Girl]

I wasn’t saying I want to see them in half full arenas That’s exactly what the RIF tour was last year and it was pretty soulless and misjudged. I just didn’t feel like the band were particularly enjoying even selling out small venues for parts of the Truth tour tbh, so whilst I do understand why they played as many as they did, they probably would have been happier doing less. Plus there are venues bigger than the ones they played, but a lot smaller than arenas (like Manchester Apollo for example) that would have worked and would still probably have sold out. Or they could have got an orchestra and done concert halls...that would have fitted the album well and would have been something a bit different.

I just think band and fans would benefit from a break from touring in general after the last few years. We’ve had three different anniversary tours in the last 5 years and an unnecessary badly sold arena tour for their last album. I know people who usually follow them on entire tours have got bored and cut way back, so it does feel like something is amiss at the moment.

[BloodFlowerBill]

My review http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/20...le-29-06-2019/

[darkanddivine]

Originally Posted by Abstract Unknown Girl

I wasn’t saying I want to see them in half full arenas That’s exactly what the RIF tour was last year and it was pretty soulless and misjudged. I just didn’t feel like the band were particularly enjoying even selling out small venues for parts of the Truth tour tbh, so whilst I do understand why they played as many as they did, they probably would have been happier doing less. Plus there are venues bigger than the ones they played, but a lot smaller than arenas (like Manchester Apollo for example) that would have worked and would still probably have sold out. Or they could have got an orchestra and done concert halls...that would have fitted the album well and would have been something a bit different.

I deffo agree with all of that, and I totally concur about TIMT with strings. I actually thought (given the sonic similarities) that they might do TIMT and EMG together in that format, which would take the pressure off TIMT in an arena setting, before the more euphoric nature of EMG. But there we go...

Anyway, on the number meanderings... I totally get what you mean. But for some bands they make that decision, firstly on how many gigs they want to do, and then they look at the economics. When folks were pontificating about the viability of the arena tour, I made an observation (albeit a back of the envelope style one) that a 75% full 8-date arena tour could still make a band more money than a fully sold out 16+ date theatre tour. But I do take your point. The Ritz holds 1,500ish, and the Apollo 3,500. So I'm not totally sure why you'd not just do 1 night at the Apollo, but there we are.

One model I think could work well for the band in future (assuming they want to do the odd heritage gig) would be to do 5-8 "club" gigs each year for the hardcore fans. Lots of rarities and that sort of jazz. Then 2-4 bigger (maybe arena) shows, full of the hits for the casual crowd. That way, the band play less, the hardocre don't get bored, the casuals are happy, and no tour is allowed to outstay its welcome, which hopefully keeps everyone happy-ish.

[Lee]

I think that would be ideal. Wasn’t PPF a reasonably short tour? I thought it sat nicely between the Lifeblood era and kept the hardcore fans interested prior to SATT.

In fairness from 96 - 07 they probably couldn’t have played it better in terms of what they released (EMG & TIMT gave them a free hit at KYE. FD a lead into Lifeblood, they kept us interested with various experimental stuff between 05-06, then SATT arrives in 07), and the tours they played.

A small PPF tour next year would be great, then an album in 2021 with loads of new stuff and a rejuvenated band would be what I would like to see.

And I’ve said it a million times but just the three of them (and Naysmith) live would be a real return to form. I’ve done 3ish gigs per tour since 2001 and I can’t get excited with Manics and Friends these days.

[darkanddivine]

Originally Posted by Lee

Wasn’t PPF a reasonably short tour? I thought it sat nicely between the Lifeblood era and kept the hardcore fans interested prior to SATT.

12 dates IIRC.