These three quality bands put on an amazing show tonight.
The only issue with this event was the fault of the organisers. As I don’t want that to overshadow an awesome evening, I’ll leave that bit until last.
Ste & I were the gig goers tonight with Andrew away at a wedding. Food & a beer each at Coop (pretty standard when we’re at the O2).
Doors were at 6.30pm (although I’m pretty certain it was about 6.45pm before the queue started moving). We got in and were one of the first ones there. We walked passed the non-existent merch stand and made our way to the front.
Mystery Jets
MJ took the stage at 7.15pm and played a tidy 6 song set. I love the guitar sound for this band. I’d seen them once before (review here), but I’m still not that familiar with some of their stuff (I’ll have to correct that). They opened with Telomere before playing Flash A Hungry Smile. Their new single, Hospital Radio, was then played live for the first time. Bubblegum was up next. At around this time, the bassist noted that they had to leave the stage soon noting that “the stage timings were shit at this gig”. He was flashed a shocked look by the drummer (can’t mess with the organisers mafia) before they continued with the set. Young Love followed and they closed the short set with Alice Springs. An enjoyable, but all too brief, encounter. When their set first started the crowd was pretty limited, but it was starting to fill up nicely as the set closed.
Circa Waves
I love this band on record, but I love them even more live. This is the 4th time I’ve seen them (Glastonbury ‘15, Glastonbury ‘17, Stockton) and they always put on an incredible performance. The sound is loud, but crystal clear – the lead singers (Kieran Shudall) voice is strong and distinctive and the tunes are catchy, but with an edge. Kieran indicates they were delighted to support Bloc Party & had copied them for CW’s first album. I hadn’t previously heard that (but I’m useless at that sort of thing), but I finally spotted the similarity in some of the sound tonight.
They started with the usual opener, Wake Up. Wow. The power behind the guitar that introduces this tune before crashing into the rest of the instruments is just spine tingling.
What followed was a total of 9 tunes over 45 minutes. A beautifully tight set which warmed up the crowd nicely for the main event. The crowd reaction suggested there were enough people in the crowd who actually came to see Circa Waves, but most, although appreciative, were saving their energy for BP.
The new tunes; Movies & The Way We Say Goodbye were my highlights along with Wake Up & Fire That Burns, but it was all great.
Bloc Party
Silent Alarm is a clear 5 star, 10/10 album for me. I could listen to it on repeat and find new things. It sounds fresh and timeless. When I saw them announce some Silent Alarm shows a while back, I was gutted that there was nothing nearby. I nearly bought tickets for Manchester, but I’m glad I was patient. There’s something really special about a full album performance of anything. There’s usually a really strong connection between the album and the audience, the band are often reconnecting with material they haven’t played in years and there’s always a close connection in the sound of the songs which were originally recorded together. This is different to a Greatest Hits set which might have the crowd appreciating different eras and the tunes might not connect as well to each other. I’ve been to a few full album performances (Expecting To Fly • The Bluetones, The Optimist LP • Turin Brakes, Pet Sounds • Brian Wilson & The Man Who • Travis), but this was probably my favourite (the Turin Brakes one was too long ago to remember…& I wasn’t blogging and taking photos back then, but I suspect that was amazing).
Bloc Party took the stage and instantly surprised me by opening with Compliments. I’d purposefully avoided setlist spoilers, so it was 3 tracks in before I realised they were doing the album in reverse. It worked well and flowed nicely, but it did mean the crowd weren’t able to start the next song for the band (which can be the case). The performance was as intense as I’d hoped. Kele was sticking pretty closely to his album vocals and was smiling throughout.
So Here We Are didn’t quite match the beauty of the album version, but the rest soared to great heights. Banquet, Helicopter, This Modern Love, Pioneers & Like Eating Glass all sent the crowd into a frenzy. Many hulking, sweaty, drunk, immovable blokes invited my space, but it couldn’t detract from what I was witnessing. Sheer brilliance.
After the played the final song (well…opening track) from Silent Alarm, they left for a mini break.
The encore was quality too. They came back on to perform a song for “the true fans” – Tulips. Two More Years (the single released after Silent Alarm and then added to an expanded version) followed. Then Hunting For Witches and The Prayer from A Weekend In The City. Post AWITC single (which was later added to the expanded album…there’s a pattern here!), Flux was the next classic before ending, surprisingly (for me) on Ratchet. I thought Little Thoughts might get a run out and wasn’t sure whether we might get anything newer. They probably rightly stayed in the first two albums (except Ratchet) and I, for one, left very happy.
On the socials, I’ve seen some bitterness about the night. I can’t be about the performances, although some comments aren’t separating the bands from the organisation.
This organisers of this festival (Live At Wastelands) are the same who organised This Is Tomorrow (see Foals troubles). You do have to wonder what they are up to. See below…but don’t let that take away from how good this was.
Live At Wastelands
A three day festival taking place At Spillers Wharf. An outdoor event split across three days with tickets sold separately. Bloc Party playing Silent Alarm was the initial announcement with Richard Ashcroft and Frank Turner headlining the following days. I was already excited and that was ramped up when Circa Waves and Mystery Jets were added to the bill. A 4th act, Imogen, were due to play and the event was due to open at 5pm. On Wednesday at 5pm (i.e. exactly 48 hours beforehand) the email message below came out:
We’re writing to inform you that due to logistical issues with Spillers Wharf outside of the artists & promoters control, it is no longer possible to stage Wasteland at the originally planned venue. To ensure the shows can still take place, we have been able to secure the O2 Academy Newcastle at short notice.
Original tickets remain valid, and no refunds will be issued. The doors wil (sic) open at 6pm at O2 Academy Newcastle.
So an outdoor “festival” was being shifted indoor to the O2. The O2 is an OK venue. Not great, but fine. If I was drinking, I’d have been disappointed as the beer is swill. I wasn’t, so not to worry. I was just glad it wasn’t cancelled. Richard Ashcroft was. Frank Turner was also shifted to the O2. Facebook comments started going wild demanding refunds and reduced price tickets. In reality, I can’t imagine the tickets being much less than £30-£35 if Bloc Party were just playing the O2. Throw in two great support acts and it’s really probably only a few quid overpriced. It’s fine.
A day or so later the doors opening was pushed back to 6.30pm.
The merch stand was non-existent. Later, I spotted that a few BP T-shirts were there, but the guy at the stand almost looked like he was apologising for essentially working from a car boot.
Clearly the organisation and care required hadn’t been put in. The Mystery Jets set was probably cut by 15 minutes. Perhaps Circa Waves set was similarly truncated?
So, why did this happen?
Well, you’d assume that the outdoor capacity was greater than that of the O2 (2000 at capacity which includes upstairs seating…which were closed). Therefore to be able to transfer the gig, had ticket sales not matches expectations. Richard Ashcroft was due to play on Sunday. The O2 has nothing listed for Sunday. I’m guessing there were more than 2000 sold for that one. Perhaps they cut their losses and decided to try and ensure money was made. That’s ok.
Perhaps there were genuine logistical issues. If so, I’m glad they discovered them so far in advance. 2 days before the gig shows a real clear level of planning. The kind of planning you’d expect from a child.
Whatever the real reason, it was a little shabby in organisation, but that downside was massively outstripped by the incredible performances of the bands. Music wins.
What an incredible evening with Bloc Party playing Silent Alarm, Circa Waves & Mystery Jets. Absolutely awesome. Loved every minute. #agigamonth2019 #blocparty #circawaves #mysteryjets pic.twitter.com/MxAhtPkoIQ
— Chris Williams (@cwblueroom) July 12, 2019
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