I went on the opening night which was a really good show and friends went to subsequent shows and we have all noticed that the venue is generally too big and the atmosphere before the show was the flattest ever - I mean I remember at hammersmith in 2002 the vibe was hot and even at wembley arena or earls court it was more of a 'fan' feeling. O2 is also out of the way - I come from east london so not so bad for me but it must be hell for long distance travellers.

I am going again on 28th and 1st sept and hope it warms up. But from what I read on here the fact they are trying to get a wider audience means that the vibe we are used to has got watered down and the accoustics in the venue don't help either! moan over ! lol

clarityman said:

yeah I felt a little like that on the 4th, hoping tom nite and next sat 25th better

clarityman said:

Less is definately more!!!

aymiderham said:

Yeah good luck with your remaining ones - the aftershow was good so that made up for it!

I hate the place. I knew it would be shit as soon as I walked in...it's a soulless large cinema multiplex design wise with regards to the non-venue part of it. Once inside, you may as well be inside a baseball stadium (or the Emirates), with the main event being relegated to mere backgroud entertainment. The easy access to beer/food doesn't help either. The venue depressed the fuck out of me. Please Prince, do a show in a decent smaller venue before you leave in late September...

Mong said:

he has done!!! 10th aftershow indigo2

O2 is full of piss-head cocks who thought that Prince started with Purple Rain and ended with Kiss.
There, I said it.

'dre

All that being said, I think the vibe has been pretty electric the last couple of times I've been down. I just wish they'd close the bars while the concert is on so people wudn't b so restless.

But I think the indigo is a great lil venue with fantastic sound!! The aftershows there have been the best I'v ever attended!

That's why I think the floor is better - more atmosphere - you can forget about the beered up tossers behind you up the walls

I wouldn't say it was "out of the way". Wembley and Earls Court are harder to get to via public transport. I even live near Wembley and it's a nightmare. No decent tubes, too far out on the Jubilee line so it takes ages to get to that end. North Greenwich station is only about 15-20 minutes away from Waterloo at the most.

Surely the atmosphere depends on the crowd rather than the venue. I think that for a venue of this size, it's quite intimate. I rather like it & it's a damned sight easier to get to than Wembley.

aymiderham said:

I went to last night's concert - sat in block A3 right at the front wow wow wow it was brilliant. I went on the opening night but last night was brilliant. I am lucky to say that I am going again tonight and if it is half as good as last night I'll be in for a treat.

Must say all the people in our block were dancing the night away - it was just so amazing!!!!

The problem is price £31.21 is to cheap, this low price allows for it to be an affordable night out for any arsehole, They should have kept it to 7 nights and charged £60 or £70 a ticket, this would have put off a lot of non Prince fans meaning only the dedicated would be willing to pay that sort of cash to see the man!

I appreciate the £31.21 has made Prince more accessible to a lot more people but when you spend most of the night standing next to a group of pissed up non fans chatting throughout the concert only briefly stopping when they here something they vaguely recognise i.e. Purple Rain it does soil the whole experience somewhat!

I sat behind a menopausal 50 year old woman and her 80 year old partially disabled mother who looked damn miserable during the whole concert, in fact they both sat (DUE TO AGE I AM SURE) for most of the concert, only getting up when the piss heads next to them went to get more beer (ABOUT EVERY 10 MINS)

AWJ
[Edited 8/18/07 2:29am]

AWJ said:

see it's ok for you to talk about higher ticket prices etc etc for real fans....but i couldnt afford that. im a student and travelled down from liverpool for 2 of the gigs. add food/drinks/accomodation and yeah....expensive.

the thing that got to me most was everyone walking out during maceo's solo last night, i mean come on! One of the world's greatest sax players and youre going to get drinks!!!

the thing that got to me most was everyone walking out during maceo's solo last night, i mean come on! One of the world's greatest sax players and youre going to get drinks!!![/quote]

Heresy! I can't believe this could be possible... I'm going to the 31st and I hope there won't be too much of that kind of people around me, but that seems difficult to escape...

[Edited 8/18/07 3:28am]

DreZone said:

You're not wrong mate.

In terms of atmosphere, people really getting into a show etc, the O2 is the worst I've ever been to. Prince is doing great, doing his thing, but so much of the crowd is made up of casual concert-goers rather than Prince fans, they are all constantly walking out for beer or whatever every few minutes.

Ah well, that's the way it goes for the big arena shows really.

maxinparis said:

Heresy! I can't believe this could be possible... I'm going to the 31st and I hope there won't be too much of that kind of people around me, but that seems difficult to escape...

[Edited 8/18/07 3:28am]
[/quote]
The rules should be the same as at the theatre or Opera; If you leave the auditorium during a performance, you cannot return to your seat until a suitable break in the proceedings, i.e the interval. I'm sure that would keep a lot more people in their place. They would make sure that they use the loo & get drinks before hand. I would never leave midway through a performance because you can bet your bottom dollar that you'll miss the best part of the show & you just loose the vibe of the concert entirely. It's also disrespectful to those around you as well as the performers. But I guess that's the 'remote control' culture we live in; we have to be entertained to the max all the time or else we switch over rather than going with the ebb & flow.

maxinparis said:

Watching them walk away while Maceo was playing made me burst a blood vessel, He is a legend how dare they No respect Just no respect for a class act these days. The other thing that got me was people theiving seats and arguments starting when the people come back 2 sit down was not nice 2 witness...

ian said:

With arena shows, I find people tend to go to say that they've been and view the performance as background to them talking self-obsessed bollocks to each other, rather than the experience of seeing and taking in the show.

I love a drink as much as the next person, but the beer thing in the O2 is ridiculous.

Mong said:

But when you are playing 21 nights at an arena that big, you need those people.

I must admit, I see Keane at the O2 in July and I was really worried how teh atmosphere would be, but it was excellent, so it can be good and certainly better than Wembley Arena.

As for people leaving for a toilet break, at the gig I was at on the 7th, I was amazed at how many people left at different points in the show, and I am talking about the lower tier.
[Edited 8/20/07 1:07am]

I have now been several times across the last three weeks. The enthusiasm of the audience has varied and it *feels* like Prince performs to the level he is getting back from the crowd.

For me the best crowd (or the nights I have been) was Tuesday 14th - they were mental!

jaypotton said:

[quote:68bc54c369]I have now been several times across the last three weeks. The enthusiasm of the audience has varied and it *feels* like Prince performs to the level he is getting back from the crowd.

For me the best crowd (or the nights I have been) was Tuesday 14th - they were mental![/quote:68bc54c369]

I agree that he defo feels the vibe and performs to that. To be honest if people started booing at my choice of songs, I would have an "F U" attitude and just get to the end of the gig!


I've sat next to a mixed bag of folks. Some people who sat through the whole thing with barely a clap to people with home-made t-shirts and wild and crazy dancing. With such a big crowd you are going to not be sat next to hard core fans each time. I really like the fact that people who wouldn't normally come to Prince gigs are there. I met a really funny guy on Friday who had never seen him before and said, although he didn't like the songs that much and thought he was a bit of a freak, had to admit that he was the best performer he had ever seen

I've missed one night so far and have been really pleased by the mixture of songs. While this might be disappointing for some people, I am happy not to hear the same set list every night and have it mixed up a bit.

With regards to people going to the loo etc between the show, whilst I don't like to miss a thing, if you gotta go, you gotta go, know what I mean? It's prolly a mixture of people who don't know what they are about to miss and people genuinely needing a break. I did this on Saturday and felt like I was on a walk of shame and would get something thrown at me while I was walking through the floor after reading stuff here!
[b:68bc54c369][Edited 8/20/07 4:18am][/b:68bc54c369]
[Edited 8/20/07 4:19am]

Atmosphere on 10th was electric!!!!

I really like the fact that people who wouldn't normally come to Prince gigs are there. I met a really funny guy on Friday who had never seen him before and said, although he didn't like the songs that much and thought he was a bit of a freak, had to admit that he was the best performer he had ever seen


With regards to people going to the loo etc between the show, whilst I don't like to miss a thing, if you gotta go, you gotta go, know what I mean? It's prolly a mixture of people who don't know what they are about to miss and people genuinely needing a break. I did this on Saturday and felt like I was on a walk of shame and would get something thrown at me while I was walking through the floor after reading stuff here!
[b:68bc54c369][Edited 8/20/07 4:18am][/b:68bc54c369]
[Edited 8/20/07 4:19am]
[/quote]


I agree with you, I think it's cool that some people who don't know very well Prince can see him on stage, just because he's one of the best performers. I'm a huge fan, but if I go to a concert of someone I don't know so much, I won't talk during the show or going to have a beer, because you must respect both the artist and the persons who went to see someone they really like.

As for persons going to the loo (such as you ), I must admit that sometimes, you cannot do it otherwise. But when I go to the gig, I will do everything I can to avoid that need during the show!

darthelvis said:

yeah gotta agree with u, like i said half of the top tier was standing!!!
and dancing the whole show!