Hey y'all.

Haven't read any posts about the support act for tuesday's gig. I was sat in block 113 and have to admit was having a real tough time hearing what they were rapping. I know at one point sound problems were acknowledged but I don't recall the support even introducing themselves - they just kinda came onstage and did their thing.

I will be honest in saying that I didn't enjoy what I heard but considering they couldn't sort the sound out properly, I can't be too judgmental. I used to do mobile discos and club work a few years back and remember waging a war with another fellow DJ who used to turn the bass up too high and the treble down too low on the mixing desks - it sounded very similar last night with the support act.

Would be interested to know whether anyone else had problems hearing the support act or just about anything to do with them in general.

danpartyman86 said:

A group called M.I.A i heard them unfortunalty the music was good just the shouting wasnt in my opinion it was the same song over and over but different music

The support was horrible imo. I don't think improved sound would have helped me and the missus enjoy it any more. We took the opportunity to have a piss.

yeah we decided to pop for the loo during this too then we got back just in time for the video footage

Hey thanks for responding!

I have to admit as I'm only in my 20s myself, I couldn't see the appeal whatsoever. I sat through most of it and then went out to get some food. I just remember after the first track finished hearing absolute silence around me - nobody in my block applauded or booed or anything. I think we were just speechless.

I felt a bit sorry for them having to resort to asking all the Prince fans to holler and stuff lol.

Never mind - it was well worth the wait.

danpartyman86 said:

Imagine how it seemed for those of us rapidly approaching the 40's .

Like you say, there was no reaction after the first song. I looked to the people next to me, expecting to see an indication that I'd missed something. Then I looked further and it was blank looks all round.

In the aftershow queue I was speaking to quite a few people and nobody was impressed. We were just all praying that they didn't show up for the aftershow.

TheEnglishGent said:

Awww - I can kind of sympathise as I decided to take my dear Mum as my +1
Unfortunately none of my friends appreciate the genius of Prince and routinely make snide remarks so I refused to take them. My mother on the other hand likes him on the quiet.Mum's in her early 40s and we have very similar tastes in music, the difference being she bought the singles the first time around ;-p

Anyway after MIA's first song, we both looked at each other and had the exact same flummoxed expression on our faces. I think one person behind me clapped his hands for about 2 seconds before realising he was the only one.

I'd hardly consider myself 'hip and trendy' as far as my musical tastes go but I do keep an eye on what's out at the moment but I can't say I could see MIA making it.

M.I.A!! i thought she was good!!! altho it was hard to hear the words cause the bass was soo damn loud lool.. but yeah i thought she was good. and prince must like her if shes his support act

kitkatb said:

I'm glad someone else agreed with me that the bass was too loud - I can't believe whoever was at the mixing desk didn't realise that was the problem! I reckon whoever they had was not used to arena venues with very high ceilings.

Ah well.

danpartyman86 said:

lol at one point i thought my ears were going numb saying that tho prince's bass was loud too but atleast i could hear his singing through it lol

http://www.myspace.com/mia

she's been a darling of the music blog scene for a couple of years now, you should probably give her a try on record, because she is really rather good in that medium.(haven't seen her live)

honestly.. the kids LOVE it- i don't think she's going to just vanish. She's on her second album as of last week.

glyn said:

The trouble is the kids seem to LOVE a lot of banal stuff these days.
However as the sound was atrocious I said I couldn't be too harsh.

She certainly seems to be playing a lot of live events.

I always remember that Jentina being really popular a few years ago - she recorded that Cathy Dennis penned hit, had quite a big following and then completely disappeared again.

I'm 15 and i thought they were terrible.

I'm 46 & thought that they COULD have been good had the sound been better.

Rappers rarely sound good live, especially in big venues. They have to shout into the mics whereas they're doing nothing of the sort on their records.

Didn't get it myself!! awful in my opinion but they did have shite sound which didn't help matters!!

i thought they were terrible,what was p thinking??people around me were gobsmacked,and i heard a lot of people booing,they walked past me when they left the stage and the woman who wore the hat looked really pissed off!think she knew she was shit!

mia is pretty bad live admittedly but her records are wonderful. she's also probably the most "acquired taste" artist ive ever come across; even now, when ive been listening to her for several years, whenever i hear a new track i always think it's unlistenable the first time i hear it but my about the fifth time it reveals its charm and genius.

but please, your talk of "the kids" and "she won't make it"; you don't know what you're talking about. she's not a goddamn teeniebop artist getting heavy trl airplay; she makes very uncompromising, experimental and fairly inaccessible music that appeals mostly to twenty-something hipsters rather than "kids". she is not trying to be, and does not want to be, madonna, or even amy winehouse. and she already has "made it" for god's sake; both of her albums have received massive critical acclaim and have sold well.

are we really talking about the same person here? the band on tues comprimised of 2 women i guy and a dj,sorry i'm not being nasty i'm genuinely not connecting your comments of an accomplished singer to the band i saw.they were shouting into their mics and running around the stage like headless chickens.

Ellie said:

It's not a problem with rappers from my point of view. Common was fine and I certainly didn't feel any desire to leave during his set.

cammille said:

if it was indeed m.i.a, m.i.a. is not a band. m.i.a. is the name of a rapper, who uses a dj and a hypeperson as most rappers do. m.i.a. would have been the lanky tamil girl with the blonde-highlighted short hair. the other girl was her hypegirl (i presume)

and yeah, as i said, her live show is not very good. it has its charm in a small club, but i would not be surprised at all if it completely died on its arse in a venue like the 02. and like i said, her music is pretty uncompromising, abrasive and fairly strange. i definitely wouldnt ever advise seeing her live before hearing her records (the live show is ropey enough even when you know the songs)

so was she the tiny girl or was she the one in the hat?

I had some anally retentive guardian readers behind me who though MIA were " rather interesting and feisty" lol - I turned around and said yeah or they could just be cr*p!

clarityman said:

I would have loved to have seen the expression on their faces! Nice one.

Well I have to plead ignorance as I had not come across M.I.A. prior to the show on Tuesday and as the sound was bad, as earlier stated should perhaps give her another chance.

HOWEVER, an obvious lack of planning was evidenced by the appalling sound problems. I seriously don't think enough time was spent doing a sound check because they would have noticed the problem immediately when rehearsing. Any half decent sound guy knows that when it comes to large venues with high ceilings, you need to take extra time to get the sound in order.

I was at the show on the 28th and thought the support act was awful. Could not make out what they were rapping about so ended up walking out and did not return until just before Prince came on.

danpartyman86 said:

Don't blame you ace! Had it not been for the fact my legs were really tired and I just wanted to sit down, I would have too. In the end I went out and bought some chips.

ace1967 said: