Crowd unrest at the o2 !

[John Brown]

The solution is quiet simple then - just don't go to any shows with Cliff in them - you should know better. They where doing at the 25th Anniversary concert and they'll be doing at his 60th

[tony parnham]

According to you then John, if you went to your local cinema, spent only £10 on your seat to see the new Telstar movie and some person in front stood up half the way through it so you could'nt see the end, you'd be happy would you? Everyone then came out of the movie and said "Terrific film and a fantastic end" " What do you think John">
Tony

[John Brown]

"According to you then John, if you went to your local cinema, spent only £10 on your seat to see the new Telstar movie and some person in front stood up half the way through it so you could'nt see the end, you'd be happy would you?"

As stated previously don't go to a rock and roll artists show such as Cliff if you don't want to see people dancing in the audience - nothing to do with cinemas or operas - just in case you bring that up next

[Terry B]

Experience of these large venues has led me to sacrifice the central position which gives optimal sound for a side seat close to the stage where I can at least SEE the stage and who's on it!

[tony parnham]

Hi John
There's a lot of people on this 3 page post that paid £60+ to see the artists not people dancing, you should take their New CD to your local night club and watch people dancing if that's what you think. You appear to be in the minority.
Tony

[John Brown]

I think the number of people who enjoying themselves dancing to the music far out numbers any posts on this forum could raise . and they also paid £60 plus

[Didier]

the standing up by the fans mainly in the front centre block caused some problems.

There was no such problem at the Paris Grand Rex for the Shadows' 2005 Final Tour, and I hope it will be the same fot the Cliff & Shads concert in the "Palais des Congrès" of Paris for the november 7th concert !
Fortunatly, there is no flat section :



Didier

[Peter K]

Dear all,

having a good time and enjoying myself is my main reason to attend the forthcoming Cliff and Shadows concert at Cologne.
But I sincerely hope that there won't be people dancing just in front of me as I don't go there to listen only, I want to see
all the musicians. Having a good time and enjoying yourself is ok but it's selfish as soon as you are blocking other peoples view and force them to stand up too, or you force them to leave the area where their seats are just to be able to see what's goin' on on stage.
Two years ago I attended a Steely Dan concert at Stuttgart and there were people talking rather loud all the time the band
was playing. I had to make those people aware of the fact that I was there to listen to the musicians and not to listen to them. The music was brilliant and the band featured the best drummer I have ever listened to, but those ignorants who
probably had free tickets ( and free drinks, too ) were having a good time just by chatting and drinking all the time.
I had to shout at them to make them leave and to go to the other side of the arena, only then I was able to really concentrate on the music.
What I want to say is, enjoying yourself is ok, but you have to consider that you are not alone in this world and that there are other people who also spent a lot of money to have a good time. The seats are designed and sold to sit there....

Best regards
Peter K

[RogerF]

This is actually quite a tricky issue - in my humble opinion.

The first time I experienced this problem was in Bournemouth in 1964 when I saw the Beatles. Fortunately for me I was "seated" in the front row of the circle so no problems there and although ludicrously excited I remained seated - I think?!! at least most of the time!
The last experience of the phenomena was last month when I saw "Rain" - the American Beatles tribute band- playing in Cologne. Even in the steeply staggered seats people were standing and at first I found this very annoying and I considered those standing to be selfish and inconsiderate. Gradually, however, it dawned on me that it wasn't really the audience who were inconsiderate but The Beatles for writing music that MAKES you get up and dance. Music - good music - is designed to "Move" us in every literal sense and our emotions respond to this stimulus.

BUT

I can fully understand the frustration and annoyance at having your view blocked by people standing although with the best will in the world I don't see how this can be avoided. That doesn't mean I condone this behaviour but I can at least understand why it happens. I was never a Cliff fan but when I saw him at the Palladium in 1968 I understood just why he was so popular. REAL, true artists simply radiate from the stage and grab the audience by the - whatever - a form of communication that is both emotional and moving. Cliff is one such artist and unfortunately he makes people want to get up and dance - unfortunate perhaps but a fact.

I don't know what the solution is but I'm afraid that the rest of this tour will "suffer" this problem and there ain't a lot can be done about it - not much has changed over those 50 years it would seem.

kind regards
Roger

[iefje]

This topic very much reminds me of a commercial on Dutch television which is broadcasted frequently at the moment: "Without realizing it, we become more and more anti-social".