simong wrote:
We were front row, dead centre (well, just left of centre), bang smack in front of the boss, and there was a draught blowing throughout. Brrr!
I think that means that we were sat directly behind you...
Lovely venue - I especially liked the fact that the staff seemed almost overwhelmed by the (actually quite aged and well-behaved) audience. Our tickets weren't checked at any point, just wandered in and took our seats
And ice cream for sale!
I enjoyed the show much more than the last one I saw at the Bridgewater Hall - there the band looked a little lost on the stage, whereas last night felt much more intimate: you could hear the muted guitars being tuned and even smell the pre-encore fags when Richard came back onstage...
I think it was a measure of last night's gig that I ended up really enjoying a lot of the Lady's Bridge material that I really hadn't 'got' previously. Our Darkness was a particular highlight - when the white lights came on during the instrumental passage, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end. Or maybe the guy behind me just dropped his ice-cream down my back.
Speaking of the lights, I thought they were fantastic throughout. During the encore, when half the stage was in blue, Clive was under a spotlight and Richard was sat on the drum riser, I was praying someone would take a photo and capture it.
A great, great gig and one I feel very fortunate to have attended. It really did feel like you were watching the best band in the world having a bloody good time onstage.
The only one (minor) thing I will say is that I really miss Run For Me as the set closer - with that huge long droney intro. That was ace.
But that's a very minor consdieration after close to two hours of bliss... And I wouldn't be too bothered about a flat or muted crowd - it's hard to be a-whooping and a-hollerin when you're spellbound.