How lucky was I to have been given a last minute ticket from a friend to attend the closing ceremony concert in Hyde Park. I went with a couple of friends but failed to find the others – so hard to locate people once they’ve found a place to stand near the stage. I thoroughly enjoyed it – even if by the end I had totally lost everybody and was entirely on my own…..
That said, I do have a couple of points to make:-
“This was park life at its brilliant best” said the Evening Standard….well, I’m not so sure. I agree that it should have been and I did really enjoy it BUT people paid a lot of money for their tickets to be part of a wonderful closing ceremony olympic atmosphere, so what a shame then that the sound was so shit that on occasion, all I could hear was a collective “TURN IT UP!!” from the crowd.
Seriously, if Hyde Park wants to continue to consider itself a serious venue for future festivals and gigs then they really need to sort the sound out. If it can’t be any louder because of the neighbourhood and their curfew has to stick to the point that they have to pull the plug on rock gods like Bruce Springsteen then frankly it shouldn’t claim to be a valid venue at all.
Although maybe I’m just really really old and deaf now.
So. Apart from the fact that I couldn’t really hear New Order very well and perhaps some of their songs were a little derge (sp?) like for the event and consequently didn’t exactly capture the Olympic spirit with songs like Love Will Tear Us Apart, it was great. The Specials were hugely fun and got everyone dancing on the spot and getting into the spirit….
9pm on came Blur who were fab. Rumoured to be their last gig, but I doubt that very much – Damian was looking young and fit (I thought, although perhaps I am getting a little blind as well) and apart from a dedication to his children you’d never have known how long they have now been in the business….although I remember them from EMI days – and the tea lady Eileen who got a fitting tribute last night in the form of Harry Enfield.
ANYWAY – just to prove that I’m not a grumpy old woman – here is my photo diary of the event and some of the fabulous Union Jack attire I found in the crowd:-
A sensible stocking up of supplies:-
The Bands:-
The Crowd:-
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3 Comments
did you ask that guy to show you his pants?!
Nope….Lx
I’ve been absent, don’t know why, just because. But now I’m back. Looks like a fabulous concert but how irritating the sound was bad! I’ve been (most unusually) glued to the TV throughout the Olympics – fabulous stuff xx