Paul Simon, James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt were announced today as closing this year’s British Summertime run of gigs in London’s Hyde Park. I have seen Bonnie and James (and his wonderful All Star Band, including Jimmy Johnson, Michael Landau and Steve Gadd) many times. I have spent time with Bonnie’s fantastic guitar player, George Marinelli, and been invited backstage by him. Trust me, these people are amongst my favourite musicians on the planet. And they give great show.
So, why does the thought of this gig fill me with dread?
No, it’s not Paul Simon’s name sitting atop the bill. I’ve never seen him live and only own a double Greatest Hits collection, but I have nothing against him, and even feel that, given the chance, and the fact that he is playing just an hour from my house, I should go see him, before it’s too late.
No, that’s not it.
It’s Hyde Park.
It’s standing.
All fucking day.
In the (possible) sun.
It’s paying a week’s holiday’s worth of cash for a ticket on The Terrace, better toilets, a decent view and shade.
It’s the 10.30pm finishing time, on a Sunday, when I’ll be lucky to be home before 1am.
It’s because I have to be up at 5am next morning, to drive 90 miles to work, in Northampton.
It’s standing.
All fucking day.
Christ, sometimes, I hate feeling old.
Call in sick on Monday morning.
I know exactly how you feel. At least in the oldness and dreading standing all day etc.
I reckon I’d have at go at this one. As BBD says, can you call in sick Monday morning?
Can’t George wangle you a decent ticket? Otherwise it’s worth forking out for. For a start Paul Simon’s band is, assuming it’s anything like the one I saw a couple of years ago, pretty fucking good.
I recently debated whether to go and see Paul McCartney, and when I finally decided yes, the only seats left were the $400 ones. So I coughed up, and saw a great show and I was really pleased I went. My thinking was I’ll probably never have this opportunity again, and he is a fucking Beatle after all.
(The only problem was, although I was 20 rows from the front, as soon as “A Hard Day’s Night” kicked off the show everyone got up – and stayed up. The only relief was the acoustic set which lasted about 5 minutes then it was up on yer feet and dancing and singalong time. And a long train ride home. Slept well though…
That would annoy me, the spurious idea that someone is somehow a bigger “fan” because they stand up in seated areas.
A significant reason why I rarely (maybe once a season) visit an all seated stadium.
Premier League football fans are the worst.
If you don’t want to stand, go and watch Brentford.
“….someone is somehow a bigger “fan” because they stand up in seated areas…”
Sorry, don’t understand this…
Barnstoneworth!
Barnstoneworth!
As long as the sound and the music are good, then unless there’s something startlingly amazing occurring on the stage, or a particularly good lightshow, you don’t really need to be watching the band at all times. Just enough to reinforce the feeling of Being There works great for me.
The OP makes a very good case for the self-driving car..
Don’t drink too much. Get last train to Northampton, one at 23.30 will get you in at 1. Stay in hotel there, sorted.
I say pull a sickie.
I agree. I wouldn’t go. I hate big gigs in open fields at best. Central London just makes it worse. Only Kew The Music gets a pass and the line up this year is shocking.
I have the a similar dilemma for Victoria Park, being old and all that, except I have to get to the fucker from Lichfield 2 days running, and get home again. But Nick Cave on saturday, with numerous others, and the National on sunday. Cheapo hotel beckons and booked a/l for monday. Sorted.
Anyone up for a mingle on the friday?
https://www.allpointseastfestival.com/presents/nick-cave
https://www.allpointseastfestival.com/presents/the-national
(Whoops, National on saturday, Cave on Sunday)
I am sorely tempted by a line up of The National, War On Drugs and Future Islands. But I still don’t want to sit in a field surrounded by a large number of people who I’d rather be further away from (possibly in the rain) so I’m not going.
I’m very tempted by both those. I’ve never seen The National, and there are some really good acts on the undercard that day as well. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds live are just tremendous, one of the very best. But seventy quid a ticket without factoring in getting there and eating and drinking, not to mention the general faff of getting to and from East London means probably not, especially when I’m about to drop the best part of four hundred quid on Beautiful Days tickets for the family. Let’s hope those premium bonds come up.
Last year my wife want to go to a gig in Hyde Park that was one of the British Summertime gigs. I really couldn’t muster any enthusiasm at all for pretty much the same reasons that you had (and I would’ve been travelling from Dublin!) I think Hyde Park as a venue is dire, and I figured I would just see the act the next time they toured.
And that’s how I never got to see Tom Petty.
My condolences. I didn’t go and see him last year when he was playing 20 mins away because it was raining. However I had seen them before, and they kind of phoned it in on that occasion.
I am pissed off. This is possibly Paul Simons last tour. Paul Simon is God in my house. However the week before I am at Hyde Park for Roger Waters – I cannot afford to go to this one as well and given the choice I would have gone for Paul Simon over Roger Waters but its too late now.
@niallb Hyde Park really is okay and to be honest you don’t need the expensive tickets. We have been each of last 5 years and it has been absolutely fine and seeing Tom Petty last ywear was a highlight I am glad I never missed.
@retropath2 am at Victoria Park for the Nick Cave gig – if you want to catch a lift give me a shout.
I’ll have to see you in the crowd, @steveT, I have now laterooms.commed up for 3 nights in a cheap hotel, no doubt spelt with a v in the middle. I spotted the extra acts added to the saturday bill (National day) and stumped up a ticket for each stat.
I’m sort of in the same boat. As I’ve got older the ratio of outstanding gigs to “meh” has tipped too far to the later, and when you throw in all the other factors you’ve listed above, it’s rare that anything much stirs me to try and get tickets. A case of receding FOMO I reckon.
Case in point – Paul Rodgers came to Oxford last year touring Free songs. Not a bad night out on the face of it. But it was a school night and a half decent ticket was over £100 before I’d figured out where I’d find somewhere to park etc. I like Rogers but not £100+ (even though Percy and Brian Johnson came out for the encore).
However my life long devotion to Blue Oyster Cult was rewarded by going to see them play “Agents of Fortune” in full in Islington – a fantastic gig, great venue, sensible ticket prices and worth the train fares and an overnight hotel stay. Quite different from the festival gigs they’ve recently played in London and Maidstone where they were mid way up the bill, and in much larger venues with ticket prices to match. Didn’t bother.
On the flip side I’m still not over my sense of injustice and regret that I was away on business when Blue Coupe (some ex BOC and Alice Cooper) came and played the local arts center that’s just 2 miles down the road. According to @Malc it was OK but not stellar, but IT WAS (former) BOC PLAYING JUST DOWN THE ROAD!!
Saw Paul Simon at Hyde Park with LBM and Jimmy Cliff do Graceland and a wonderful set in company of friends ie the one that’s out on CD n Blu Ray
Saw Paul and Artie in in Hyde Park supported by Everlys – awesomeness
Saw him shortly before Cornbury disappointment at Wembley Arena and was wonderful
Last saw him with StevenC in Dublin at an excellent set for an enthusiastic Irish audience.
I think I’m gonna. quit while I’m ahead.
The noise abatement in Hyde Park has seriously damaged events there. Victoria Park has less snooty council and neighbours. Looking forward to the Cave gig in the summer
Saw Paul Simon at Hyde Park with LBM and Jimmy Cliff do Graceland and a wonderful set in company of friends ie the one that’s out on CD n Blu Ray
Saw Paul and Artie in in Hyde Park supported by Everlys – awesomeness
As him shortly before Cornbury disappointment at Wembley Arena and was wonderful
Last saw him with StevenC in Dublin at an excellent set for an enthusiastic Irish audience.
I think I’m go n.a. quit while I’m ahead.
The noise abatement in Hyde Park has seriously damaged events there. Victoria Park has less snooty council and neighbours. Looking forward to the Cave gig in the summer
Don’t pass up the chance to see these people thou. Having the phrase ‘ yeah I could have gone to see….’ linked to someone you love is not nice. You won’t be saying ‘but at least I turned up on time for Monday morning and got a start on that paperwork’
I love that you’re doing your own backing vocals on your posts now.
Dave’s his own support act these days.
I hate concerts, me. Always have done. I used to go to them cos it was the thing to do and I bought into the idea that there was some value in being able to say “I saw The Smiths before their first album was released” and “I saw Bowie three times” etc. etc.. Now that I’ve no interest in impressing anyone, plus I can check out most acts’ live shows on youtube, I wouldn’t dream of going to a concert unless I were assured maximum comfort (eg. I still go to classical concerts, cos my local venue is stunningly beautiful).
I kinda feel the same way about travel. Why bother going to the Grand Canyon? Just look it up on youtube, save your dosh and stay within easy access of your own fridge and bed (make sure you live somewhere really nice).
Concerts? Pah!
Word.
I think gigs have more appeal when you’re young and probably live in a squalid flat/bedsit that you get out of at every available opportunity.
The best bit of every night out is… getting home at the end of it.
Not a word you say is untrue.
@gary most clips of live acts on youtube are terrible. Even pre-internet, rough live recordings have always sounded terrible and you wondered why people bother going.
I suppose you live for the really good shows, the ones where there is real excitement in the crowd – a “buzz”, if you will. This is rare – but wonderful when it happens. It’s not just the music, but the whole thing. Genuinely, the last time I felt that electricity in the crowd was when I took my kids to see Aussie song-and-dance act Hi-5 about 10 years ago. With that level of anticipation in a crowd, you can get swept away.
I do completely disagree on not needing to actually see the Grand Canyon because it’s available to see on screen. I have never been there – but I very much want to. The only equivalent I can bring to the table is Niagara Falls. It’s quite an experience to go there and see it with your own eyes.
And ears. When Mahler visited the Falls, he yelled “At last…. FORTISSIMO!”
Dude would have loved Sun O)))
Look up the Grand Canyon on youtube? Certainly cheaper I will give you that. And about 0.0001% of the experience of going there.
I travelled a fair bit in my youth (Costa Blanca, Tenerife, Palma de Mallorca, etc) and have seen a fair few big name concerts in my time too (George Melly, Secret Affair, Barbara Dickson) and none of it, NONE, was as good as staying at home and watching telly.
George Melly, Secret Affair, Barbara Dickson… again, stone me! What a bill!
Postscript: You can’t go to you on YouTube. Ironically.
You most certainly can. I do.
Dude, you need to turn your laptop on. That’s just a reflection.
That’s why Black Mirror is called Black Mirror.*
*True story.
Bigger gigs have lost their fun. The scalpers at every level (ticket, car park, venue refreshments), standing up or berks standing up despite many of us not having the knees for it any more, tits talking all the way through on their phones or watching it through same, getting home … I’m now aiming for local smaller / theatre gigs. A city centre NCP is a freaking bargain compared to the enormodome extortionists. I think the rot set in with gigs being seen as part of the leisure industry and taken over by the outsourcing multinationals.
I agree 90% with the comments above, gigs are hard work. Parking, Prices and People are the main problem. Standing doesn’t bother me, I’m on my feet all day at work.
Saying that we are going to see Public Service Broadcasting at Brighton Dome in April, but you’ve got to go to some haven’t you?
The Dome in Brighton is a good example of a tolerable venue; I’ve seen dozens of gigs there having been a teen in Brighton during the 70s and early 80s. We had front row of the balcony tix for King Crimson a couple of years back which was perfect for me. No interpretative dancing from the TRUE FANS, perfect sightlines for the non-show (one slow lighting change in a 2 hour gig), could walk to the gig from my pals house in the Seven Dials, and loads of pubs and restaurants all around.
I’m a lot of fun, really.
Thanks for all the advice. I’ve had to take my big illness, my wife’s skin cancer history, and my dodgy back into account.
We’ve decided to give it a swerve. Shame but, as my wife said, “it could be a boiling hot day, which I can’t do with my melanoma history, or it could piss down.” Our best friends are big JT fans but even bigger Paul Simon fans. They texted me to ask if I could make it 4 tickets instead of 2 (we generally buy their gig tickets – they don’t do t’internet.) When I pointed out it would be 12 hours on their 70 year old feet, they declined, reluctantly.
I’m holding out for more dates for JT & Bonnie. They both have 10 day gaps before 15th July (they’re touring the States together) and 2 week gaps afterwards. In fact Bonnie’s next gig after HP is 1st August, in Norway. So, fingers crossed.
Hi Niall, Paul Simon has announced two more (indoor) shows as part of this Farewell Tour – Manchester Arena on July 10 and Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena on July 11. Don’t know whether the indoors aspect would affect your decision-making.
Going to the Stockholm Music & Arts festival for the last few years (except last year, when they took a time-out…booo!) I’ve become a pro at surviving three long days standing on cobblestones, which is what their festival area is mostly covered with. First of all I bring a small but very thick seat cushion with me, and between the gigs on the (single) stage I get it out of my bag, throw it down on the ground and sit down extremely comfortably. Should it rain, I put it in a plastic bag before putting it on the ground.
A book is essential for those half hour breaks in between gigs, there’s only so much entertainment to be had watching roadies plugging stuff in and saying “one-two”.
Good shoes, not cute shoes; that’s the golden rule.
Plus the usual essentials; rain poncho, light but warm wool cardigan for the late night or rain storm cold spells, a shawl for my head and shoulders when the mid-day sun is blazing, an empty bottle to fill with water from the taps, my camera.
I find a spot close to the stage, but not “front row”, and bar sitting down and getting back up again, and dancing to the music, I hardly move from that spot until it’s time to walk home after the final gig of each night. But that works because I’m a bit extreme, in the sense that I only need to eat before going to the festival area in the morning and when I come home every night, I’ve even stopped buying cinnamon churros at the festival stand. And I don’t go to the bathroom all day either – last thing I do before leaving home, not even the first thing I do when I come back home around midnight. So that’s one less problem for me to deal with at events like that! 🙂
I have been spoiled by having my own PA system and putting on gigs in lovely venues. I am now reluctant to spend money attending gigs in venues with dreadful acoustics and inadequate sound systems operated by deaf soundmen.
The best seat in the house is at the mixing desk. My mixing desk. With me sitting at it.
The downside is attending a gig involves several hours of rigging up gear, soundchecking, breaking down the rig afterwards, and the risk that I don’t sell enough tickets and have to pay the band out of my own pocket. Still, what’s money for if not for spending?
Comedian, Jack Dee used to a routine years ago about avoiding open-air rock concerts.
He said he’d save £50 by just sitting outside, listening to the live album on his Walkman, place a small photo of said band at the bottom of his garden to look at and then drink warm lager out of an old McDonalds milkshake beaker all afternoon
and go for a p*ss down the back of your sofa
Nah.
You piss in the bushes at the other end of the garden, then fall over and pass out lying in it.
“Don’t eat the brown dog biscuits”
I think the last Hyde Park gig I went to was the first Springsteen gig when Bon Jovi WAS going to come on but the plug got pulled – Dave Matthews and Gaslight Anthem were supporting. I got into a row with some wankers that were pissed and trying to make everyone else “have a good time cos it’s Broooooooooooce”. I politely asked them to go and move their disjointed form of dancing in front off someone else. Some discussion ensued – I won. I have not been since though I was tempted by the Stones except for the rip off prices and for Tom Petty last year (but that was mainly for The Lumineers which my wife wanted to see again). The prices are just way too high – you can’t sit down except by lying uncomfortably on the ground and I cannot stand for any length of time because of bad hips so basically that is that. Every gig I go to I get a seat if I can – if I can’t I don’t go. Having said all that I would be interested in seeing Paul Simon but I shall be on holiday anyway. I will remember the times that I saw him at the Palladium and at Wembley (the latter with Garfunkel).
Paul Simon made the following announcement today;
A message from Paul – February 5, 2018
I’ve often wondered what it would feel like to reach the point where I’d consider bringing my performing career to a natural end. Now I know: it feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating, and something of a relief.
I love making music, my voice is still strong, and my band is a tight, extraordinary group of gifted musicians. I think about music constantly. Sadly, we lost our lead guitarist and my friend of 30 years, Vincent N’guini, who died last December. His loss is not the only reason I’ve decided to stop touring, but it is a contributing factor. Mostly, though, I feel the travel and time away from my wife and family takes a toll that detracts from the joy of playing. I’d like to leave with a big Thank You to the many folks around the world who’ve come out to watch me play over the last 50 years.
After this coming tour, I anticipate doing the occasional performance in a (hopefully) acoustically pristine hall, and to donate those earnings to various philanthropic organizations, particularly those whose objective is to save the planet, ecologically.
Once again, I am very grateful for a fulfilling career and, of course, most of all to the audiences who heard something in my music that touched their hearts.
– Paul Simon
Maungy old bastart that I am, I teared up a bit reading that, imagining his voice saying it. God bless that man.