I’m thinking of flying over to see JM at the Barbican in April. I’ve never been there before – can anyone recommend which seating area I should book (stalls, circle, balcony)?
Here’s the fellow on his farewell USA tour in late 2017. After a load of burbling, the sublime ‘Lila’s Dance’ begins at 5:30:
If it hasn’t changed too much in the last decade (we used to do the Shakespeare season before it all moved to Stratford) Stalls bang in the middle, rows C back to L or so. Saw Ry Cooder & David Lindley from Row C – great view, great acoustics
Thanks, Lodey 🙂
The stalls block immediately in front of the stage is flat. Behind that it is sloping. My preference is a few rows back on the sloped section in the middle. Having said that there isn’t a bad seat in the stalls. Great venue.
Thanks Alias – I’ll take your advice. Waiting for a friend to confirm their availability before booking…
I’ve just had a look to see what ticket prices are like and I can tell you now the stalls are almost completely sold, the central front rows of the circle are gone, some remain at the extreme left and right and but the balcony. Row F is the furthest forward in the centre. The balcony still has a reasonable number of seats, but it only has four rows.
Don’t prevaricate or you’ll be resorting to touts for tickets.
Fair enough, Carl. Balcony tickets booked.
The Barbican had a curfew at 11 so I guess the gig will be starting mid afternoon?
Yes, 2pm on the day before…
Tee hee.
I don’t think despite all your posts, I’ve ever heard a single note of JM or the Vish. Do you think I should investigate bearing in mind my soft spot for the first Cactus World News album or the Starjets??
I think I can fairly safely take a punt, Fred, that’s it’s probably not for you… 😀
I promise I’ll give them a go next time I’ve got some proper time off. I’ve only got the one week off next half term so might wait till Easter when I’ve got a fortnight…should be able to get through at least two albums then.
Two? But you said you only had a fortnight…
We can keep this going for a long time Colin..,, a bit like “That’s quite enough.” Ed.
This is where we need Paul Warings magnificent exploration of the MU’s recorded output, so the rest of us didn’t have to, on the old blog
He found it rather Waring, I think…
The only time I’ve been to the Barbican was to see Herbie Hancock perform Headhunters. We had front-row middle seats. It was effing great. That doesn’t really help, does it?
No.
I saw Nick Lowe, Ron Sexsmith and also Bill Frizell from the balcony and they were all great – view, sound etc. It’ll be fab.
Let’s hope so, Twangmeister. Luckily, Carol From Luton has got back to me. The plan is coming together.
The Barbican Hall is great, sound-wise but the Barbican itself is a bit of a monstrosity architecturally.
Maybe you already know this, but it’s best to approach the Barbican Hall from Moorgate tube/rail station, exiting on the Moorfields side. A stroll through the enclosed shopping centre/restaurant area past the Rack & Tenter pub and bearing right at the fork in the walkway, will bring you out on Moor Lane and then Silk Street is just a little to your right. Down there, just past the Guildhall School of Music is the entrance for the Barbican venue. A couple of minutes.
Barbican tube station is on the opposite side of the Barbican and entails a long, boring (and possibly cold/windswept) walk through the Barbican Centre’s concrete jungle.
No, I had no idea about the geography around the Barbican…
I would suggest leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to help find your way out after the concert is over.
Agreed. Finding your way back out into Silk Street is seemingly a test that you must pass afterwards.
Mike, you can avoid walking through the estate by walking through the tunnel, where the car park entrance is located, which takes you from one side to the other, leaving a road to cross for the entrance to Barbican Station.
Sorry Colin, it’s hard enough to find your way around without trying to outline this route.
You can always wear a white boiler suit and a bowler hat, and pretend you’re in A Clockwork Orange.
The Barbican gardens are lovely.
I’ll probably meet Carol From Luton somewhere else beforehand and hope she’s better acquainted with all this stuff. When I’m somewhere I don’t know I go for the most pain-free way of getting places – even if that means a boring traipse over concrete instead of a scenic but complicated short-cut.
I saw Jarrett K at the Barbican and kept falling asleep due an overly hot and atuffy room.
Not much visual spectacle to keep you awake at a Keith Jarrett concert.
Not unless someone pulls a camera out
Quite, and takes a lot of concentration but still damn stuffy.
I find v. cold places overheat inside and v. hot places over cool inside.
My friend Colin who sadly died a while back was a very junior member of the architect firm which designed The Barbican Centre. The work lasted well into the seventies/eighties and by that time he had become a partner. He loved The Barbican with a passion and was immensely proud of, and I here I paraphrase from a faulty memory, its “juxtaposition of concrete and nature”. One of the many perks of his job was being able to purchase one of the high-rise flats for peanuts. This he later sold for squidly million and with the proceeds bought himself a château in France.
Back in the day when going to the theatre/ concert hall I would always arrive early and wander up and down those windswept but, to my mind at least, starkly beautiful concourses. Haven’t been back for ages – I do hope it continues to age gracefully.
I seem to recall that when it was built, a certain proportion of the flats were set aside for LCC social housing. All long-since bought from the council and sold on for tidy sums.
Actually, I remember my cousin Jenny, a now-retired geology lecturer, waxing enthusiastic about the varieties of stone used in the ornamental ponds there. My few treks across The Barbican’s concrete tundra have always been at night in bad weather, alas.
I went inside one of the social housing flats in around 1982. It was lovely, bright and airy with lots of glass where possible.
Farewell tour? There is a god……………enjoy the gig,Colin.Hope you are well my friend?