Post by snakelady on May 27, 2016 7:54:06 GMT
I suppose you expect me to write the usual lengthy gig-report, but actually - why should I ? Apart from Inna nobody else bothers with writing more than a few lines either, if any at all ..
So what can I say ? Parking was a disaster pure and simple when you merely arrived in the afternoon for the gig and didn't feel inclined to explore all the wonders of Hessen from early in the morning on. We were made to pay 7€ for a spot on a slope on a freshly mowed meadow about 1/2h walk from the entrance of the exhibition area and no shuttle buses either. The venue was at the opposite end though, so add another 1/2h and all that after having been stuck for yet another 1/2h in traffic chaos before even reaching that meadow. Compared to that the autobahn had been relatively empty and flying low it had taken us less time all in all to get there ..
In consequence we barely had the time to grab something to eat - which was expensive and opinions about quality very much varied. When we finally reached the tent shortly after 7pm they were already letting people in, but 100s still queued and so did we. As usual they took all our (plastic) bottles from us, even my very small one, which is absolutely ridiculous. I've never ever seen a single bottle or anything else being thrown at a Quo gig - or any other gig.
No support act was mentioned on the ticket so nobody expected one. The stage though looked suspiciously like there was going to be one and indeed at 7.45pm some guys walked onto that stage and the first thing I noticed was one huge - accordion (!). To describe what was to follow with the word horrible would be an understatement. It was absolutely bizarre and the most abysmal performance I ever had the misfortune to witness. They weren't even local, but from Bavaria and tried to 'entertain' us with audience participation err .. performances - I can't bring myself to use the word 'music' as that would definitely be too flattering. The 'multi-talented' accordion guy even performed a Schuhplattler (if you don't know what that is, find yourself a yt video, but be warned !). The audience was completely bewildered and basically tried to get rid of them as fast as possible. It didn't help though, we had to endure them for nearly 30min. It was the first time too I heard an audience boo, although it was one patient and polite crowd I've got to acknowledge. They (no idea what their name was and I don't want to know) received the most applause by far when they finally left the stage. Whatever the promoters had been thinking when booking this act ????
After a patient wait of 3/4h Quo hit the stage at 9pm. I won't mention the set list, as expected it was exactly the same as last winter apart from the omission of Paper Plane in the encore. The band were tight, played very well and every song was well received by an enthusiastic audience. You really couldn't fault the atmosphere. I know some fans don't like ITAN, but to leave it out would be a big mistake - nearly the whole audience sang along every word enthusiastically. Francis had them in the palm of his hand and throughout the gig everybody did what he wanted us to.
If it wasn't for the songs they performed I'd have no complaints .. I did notice that I very much preferred the rock songs over the pop songs. I.e. I think that Rain has been done to death and needs replacing asap, but after SBYBIL it came as a relief. You couldn't fault the renditions of the songs though - BFM, ROLD or DD were very good and heavy (including the solos).
The sound was surprisingly good too - which isn't always a given at Quo gigs - not too loud either. I don't have to leave a gig deaf anymore. I guess there had been dB restrictions in place and probably a deadline for the gig to end as all other performances elsewhere in the exhibition area ended at the same time. Francis didn't talk much and it would explain why PP was dropped - but why didn't they start at 8.45 like they used to ?
Leaving the site was another nightmare then. With my damaged foot (which I tend to ignore during the gig) I was barely able to walk and without hubby half carrying me I'd not have made it to the car. The shortest route back to the autobahn was one solid traffic jam, so we took a detour which at least was free. Once we reached it though we again went into low flying mode - 200+km/h where possible - and made it back home before 2am.
The newbie from Mannheim whom my youngest son had taken along loved it too.
My foot is still hurting like hell although exhaustion helped me to sleep, but as I'm still unable to walk this morning you got this despite not really deserving it ..
So what can I say ? Parking was a disaster pure and simple when you merely arrived in the afternoon for the gig and didn't feel inclined to explore all the wonders of Hessen from early in the morning on. We were made to pay 7€ for a spot on a slope on a freshly mowed meadow about 1/2h walk from the entrance of the exhibition area and no shuttle buses either. The venue was at the opposite end though, so add another 1/2h and all that after having been stuck for yet another 1/2h in traffic chaos before even reaching that meadow. Compared to that the autobahn had been relatively empty and flying low it had taken us less time all in all to get there ..
In consequence we barely had the time to grab something to eat - which was expensive and opinions about quality very much varied. When we finally reached the tent shortly after 7pm they were already letting people in, but 100s still queued and so did we. As usual they took all our (plastic) bottles from us, even my very small one, which is absolutely ridiculous. I've never ever seen a single bottle or anything else being thrown at a Quo gig - or any other gig.
No support act was mentioned on the ticket so nobody expected one. The stage though looked suspiciously like there was going to be one and indeed at 7.45pm some guys walked onto that stage and the first thing I noticed was one huge - accordion (!). To describe what was to follow with the word horrible would be an understatement. It was absolutely bizarre and the most abysmal performance I ever had the misfortune to witness. They weren't even local, but from Bavaria and tried to 'entertain' us with audience participation err .. performances - I can't bring myself to use the word 'music' as that would definitely be too flattering. The 'multi-talented' accordion guy even performed a Schuhplattler (if you don't know what that is, find yourself a yt video, but be warned !). The audience was completely bewildered and basically tried to get rid of them as fast as possible. It didn't help though, we had to endure them for nearly 30min. It was the first time too I heard an audience boo, although it was one patient and polite crowd I've got to acknowledge. They (no idea what their name was and I don't want to know) received the most applause by far when they finally left the stage. Whatever the promoters had been thinking when booking this act ????
After a patient wait of 3/4h Quo hit the stage at 9pm. I won't mention the set list, as expected it was exactly the same as last winter apart from the omission of Paper Plane in the encore. The band were tight, played very well and every song was well received by an enthusiastic audience. You really couldn't fault the atmosphere. I know some fans don't like ITAN, but to leave it out would be a big mistake - nearly the whole audience sang along every word enthusiastically. Francis had them in the palm of his hand and throughout the gig everybody did what he wanted us to.
If it wasn't for the songs they performed I'd have no complaints .. I did notice that I very much preferred the rock songs over the pop songs. I.e. I think that Rain has been done to death and needs replacing asap, but after SBYBIL it came as a relief. You couldn't fault the renditions of the songs though - BFM, ROLD or DD were very good and heavy (including the solos).
The sound was surprisingly good too - which isn't always a given at Quo gigs - not too loud either. I don't have to leave a gig deaf anymore. I guess there had been dB restrictions in place and probably a deadline for the gig to end as all other performances elsewhere in the exhibition area ended at the same time. Francis didn't talk much and it would explain why PP was dropped - but why didn't they start at 8.45 like they used to ?
Leaving the site was another nightmare then. With my damaged foot (which I tend to ignore during the gig) I was barely able to walk and without hubby half carrying me I'd not have made it to the car. The shortest route back to the autobahn was one solid traffic jam, so we took a detour which at least was free. Once we reached it though we again went into low flying mode - 200+km/h where possible - and made it back home before 2am.
The newbie from Mannheim whom my youngest son had taken along loved it too.
My foot is still hurting like hell although exhaustion helped me to sleep, but as I'm still unable to walk this morning you got this despite not really deserving it ..