Rage Against The Machine - Finsbury Park
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So I'm guessing no-one on here got tickets in the lottery?
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I got tix, too. No idea how the lotto worked (or was supposed to work). I just opened windows in three different browsers and let them refresh themselves. Went away to have a shower. When I got back, one of the windows was on the booking page.
Later, I heard people using VPNs got straight through, though I don't know why that would work. -
I'm going!! :o)
DOORS OPEN 2.00
GALLOWS 5.20
ROOTS MANUVA 6.30
GOGOL BORDELLO 7.35
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE 8.50
CURFEW 10.30 :o) -
Unpleasant atmosphere down there I thought.
Plain clothes and sniffer dogs everywhere.
Quiescent crowd. -
@Jeremy: I noticed the dogs too. Seemed to be the same ones all day, so I wonder precisely how effective they were. Judging from the smell of those smoking around me, the answer is not very.
The crowd seemed extremely good natured and I certainly didn't detect any bad vibes.
I really don't understand why the police felt they needed two helicopters. This is likely to piss off far more local as they can be heard for a huge area. In light of the enormous cost of keeping them up there, I really do wonder how the police can justify the money.
@andy: The oxford rd. gate was very much open when I left through it at about 10.30. Surprisingly little hassle getting out.
I suspect the crowd was way less trouble than the average Arsenal match. -
I went for a wander during Gogol Bordello's set, expecting to hear them from the Parkland Walk or Ferme Park Road as I had previous park concerts, but not a whisper. The wind was blowing in the wrong direction, which I think may have been part of it - perhaps it had changed direction since the day before (when I wasn't really around to notice).
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This was one of the saddest gigs I've ever attended. Gogol Bordello were ok. I'm a fan, but the venue didn't really suit their music. They're much more fun up close.
RATM were ok, too, I guess. We left halfway through their set. It was just too depressing to watch middle-aged, middle-class men trying to relive their awkward teenage years by chanting idiotic slogans while shoving anyone within arm's reach. It's fine when you're a spotty 14-year-old, but when you're 40, it's just sad.
I like a good mosh pit as much as the next gal, but the people last night had no clue what they were doing. Running around in a circle while randomly pushing and hitting people is not moshing, you idiots.
Half of the crowd were wearing t-shirts that they bought at the gig. That pretty much says it all.
I didn't really see the police doing anything. We did get approached by a man with a dog on the way in (unaesthetic always gets approached). The guys with the dogs weren't wearing proper uniforms. Why not? Who exactly are they?
At around 9.30pm, a bunch of people broke through the fence on the Manor House side. A little later, more people broke in through the main entrance. Security weren't doing much to stop them. By that point, a lot of people were leaving, anyway. -
That sounds like pretty much what I expected - the whole campaign which got them to Number One was fairly pathetic, and this was why I didn't want to attend the celebratory event.
Friends who live over South Tottenham and Stokey way tell me that the gig was very much audible over that side. -
god what a downer. i thought it was a great gig. i'm not even particularly a fan - i haven't really listened to them since i was 16 - but i thought the atmosphere was really nice. i made lots of new friends, and everyone just seemed really chuffed that it was actually happening, and that it was free. even going by the twitter stream, the main complaint people had was that the beer was "expensive" at £3.50 a pint - cheaper than most pubs on SGR.
there was a huge cheer when about 50 people came through the fence, but it was by no means overcrowded and the extras didn't seem to cause any trouble. the weather held out, the sound and screens were excellent, gogol bordello were much better than i had thought them to be (roots manuva was a bit flat though), and there was no trouble. a nice touch was them presenting the cheque to shelter on stage with the organisers of the facebook campaign.
yes it is a bit sad if you think about it, thousands of slightly past-it people shouting "fuck the system" when they actually all work for banks, but the music was good and i think finsbury park excelled itself as a venue.
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I'm with Sophie on this one. Rainbow_carnage, you sir, are a killjoy.
I don't understand what you mean by :
'Half of the crowd were wearing t-shirts that they bought at the gig. That pretty much says it all.'
Does this say that they were fans by any chance?!
Gogol Bordello were amazing. And Rage were brilliant- if you left before their cover of White Riot then shame on you!
There was definitely enough space for those who broke through the fence so it seems a bit rich to go to a RATM gig, turn your nose up the mosh pit and then shake your finger at people "fucking the system" so to speak by breaking into a spacious, free, outdoor event.
Sounds like you had no place there and deprived someone else of a ticket they would have really wanted.
Perhaps stick to the Old Dairy next time. -
I agree with Sophie, I thought it was an excellent gig. RATM were on top form and there was a great atmos in the crowd. However, I found those gloating screen presentations slightly cringe worthy.
Getting home took a while, considering I live about 3 mins away. It was rather strange to see thousands of people shuffling down Seven Sisters and SGR -
What?! I had no problem with the people breaking into the gig. I just mentioned that it happened. As I said, by that point, a bunch of people were leaving the park, so there was plenty of space for the newcomers.
And I like mosh pits. But these people had no clue about basic moshing etiquette. My guess is that they didn't get to go to many gigs when they were younger.
Do I really need to explain the t-shirt thing? OK, here goes:
It's generally frowned upon to buy a shirt at the gig and put it on straight away. You can often judge a crowd based on the proportion wearing shirts bought at the gig.
For example, when you go to a Carter USM gig, you'll see lots of 40-something guys wearing old 30-Something shirts. They're old skool fans, and they're proud of it. They wouldn't be caught dead buying a new shirt and putting it on straight away.
The best crowds are the ones where no one is wearing a shirt with the band that's playing. They wear shirts with other bands on them, or whatever else they want. They don't feel the need to show that they're fans by dressing from the merchandise stall.
The worst crowds are the ones who buy and put on the t-shirts straight away. They're least likely to follow simple etiquette and most likely to be annoying twats.
This is pretty basic stuff. Unless, of course, you were one of the people sporting a brand new RATM shirt... -
'The best crowds are the ones where no one is wearing a shirt with the band that's playing.'
Really? I completely disagree. Can't stand snobbish attitudes like this. Should we all just feign indifference and pretend not to be bothered?
Most the people i saw with new Rage t-shirts were pretty young, not 40 somethings. Can't really begrudge them for being toddlers when 'Killing In The Name Of' first came out. What's to say they won't be wearing the very same T-shirt in 10 years time? Also, wearing the t-shirt is one way of not losing it in the mosh pit!
The tickets were a bit of a lottery, it was a broad cross section of people which i think is good. I'm not a huge fan by any means, but i had a really good time. That's much more important than what people were wearing.
Incidentally neither me or Georgie own a brand new Rage Factor T-Shirt! -
I think I get it:
- If you're in the Hard Rock Cafe London, wearing a Hard Rock Cafe London t-shirt, that's not cool.
- If you're there but wearing a Hard Rock Cafe Manila t-shirt, that's cool.
- The coolest people of all will be in the Hard Rock Cafe London wearing a "Linekers Bar Marbella" t-shirt.
Everyone follow that?
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I tried getting over the fence on the Seven Sisters road side with the help of 4 burly chaps and was almost over but the cheers from the people watching me attracted the attention of a couple of the hi-viz security guys, who thought it would be fun to try to rip my dress off as they were pulling me back down. Thankfully the 4 big blokes came to my defence so my modesty was not lost.
It is, and always has been totally uncool to buy a shirt at a gig and wear it straight away. I had a Lineker's Bar shirt that someone brought me back from holiday as a kid.
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I expect that it was mainly teenagers wearing them anyway as adults tend not to express themselves by wearing band tshirts. If you are over 21 you just look a bit sad trying to advertise your musical tastes. It's a bit like playing your music out loud on your mobile phone. Besides which, said tshirts are rarely a flattering fit.
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"RATM were ok, too, I guess. We left halfway through their set. It was just too depressing to watch middle-aged, middle-class men trying to relive their awkward teenage years by chanting idiotic slogans while shoving anyone within arm's reach. It's fine when you're a spotty 14-year-old, but when you're 40, it's just sad."
Really rainbow_carnage? Were we seriously at the same gig?
I'm not much of a fan but I thought that was a pretty good performance. I am also under the impression that you were well aware of their "idiotic slogans" and age bracket before the gig so I'm kind of wondering why you bothered going in the first place? Just a little perplexed, that's all.
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The problem with the music played out loud on mobiles is that the Yoof always seem to be playing hip hop or R&B which only really works if you have big speakers and lots of bass. Stuff with a more middle-aged fanbase, like the Mountain Goats or early Depeche Mode, sounds absolutely fine because it had no low end in the first place.
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Apparently a lot of the yoof music - NDubz and suchlike, is now specifically engineered in the studio to make it sound hissy and tinny like it's being played out on a mobile. I would say what is the world coming to, but as one who dressed up in full Blitz kid stylee I imagine that I'm too old to understand.
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@Ali I'd suggest one reason that so much rubbish was left behind is that there were precious few receptacles into which to put it.
Having a deposit on paper cups helped a great deal though.
Having just walked through the park on my way home, all the litter is gone and they're now just removing the last bits fencing from the site. -
I think that r_c is too old to understand what the mosh is like nowadays - running in a circle before jumping into one another now constitutes acceptable mosh behaviour. It's called a Circle Pit. So that's where all the youngsters were, probably, whilst you stood at the back and complained.
It's actually pretty normal to go to a festival and put on the festival souvenir tshirt on the same day. Well it was when I used to go to the Reading Fest but admittedly that was coming on for 10 years ago now.
Anyway I had an excellent time, as did my 18 year old brother! It's easy to be sniffy about this kind of event, but really, it was just a really good time. -
Whew. Glad some people are familiar with the t-shirt rule. Thought maybe I had tumbled into some kind of parallel universe where being a dick is considered acceptable behaviour.
Emma, sorry to break the news to you, but while you were putting on your brand new Reading Fest souvenir t-shirt, other people were silently mocking you behind your back.
I'm not so old that I don't know what a circle pit is. Alas, it was not as you've described. We were in the middle of a several spontaneous circle pits. In addition to the people running into each other, there was a not-insignificant number who took the opportunity to punch their fellow moshers.
Running into each other = good
Hitting people = bad
Hoisting up those who've lost their footing = good
Trampling those who've fallen = bad
If you can't follow these very basic guidelines, maybe you should step back and let the grownups play.
Though, I'm sad to say, many of these 'youngsters' were my age and older. -
Lookie. Someone's taken the time to write out the rules.
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Funny, from your comments it sounds like being a dick IS acceptable behaviour to you, rainbow_carnage.
All this talk of rules, christ, are you a nazi?! -
A young George Michael appears to be moshing in r_c's blog link (second photo down)
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Deleted cos it's unfair, unkind, childish... and I'm too old for this nonsense.
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And whose brilliant idea was it to stage this concert at the end of the half term holiday? All that setting up of the stage, fences and other restrictions meant that yet another large chunk of the park was not available for familes or other park users from the previous (Bank holiday) Monday, throughout the h/t holiday, until well after the kids had gone back to school.
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