Snap Unhappy

Do you like my photos from Take That? I’m very happy with how they came out. Sadly though the ones on this blog are pretty much the only ones I could take. You see despite front row seats and some excellent angles for snapping I was only allowed tosneak these few shots.

By law if a private property doesn’t want you taking photos they’re entitled to refuse permission. That’s understandable but when that private property is a 20,000 seater arena it’s a bit dumb.

I can understand they want to stop people taking professional photos/video of the bands performing without the bands express permission for a number of reasons. They want to protect the bands brand & image and they also want to prevent people making a profit from the band and their fans without permission.

However when it’s plainly obvious it’s just a fan taking a quick snap with a cheap digital camera – a snap to capture a happy memory for the future with no intention of selling that image on then what really is the problem?

When I went to see Take That the security on my block was on a mission to prevent all imaging. The minute he saw your viewfinder light up he steamed over and had a quiet word in your ear. What made it really annoying was that over in the next block dozens of people were snapping away and their security man was letting them.

If there’s a no photo policy in place it should be one rule for all. All over the O2 arena flashes were firing by the dozen a second but that didn’t matter. Nope our security had his orders and that was that.
If I’d had a huge telephoto lens then again it’d be perfectly understandable but no, I just had my mobile phone camera and my cheap Sony Cybershot camera.

Still when he was busy telling off others in the crowd I managed to get a few shots and I’m really happy with them, it’s just a shame I couldn’t have taken a few more

Sounding Off At The O2

So yesterday I made my third visit to the big smoke this year – and once again it was Destination Dome. I headed to the O2 to see Take That.

Visit 1, secret launch night - saw poor organisation but great gig.
Visit 2, Scissor Sisters - saw improved organisation but poor gig.

Visit 3… straightaway arriving at the O2 things were much better. The staff know what they’re doing now and guests movement flows much better. The restaurants weren’t as packed as previous visits – everyone who wanted to eat could. Also at the end of the night the stampede to the Underground was much smoother. It was still a crush but it didn’t feel like a dangerous crush.

As for the gig I can now say that after 3 visits to the O2 there’s definitely something not right. The O2’s website makes claims of the best quality sound no matter where you sit. Apparently the arena has been designed with acoustics in mind – if that’s the case then the designer was tone deaf.

I first noticed it when Tom Jones hit the stage at the first gig – everything was very bass heavy, almost muffled and although I love good bass it shouldn’t be at the expense of vocals. The simple fact is that every time I have been to the Dome the vocals seem to get drowned out by very heavy bass. Compare that to the MEN Arena where everything sounded perfectly crystal clear and balanced – the bass was still there but the vocals surfed it perfectly.

The Scissor Sisters was the worst – I was at the back of the O2 arena for this gig and you could hardly hear what they were saying.

After three visits it’s now at the point were this is frustrating and for future gigs The O2 will be at the bottom of my list of preferred destinations. (Thankfully I have tickets for Kylie at the MEN next year which is probably my favourite arena.)

The gig itself was superb, I’ve never been a member of the Take That fan club. Sure Back For Good’s a nice song but as a Teen I found them all quite smug and annoying. Shine though caught my attention, I love it – it’s a near perfect pop song. (Though my suspicions that it’s similarities to ELO’s excellent Mr Blue Sky are deliberate were confirmed at the gig by them mixing it into Mr Blue Sky.) Anyway the interaction with the crowd was brilliantly relaxed and chatty unlike Scissor Sisters who felt a tad patronising. I was also extremely impressed with the excellent ‘Never Forget’ set piece featuring some very, very clever video synchronisation.

So Take That I you’ll be pleased to know I’ll now be shamelessly buying your album.