uk festivals-why no Alice say at Glastonbury?

[sparkinthedark]

............. Motorhead, ............. Would have been a shame to have missed out on them.

It would???


I've no idea what the prices are for Glasto now, but I do know it started to get damn silly a few years back and as Si said it's now more or less a lottery anyway.

Alice or no, I could not tolerate standing about a**e deep in mud, regardless of front row.

[Dragonlady]

As much as I hate standing for hours too I must say that festivals have something special. All my festival experiences are memories for life.

And with a bit of habit you manage. Nowadays I don't camp anymore (ouch!) in Reading at the Womad 05 I had a hotel room in town. But I enjoyed myself immensely even though I was on my own. I can't recally many moments of my life where I was that relaxed and happy.

In general you have a good "mix" so that if you like one band you won't like the next one. Meaning that if you sneak up near the front during a concert you can be almost assured to be close to the front for the one you want to. Then you can go and relax.

The thing that does me in though is the heat, if the temps are too high I am a gonner.

But music in an open air setting is something I hope I can enjoy for many more years. These are some of the best memories of my life. I'm not sure what I'd think about seeing Alice outdoors though.

Some years ago I went to see the Wailers with my parents, we easily could walk up to the front and really enjoyed it, even my dad who is not that big on music. So if my parents can do that at over 60 so should we?

[BUZZCOCK]

I met Michael Eavis around 2006, when I was staying with a friend in Pilton. My friend is on 'nodding' terms with Michael(though I think everyone is,in that neck of the woods)! and when we bumped into him in Glastonbury town centre, I did ask if he would consider Alice, Michael gave a wry smile and said, isn't he a little right wing! Unfortunately we didn't have time to continue the conversation, but I took it as being tongue in cheek remark!

[recoop]

Having seen Neil Young doing a quirky version of a Day in the Life...and IMO appealing to a wider audience I could see Alice widening his audience appeal with his own material if he did one of the mega festivals...there is a lack of rock in these events but I feel that if he wants a bigger audience for his new stuff probably needs to play these more mainstream events if he can get on roster..some great points..may be too right wing etc..good to hear very one's opinion...I've seen Alice quite a few times and particularly enjoyed MOR..not too busy right enought but great outdoors on a nice day...wish I had gone to Reading all those years ago...I think Alice's theatrics suited better to smaller arenas/theatres like Hammersmith but when I see Tony Christie/Tom Jones being welcomed by the crowd I just wonder the impact Alice could have on such a large crowd..he made a big impact at MOR albeit smaller but still healthy size crowd..so he has no probs outdoors.. I may have to keep wondering...

[A_MichaelUK]

> I may have to keep wondering...

There's no need. It doesn't matter how much an artist wants to perform at a particular event. If the promoter doesn't want him there, the chances are that it's not going to happen. The opposite can happen as well - it doesn't matter how much money is offered to an artist by a promoter, because if the offer is not acceptable, the chances are the artist will refuse the offer.

[mattcoddington]

note - i believe andy is speaking of festivals and other 'events.' the process for regular shows on a tour can vary. it can be a two-way street as far as booking goes.

[steven_crayn]

The bigger the festival the less enjoyable it seems to be having seen him at Reading, Guilfest & Monsters Of Rock (Milton Keynes) I think it is probably because you get more non Alice fans but I would still have to be there If he played another festival, guess it is a kind of pilgrimage.

But I agree that small venues are better any day.
Sheffield City Hall was much better than Sheffield Arena etc.. mind you you can too small - The Marquee club as historic as it was seeing Alice there wasn't as good as a Hammersmith or Manchester Apollo because the stage at the Marquee was too small to put on a really theatrical show

[Rob]

Another thing to remember with Alice doing festivals is unless it`s a smaller festival (ie Guilfest etc).Alice will not be the main act,so it will be a shorter set and also in daylight.MOR Milton Keynes was a full setlist but in daylight.I think the best gigs i have seen Alice play were the 97 & 98 London Astoria shows.I say keep it indoors in a regular size venue.

[A_MichaelUK]

>note - i believe andy is speaking of festivals and other 'events.'

Yes.

>it can be a two-way street as far as booking goes.

Yes. There can be many different factors in any given situation.

[A_MichaelUK]

>because the stage at the Marquee was too small to put on a really theatrical show

Yes, but that wasn't the purpose of that particular performance.

[mattcoddington]

But I agree that small venues are better any day.
Sheffield City Hall was much better than Sheffield Arena etc.. mind you you can too small - The Marquee club as historic as it was seeing Alice there wasn't as good as a Hammersmith or Manchester Apollo because the stage at the Marquee was too small to put on a really theatrical show

the sound is also not as good in a really small venue. i'm guessing it has to do with physics and acoustics, and other crap i don't know about.

[Si]

the sound is also not as good in a really small venue. i'm guessing it has to do with physics and acoustics, and other crap i don't know about.

While that certainly can be true, the sound in the places Alice normally plays [Wembley Arena, NEC etc] over here is pretty dreadful most of the time (not just for Alice). The places are not generally designed for music.
In the theatres however generally I've found it to be much better because they are more designed toward live sound.

[mattcoddington]

yes, i should have clarified, by 'really small' i am talking about 500 capacity. i just believe that is a thing as too small.