Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Birmingham NIA 22nd May 2007

Taking advantage of membership to the Who Tour Fan Club; I purchased tickets for Birmingham on Wednesday two days before general sale. Unbeknown of how good the seats were, it was a great surprise when they arrived in the post.

Bringing my boyfriend to this gig; we made it a three day trip and stayed in Birmingham for two nights.

Arriving at the venue before Shack opened for the support slot - though aware the seats were in the front row, it still amazed me when we sat down – right smack in the middle! I have been close before, but this was the first time at the front!

Shack were very good; the singer had trouble with his acoustic guitar cutting out frequently. Their songs were decent and did a fine performance.

As the Led Zeppelin song: “When the Levee Breaks” played on the speakers that was the sign the boys were appearing shortly. Every time I listen to the song it will bring back fond memories of the shows attended recently.

They came on and everybody in the first few rows stood up. It remained that way for the rest of the gig.

Set List:

I Can't Explain (9/10)
The Seeker (9/10)
Relay (8/10 Great although Roger had forgotten some of the lyrics)
Fragments (9/10 Great tune from Endless Wire)
Who Are You (10/10 The Crowd livened up a bit)
Behind Blue Eyes (9/10)
The Real Me (10/10 One of my favourites from Quad, nice to hear in the set again. Being close to Pino, I heard his bass very clearly and he did a great job)
Wire & Glass (9/10 Great to have this in the set list again after its absence at the Royal Albert Hall earlier in the year)
Baba O'Riley (10/10 The crowd went mad over this one)
Eminence Front (9/10 One of the better songs from It’s Hard. Also my boyfriend’s favourite Who song. Reason why: it’s on the Playstation game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas!)
Drowned (9/10)
A Man In A Purple Dress (8/10 I’d say this one is one of my least faves from Endless Wire. I do like the lyrics though)
Mike Post Theme (8/10 This is a great tune but I don’t know if it’s just me but they play it at a slower pace then they do on the record)
5.15 (10/10 Great to hear this again)
My Generation (10/10 Brill)
Won't Get Fooled Again (10/10)
Pinball Wizard (9/10)
Amazing Journey (10/10)
Sparks (10/10)
See Me Feel Me (10/10 They’ve been doing the Tommy encore for a while now, I fancy a change)
Tea And Theatre (9/10 Great way to end the show I think)

Another fantastic show, Roger in good form and the rest. Happy to see the arena was mostly full. I was concerned that with this tour tickets haven’t been selling fast like they did say for the 2000 tour or the Teenage Cancer shows - but there were only a few seats empty. Pete and Roger said during the show that the crowd was quiet. They were in comparison to the Roundhouse but I remember the Royal Albert Hall show in 2004 where people in the front rows stayed sitting!

My next show is Wembley on the Tuesday and today (Saturday 26th) I made a last minute booking for a flight and gig ticket to Dublin. It isn’t every day I see my favourite new band the Answer and favourite band of all time playing on the same night!

"I'm off to Dublin Green......"