[GIG] Ed Harcourt @ The Tunnels

[Steven Milne]

hey

hey

im on dead early at 7.50pm

please come watch

Saw son of dave soundcheck, awesome!

people shouldnt miss this gig methinks

[Shaki]

I thought Milne did a sterling job as ever. Nae quite the same as the Lemonheads but thanks for throwing it in! Thought the bird was alright, her set got better as it went on. Son of Dave is a talent to behold, I thought he was great and his banter was excellent. His set dragged on a wee bit for me though.

Harcourt? Hmmmm. Quite a fan of his albums and I was disappointed that he didn't have a full band, I didn't realise it was just him solo. Although the chatter was a bit much during his set I thought he dealt with it in very much the wrong way and just seemed like an egotistical arsehole with a bad attitude throughout. He was a bit Brent-like at times too and a face you'd never tire of skelping. His performance was pretty good outwith that but his attitude spoilt it for me.

[Chris]

I thought Milne did a sterling job as ever. Nae quite the same as the Lemonheads but thanks for throwing it in! Thought the bird was alright, her set got better as it went on. Son of Dave is a talent to behold, I thought he was great and his banter was excellent. His set dragged on a wee bit for me though.

Harcourt? Hmmmm. Quite a fan of his albums and I was disappointed that he didn't have a full band, I didn't realise it was just him solo. Although the chatter was a bit much during his set I thought he dealt with it in very much the wrong way and just seemed like an egotistical arsehole with a bad attitude throughout. He was a bit Brent-like at times too and a face you'd never tire of skelping. His performance was pretty good outwith that but his attitude spoilt it for me.

Son Of Dave was amazing. Worth the (suprisingly expensive, cost twice as much as it said on the GCG) admission fee alone.

I completely agree about Harcourt. I got pissed off with him having a go at the audience and went to drummonds instead. Ok, there was people talking but it wasn't nearly as bad as I've seen for some gigs in the tunnels.

[Shaki]

Son Of Dave was amazing. Worth the (suprisingly expensive, cost twice as much as it said on the GCG) admission fee alone.

Shocker, not often I've been to the bank before going to a venue and then had to go back for more dough before even entering! I guess it's because they originally had it as 2 separate gigs then decided to roll it into one.

[jcn]

Hardcourt was an arse.

I've never seen such an arrogant prima donna, the man has no manners.

[Andy Mulhern]

I enjoyed Harcourt. All the different instuments, gtr strung upside down, loads of songs I knew, singing away from the microphone

But he didnt deal with the crowd very well at all - "Ive not traveled 2000 fucking miles to listen to you guys talk! Its not like I have a fucking band up here! Its just me!" Fair doos, but being polite usually works best.

14 was a shock at the door tho o_O o_O

[Graeme]

£14 was a shock at the door tho o_O o_O

Dinna plead poverty again then ye radge!

[Andy Mulhern]

Dinna plead poverty again then ye radge!

I am poor - im wrting this from my mind in my hovel under union street!

hmmm a disgarded cigerette.....

[Shaki]

Hardcourt was an arse.

I've never seen such an arrogant prima donna, the man has no manners.

Funnily our mate was listening to the radio and someone who had seen him at a different venue phoned it to say what an arse he'd been there too. I think they'd requested a song, as you do, and he'd snapped at them and not played the song.

[Skacel]

i left after he told everyone to fuck off - what a dick.

son of dave was good tho

[Guest Frieda]

Aye he wiz a total dick, me and Kiki did the same and left after his rant too. Its nae like he wiz playing in a massive venue, so why wiz he acting like a he's massive?

Felt sorry for Kiks though, she really likes him :S But Son of Dave was great - I only really went to see him again I missed the other acts that played, so obviously 14pounds wiz too much, and he didna deserve it.

[Andy Mulhern]

i left after he told everyone to fuck off - what a dick.

He didnt tell everyone to fuck off (not that I can remember anyway) - he was just pissed at all the talking.

Which I think is fair enough for an artist to be pissed off but the artist should be able to command the venue and if they cant hold everyones attention then they have to do something that will.

Also if you pay £14 to enter a room you can talk all you want (as far as im concerned) but you also have to be considerate to others and get a feel for the evening.

so why wiz he acting like a he's massive?

He wasnt - see above (IMHO)

Id go see him again

[Shaki]

Id go see him again

On yer tod!

[Skacel]

He didnt tell everyone to fuck off (not that I can remember anyway) - he was just pissed at all the talking.

ah well artistc license and all that...

[Steven Milne]

fri

i thought he played really well and i really enjoyed set. Music wise that is, I didnt like his banter. It got better when he picked up that takamine, man what a guitar!erm, sorry.

Im a really big listener of his stuff and I have to admit I spent the first half of the evening undecided whether he was a cock or not. Met him and Son of Dave in soundcheck and whereas Son of Dave just seemed a bit odd, Ed Harcourt just seemed tired and kinda sat and did most of the talking, as in I couldnt really get a word in.Mostly about himself, but then I did ask questions to break the ice, i.e - how the tour was going etc so...

Him and Son of Dave didnt seem to know each other and I think it was obvious they were kinda lumped in together at the last minute. They kinda seemed uncomfortable around each other for a while then it went fine but im not sure either were sure of what was going on.

Anyway, I was still deciding my opinion when he made the big shut up speech and it kinda confirmed my fears of cockness. Fair enough what he said, it was the kinda condescending delivery that was off.Still, it was good entertainment.I love it when that sort of stuff happens.

In his defence.He came up to me after and spoke for ages and said he just wanted to do a good show and only had an hr to choose a set from 4 albums and the curfew had stressed him out and he thanked me for saving him with the accoustic and got me a beer.

So he went back up in my estimation for that.Im easily bought.

I dont know, him and Son of Dave are pretty dissimilar music styles and if I travelled 200 miles to play and the venue got a bit fucked up, my set cut and people started talking loud I d probably get annoyed too.

Its no-one's (definitely not Tunnels / Jamesys) fault but Ed Harcourts own though because at end of day, hes a professional or meant to be.Hes had 4 albums and surely gigged heaps.Even I know the trick if people talk over you is to try even harder to win them over.Doesnt always work but then no-ones ever paid 14 to see me play!Maybe if I charge more people would listen, nah, wishful thinking.

On a more positive and light hearted note, Son of Dave was excellent.And my friend drank with im all night, got absolutely shitfaced with him (SOD was aparently starting to struggle) and he left. At one point, my mate almost had SOD coming back to mine for a party apparently he was keen!

Can you imagine that!A Delta Blues / Beatbox / Harmonica fest in your living room!

[AKMartin]

if I travelled 200 miles to play and the venue got a bit fucked up, my set cut and people started talking loud I d probably get annoyed too

Surely this is the key to the debate. Not to mention that it's probably a tad distracting to have people yapping over an already-quiet acoustic set.

I fail to see why the rights of loud-gig-talkers are always so vehemently defended. Saying "they paid 14, so they can talk all they want" is a bit like saying "I paid 40 for this dinner, so I can call the waitress a Whore of Satan if I want"...

AKM

[Chris]

Surely this is the key to the debate. Not to mention that it's probably a tad distracting to have people yapping over an already-quiet acoustic set.

I fail to see why the rights of loud-gig-talkers are always so vehemently defended. Saying "they paid 14, so they can talk all they want" is a bit like saying "I paid 40 for this dinner, so I can call the waitress a Whore of Satan if I want"...

AKM

Which is fair enough, however I was down the front and Harcourt wasn't playing a particuarly quiet acoustic set (everything was miked up or electric and he had a really strong voice) and the people talking at the back weren't particuarly loud. He just seemed to be a grumpy git.

People lose their right to talk at gigs if it impacts everyone else's enjoyment of the gig. But in this case I don't think it was nearly as bad as Ed Harcourt was making out.

[Jamesy]

Ed Harcourt was £12.50 Adv, so therefore £14 on the door. His agent decided he wanted him to play The Tunnels and not Moshulu, and Son of Daves agent decided he'd like S.o.D to support Ed, as obviously it'd bring more punters. Cept' it'd appear that the agents forgot to inform there artists, and apparantly Ed's always a moan. Wasn't fun for me.

[Andy Mulhern]

Saying "they paid £14, so they can talk all they want" is a bit like saying "I paid £40 for this dinner, so I can call the waitress a Whore of Satan if I want"...

AKM

Not really because no one is calling the artist a "Whore of Satan" - at least not to their face, and if they did its a heckle and up to the artist to respond.

I suppose my point is gigs are social events, bars/venues are social spaces, places where people go to be social, drink, trip, listen and talk (then fall over!). You cant force people to shut up, its up to the artist to silence the chatter - but each punter also has a responsiblility to be considerate to others, others who are listening and realy want to listen.

I want chilli to get involved with this discussion......

[Shaki]

i thought he played really well and i really enjoyed set. Music wise that is, I didnt like his banter. It got better when he picked up that takamine, man what a guitar!erm, sorry.

Im a really big listener of his stuff and I have to admit I spent the first half of the evening undecided whether he was a cock or not. Met him and Son of Dave in soundcheck and whereas Son of Dave just seemed a bit odd, Ed Harcourt just seemed tired and kinda sat and did most of the talking, as in I couldnt really get a word in.Mostly about himself, but then I did ask questions to break the ice, i.e - how the tour was going etc so...

Him and Son of Dave didnt seem to know each other and I think it was obvious they were kinda lumped in together at the last minute. They kinda seemed uncomfortable around each other for a while then it went fine but im not sure either were sure of what was going on.

Anyway, I was still deciding my opinion when he made the big shut up speech and it kinda confirmed my fears of cockness. Fair enough what he said, it was the kinda condescending delivery that was off.Still, it was good entertainment.I love it when that sort of stuff happens.

In his defence.He came up to me after and spoke for ages and said he just wanted to do a good show and only had an hr to choose a set from 4 albums and the curfew had stressed him out and he thanked me for saving him with the accoustic and got me a beer.

So he went back up in my estimation for that.Im easily bought.

I dont know, him and Son of Dave are pretty dissimilar music styles and if I travelled 200 miles to play and the venue got a bit fucked up, my set cut and people started talking loud I d probably get annoyed too.

Its no-one's (definitely not Tunnels / Jamesys) fault but Ed Harcourts own though because at end of day, hes a professional or meant to be.Hes had 4 albums and surely gigged heaps.Even I know the trick if people talk over you is to try even harder to win them over.Doesnt always work but then no-ones ever paid 14 to see me play!Maybe if I charge more people would listen, nah, wishful thinking.

On a more positive and light hearted note, Son of Dave was excellent.And my friend drank with im all night, got absolutely shitfaced with him (SOD was aparently starting to struggle) and he left. At one point, my mate almost had SOD coming back to mine for a party apparently he was keen!

Can you imagine that!A Delta Blues / Beatbox / Harmonica fest in your living room!

Aye, that guitar of yours sounds better upsidedown Milne!

I didn't know the reasons Harcourt was pissed off beyond the chatter but he never bought me a pint so I still say fuck him!

[Balvack]

Shuuussshhh!!

I suppose my point is gigs are social events, bars/venues are social spaces, places where people go to be social, drink, trip, listen and talk (then fall over!). You cant force people to shut up, its up to the artist to silence the chatter - but each punter also has a responsiblility to be considerate to others, others who are listening and realy want to listen.

I want chilli to get involved with this discussion......

This may be a novel concept, but personally I go to gigs to listen to who's playing, and keep any chit-chat for the bits in between artists.

I can't understand why folk pay good money to go to a gig and then talk all through it. If you want a social event and a natter with your pals, then why not just go to a pub or some other venue rather than a gig ?

to Chilli for his "shooshing". Keep up the good work man

[Guest bluesxman]

Son Of Dave ended up being lumped together with another gig before at The Tunnels, that's how I ended up seeing him - was it with Thomas Truax maybe? He was really good but must be a jinx! I really liked Harcourt's first album but found the second disappointing and stopped buying his stuff. I did tentatively think about going to this, glad I never, sounds like a bit of a hoop.

And one of my pet peeves is c**ts talking through gigs, yes they may be happy to pay money to get in and then talk, but it spoils other people's enjoyment who maybe paid to hear the performer and not some muppet discussing something completely banal.