Post by allesanderes on May 31, 2009 18:15:44 GMT -5
(if there are factual errors and omissions please excuse them as a result of the delirious state I was in at the time in question, thank you!)
Hi All,
I'm very surprised there isn't a zilllion pages already about the
London concert - or did I just dream that it happened at all?
After so much anticipation, and the fear that the tickets were lost
in the post (they came last minute, on the Thursday morning), when
my friend and I stepped out of the tube in Shepard's Bush at 6.10 for
a 7pm start with the Sun Shining, things were looking good.
On the way to the Empire we were stopped by a couple of Germans, one
with a Cat Stevens T-Shirt on, asking if ve nu ze vay to ze Empire.
More FANS.
In fact, a lot more fans. We had this innocent notion that we were
early, but the queue was already snaking around the side of the
building. So we got into the queue. About 20mins in, with no
movement, when a guy in green came out one of the side doors - not
the one saying 'Stage Entrance', but a little further down, and
about 10secs later a smiling Yusuf and Co. slipped in. No fanfare,
but no autographs either - one poor lad who had been waiting the
40ft or so farther up with original vinyls waiting to nab Yusuf was
highly disappointed when we told him that Yusuf had gone in already.
"Bugger" sez he with a sideways glance of complete disappointment.
The ticket touts must have had a bad night. Several were going up
and down 'Buying or selling tickets, anyone buying or selling
tickets...', soon became 'is ANYONE selling tickets - NO-ONE selling
tickets?
'
We were let in then, via getting pictures taken for some website,
and taking some ourselves quickly of the Roadsinger VW bus parked
out the front, and after being checked for food and drink up we went
to level 2 where we grabbed some seats.
The venue is an old style theatre, with 3 upper seating levels and a
ground level typically used for standing, as it was on the night.
All of the support acts were fine, but I suppose that was not what
the vast majority of the audience were there for. It was Yusufs son
and his band that played the first set - a heavier sound than I
would have expected.
Never without binoculars, I was scanning the stage wings while Baaba
Maal was on and spotted Yusuf. I passed the binoculars to my buddy
and told him where to look, which he did. And then he said with a
smile, "and who is the bloke with the sunglasses?". Had a look -
"NO!" - yes, Bono.
So he was talking to Yusuf and when Baaba Maal was called for an
Encore, he broke into a U2 number 1/2 way through and then they came
out on set and took positions, to a large cheer from the crowd.
(Bono)
But skipping along, that cheer was muted compared to the rapturous
applause when Yusuf came on stage. Nice kind of army jacket, well
worn shoes, non descript trousers - a comfortable outfit. In fact,
afterwards, my friend and I were trying to ascertain how he could
have played over an hour of music and not really break into a
visible sweat?
He started with the first track from Roadsinger, and I think this
was the order and content (but in the heat of the moment I may have
misnamed or missed out on some songs):
Welcome Home
Lilywhite
Don't be Shy
Where do the Children Play
Thinkin 'bout you
The Rain
Just Another Night
Miles from Nowhere
The Wind
Be What You Must
Wild World
Boots in Sand
Ruins
Roadsinger
Father & Son
Encore: Peace Train
I think it was The Wind that was played from the Cafe table at the side of the stage. Yusuf sat here for a kind of relax, during which he read some thoughts .
At times the crowd, especially those standing on the ground level,
would shout up favorites for him to play. One lad was particularly
persistent and vociferous for 'Father & Son' to which Yusuf at one
possibly exasperated stage said 'Its coming brother!'. At another
stage, when Yusuf mentioned that his grandchildren where in the
audience one wag (the same maybe?) shouted 'Grandfather and son'!
But he kept to his set list and didn't play the requests - we would
all no doubt have had different ones, anyway.
Alun Davies came on for the second(?) song, and stayed from then on,
Yusuf's right hand man (but on his left hand side). The other
musicians were all fantastic. There was a keyboardist playing 2
keyboards and a piano, with perfect timing for the likes of 'Be what
you Must' and 'Don't be shy' and who also played the cello/Strings
type music (but on the keyboard) from The rain. There were also a
bassist and another guitarist who were brilliant at their jobs.
But Yusuf himself - the man is a fantastic singer and songwriter,
fair play to him. The voice is, has to be, a little different to
that from the albums of 30 years ago, but it is so rich and so
unmistakably Cat Stevens, that I still can't believe I was there!
At one stage taking a little video clip I was tapped on the shoulder
by security and warned not to be recording. Lots of people were at
it though. Little segments and snippets of poor quality mobile phone
and digital camera binary data to prove to ourselves that we really
did go and see Cat Stevens live in a concert - something I am sure
most of us thought we would never do. No doubt some punters have
much better quality digital or analogue memorabilia than the rest of
us, but we all will have the memories. And as concerts goes, this
will be a life highlight.
At the end, Yusuf and co. left the stage, but did come back for an
encore, and then left again, at which point the MC came out again
and although I am sure we all would have loved another encore, and
were cheering for it, the MC was very slick and basically got us to
quieten down and go home in a very good fashion. No riots.
Afterwards, the VW bus was still on the street, so we had another
look at and into it before setting off on the 295 to Clapham
junction for a train that we then missed. Next morning, too early,
the flight home had me constantly looking at the few pix and mini-videos of
the night that were taken before the security frightened the life
out of me (thinking the camera would be confiscated!).
Yes I am a fan, a junkie almost, as are most that visit these boards
regularly. But interestingly, I do think that now that Yusuf/Cat may
be more accessible again, it will put a different slant on the
music. How, I am not sure, but I do feel it somehow, maybe to be
explained later with the benefit of hindsight.
I'd love to hear all and any other takes on the concert - maybe more
detailed on Yusuf than I have done...!
And I would love to have written this account with more beauty and feeling to convey how much it meant to me, and I am sure to others, but alas, I am not so gifted..!
(Attached are a few pix taken with a small digital camera, to which
I sometimes was able to put the binoculars in front of it to act as
a sort of zoom..)
Hi All,
I'm very surprised there isn't a zilllion pages already about the
London concert - or did I just dream that it happened at all?
After so much anticipation, and the fear that the tickets were lost
in the post (they came last minute, on the Thursday morning), when
my friend and I stepped out of the tube in Shepard's Bush at 6.10 for
a 7pm start with the Sun Shining, things were looking good.
On the way to the Empire we were stopped by a couple of Germans, one
with a Cat Stevens T-Shirt on, asking if ve nu ze vay to ze Empire.
More FANS.
In fact, a lot more fans. We had this innocent notion that we were
early, but the queue was already snaking around the side of the
building. So we got into the queue. About 20mins in, with no
movement, when a guy in green came out one of the side doors - not
the one saying 'Stage Entrance', but a little further down, and
about 10secs later a smiling Yusuf and Co. slipped in. No fanfare,
but no autographs either - one poor lad who had been waiting the
40ft or so farther up with original vinyls waiting to nab Yusuf was
highly disappointed when we told him that Yusuf had gone in already.
"Bugger" sez he with a sideways glance of complete disappointment.
The ticket touts must have had a bad night. Several were going up
and down 'Buying or selling tickets, anyone buying or selling
tickets...', soon became 'is ANYONE selling tickets - NO-ONE selling
tickets?
'We were let in then, via getting pictures taken for some website,
and taking some ourselves quickly of the Roadsinger VW bus parked
out the front, and after being checked for food and drink up we went
to level 2 where we grabbed some seats.
The venue is an old style theatre, with 3 upper seating levels and a
ground level typically used for standing, as it was on the night.
All of the support acts were fine, but I suppose that was not what
the vast majority of the audience were there for. It was Yusufs son
and his band that played the first set - a heavier sound than I
would have expected.
Never without binoculars, I was scanning the stage wings while Baaba
Maal was on and spotted Yusuf. I passed the binoculars to my buddy
and told him where to look, which he did. And then he said with a
smile, "and who is the bloke with the sunglasses?". Had a look -
"NO!" - yes, Bono.
So he was talking to Yusuf and when Baaba Maal was called for an
Encore, he broke into a U2 number 1/2 way through and then they came
out on set and took positions, to a large cheer from the crowd.
(Bono)
But skipping along, that cheer was muted compared to the rapturous
applause when Yusuf came on stage. Nice kind of army jacket, well
worn shoes, non descript trousers - a comfortable outfit. In fact,
afterwards, my friend and I were trying to ascertain how he could
have played over an hour of music and not really break into a
visible sweat?
He started with the first track from Roadsinger, and I think this
was the order and content (but in the heat of the moment I may have
misnamed or missed out on some songs):
Welcome Home
Lilywhite
Don't be Shy
Where do the Children Play
Thinkin 'bout you
The Rain
Just Another Night
Miles from Nowhere
The Wind
Be What You Must
Wild World
Boots in Sand
Ruins
Roadsinger
Father & Son
Encore: Peace Train
I think it was The Wind that was played from the Cafe table at the side of the stage. Yusuf sat here for a kind of relax, during which he read some thoughts .
At times the crowd, especially those standing on the ground level,
would shout up favorites for him to play. One lad was particularly
persistent and vociferous for 'Father & Son' to which Yusuf at one
possibly exasperated stage said 'Its coming brother!'. At another
stage, when Yusuf mentioned that his grandchildren where in the
audience one wag (the same maybe?) shouted 'Grandfather and son'!
But he kept to his set list and didn't play the requests - we would
all no doubt have had different ones, anyway.
Alun Davies came on for the second(?) song, and stayed from then on,
Yusuf's right hand man (but on his left hand side). The other
musicians were all fantastic. There was a keyboardist playing 2
keyboards and a piano, with perfect timing for the likes of 'Be what
you Must' and 'Don't be shy' and who also played the cello/Strings
type music (but on the keyboard) from The rain. There were also a
bassist and another guitarist who were brilliant at their jobs.
But Yusuf himself - the man is a fantastic singer and songwriter,
fair play to him. The voice is, has to be, a little different to
that from the albums of 30 years ago, but it is so rich and so
unmistakably Cat Stevens, that I still can't believe I was there!
At one stage taking a little video clip I was tapped on the shoulder
by security and warned not to be recording. Lots of people were at
it though. Little segments and snippets of poor quality mobile phone
and digital camera binary data to prove to ourselves that we really
did go and see Cat Stevens live in a concert - something I am sure
most of us thought we would never do. No doubt some punters have
much better quality digital or analogue memorabilia than the rest of
us, but we all will have the memories. And as concerts goes, this
will be a life highlight.
At the end, Yusuf and co. left the stage, but did come back for an
encore, and then left again, at which point the MC came out again
and although I am sure we all would have loved another encore, and
were cheering for it, the MC was very slick and basically got us to
quieten down and go home in a very good fashion. No riots.
Afterwards, the VW bus was still on the street, so we had another
look at and into it before setting off on the 295 to Clapham
junction for a train that we then missed. Next morning, too early,
the flight home had me constantly looking at the few pix and mini-videos of
the night that were taken before the security frightened the life
out of me (thinking the camera would be confiscated!).
Yes I am a fan, a junkie almost, as are most that visit these boards
regularly. But interestingly, I do think that now that Yusuf/Cat may
be more accessible again, it will put a different slant on the
music. How, I am not sure, but I do feel it somehow, maybe to be
explained later with the benefit of hindsight.
I'd love to hear all and any other takes on the concert - maybe more
detailed on Yusuf than I have done...!
And I would love to have written this account with more beauty and feeling to convey how much it meant to me, and I am sure to others, but alas, I am not so gifted..!
(Attached are a few pix taken with a small digital camera, to which
I sometimes was able to put the binoculars in front of it to act as
a sort of zoom..)
Sorry that your daughter didn't feel well.
The whole crowd just seemed to gradually get closer, lol ;D
