28 October,1997
Royal Albert Hall, London
Sarah Mackay
It’s not nice having to have a moan, but I’m afraid it has to be done.
Two friends and I were at the RAH on Tuesday night and although the band, sound, lighting etc. were great the set up at the RAH leaves something to be desired.
At the beginning of the rock set we and 2 other girls infront of us in the stalls area (10 rows by 120 seats ?) stood up to dance and sing. This resulted in a few unhappy people behind us who complained to the stewards and Michael Mallard (a steward) in turn threatened us with Security if we didn’t sit down !! We mentioned that we were at a rock concert and not a piano recital, which he said made no difference and then we offered to move to the standing area but he wouldn’t let us do that either.
It was extremely frustrating being forced to sit down when you really wanted to be up supporting the band and also seeing little pockets of people in the crowd up dancing later on. Even Justin made comment that he hoped the people in the standing area arthritis wasn’t too bad. A fairly unsubtle dig at the rest of the crowd who for the most part remained seated through the whole thing !!
When we arrived we had discussed who would hire a box for a concert. And now we know…. people who want to stand up at a rock concert !!
*****
28 October,1997
Royal Albert Hall, London
and 2 November 1997,
Glasgow Barrowlands
Mark Hagan
The Royal Albert Hall…hmmmm..I didn’t think this was a good idea to start with, the place being so f***ing huge in the first place! It’s like Wembley stadium turned inside out! So, they came on with a string section at one side of the stage and started to play ??? I can’t remember because I was still in the bar at this point! No one had bothered to tell me that there was no support! The Dels were playing two sets this night and prompltly got on with it! When I rushed into the hall I was overcome by the shear size and emptiness of the the place. It wasn’t that there was no one there, far from it, but the size!!! Oh well. Justin announced that they were going to play a pretentious set with the string section and then go off for a bit, coming back on with their non-pretentious set. They played slower ballady numbers like, what I think she sees and Sleep Instead of Teardrops. They also played in the frame, which, Justin announced, was written because of his sister, not about her, but she always seemed to take photo’s with her finger over the viewfinder. The crowd didn’t seem over enthusiastic by the first set idea but I was thrilled to hear songs I wouldn’t otherwise hear live, but it was a bit of a gamble. This point was reinforced when one of the 2 friends I was with said to me, “There’s not a lot of atmosphere is there?…It’s more like lounge music.” Of course, I gave him a sneering sideways look of disgust, but was aware of the rather cool ambience. When they came back on for the second set it was just their typical rock gig that most people will be accustomed to. The atmosphere picked up dramatically and it turned out to be a fantastic night. Justin made a joke about there being a whole in the stage floor and he could see someone down there..”it’s probably Albert”, he said. I would like to mention that I thoroughly enjoyed the whole night, but for people seeing them for the first time the first set might have let them down a bit.
Trouble is people don’t go to gigs to admire the musical talents and professionalism, they just want to jump around like loonies. No harm in that! So, it was off to the Barrowlands. What can I say that hasn’t been said! Not much, but it was 5 years since I last saw them in Glasgow (before I moved to London) and didn’t remember it being quite as big, only, unlike the Albert hall, it was full to capacity! The Dels were outstanding yet again! I don’t think they have sounded any better. Kris and Mark are a very welcome addition to the band (even if they are English – only joking!) As I said everything has been said about the night so tough luck if you missed this fantastic performance. Could they get any better? I doubt it!
SOSP, Europe!
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