Just got back to Edinburgh. That was alright, eh? 
We were too late to get down the front, so I had the novelty of actually watching Biffy instead of leaping about like a fool- thought they started strong then blew it a bit, even my attention was flagging a little and I've got their logo inked on my arm, so no wonder so many folk were off to the bar. But then, it wasn't really their sort of show, they've probably done more bad festival shows than good and this was just the same. Missed opportunity IMO. The songs were played well but poorly chosen I reckon- Love Has a Diameter FFS, don't tell me that's going to be a single? Then again, I'm maybe a bit Biffied out, since I saw 'em 3 nights in a row 2 weeks ago.
MCR were damn good, though. I think a lot of people who didn't enjoy it had decided that they weren't going to before the start, from the chat on the day. A lot of very pleasantly surprised people amongst the more openminded. No mucking about, just a big stadium show with as many big choruses and crowdpleasers as they could wedge in. I was hoping for a Liza Minelli appearance, but sadly not. Thoroughly enjoyed that... I like them anyway, but I've only ever seen them to smaller shows where it's easier to carry a crowd, didn't really think it'd work on such a big scale.
And Muse, well, very similiar show to the last 2 times I saw them so no huge surprises- kept a good pace throughout, not as many random gaps as there were at the Arena and SECC last time out. I'd pretty much overlooked the fact that it was a stadium show for most of it, despite being miles from the stage. No need to go on and on, they were ace. Thought they could have done with a bit more OTT stagecraft, the women on the baloons were good but the stage was a bit bleh. It looked dead impressive in those outside pics, but in the stadium it looked like a toy, and a bit daft. And there was maybe a wee bit of a lack of a sense of occasion? Their set was pretty much an Interchangable Muse Set, could've been anywhere, any time in the last year, I reckon.
The venue, though... Deply unimpressed. Horrible acoustics, for a new place built with gigs in mind it's pretty horrendous. The echoes for Biffy';s orchestra stabs during Living Is A Problem were just ridiculous, they went on forever, it was like being under a tin bath. Some very good things, like the drinking water taps. Not close to enough bogs- obviously there's not enough ladies' loos, that's practically the law, but even the guys had a huge queue. Food was alright, bar wasn't too busy, all a bit expensive but not horrendously.
The access was p***-poor too, you can clear the stadium in no time but then it takes ages to get out of the first walkway, and then the underground collapses. You'd think there'd never been a big show at Wembley before. We jumped a silverlink to Euston rather than try the underground, but a mate got seperated and didn't get back into proper London till half 2. Total shambles. Then, you had the police making a huge queue to the left of one of the stations, with vans and hundreds of officers keeping it all organised, but not stopping people from just walking right in at the front
Put it another way, I've been to 4 different stadiums for rock shows, Wembley was the only modern one and by far the worst for a gig in terms of location, sound, and atmosphere. Nothing like enough to put a damper on things, though, fantastic day.
We were too late to get down the front, so I had the novelty of actually watching Biffy instead of leaping about like a fool- thought they started strong then blew it a bit, even my attention was flagging a little and I've got their logo inked on my arm, so no wonder so many folk were off to the bar. But then, it wasn't really their sort of show, they've probably done more bad festival shows than good and this was just the same. Missed opportunity IMO. The songs were played well but poorly chosen I reckon- Love Has a Diameter FFS, don't tell me that's going to be a single? Then again, I'm maybe a bit Biffied out, since I saw 'em 3 nights in a row 2 weeks ago.MCR were damn good, though. I think a lot of people who didn't enjoy it had decided that they weren't going to before the start, from the chat on the day. A lot of very pleasantly surprised people amongst the more openminded. No mucking about, just a big stadium show with as many big choruses and crowdpleasers as they could wedge in. I was hoping for a Liza Minelli appearance, but sadly not. Thoroughly enjoyed that... I like them anyway, but I've only ever seen them to smaller shows where it's easier to carry a crowd, didn't really think it'd work on such a big scale.
And Muse, well, very similiar show to the last 2 times I saw them so no huge surprises- kept a good pace throughout, not as many random gaps as there were at the Arena and SECC last time out. I'd pretty much overlooked the fact that it was a stadium show for most of it, despite being miles from the stage. No need to go on and on, they were ace. Thought they could have done with a bit more OTT stagecraft, the women on the baloons were good but the stage was a bit bleh. It looked dead impressive in those outside pics, but in the stadium it looked like a toy, and a bit daft. And there was maybe a wee bit of a lack of a sense of occasion? Their set was pretty much an Interchangable Muse Set, could've been anywhere, any time in the last year, I reckon.
The venue, though... Deply unimpressed. Horrible acoustics, for a new place built with gigs in mind it's pretty horrendous. The echoes for Biffy';s orchestra stabs during Living Is A Problem were just ridiculous, they went on forever, it was like being under a tin bath. Some very good things, like the drinking water taps. Not close to enough bogs- obviously there's not enough ladies' loos, that's practically the law, but even the guys had a huge queue. Food was alright, bar wasn't too busy, all a bit expensive but not horrendously.
The access was p***-poor too, you can clear the stadium in no time but then it takes ages to get out of the first walkway, and then the underground collapses. You'd think there'd never been a big show at Wembley before. We jumped a silverlink to Euston rather than try the underground, but a mate got seperated and didn't get back into proper London till half 2. Total shambles. Then, you had the police making a huge queue to the left of one of the stations, with vans and hundreds of officers keeping it all organised, but not stopping people from just walking right in at the front
Put it another way, I've been to 4 different stadiums for rock shows, Wembley was the only modern one and by far the worst for a gig in terms of location, sound, and atmosphere. Nothing like enough to put a damper on things, though, fantastic day.
But today there were delays all over because of a signal problem up near Wembley, so it could have been that. I reckon more likely, just too many people- it took us ages to get out of the stadium- well, 5 seconds to get out of the stadium, ages to get more than 20 feet from it- and by the time we got down to the station there were thousands of folk waiting.
