Liverpool Summer Pops Festival - July 15, 2009

[soulfinger]

Fantastic. What a show. What an odd crowd - half of them went home before the second encore. Seats on the floor were bad, bad, bad. Most stood anyway but it was almost impossible to get a maul going. The boys were on top form. Shane was the most together I have seen him in a long time. The family soulfinger had a lump in its collective throat when Mr C sang Thousands. God bless you sir! James has lovely new shiny red pants. Jem played air banjo. The set list was what you'd expect minus Fairytale but with Greenland. Roll on Sunday.

[Heather]

How the bloody hell did you manage to get back to Manchester before I got home from town, Soulfinger?

I was a bit dubious about this gig with it being seated, it was odd not being able to dance. However the sound was spot on, thanks to the full band being back together (nice to see you Phil), even Jake thought so and he's a fussy bugger at the best of times, he even shouted out 'nice one Phil' after thousands.

Better gig than I expected, thank's boys.

[soulfinger]

How the bloody hell did you manage to get back to Manchester before I got home from town, Soulfinger?

Speed limits? What speed limits?

It was nice to meet occasional medusan the King tonight. Sat in the pub, he wanders over and asks my lad (who's wearing his Pogues Revolution 1988-89 t-shirt: original owner no longer a medium etc etc) if he knew what time the boys were on.

I enjoyed the support very much, though mrs s thought the singer was "a bit shouty"........

[Fionn MacCool]

Great to hear Philip was back and on form, god bless him!!

[markmcnulty]

Just posted some photographs up at http://markmcnulty.typepad.com

Hope you enjoy them

Thanks

Mark

www.mcnulty.co.uk

[Jon]

great work!

[andycoops]

Saw the gig last night at the Liverpool Echo Arena. Great show, the band as ever were on top form.

My only dissapointment was the venue - the Echo Arena is a great venue, great sound/acoustics but what let it down as the fact that it was seated.

On the floor level they could have easilly removed the seating for the gig - nobody sat down, everyone was on their feet from the second that the boys came on stage.

It's great to be able to see the Pogues in Liverpool again for those of us that live closer to Liverpool than Manchester - but they need to sort out the seating... let us stand, dance and be free!!

Still, was great to see them again, roll on the UK Xmas dates!

[philipchevron]

Saw the gig last night at the Liverpool Echo Arena. Great show, the band as ever were on top form.

My only dissapointment was the venue - the Echo Arena is a great venue, great sound/acoustics but what let it down as the fact that it was seated.

On the floor level they could have easilly removed the seating for the gig - nobody sat down, everyone was on their feet from the second that the boys came on stage.

It's great to be able to see the Pogues in Liverpool again for those of us that live closer to Liverpool than Manchester - but they need to sort out the seating... let us stand, dance and be free!!

Still, was great to see them again, roll on the UK Xmas dates!

I have to say the seating arrangement made us a bit uncomfortable too, though it's not quite accurate to say that nobody used their seats. Many people - in the first few rows particularly, stayed seated throughout. There's something antiseptic about these places, however great they are in the matter of sightlines and acoustics.

[Titi77]

superb, great pictures !!! thank you.

[mugsy]

despite the seating ,it was still very enjoyable.This was the first time i'd seen the pogues with shane since 1991 and they were just as good as i (vaguely) remember. I was sat at the back , which was a lot different than being down the front at the royal court in the old days.BUT on the plus side my missus isn't the tallest and she could see the stage at a pogues gig for the first time ever ! - hope you come back at xmas !

[TheKing]

Last night's gig was certainly very different, but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. We drove down from Wolverhampton in the afternoon and went to the Cavern where we found an acoustic singer playing Beatles requests. This sounds quite tourist-y, but he played some great versions! After this we went for a drink at the docks and bumped into the Mancunian Legend that is Soulfinger. So far, so good. When we got to the gig, who should we meet but Zutons' frontman Dave McCabe along with his old bandmates from superb Liverpool band Tramp Attack.
When we entered the arena, it was a strange sight indeed. The end of the arena had been sectioned off with a curtain and the floor/standing area was full of removable seats. We took our seats on the third row from the front. When the band came onstage a few people stood up and remained standing for the duration of the gig. However, you certainly felt that with the band so close, people wanted to do more than stand next to there chair and throughout the night many many people were told to return to their seats after attempts to dance in the aisle. It was clear the band were thinking about this issue as well with Spider telling the audience they were 'sorry about the seats'.
The gig was also odd as in between songs the audience were fairly quiet and it was very easy to shout things and actually be heard by the band. I made a comment to Mr Woods about Sweeney's Men to which he replied thankyou and it was clear that my cheers for Mr C did not go unnoticed. As there was no jumping around due to the seats, each member's musicianship (if that is the correct word?) could also be admired. It was nice not to be absolutely knackered from jumping around by the time the likes of Sickbed and Sally were played.
Towards the end of the gig, more and more people began trying to dance and jump around in the aisles and it was not until the final song, Fiesta, that the usual pint throwing 'mosh pit' style emerged.
So, all in all a great gig with a very interesting 'vibe'.

[soulfinger]

Nice work - thanks for posting, but I've got to ask....did they throw you out after three songs? Those bouncers were evil but that seems a bit harsh.

[DzM]

Nice work - thanks for posting, but I've got to ask....did they throw you out after three songs? Those bouncers were evil but that seems a bit harsh.

Best guess - McNulty was ejected from the "pit" after the first three songs. The venue probably had a "your equipment must leave the venue after the special access period ends" policy, and he elected (for whatever reason) not to return after the eviction. Or perhaps he was shooting on deadline and had to send the photos to his editor ASAP (see Philip's earlier note note about the speed with which the local review, complete with photo, made it into the local paper).

[soulfinger]

"pit"

If only I've been in livelier libraries.

[DzM]

"pit"

If only I've been in livelier libraries.

For show photographers the "pit" is the space between the stage and the audience, where the security monkeys stand and face down the punters. Often bands will allow credentialed photographers to shoot the first three songs of the show from this area, then be ejected. The venues themselves often set the policy about what the photographers are allowed to do after being ejected from the "pit" (keep your gear but no more shooting, or shoot from the house, or equipment must be checked-in, or gear must leave the venue, or gear and photographer must leave the venue).