Pearl Jam at the O2 Arena

Pearl Jam 
O2 Arena, 18 June 2018

There were jokes about sounding like Liam Gallagher, a Donald Trump mask being forced to drink wine, the usual Eddie Vedder nostalgia about Britain (The Who etc, etc) and more and more tambourines being chucked into the audience. And of course Pearl Jam tunes aplenty despite Eddie clearly struggling with a sore throat. But I am so done with arena shows.

Neil Young + Promise Of The Real at the O2 Arena

Neil Young + Promise Of The Real

Laura Marling

O2 Arena, 11 June 2016

At the Graham Nash show last week I met a man who was seeing Neil Young live for the first time at this O2 Arena gig and I warned him, "don't expect him to play the hits! Neil plays what he wants and that's part of what makes him so great and exciting to watch!" Well, my words have come back to haunt me because tonight Neil played many of his best loved songs, kept it easy on the new tracks and still was exciting as ever. Even giving the audience what it wants, Neil manages to still be completely unpredictable. I was so used to Neil never pandering to those who want the old hits that when he actually does it, well, it's a huge surprise and almost as shocking as when he rolls out a 30 minute feedback-filled unknown number.

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

Fleetwood Mac

O2 Arena, 27 June 2015

It's such a different experience being down at the front at an arena show, it's almost like seeing an entirely different concert. A month ago I saw the Mac's return with Christine McVie back in the band at an excellent vantage point in the side seats. In a lot of ways I feel I saw more of the show that time as I could see the whole band at all times and watch the cool films that were playing behind them and really just concentrate on the music. That said, it is undeniably thrilling to be up close to your heroes and see all the action close enough to be able to reach out and touch them or hear things they are saying away from the microphones.

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

Fleetwood Mac

O2 Arena, 28 May 2015

Well, this was a long time coming: I finally saw the classic Rumours line-up of the Mac in concert. Aside from Christine McVie’s brief appearance with the band a couple of years back at the O2 (which I wrote about here), in all my years of being a fan it was the one thing that sadly eluded me. Although Buckingham Nicks have always been my favourites, it was Christine who drew me to the band in the first place when I first saw the video for Everywhere many years ago, so the promise of seeing her and hearing her play some of her many hits with the Mac this time was my main reason for paying a ridiculous amount (seriously, I don’t think I would do it for anyone but them) to see the band again for the eighth time.

Monty Python live at the O2 Arena

Monty Python
O2 Arena, 16 July 2014

Look I got to see the Pythons live! It was so much fun, I still can't stop smiling. 

I must admit when these reunion shows were announced I was highly cynical about the whole thing: I saw it as recycling old sketches for a big old cash-grab. But when I got a belated opportunity to go to this show suddenly my cynicism flew out the window and I jumped at the chance to see these comedy legends who I adored so much growing up. Even walking into the arena and seeing the big stage decked out in all its Victorian-style regalia and Terry Gilliam illustrations was a huge thrill and when the remaining Pythons took to the stage (arriving in a "Retardis" no less) wearing tuxedos and bowing for a cheering, excited crowd it was easy to get into the spirit of things and just be swept away by the fun.

Fleetwood Mac at O2 Arena

 
Fleetwood Mac
O2 Arena, 25 September 2013

It's no shock to anyone who knows me (or anyone who has ever read this blog) that Fleetwood Mac are my favourite ever band: I've loved them since I was 12 or 13 years old when I first heard Tango In The Night but never got to see them live until 2003. Thankfully, I've seen them quite a few times since and tonight was my seventh time in all. I'd have liked it to have been the eighth and ninth too but unfortunately this time around the already expensive tickets were practically twice the price. That said, I was pretty content to just see them the once this time given how little they change the setlist these days but began to severely regret only having one ticket when rumours began to swirl that former member Christine McVie, the woman with all the hits and was such a huge part of the Mac's success who I had never seen play live with the band, was going to make a guest appearance at one of the shows. As my ticket was for the second of three nights I was sure I had missed my chance, as these things mainly happened on the last night.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse at O2 Arena

 
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Los Lobos
O2 Arena, 17 June 2013

It's fascinating still to read all the fan reviews of a Neil Young show. All these years on and he still divides opinion although this London show was generally received more favourably than the concert in Dublin the night before. While I do understand that some people are turned off by long guitar solos and lots of noisy feedback, most of the time when I read the complaints I do wonder if they were at the same show I was. This is because of all the times I've seen Neil Young I've never come away less than amazed, and this concert was no exception.

Radiohead at the O2 Arena

Radiohead
Caribou
O2 Arena, 9 October 2012

Arena shows are so odd, they have such a different vibe to them, something I had forgotten as I walked into the vast O2 Arena. Last time I saw Radiohead was, unbelievably, 15 years ago now, on the OK Computer tour so I thought it was well past the time I finally caught up with them live especially as they were playing so close to me in Greenwich.

Gig Memories: Leonard Cohen at the O2 in 2008

Leonard Cohen

O2 Arena, 17 July 2008

So, I had planned to go see Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter tonight but due to a bout of the flu this week I've been stuck indoors while everyone else has been enjoying the unusually sunny April weather. Since I can obviously no longer write about that show I thought instead I'd reminisce about a show I went to a few years back that I've been thinking a lot about lately: Leonard Cohen at the O2 back in 2008.

Pearl Jam at O2 Arena

Pearl Jam
Gomez
O2 Arena, 18 August 2009

Going to arena shows is such an odd experience, especially when the band is attempting to pretend it's not an arena show by having the floor completely standing. Although we arrived early and managed to get practically at the barrier at the front, you turn around and there's literally thousands of people behind you. I tend to go to small shows on the whole, so I'm not used to it. It's a little claustrophobic and slightly worrying when the band starts and the fanatical, Pearl Jam-adoring crowd goes nuts and suddenly you feel that thrust of the hundreds of people surrounding you. Of course it's exciting too, that so many people are feeling that same communal excitement and joy through the music of this simple rock band: the energy of 20,000 people is something to behold, I can't even imagine what it's like for the band on stage.

Bob Dylan at the O2 Arena and the Roundhouse

#86238844 / gettyimages.com

Bob Dylan And His Band
O2 Arena, 25 April 2009
Roundhouse, 26 April 2009

Years ago, in the mid 90s, I saw Bob Dylan for the first time playing Hyde Park. Backed with a ramshackle group of musicians (mostly dressed in blue I remember) including Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, it was a decidedly disappointing experience despite a set list that included Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Positively Fourth Street, Highway 61 Revisited and Don't Think Twice It's Alright, due to a rather unenthusiastic performance by the man himself, where his voice turned almost to caricature. Although I love his music I thought it was probably best to leave his live shows for the hardcore devotees in the future.

Best Gigs Of 2008

Neil Young at Hammersmith Apollo (5, 6, 8, 9, 14 March)

Back in the UK for the first time since 2003, after Neil Young’s aneurysm I really thought I would never see him live again so I must admit I flipped out when he announced these fairly small (for him) shows at the legendary Hammersmith Apollo and I attended five out of the six shows he played there.