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Post by mrmustard on Sept 1, 2011 9:16:53 GMT
As predicted, the lack of bands between 12 and 3 on Convention day. They obviously wanted more people in the Ballroom for the guest speakers but for the amount of people who turned up to the see the speakers it wasn't worth it (more people turned up after each speaker just to queue up and get an autograph!). The calibre of speakers was excellent this year I thought but it would be far better placed in a more intimate setting like were they had the film room this year. This would leave the main ballroom free for bands all day which, I think, is a much better use of the room.
My only other gripe was again with the interviews. No Spencer Leigh this year for some reason. He was presumably available as he was on Radio Merseyside the following day interviewing Tripper amongst others. Instead they got another Merseyside presenter called Frankie Connor. He is a nice enough guy and has a solid musical background with the Hideaways. However, as on his radio show, he likes the sound of his own voice too much! He hardly gives his guest a few seconds before he has to talk again. It's very annoying when you have guests like Alan White who have great insights but are talked down by the interviewer. It wouldn't have happened with Spencer Leigh. Perhaps this was were the reduced funding had most impact!!!
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alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
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Post by alix on Sept 1, 2011 12:31:48 GMT
. It's very annoying when you have guests like Alan White who have great insights but are talked down by the interviewer. It wouldn't have happened with Spencer Leigh. Perhaps this was were the reduced funding had most impact!!! yes but wasn't Spencer the one who a couple of years ago asked Alan White about the early days of Yes being formed! (rather than about being a last minute replacement for the original drummer and having a couple of days to learn the set before the first night of the tour...)
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Post by mrmustard on Sept 1, 2011 14:22:34 GMT
Did he? I can't remember. If he did that's pretty bad. Alan White had something like 4 days to learn and rehearse the Close To The Edge album, following Bill Brufords sudden departure, before embarking on a major US tour. That is an amazing feat considering how complex Close To The Edge is. No doubt he had to learn songs from The Yes Album and Fragile also. Spencer should have known this really. Then again he doesn't really like the Who either!
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Post by The End on Sept 1, 2011 23:44:21 GMT
Thought of another gripe - seats in the Cavern (front and back)! It's cramped enough as it is, without reducing the capacity down with added seating. At least the seats were eventually removed in Cavern front but they were still in the back on the Saturday.
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Post by heybulldog on Sept 2, 2011 0:10:23 GMT
I definitely think that CCT scaled back this year with fewer bands doing more sets. perhaps they were let down by a few call offs at the last minute. The performances by some were quite excellent though, Nube9, Pepperland, 2 of us ets doing outstanding sets.
Still a good week though, but seemed to be missing something from the previous years. I didn't like the way on the Sunday night everyone but the residents and Convention attendees being escorted out of the main ballroom early, The basement rooms just seemed cramped and without atmosphere.
Thought the speakers were a good variety this year. Anyone stay to hear Tony Bramwell, he was last on. I think he'd too many whisky and cokes by that stage and was quite out of it. He wasn't holding back on his thoughts on Yoko and was more than a bit outspoken.
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Post by mrmustard on Sept 2, 2011 7:00:42 GMT
Still a good week though, but seemed to be missing something from the previous years. I didn't like the way on the Sunday night everyone but the residents and Convention attendees being escorted out of the main ballroom early, The basement rooms just seemed cramped and without atmosphere. Do you mean you where told to go to the basement BEFORE Bill Heckle came on stage handing out instructions? As soon as he came on stage he ordered all convention attendees out of the building with immediate effect!
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Post by mrmustard on Sept 2, 2011 7:15:21 GMT
Thought of another gripe - seats in the Cavern (front and back)! It's cramped enough as it is, without reducing the capacity down with added seating. At least the seats were eventually removed in Cavern front but they were still in the back on the Saturday. Yes that was ridiculous and on the subject of stupid seating placements, what was the point of seats in the Crosby Suite on convention day? The only place to have bands on between 12 and 3 and some fool places a load of seats in the middle of the room leaving a massive gap between the front row and the stage. All that caused was loads of people hanging around and outside the entrance door of the suite because nobody wanted to fill the void between the seat and the stage. Some people actually sat on the floor between the seats and the bar so if you where standing at the bar you had to climb over then to get away from it!
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Post by mrmustard on Sept 2, 2011 7:30:26 GMT
What was the Pepperland private party all about on convention day in the Crosby suite? Why have additional ticket only events on during the convention thus excluding the vast majority of convention attendees unless they had a package or golden ticket! As far as I am concerned once you enter the convention everything should be available to all attendees between noon and midnight. So from 6pm we were deprived of yet another room to see bands.
I don't mind the concept of private parties like this but to put it on during the convention was taking the piss!
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Post by heybulldog on Sept 2, 2011 13:13:03 GMT
Do you mean you where told to go to the basement BEFORE Bill Heckle came on stage handing out instructions? As soon as he came on stage he ordered all convention attendees out of the building with immediate effect!
No like everyone else Bill Heckle's announcement came completely out of the blue. Was really surprised though. Couldn't understand why they did that, after all the Adelphi must have lost a fair amount of bar takings with all the people that had to leave?
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alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
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Post by alix on Sept 2, 2011 14:11:26 GMT
They were two separate events, in two separate areas, one started at midnight one ended at midnight.
CCT had only got the convention areas hired to a certain time, dealers and hotel staff were trying to tidy/pack up the other rooms in the main areas upstairs. The bars in the main hotel appeared shut as i went upstairs to sort stuff in my room.
So they needed to move people around, how did they loose takings by redistributing those with tickets to another area with staffed and stocked bars (don't get me started on the lack of variety in the Adelphi bars.....). Plus Sunday licencing - unless private party/extended event permit/or 24hr licence in play then they are limited on whats open when.
hadn't the day event slightly over ran hence the strict orders of who to go where
By putting the all nighter in the cellar it allowed those who weren't partaking to sleep (it's not just BW in the Adelphi that weekend). Don't know what the bars in the front half of the hotel are like sound wise but i can tell you Pepperland soundcheck song is the Abbey Road medley - or at least it was Monday evening when i was sorting camera batteries!
Personally i was glad they kept it ticket only
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Post by carolbscotland on Sept 2, 2011 15:03:35 GMT
Yip I agree with the points raised about the private party and the seating in the Cavern. I arrived Thursday in the Cavern about 3pm to see seating in the back room and was surprised - but it wasnt too busy then. It was removed by the time the George show was on that night. Dissapointed in the all nighter - the venue had no atmosphere, nowhere to have a chat in between the rooms. The bands on the all nighter were not great either, apart from the Rockits. Small gripe - could not get a drink anywhere in the Adelphi on Sunday night for almost an hour! The bars upstairs were not serving after a certain time and the we couldnt get into the all nighter bars until we were all ushered down there! Anyway a fab time was had by all and cant wait for next year!
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monty
What Goes On In Your Heart
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Post by monty on Sept 2, 2011 17:28:28 GMT
I definitely think that CCT scaled back this year with fewer bands doing more sets. perhaps they were let down by a few call offs at the last minute. The performances by some were quite excellent though, Nube9, Pepperland, 2 of us ets doing outstanding sets. Still a good week though, but seemed to be missing something from the previous years. I didn't like the way on the Sunday night everyone but the residents and Convention attendees being escorted out of the main ballroom early, The basement rooms just seemed cramped and without atmosphere. Thought the speakers were a good variety this year. Anyone stay to hear Tony Bramwell, he was last on. I think he'd too many whisky and cokes by that stage and was quite out of it. He wasn't holding back on his thoughts on Yoko and was more than a bit outspoken. What did Tony Bramwell have to say? I missed this one! Would have been great to hear it!
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Post by allthingsmustpass on Sept 2, 2011 20:49:01 GMT
Adelphi all-nighterUsing the Adelphi as the venue for the all-nighter was definitely better - seeing as most people were still there from the convention day. I agree that the layout of the rooms could have been slightly better for moving around etc. Now what would really have been good would have been some food at around 3am as I was starting to flag around then. Chips all round... ha! CavernI quite liked the seating being available in the Cavern back at the 'quieter' times - it's always taken, so there's obviously demand for it, so I don't have a problem with it. Plus it is nice to rest your feet for 10 or so minutes during the longer days/nights. Definitely better since they introduced the low seats a couple of years ago so you can still see if you're stood up. Little grumblesJust a couple of minor gripes that were about people attending the events, rather than the organisation. After standing getting a good space near the stage at events, it's really annoying when people are pushing in when they've just arrived. Another thing I found quite irritating was trying to listen to one of the bands when someone in the audience had brought their own percussion section when the band had that more than covered (and the beat was in time, too). If we all took a guitar or keyboard it could start to get a bit messy All you need is hands... hands is all you need. Other than that, nothing to complain about - apart from the length - who's up for Beatle Month? Ha
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Post by The End on Sept 2, 2011 21:34:25 GMT
CavernI quite liked the seating being available in the Cavern back at the 'quieter' times - it's always taken, so there's obviously demand for it, so I don't have a problem with it. Plus it is nice to rest your feet for 10 or so minutes during the longer days/nights. Yep I agree, seating in the "quieter" times is a good idea - unfortunately this was a Saturday afternoon during Beatle Week (hardly the quietest time of the year) when people, having queued to get into the Cavern itself, were then having to queue to get into the Cavern back due to the lack of room! Seemed crazy to me.
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Post by shannamccartney on Sept 3, 2011 10:35:42 GMT
Someone raised the point that people were kicked out of the convention right when it ended, well the bars were closed so they couldn't make any money on them anyways. They had to close everything down up top in order to open everything down below. I remember because I was at the bar and they stopped serving for what they said would be an hour so we went somewhere else to drink and came back It would be nice if the all nighter was included with the convention ticket though. I have to say the all nighter was pretty awesome. 3 stages going at once, all with different vibes. I spent some time in the main room and also in the acoustic room and it was a lot of fun! My only gripe was in the way I chose to spend my beatleweek. I don't think I spent nearly as much time at the Cavern and the other events with Beatle fans as I should have. Although, it was fun experiencing it in a different way. I don't think it's for me though lol! Next year I might even have to save up for a hotel room at the Adelphi because it is so much easier to just stay there for the week then go a mile up the road to my house. I had so much fun hanging out with great friends, from this board in particular. We all need to hang out again soon. We should make our own Beatles weekend in October!!
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alix
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 340
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Post by alix on Sept 3, 2011 12:43:31 GMT
My only gripe was in the way I chose to spend my beatleweek. I don't think I spent nearly as much time at the Cavern and the other events with Beatle fans as I should have. Although, it was fun experiencing it in a different way. I don't think it's for me though lol! Next year I might even have to save up for a hotel room at the Adelphi because it is so much easier to just stay there for the week then go a mile up the road to my house. There are advantages to the Adelphi! (still pains me to say that!) Always said they'd have to pay me to stay there- but me & Rhi did it this year as it wasn't that much more than the Apollo Court. (and last year we found that place such a headache we couldn't deal with it again.) Nothing beats a full english Breakfast just before bed. Only problem was with misprogrammed key cards and the hassles of getting master-cards to reset the door on the first day and last night. You could tell it was under new management - BWers weren't 2nd rate citizens!
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freezer
And That's A Start
Posts: 2
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Post by freezer on Sept 3, 2011 14:00:37 GMT
While I thought the pendulum swung a little too much to the all Beatles all the time, my main complaint was the lack of variety in Beatle tunes, which inspired this song.
Eight Times a Day (To the tune of a song you may have heard during Beatle Week)
Ooh I hear the same songs played over all the time Get Back, Help and She Loves You I Want to Hold Your Hand Taxman, Hey Jude Something but rarely Prud Don't hear nothing but "1" cuts Eight times a day
Chorus
Eight times a day I hear the same old songs Eight times a day I can't keep listening very long
What became of I Will Martha and Bungalow Bill? A few more cuts from side B Would really Please Please Me Monkey, Little Child Honey Pie, even wild Really miss the rare stuff Eight times a day
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Post by carolbscotland on Sept 3, 2011 20:06:59 GMT
Ha ha i need to agree on the 'percussion band' I seemed to be stuck in front of them at every gig! I could just hear a tambourine bashing about (whether the song required it or not) then a cow bell, maracas, whatever! This was annoying.
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Post by shannamccartney on Sept 4, 2011 10:08:47 GMT
There's nothing wrong with some added tambourine and cowbell especially during songs like a hard days night and drive my car where the band just ignores those instruments completely. It all adds to the vibe I think. I always let people enjoy themselves however they want to. If that means standing in front of me for a better view, getting absolutely wasted, or playing some maracas on the side of the stage It's all in good fun and I personally love the atmosphere.
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Post by allthingsmustpass on Sept 4, 2011 11:38:18 GMT
Have to disagree with you on that one.
I think it does spoil it for those that have come to listen to the real musicians - and have paid quite a bit of money to do so too. Most of the time it's (apparently) drunk people who can't even hold a simple beat.
Like I say, I think people would soon get a bit miffed if people started turning up with guitars, drum kits and harmonicas and sitting in the audience attempting to play.
Leave the instrument playing to the professionals, I say, and have some respect for for those who want to listen to the music. And if a band are 'ignoring' certain aspects of percussion, maybe it's because that's their own personal take on the song - and the audience should respect that.
Peace and love!
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