The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
After two hours on a minibus over the Pennines I was in Manchester with a bunch of friends, 12 tickets and the prospect of a damn good night ahead of us. We got there at half 5 and there was already a queue trailing the perimeter of the Manchester Evening News Arena building. The doors didn’t open until half 6 and so we ventured away to find some decent food to munch on, unfortunately we could only find a McDonalds and so had that instead. At about quarter past 6 we made our way into the crowded hall in front of the arena doors (there are numerous entrances but the hall is the only one indoors and it was freezing outside). My mates and I were the only ones who weren’t dressed as if we were the best customers of the Linkin Park mail order catalogue.
In the hall a fat bloke in wellies plodded around asking for spare tickets and then selling them on at double the price he paid. It can’t be much of a profitable job as he had holes in his coat and smelt like a cheese toasty. Ramshackle stalls had been set up selling official programmes at £7 each, I didn’t buy one because they basically contained a number of picture of the band and nothing even close to a set list or anything. Finally the doors opened and people poured into the arena like rats into a sewer and we began the long journey for our seats. The arena has two tiers, you go inside and it in a big circular track all the way around. On one side of the circle are about 20 bars, toilets and a candyfloss vendor; on the other side are about 100 doors that all look exactly the same with a range of seat numbers above, after running about the circle like a hamster in a wheel we finally found our seats and began the long walk up the narrowest flight of stairs ever to exist.
But it was all worth it, the view was great, we were on the higher tier of the arena and to the left of the stage. We waited until around half 7 and the first support band were announced. They were called “Kinesis” and nobody in the arena seemed to have heard of them as a dissatisfied “EH?” echoed around the huge building. They played a 40-minute set and got a few sympathy claps but the moshpit was about as lively as a PTA meeting when they played. Their lead singer sounded like he had a throat infection and one of the guitarists was clearly tone deaf. A rapturous applause filled the arena when they finished their set though, wonder why.
There was an interval and I took my chance to take a leak before the next support band came on. I have never in my life seen a men’s toilet so full. Women’s toilets always have people queuing outside but men’s never seem to. Anyway there were two walls with about 30 urinals on each and as soon as someone finished, another bloke would dash to the urinal. There must have been around 200 people crowded around 60 urinals, all in a semi-urgent rush to return to the arena. After this rather non-amusing experience I stocked up on cider and went back to the seats. How they get away with charging £2.80 for a pint of cider is beyond any moral justice, but I was thirsty.
The second support band were a band I have heard of but never heard, The Lost Prophets. They played an hour-long set and were absolutely amazing. I assumed because of the name they were some sort of punk rock band but they were quite heavy and very enjoyable. The moshpit was bouncing merrily and they were pretty damn great, I will be getting their album shortly.
There was then an even longer interval and the toilets were even more packed and I queued for about 20 minutes to get another overpriced cider and ambled back to our seats. The arena was at capacity and 14,000 people were chanting for the band to appear. They did keep us waiting a long time but a series of Mexican waves in which everyone participated kept us all entertained. Then, after a series of flashy lighting effects, a large explosion and the dropping of a huge banner, Linkin Park came on.
The crowd were madder than Hannibal Lecter and the applause and jumping shook the arena steadily. They opened with “Don’t Stay” and also played a set including, “One step closer”, “With you” which was performed excellently, “Points of Authority”, “Crawling”, “Runaway”, “A Place for my head”, “Lying from you”, “Nobody’s listening”, “From the inside” and then a couple of acoustic songs, “Breaking the habit” and “My December” which were both great moments to hold your lighters up, as about 1000 people did. When “Somewhere I belong” and “In the end” were performed the arena was deafeningly loud with everyone singing along at the top of their voice, except the strange bald man in front of me who sat playing Snake the whole time. The best performance was “Numb” which was performed with real feeling and sounded fantastic. During “A place for my head” they got a guy out of the audience to sing a few lines and gave him a guitar in return for doing so, the lucky beggar! The moshpit was heaving all the way through the hour and a half long set and various crowd surfers were dispensed of over the barricade.
After 4 hours in the sweaty arena it was all over, but I didn’t want it to be. It was brilliant. My throat was sore from singing along, I was sweaty from bouncing up and down and my neck sore from nodding my head like some possessed jack-in-a-box, but I was happy. We came outside of the arena and met at a rendezvous point at the bottom of the stairs. In front of the Manchester Evening News arena, in case you’ve never been, there is a three-laned road used extensively for inner city traffic. In the four hours we had been inside, the rod had been turned into a market place for merchandise. Not official merchandise, reasonably priced stuff instead, and it was laid out all over the road like a cattle market of sorts. I bought a giant (and I mean giant) poster, 4 foot by 6 foot in size, and a tour T-shirt that lists the tour dates on it. These two things cost me £8 for both of them, £1 more than one of those useless programmes. You can’t wear a programme can you!
The minibus arrived and we were driven home, immensely tired but happy, knowing that one day we would do it all again.
In the hall a fat bloke in wellies plodded around asking for spare tickets and then selling them on at double the price he paid. It can’t be much of a profitable job as he had holes in his coat and smelt like a cheese toasty. Ramshackle stalls had been set up selling official programmes at £7 each, I didn’t buy one because they basically contained a number of picture of the band and nothing even close to a set list or anything. Finally the doors opened and people poured into the arena like rats into a sewer and we began the long journey for our seats. The arena has two tiers, you go inside and it in a big circular track all the way around. On one side of the circle are about 20 bars, toilets and a candyfloss vendor; on the other side are about 100 doors that all look exactly the same with a range of seat numbers above, after running about the circle like a hamster in a wheel we finally found our seats and began the long walk up the narrowest flight of stairs ever to exist.
But it was all worth it, the view was great, we were on the higher tier of the arena and to the left of the stage. We waited until around half 7 and the first support band were announced. They were called “Kinesis” and nobody in the arena seemed to have heard of them as a dissatisfied “EH?” echoed around the huge building. They played a 40-minute set and got a few sympathy claps but the moshpit was about as lively as a PTA meeting when they played. Their lead singer sounded like he had a throat infection and one of the guitarists was clearly tone deaf. A rapturous applause filled the arena when they finished their set though, wonder why.
There was an interval and I took my chance to take a leak before the next support band came on. I have never in my life seen a men’s toilet so full. Women’s toilets always have people queuing outside but men’s never seem to. Anyway there were two walls with about 30 urinals on each and as soon as someone finished, another bloke would dash to the urinal. There must have been around 200 people crowded around 60 urinals, all in a semi-urgent rush to return to the arena. After this rather non-amusing experience I stocked up on cider and went back to the seats. How they get away with charging £2.80 for a pint of cider is beyond any moral justice, but I was thirsty.
The second support band were a band I have heard of but never heard, The Lost Prophets. They played an hour-long set and were absolutely amazing. I assumed because of the name they were some sort of punk rock band but they were quite heavy and very enjoyable. The moshpit was bouncing merrily and they were pretty damn great, I will be getting their album shortly.
There was then an even longer interval and the toilets were even more packed and I queued for about 20 minutes to get another overpriced cider and ambled back to our seats. The arena was at capacity and 14,000 people were chanting for the band to appear. They did keep us waiting a long time but a series of Mexican waves in which everyone participated kept us all entertained. Then, after a series of flashy lighting effects, a large explosion and the dropping of a huge banner, Linkin Park came on.
The crowd were madder than Hannibal Lecter and the applause and jumping shook the arena steadily. They opened with “Don’t Stay” and also played a set including, “One step closer”, “With you” which was performed excellently, “Points of Authority”, “Crawling”, “Runaway”, “A Place for my head”, “Lying from you”, “Nobody’s listening”, “From the inside” and then a couple of acoustic songs, “Breaking the habit” and “My December” which were both great moments to hold your lighters up, as about 1000 people did. When “Somewhere I belong” and “In the end” were performed the arena was deafeningly loud with everyone singing along at the top of their voice, except the strange bald man in front of me who sat playing Snake the whole time. The best performance was “Numb” which was performed with real feeling and sounded fantastic. During “A place for my head” they got a guy out of the audience to sing a few lines and gave him a guitar in return for doing so, the lucky beggar! The moshpit was heaving all the way through the hour and a half long set and various crowd surfers were dispensed of over the barricade.
After 4 hours in the sweaty arena it was all over, but I didn’t want it to be. It was brilliant. My throat was sore from singing along, I was sweaty from bouncing up and down and my neck sore from nodding my head like some possessed jack-in-a-box, but I was happy. We came outside of the arena and met at a rendezvous point at the bottom of the stairs. In front of the Manchester Evening News arena, in case you’ve never been, there is a three-laned road used extensively for inner city traffic. In the four hours we had been inside, the rod had been turned into a market place for merchandise. Not official merchandise, reasonably priced stuff instead, and it was laid out all over the road like a cattle market of sorts. I bought a giant (and I mean giant) poster, 4 foot by 6 foot in size, and a tour T-shirt that lists the tour dates on it. These two things cost me £8 for both of them, £1 more than one of those useless programmes. You can’t wear a programme can you!
The minibus arrived and we were driven home, immensely tired but happy, knowing that one day we would do it all again.
Page:
Alright mate cool
Manhunt absolutely rocks, dotcha think?
Manhunt absolutely rocks, dotcha think?
Dringo wrote:
> What do people think of Hell is for Heroes or Brand New. They are the
> bands I'm into at the moment.
Hell is for heroes were great at Reading and I also met them and got all their Auto's. Brand New I've liked for ages and they're albums kick ace. I prefer Favourite Weapon.
> What do people think of Hell is for Heroes or Brand New. They are the
> bands I'm into at the moment.
Hell is for heroes were great at Reading and I also met them and got all their Auto's. Brand New I've liked for ages and they're albums kick ace. I prefer Favourite Weapon.
Mexcellent, I don't get home from work till 5:30 so i may come on then.
Or I may spend an hour playing Guitar and Manhunt.
Or I may spend an hour playing Guitar and Manhunt.
ok i've added you.
Also, download some Songs by Thrice, another Fricken awesome band.
I.e 'Deabolt' or 'So strange I remember'
I.e 'Deabolt' or 'So strange I remember'
Hmm
*removes straightjacket*
I'll cant find it on kazaa.
Send me it over msn chief?
*removes straightjacket*
I'll cant find it on kazaa.
Send me it over msn chief?
Lol, no they're not goth, they're VERY hardcore metal.
Like Slipknot, Slipknot aren't goths.
Like Slipknot, Slipknot aren't goths.
They as 'goth' as their name suggests?
Screw Linkin Park, I'm goina see Poison The Well on 17th Dec in London. But then I doubt anyone here likes them.
Download : 'Slice Paper Wrists' If you want to hear them. Listen to the whole song rather that just half.
Download : 'Slice Paper Wrists' If you want to hear them. Listen to the whole song rather that just half.
Page: