Aye i agree, and that's the main reason I've never been a fan tbh. Some of his strops in the past have been embarrassing. However he did look very humble and vulnerable tonight. In other news a big surprise for me was how much i liked Cat Burns. I'm definitely not her target audience! I'll deffo try see her live in the future though.
Of all the acts I’ve seen but never heard before I was really impressed with Young Fathers. The vocals were amazing.
Considering Elton John seemed he could barely walk from the minute he came on to the minute he left I think it was a pretty impressive 2 hours, it makes you realise just how many hits he's had when you know 90% of the songs.
How so? Radiohead fans wanted the band to keep with the guitar based sounds of The Bends, Monkeys fans predominately want Whatever People Say I Am over and over.
Well, Radiohead's changes were far more radical/experimental/substantial for a start and Monkeys' sound change absolutely pales in comparison. More importantly though Radiohead made the changes work and still produced quality tracks (some would argue they were better songs compared to their early songs). Arctic Monkeys on the other hand are not making the new sound work because, no offense, their new material is just dull and boring. I love it when bands go eclectic - Foals are the immediate example that come to mind. They were generic to me when they started but their sound change in 2019 elevated them completely. But this new stuff from Arctic Monkeys just isn't good enough. It lacks the chutzpah their earlier stuff had and just sounds tired and dull. IMO of course as will always be the case with music.
Imagine comparing the Arctic Monkeys to Radiohead lmfao, arguably one of the most progressive bands of all time who are still writing bangers vs the Monkeys who decided they'd rather write elevator music than do something interesting. The hate they've rightly gotten isn't even for the new stuff anyway, it's for his stupid accent he puts on and the butchering of old songs, they could have easily woven the new stuff in with the old and had it cohesive but instead they decided to play Mardy Bum as slow as possible just like all their other classics. His voice definitely isn't what it was but the BBC mix did him absolutely no favours, it was all over the place and for a lot of songs he was buried in the mix so badly you just couldn't hear him like on Rocket Queen. I saw them last year at the Spurs stadium and he still sounded ok imo. By all accounts Elton John put on an all timer set last night, good for him going out with a bang.
Just watched Rocket Man. Vic Reeves as the pub singer would have done a better job, and as for the band wearing sunglasses, Uber cool..
I'm just listening to a bit of Arctic Monkeys now. It's awful absolutely shocking. To be fair, the last album I listened to was AM, that wasn't bad. What's with the 'warble' in his voice (I don't know the correct term) and that stupid Yuppie / operatic accent he's trying to put on? He must be on hallucinogenics or going through his pretentious stage. It looks like he's trying to merge Bowie and Elvis and failing miserably. He must be playing a joke on the crowd and it's a parody, surely. Radiohead are possibly the most overrated band ever. Arctic Monkeys first album over anything Radiohead have done.
Arctic Monkeys are in a bizarre and tough situation. They are juggling having to be this hits band, whilst simultaneously wanting to progress with new directions that don't lend themselves to their audience. Their new music still isn't good enough to bring new fans in though, and those who are content forking out for the old tired hits aren't generally open to what their new stuff is. I know someone who has worked with them in the past, and some of his stories - I am not surprised they're a now stuck in a rut. They need to clean slate it, new producer and see what they can do. Problem is, artistically, they're still raking it in so the label won't see the need to try and do anything different. They are selling out stadium tours, at the end of the day.
This is the important bit. They're making too much money to really change anything. Change the band name, start fresh. Draw a line under the old stuff but they want the best of both worlds. I'm sure they can buy themselves out their contract with their label or with the amount of money has been made, there is probably enough goodwill. I know I've spoken about them a lot but QOTSA, they got a lot of grief for their Album 'Villains'. The album where he made fun of themselves regarding the whole 'Ginger Elvis' and the satanic connections to rock music. Though they were doing something different they still kept the fundamentals of what makes them great.
No chance they'll leave Domino imo. They're a weird label these days, but think most of the OG bands have a good situation there and are close with the label boss. Not sure how new bands get on there now it's essentially a major imo. Unless they wanna self-release, then there is no better label for them than Domino.
My point was if Domino are requiring a certain direction and big hits then they always have the option of leaving. Wasn't he in last of the shadow puppets? What happened to them? If they're bored with the old stuff, start a new band or pick up his other band again and be experimental. Look at Dave Grohl & Jack White (I'm not comparing Alex Turner to those greats) but they have done many different projects to keep things interesting (with variants of success). People expect fast riffs and music you can 'rock out to' from Arctic Monkeys.
tbf he did a Last Shadow Puppets album and tour not that long ago. Tbh I get the impression that the two projects aren't too dissimilar now, whereas when they first did it the difference between the two was quite obvious. It feels to me like the latest Arctic Monkeys stuff would be better suited to being an Alex Turner solo album - he writes all the songs anyhow. Add in the fact the same bloke has produced on every AM record bar the first, and both Shadow Puppets albums. What I do know, is that Domino quite like the producer (James Ford) and so probably some pressure being put on to keep his involvement. They should self-produce imo. Just try and be a ****ing band having fun again.
It has to be said I lost interest in his songs in the 80's ,but before that he wrote and laid down some truly amazing albums. I think when all is said and done Elton John can and should only be described as an absolute phenomenon ,some 76 year olds find it hard to break wind or breathe unaided let alone do a f*cking 2 hr set ,the man is unique in every sense of the word ,well over 400 songs he's had a hand in penning ,say what you want about him and his personal life ,but the fella is a true entertainer and song writer extraordinaire and has remained a music leviathan for some 50 yrs. Whether you like him or not ,that kind of longevity in this business needs applauding. I mean he's still singing and banging out his songs at 76 ,the guy is an absolute legend and it will be a sad day when those specs are finally laid to rest.I would have loved to be at this years Glastonbury just to be part of that experience because less we forget this fella already riveted down his place in music history as one of the greatest entertainers long before his swansong at Glasto.
Went for the first time this year- it's the best place I have ever seen. Regardless of whether you don't usually like festivals, or big crowds, it should quite simply be a bucket list thing for every single person. No words could ever do justice to how good it is.
