Beyonce at O2 Arena, London

Beyonce at O2 Arena, London

16th November 2009

I have to admit that this isn’t the usual kind of gig that I find myself going to. If you scan through a few of my other reviews you’ll see a definite indie/country/folk/new band theme to things. However, I also have to admit that I was pretty excited to see what kind of show Beyonce would be putting on.

Beyonce had been playing at the O2 Arena on the previous two nights and was joined by her hubby, Jay Z, and Kanye West on the preceding evenings. With rumours of such guest artists making their way around the venue, excitement in the arena was immense. My best celebrity spot of the night was Lemar, the man who won third place in BBC One’s Fame Academy back in 2002.

My wife spotted some members of Boyz II Men but I can’t verify this as I wouldn’t recognise them even if they stood naked in front of me whilst giving a rendition of ‘I’ll Make Love To You’. They were wearing sunglasses, and it was pretty dark so I’m guessing they were famous. Shane Ritchie was also slouching not too far away from us looking a bit miffed that his seats were basically behind the stage. As Jay Z and Kanye West decided not to put in a performance, I think Shane Ritchie was about as good as it got on the celeb front.

After sitting through a set from an American lady called Nikki Jane singing karaoke to a backing track and with four dancers who were dancing like they were in the ‘Doll on a Music Box’ scene from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I thought it wouldn’t be long until Beyonce came on.

I was wrong. A chap called Julian Peretta and his band put on such a terrible show that the bar beckoned. They were a bit like a poor man’s Maroon 5 but without the tunes or charisma. Just for the record, I can’t really stomach Maroon 5. Sorry.

Anyway, eventually the Beyonce extravaganza started at about 9.35pm after the fat ‘2 seat’ lady behind me had been saying stuff like ‘Come on love, you might be a superstar but some of us have got a train to catch – this is real diva behaviour, I’ve got a right mind to walk out. That would show her’. I doubt it would have?

As expected, the show was pretty spectacular. Beyonce oozed class, charm and charisma. Along with her massive female band and entourage of (ridiculously 6-packed) male and (far less revealing) female dancers, Beyonce was on stage for well over 2 hours.

She interacted superbly with the 20,000 crowd and I got the feeling that even those at the back of the top tier felt involved in the show. When she started singing Irreplaceable she urged the crowd to sway their arms in time with ‘to the left, to the left’ and even I fancied joining in. I’m in no way a dancer and this showed as a little bit of arm swaying proved way too complicated. I resumed my arms folded position. However, it was no mean feat by Sasha Fierce to engage with such a big audience and even to tempt crowd participation from me.

Other highlights from the show included Beyonce flying across the arena with a couple of token somersaults before launching into a Destiny’s Child medley on the central circular second stage. There was also a highly amusing montage of ‘Single Ladies’ taken from YouTube performances from households across the world followed by a breathtaking live version. Beyonce even did a bit of crowd surfing and unleashed the rock chick inside her:



There was perhaps a disproportionate number of cheesy ballads in the early stages of the show which weren’t my cup of tea (including Ave Maria in a wedding dress – didn’t quite get this) but I only had to look at members of the audience around me to see how captivated they were. I was definitely in the minority so I’m in no place to criticise.

Part of me went to the show wanting to pick it apart and fault her, but in truth there was nothing to fault. She’s an incredible singer, a fantastically suggestive dancer, and was exceptionally humble and very likeable.

Beyonce really is a superstar. The show was slick and (ballads aside) fast paced. She is larger than life and lives up to everything that you’d expect from a brand as big as the one that she has created.

The set was:
'Déjà Vu'
'Crazy In Love'
'Work It Out'
'Let Me Clear My Throat'
'Pass The Peas'
'Naughty Girl'
'Freakum Dress'
'Get Me Bodied'
'Smash Into You'
'Ave Maria'
'Broken-Hearted Girl'
'If I Were A Boy'
'Diva'
'Radio'
'Me, Myself and I'
'Ego'
'Hello'
'Baby Boy'
'Irreplaceable'
'Check On It'
'Bootylicious'/'Bug A Boo'/'Jumpin' Jumpin''/'Upgrade U'/'Video Phone'
'Say My Name'
'At Last'
'Listen'
'Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)'
'Halo'

Doves at Hammersmith Apollo

Doves
Carling Apollo, Hammersmith on Friday 9 December 2005


I managed to get a couple of seated tickets but wasn't really too excited at the prospect of sitting upstairs in the back corner of the venue - the night had long sold out and I was slow off the mark in getting tickets so I took whatever tickets I could get my hands on. Luckily for me, my sister was standing downstairs and bumped into two fellas who had aching legs and wanted to sit down all evening. Quick ticket swap was sorted. Great start to the evening.

I made it in for the last 5 minutes of "Alan" Stubbzy(?) strumming away, all alone on his guitar. Don't think I missed much. There were only about 27 people in the venue.

Shortly after Stubbzy came a band called Polytechnic. Their set seemed to get stronger as it went on and their confidence grew. A band that I'd definitely like to see again and worth looking into. By the time they left the stage the venue had filled up rapidly and there were at least 350 people knocking around and having a bit of a chat.

Third support for the night came from Richard Hawley (ex Longpigs and Pulp guitarist) playing a bit of nifty fifties throwback music. Pretty tedious but I think that a half full, big venue did him no favours. It was toilet time.

Doves finally emerged and it was definitely worth the wait. It's the 3rd time I'd seen Doves and they were at there best. I'd put a lot of this down to the sound in Hammersmith Apollo which, on this occasion, was fantastic. The fact that Doves had such a strong set of music is a bit of a given these days.

On stage Doves are an incredibly diverse and versatile band. The lead singer, Jimi Goodwin, is the bassist and occasionally drummer. Jez Williams plays guitar and keyboard and does his fair share of singing. For most of the night he was positioned centre stage. Andy Williams bangs the drums but even he took centre stage during the encore to sing the lead vocals on M62 Song.

There were a number of highlights during the gig and, apart from a short spell early on when my concentration started to flag (this was soon sorted by Black and White Town!), the gig was always very watchable and enjoyable. There was a mid-set equipment glitch which led to the crowd entertaining themselves by singing the catchy riff to The Last Broadcast. Cedar Room was sublime before the encore and during the encore there was a highly amusing sketch on the big screen. It involved the band hopping into an limo outside the venue, driving 5 yards and hopping back out again to go to the next door pub. They sat down, read a paper and necked their drinks before getting back in the limo to rush to the venue to play the encore. Very funny and fully appreciated by the crowd.

The encore started with Here it Comes and finished with There Goes the Fear (which saw the first full-on and widespread mosh of the evening!). Both were fantastic.Doves certainly aren't a pretty band to look at but there music is so, so good and the gig had an element of humour that hasn't always been apparent in the past.

Setlist
Snowden
Sky Starts Falling
Where We're Calling From
Pounding
Almost Forgot Myself
Sea Song
Eleven Miles Out
Black And White Town
The Storm
Last Broadcast
(a capella, to fill in time during technical hitch)
Rise
Ambition
Last Broadcast (real performance)
Caught By The River
One Of These Days
The Cedar Room
-------------------
Here It Comes
M62
Song
There Goes The Fear