Gut Reactions (post-gig memories and other trips)

Friday, 19 July 2024

Made of Stone Festival 2024 (Day One). Mote Park, Maidstone, Kent. Fri 19th July, 2024.

This was my first rock festival. Somehow, despite attending hundreds of gigs, I'd reached the age of fifty-five, still a rock festival virgin (TRNSMT doesn't count as it was only for one day, and I got to go home afterwards). But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Three of us (Bob, Scott, and I) headed down from Renfrewshire to Maidstone, leaving at 6 a.m. Bob kindly volunteered to drive. His daughter had booked our accommodation through Booking.com for a location within easy walking distance of Mote Park, the home of the festival.

We stopped off a couple of times along the way, the first for breakfast at Mainsgill Farmshop in East Layton (an excellent cafe and shop with a delicious breakfast and a huge range of cakes and scones) and again for lunch and petrol at one of the motorway service stations (less tasty but more eye-opening as the queue for the Ladies stretched halfway through the food mall, resulting in some joining the shorter queue for the Gents' cubicles).

All good so far.

Mainsgill Farmshop

As we arrived on Union Street in Maidstone at 3.30 pm, the weather was burning hot (over 30 degrees). Leaving the car in the nearby public car park, we carried our bags to the house. Bob was concerned because he hadn't received the email yet containing the keycode to unlock the key safe, but we'd just witnessed a man open the front door for a nurse, so we knew someone was inside. It did imply, however, that there was a possibility the place had been double-booked.

It was worse than that.

We knocked on the door and were greeted by a man who sounded of Eastern European origin. He indicated he was the current owner, that the site was now an occupied private residence, and that he had instructed Booking.com to remove his listing six months earlier. Despite booking and paying in full four months earlier, we realised this meant we now had nowhere to stay.

Bob got straight onto the travel agent while Scott and I got out our phones to search for suitable accommodation within Maidstone. Neither of us had any luck. The Booking.com agent, an American, was cordial but not much use. He identified there had been an error, offered us 25 Euro compensation on top of our refund, and looked into finding us somewhere nearby. They were not prepared to pay for more expensive accommodation as that was not how the system worked. Price was irrelevant, though, as there was nothing left in town.

Of course, there wasn't! There was a bloody three-day festival on!

After an hour of back-and-forth with the agent, we found a hotel in a nearby village with sufficient rooms to accommodate the three of us for the duration of our stay. The agent made the booking and gave us the option of paying them again or waiting and paying directly at the hotel. Like we were going to give Booking.com any more money!

The Mercure Maidstone Great Danes Hotel was nice, certainly less smelly than the residence in Dogshit Street, as we renamed it. Steve in reception was sympathetic to our situation and arranged two rooms beside one another on the first floor.

The titular Great Danes

We dumped our stuff and drove back into town, parking somewhat ironically in the same car park beside that residence. By now, we knew we couldn't make it to the festival for the start, so we headed instead to a McDonald's for dinner. The first one we tried was closed. I hadn't realised it was in a mall, but we did get to watch three argumentative kids, suspected of shoplifting, being held by security.

We ended up at this McDonald's.

We sat in to eat, despite there being a child play area inside. I took comfort in pretending the children's shrieks were due to an axe murderer slaughtering them, but then my imagination went too far, suggesting the burger meat was now made from the children's flesh. Not so tasty, but at least they'd given us an extra free McFlurry by mistake. I hate to imagine which bodily fluid they used to make them.

We then trekked to Mote Park, arriving much later than intended, missing the entire set of the first band, White Raven Down. Attaching our VIP wristbands, we headed in and collected our goody bags from the merch booth. The tote bag contained a programme, a lanyard with the festival schedule attached, and a reusable cup.

After a quick site recce, we made it to the VIP rest area, bought some well-deserved drinks and settled down to listen to Blaze Bayley from the benches. The cheap soft drinks I'd anticipated didn't quite work out that way when I discovered the £2.50 price tag was only for half a cup of our reusable pint tumblers. Sneaky bastards!

While people-watching, I was amazed to see the huge variety of festival and band T-shirts being worn. Knowing I was among my people gave me a warm feeling.

I'd kinda forgotten Blaze Bayley was, for a time, Iron Maiden's frontman. It was only when the tunes went on and on without any lyrics that it twigged. I'd given up on the Irons after Bruce left, so I didn't know the songs. I have to give Blaze credit for the passion of his delivery. They may have sounded like an Iron Maiden tribute act, but that's unfair because the singer was actually in the band.

At the end of his set, as the crowd dispersed to restock their drinks and stomachs (but mainly drinks), I managed to secure a spot on the barrier at the front of the Phoenix Stage. I was so happy. No one was going to stand between me and my heroes - GUN. I even messaged my wife to tell her the good news.

No one in front of me this time!

Then this happened.

The press photographers swarmed like paparazzi, constantly moving about, desperate to snap (and sell) whatever iconic shot they could grab from the night. They remained there for the first three songs, somewhat detracting from the quality of my video.

Regardless, I loved GUN's set, despite the pesky photographers, the lack of proper stage lighting, the poor sound quality, and my concern for Dante's health (he was sweating badly but still kept on three layers, his vocals not at full strength). I wished it could have gone on for longer, but by the time they were midway through Fight for Your Right, they'd overrun, and their mics got cut. Show over.

Afterwards, I was on such a dopamine high I beamed like a Maidstone Cat, a feeling that would repeat multiple times over the festival.

Bob drove us back to the hotel.

Show opener - Lucky Guy, Here's Where I Am, & Don't Say It's Over

Better Days

Shame On You & Fight For Your Right (until the mic cut)

Planet Rock DJ, Paul Anthony

Can someone put the lights on, please?

Ticket Price Adult Weekend Ticket £150

VIP Upgrade Adult Weekend Ticket £50.00

Booking fees £21.00

Handling Fee £1.00

Grand Total £222.00 via Skiddle

Friday, 28 June 2024

P!NK - Summer Carnival Tour 2024, Hampden Park, Glasgow. Friday 28th June, 2024

I normally write my post-gig reactions immediately after the gig or on the following day. This one took more than a week. I went to work the next day, felt awful, and, upon my return home, slept for twelve hours straight (which, given my insomnia, is unusual). Turned out I had covid, as confirmed by a test the following day. So, seven days later, as my ability to concentrate returns, these are now distant memories.

This was my third P!nk concert and the second Summer Carnival I'd seen on this tour. Unlike Hyde Park last year, Hampden was freezing. We had Standing Golden Circle tickets and arrived early so that we could find a spot near the end of the front stage. KidCutUp was doing his stuff, and the crowd was full of ladies (and gents) in pink stetsons and feather boas with pink glitter on their faces.

We watched Gayle have a serious wardrobe malfunction during her set as her new dress fell apart. I bet she wished she could have used a couple of those safety pins from her logo to hold it together. Instead, she ended up wearing a sweatshirt donated by someone in the crowd. She came across better this time. Her confidence has grown. I suppose getting picked by P!nk twice to support her will do that for a girl. That and recording a smash hit anthem that every girl in the crowd seemed to know.

The Script surprised me. I didn't expect them to be so popular with the young people around us who belted out all the lyrics to their songs. I don't understand the band's appeal. To me, lead singer Danny comes across like a Karoaoke Bono. He worked the crowd and wowed them. One song involves singing on the phone to an ex, and someone tossed their phone onto the stage, only for it to smash. Whoops. Danny did find one girl to sing to, and she stayed on the video call the whole time.

Before P!nk came on, five of the young girls in front of us decided to use the facilities, leaving their mother to keep their spaces. They were away for ages, so long, in fact, that by the time they returned, that space was already swallowed up. That didn't stop them, though. They crammed in, creating ill feelings with those in front who'd been there all along. When a pair of posh young persons also attempted to worm their way in, they were met with substantial abuse. If they hadn't been so tall (and smartly dressed), they might have gotten away with it, but tensions were already stoked. They departed to try elsewhere.

We had three foreign people in front of us. I didn't recognise the language they spoke, but the bouffant-haired female wore what I thought was the Hungarian flag around her neck. It took a lot less than 100 minutes for them to piss me off (Euros 2024 reference). The tall, bearded male tried to be inconspicuous with his cigarette consumption, hiding it in the crook of his hand, but he must have been stupid if he thought we wouldn't smell it. Stubbing out the butt underfoot afterwards also reinforced that he wasn't vaping. The aforementioned female with the flag lifted it up, blocking my view, whenever P!nk approached. Either that or she raised her camera in front of me for part of every song. Her female companion did so, too, but less often. She wasn't alone in doing this as everyone had 'camera tourettes', especially the young girls who needed them to view the action, being too short to see the stage. I quickly gave up any hope of filming any of this gig.

We didn't have a clear view of the main stage anyway because of the risers on the front stage and the attendees' cameras. This didn't matter, though, as P!nk was often performing aerial acrobatics or dancing/singing on the front stage. It did reduce our appreciation, though, as we were not able to see everything.

I was determined to film one song, though. Twice before, I'd failed to film the finale. The first time, my battery failed. The second, I ran out of memory. This time, I had a new camera, and it was fully charged and had over a hundred gigs of free data. As soon as I realised there was one song to go, I pressed record long before anyone else. The arrival of the harness stirred some excitement, the crowd erupting when they saw P!nk marching to the front, the drums beating out the intro to "So What?". I managed to maintain a clear view as the main guitar riff kicked in, and then she was off, flying around the stadium, and somehow, this time, I managed to capture the whole song. As she was in the air, it didn't matter that everyone around me was also filming her. My view was clear.

Even though I've seen her do this three times now, it never fails to impress. She is a fantastic performer who loves her audience as much as they love her back. They give her presents of chocolate, cuddly toys, and clothes. She signs their autographs and poses for pictures. She loves what she's doing, and it shows in every smile and laugh. She did find it freezing in her skimpy costumes, though. Welcome to a Scottish Summer Carnival, P!nk!

Correction: the 'Hungarians' were actually Portuguese. I looked up the flag afterwards.

Setlist

Intro Montage (video intro; elements of “ Raise Your Glass,” “TRUSTFALL,” “What About Us” & “Get the Party Started")

Get the Party Started (aerial stunt, w/Eurythmics " Sweet Dreams" & C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat" snippets)

Raise Your Glass

Who Knew

Just Like a Pill

What About Us (Dance remix)

Act II

Heartbeat (dance sequence to tape)

Turbulence (Aerial Stunt)

Beautiful Trauma (Snippet as a part of nightly “guess that tune” game with pianist)