Top Gear Live

Dr. Loon

Went to the Friday 5pm show, thought it was brilliant. We had the fastest lap time of the Irish crowd so far, obviously we've been beaten since. Hammond lost our footy match but Clarkson scored us a goal without a car. Very funny.

Before hand we went to The Four Seasons for lunch - €19 for a chicken sambo, but the best sambo I've ever had - and we got to see the lads leaving for the show. Didn't even realise they were staying there, but we waved them off in their car.

I do think tickets were overpriced, but I enjoyed it, as did the fíance. Great to see some beautiful cars after the main show. Never mind the girl in the yellow jumpsuit! Wow.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

My pics from friday nights show....

[snipped]

frankf

Hi all,

I was at the 11am show today, overall very impressed (overpriced though...but it is the times we live in)
I may be wrong but when the tickets went on sale originally the price was supposed to include a complimentary Programne (not the irish times one)
Checking now online the ticket details and there is no mention of any programne.
Was I seeing things before?
Just wondering.
As another poster already said the show may be back next year (a big sign outside saying see you next year)

Frank

qz

Got a quick video of the skittles!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opte15YDVPM

bluemachaveli

Anyone else think that Mustang pushing Hammond was very quite?

Ronan H

Just back from the last show, and I gotta say I'm thoroughly happy I went. To think that I was not going to bether going a few days ago!

I found it very entertaining and enjoyable, loved the Fiesta stunt driving, football was hilarious although England won it 4-3! The three guys were great, Jeremy was quite hoarse, probably from a combination of the last few days shows and last nights boozing in the Punch Bowl...

I was sitting in Block E which was dead centre of the stage so the view was great and I was even happier when Jeremy and Hamster came up the aisle and pretty much stood on my toes for the Cool Wall segment. Jeremy even took a swipe at me for holding up the cool banner for the Nissan GTR! I got some great photos of the two guys when they were in the aisle! I'll have a web adderss for my photos as soon as I get round to uploading some of the 400+ photos I took :eek:.

The Paddock Tour was not much of a spectacle but I was happy to get a chance to see the cars from the show, particularly the Lambo Gallardo and the Nissan GTR. The mini cars were a laugh too!

The exhibition was great too, a hefty list of impressive cars, the Veyron was wicked to see in the flesh as they say but it didn't look as cool as it did on TV I gotta say. I was a bit disappointed with the state of some of the cars in that there was loads of dust and light debris on them which took away from the visual impact. It wouldn't have been such a big job to send a few people round with dry cloths to dust off the cars a bit before the crowds came in...

Other than that I was absolutely impressed and I think it certainly was worth the money!

Over and out...

Head

Edit: Oh No! It appears I didn't see the girl in the yellow jumpsuit. Dammit!

BFassassin

I went to the 2 o clock show today and really enjoyed it overall. The only gripe would be the seating postitions but the big screens helped when I couldnt see what was happening for myself.

niceirishfella

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, this thread is going in a positive direction now. I'm glad to see not all people felt it was overpriced.

View Profile

Was the Veyron there?

My girlfriend was at it and didnt see it.

Was it in a VIP area or something?

Cheers.

qz

View Profile wrote: »

Was the Veyron there?

My girlfriend was at it and didnt see it.

Was it in a VIP area or something?

Cheers.

That's because she's a girl, it was there.

BFassassin

It was there in the normal non vip area.
Stunning car

View Profile

Oh she's not going to be happy about that.

Which tent/area was it in?

Ha ha on the phone to her now and she's pissed!

qz

View Profile wrote: »

Oh she's not going to be happy about that.

Which tent/area was it in?

Ha ha on the phone to her now and she's pissed!

The biggest one that everybody went through, right in the middle. Tell her I say well done

tdc

qz wrote: »

That and the music when the three 360s were on stage, there shouldn't have been any .

They are not real Ferrari's, they are replicas

-Chris-

So far I've seen loads of pics of things I've already seen, but nobody's got a pic of the girl in the yellow jumpsuit that I missed...

Pics, or it didn't happen....

Bobo78

I was there tonight and i have to say that I am very happy with what i saw. I think it was briliant and funny.
I was as well expecting this show to be a dissapointment after few negative posts about it. But when i saw it I was pleasently surprised.
I loved all the cars there and I tried to take as much pictures of them as I could but it was very hard due to all the people getting in front of your camera and just being overcrowded.

I just arrived from Dublin to Limerick about an hour and half ago so i as soon as I get the time I ll post few pictures of the cars.

-Chris-

I've put up my pics here, you'll have to excuse a few of them - they were taken with a cameraphone...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/audichris/

Dr. Loon

AudiChris wrote: »

So far I've seen loads of pics of things I've already seen, but nobody's got a pic of the girl in the yellow jumpsuit that I missed...

Pics, or it didn't happen....

I'm waiting for a pic too. My lady caught me big time when I saw her walking by and did a triple take!

Ronan H

OK y'all, here are my photographs from the show, categorised as follows to make them easier to view:

1. Pre Show Exhibition
2. Live Show
3. Paddock Tour (Sorry for uttering the forbidden words )
4. After Show Exhibition

http://picasaweb.google.com/ronanstopgearlive2008photos

Enjoy!

Head

qz

tdc wrote: »

They are not real Ferrari's, they are replicas

Convinced me anyway ;[

qz

Some very nice pics there Head, considering the amount of people.

Ronan H

Cheers qz. I was crawling around on the floor most of the time getting under peoples feet!

@ TDC: Ya wanna explain about the replica statement instead of just saying it? I'm sure a lot of people will be wondering about it as they were quite convincing... Who made them, how'd ya know they are replicas etc...

Thanks

Head

barryfitz

Hey all was at the 5 o'clock show yesterday and while I did think the show the lads put on was impressive it was only let down by the seating arrangements. We were in block K which was at the far right of the stage, and seeing as most of the action was at the centre and the left hand side of the stage, we all ended up with sore necks. The stunt driving was excellent and the mini cars were a hoot but the whole stig thing was a bit...... weird. although his buggy was rapid fast . And where the hell did May keep disappearing off to? He's probably my favourite presenter on the show and would have liked to see more of him.

I have to be honest it was baltic in the exhibition tent last night so we didnt really hang around too long and missed a few cars, including the veryon. (but Im not bothered about that).

Impressive show but we had a bad seat.

Curvy Vixen

Glad you all seemed to (overall) enjoy it..I think as a first year it was good.

Would I pay that much and go next year?

Probably :D

rgunning

Have to say, really enjoyed it myself. Went Friday at 7.30pm. Didn't experience any queues as was late enough getting there, but was still in plenty of time. The seating wasn't great but had a grand view in block Q, row K. All six of us there though it was brill and would definitely go again.

Was impressed that there was no queues at the bar in the exhibition area and we even got given a few free dominos pizzas when we were having our pints! In general, the people at the stands were chatty, nice and helpful.

I have to say, I am baffled by some of the earlier negative reports. I go to a lot of gigs/shows/events and I found it great, the only thing being that it was very "corporate-y". As for the guy who tried to push his kids in front of me at the Nokia toy car race stand, what the HELL are you doing going to a Top Gear show with your Louis Vuitton man-bag?!

aquascrotum

We were at the 5pm show yesterday. I was apprehensive after reading the comments on here.

Just to add my +1's to previous comments - rubbish seating was a let down. Chemistry between the 3 lads was ok but I suppose I'd hoped for more. Can't help feeling they've sold themselves out. The show itself was good, Fiestas were excellent, Cool wall was reasonable (is the whole red/green/left/right thing a scam or is it real??), Stig at the end was a huge letdown. Paddock was a joke and I was on the brink of telling a steward where to stick his microphone.

The exhibition was rubbish tbh. We left after 10mins (which was as fast as we could walk through it).

I'm not sure what parts of the overall event were the Irish promotor's inputs and what was Clarkson/Top Gear. Overall I left happier than I thought I would but E100 was robbery. It was what the market was prepared to pay, but I daresay if the show came back in 3 months time there would be a fair degree more scepticism.

Also where were the complimentary programs for the higher level (paddock tour) tickets??

John Mason

barryfitz wrote: »

.

I have to be honest it was baltic in the exhibition tent last night so we didnt really hang around too long and missed a few cars, including the veryon. (but Im not bothered about that).

i was working outside the show yesterday from 8.30am - 5.30pm - if you thought it was baltic inside, you should have been outside, it was like a suana inside

Ronan H

aquascrotum wrote: »

The exhibition was rubbish tbh. We left after 10mins (which was as fast as we could walk through it).

Also where were the complimentary programs for the higher level (paddock tour) tickets??

I'm a bit baffled as to how you think the exhibition was rubbish, was it the cars you thought were rubbish or what? Yes there were big crowds and a lot of stands selling stuff, but that's to be expected at an exhibition is it not? I think people are very easily choosing to view the whole thing in a negative way for some reason, but I'm glad to see that the overall impression in this thread has been positive, much to the disappointment of some I'm sure :rolleyes:.

Do you mind me asking what you expected from the exhibition personally? As in what would have made it excellent for you? I'm just generally interested in what the people with negative feedback would feel would have been better for them...

And no, I didn't get a complimentary programme with my Paddock Tour wristband, I don't think anyone did if I remember a few posts a few pages back in this thread. That was a misleading aspect of the whole marketing of the event. Also there was a whole lot of incorrect information being circulated from different places, for example, I rang the hotline to ask them about the show after I received my tickets and the girl said I could go in at ANY time during the day and mosey around at my leisure until my show started at 5:00pm. Great, or so I thought when I arrived in Ballsbridge at 2:30pm to spend a couple of hours looking at the cars before the show. I was promptly told to go away and come back at 4:00pm! Boo...

I have to comment about the queue to get in at 3:40pm also, it was all the way up the Simmonscourt Road, around the corner and went about 300m down PAST the British Embassy! In fairness it dissipated quickly (within about 10 minutes I was indoors) but it was quite a shock to see it at first :eek:...

Head

Ronan H

pink fluffy bunny wrote: »

i was working outside the show yesterday from 8.30am - 5.30pm - if you thought it was baltic inside, you should have been outside, it was like a suana inside

I didn't see any pink fluffy bunnies outside? You must have been hiding...



Hope you have warmed up by now!

Head

aquascrotum

Head wrote: »

I'm a bit baffled as to how you think the exhibition was rubbish, was it the cars you thought were rubbish or what? Yes there were big crowds and a lot of stands selling stuff, but that's to be expected at an exhibition is it not? I think people are very easily choosing to view the whole thing in a negative way for some reason, but I'm glad to see that the overall impression in this thread has been positive, much to the disappointment of some I'm sure :rolleyes:.

Do you mind me asking what you expected from the exhibition personally? As in what would have made it excellent for you? I'm just generally interested in what the people with negative feedback would feel would have been better for them...

I expect an exhibition to be primarily a display of cars - with a degree of marketing to be expected but mainly to the periphery.

The exhibition imo was 70% tat and 30% cars. My family paid 500 of our hard earned to stand queuing for an hour in freezing conditions (fair enough), to be herded into an unheated cowshed, for a sh*te view of a reasonably good and well put together show, then to be herded and shouted through another section that we had paid a premium to avail of where we could just about see some of the cars used. Then we were shown into 2 tents where the biggest exhibitors were mobile phone companies, whose relevance to the day is questionable.

The fact that there a significant number of posts on this thread questioning whether some cars were even there would suggest that the "exhibition" was more of a sales pitch than a gallery of cars.

10 shows x 5000 people (according to Clarkson?) x E100avg a ticket = E5m. Are the Irish promotors that hard up that they need to squeeze every cent out of the exhibition hall from promotors to the point you havent a space to stand and look at the cars you're there to see? According to a colleague the Birmingham and London shows were a lot cheaper and the exhibition (MPH 2008 I think) was better put together and more user friendly.

I had a reasonably good day and enjoyed myself - I just think it could have been better.