Top Gear Live

ondafly

I enjoyed the show ! was a good laugh. Not 100% on the price though, but that goes for nearly every concert I ever attend in Ireland (they are always overpriced).

Did anyone manage to take a photo of the 996/997 black GT2 in first hall ? It looked like a 996 inside but it had the front of a 997.

Victor_M

Based on the advice of a few lads on Boards that had been to the show on Thursday and Firday, I went to Paddy Cullens for a few pints strolled over at 7.25 straight into my seat the lads arrived about a minute later, so no queuing, I thought the show/exhibition afterwards to be a very pleasant surprise by Irish standards, lots of cars and minimal marketing in fact, compared to the Toys for boys for example which offers nothing by way of entertainment just stands trying to sell crap to you.

As for the seating issues, when was the last time anyone went to a live performance and didn't have their view obscured by someone in front of them a bit? I was in the Gaiety a few weeks ago and spent the whole show moving left and right to try and get a decent view.

My only criticism is that I felt it was very unprofessional of the lads to go on the toot for the weekend considering how much everyone had spent, I mean they were bragging about it on the Late late and at the show on Saturday night, that's why Clarkson was so hoarse, but I suppose that's the way they are all the time.

No matter how good the show was though, some people were never going to be happy.

Saab Ed

€100 was too much. If I had payed €65 or €70 I might not feel so underwellmed but the price was just too much. This wasnt a one off concert ,this was a show every 2 hours in the evening for a few days. Cant comment on the exhibition after becaused I figured it was going to be a marketplace rather than an out and out car display so I didnt go in. Did enjoy the show though , really well put together. What about the guys with the megaphones. I think they just liked to make noise .

stephenc_ie

I went to the 11am Saturday show and personally I give it 6.5/10

I'm one of the biggest Top Gear fans I know - all the episodes recorded, magazine subscriptions etc. etc.

The lads on stage were very very scripted. Looking at the videos on youtube, it's the same thing at each show. I wish they had acknowledged that rather than pretend. "this is the first time we've ever done this - live" - the bike thing - same with the GWiz - like you wouldn't notice the difference sitting in front of it.

I thought they could have treated the audience less like fools - we did pay a good chunk of money to see this - we're obviously fans.

The whole James May disappearing thing I took for him being a bit under the weather but was he doing that at every show???

The cool wall and Star in a reasonably priced car thing wasn't great - you couldn't see at the best of times and with people holding up the cards it wasn't great.

About the seats - I'm 6'2 and I had a hard time seeing - my sister is 5'1 and she saw peoples heads and the screens - may as well have been watching it on TV.

The whole wristband/paddock thing wasn't explained.
I bought "platiunum tickets" - why are the basic tickets called platiunum?

The exhibition was good - not too much crap being sold - but I got a load of flyers handed to me - and some people took to dropping them instead of taking my no thanks reply.

All in all, I was disappointed - it was a show for people who occasionally watch Top Gear - not the fans that would pay the €100 to go see them.

Stephen.

stephenc_ie

oh yeah - am I the only skeptic who found it strange that our show got the Top Time?

They said (and lied) that no-one had ever gotten the 3 stig helmets. There's a video on youtube of Earls Court getting them.

What sort of times did the other shows get?

stephenc_ie

Ficus wrote: »

did anyone notice that all the jokes from the live show were exactley the same as the ones from the tv broadcast last night?

And the cool wall was too...

Saab Ed

HOLD ON ... Are you saying what I think you're saying .. It cant be, that it was scripted. Nooooo. :P

Honey-ec

Ficus wrote: »

did anyone notice that all the jokes from the live show were exactley the same as the ones from the tv broadcast last night?

I was just about to say that...

stephenc_ie wrote: »

oh yeah - am I the only skeptic who found it strange that our show got the Top Time?

They said (and lied) that no-one had ever gotten the 3 stig helmets. There's a video on youtube of Earls Court getting them.

What sort of times did the other shows get?

Don't think they were fixed - our show (Thursday 7.30pm) was 4th from the bottom!:o

GiftGrub100

Have to say I went to the 7.30 show on Saturday night and really enjoyed it, the Top Gear Show was very good and the exhibition afterwards, featured quite a few cars we don't see on Irish Roads, the Veyron and Ford GT to name two.

Was a bit worried after reading the comments here on Friday and thankfully had tickets in Block E Row D so had a very good view of the front of the stage.

anonymous_joe

Ah it was a laugh.

I was a tad disappointed it was so obviously scripted, and they were clearly hanging, but twas to be expected.

Was there on Friday at half 7 by the by. I really did have a larf. Went with my dad and he enjoyed it too. 200 bills was probably too much to pay, but as he said, Dublin never gets this kind of thing.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Ah it was a laugh.

I was a tad disappointed it was so obviously scripted, and they were clearly hanging, but twas to be expected.

Was there on Friday at half 7 by the by. I really did have a larf. Went with my dad and he enjoyed it too. 200 bills was probably too much to pay, but as he said, Dublin never gets this kind of thing.

My thoughts exactly. And i was at the same show as yourself!

Shamo

Honey-ec wrote: »

I was just about to say that...



Don't think they were fixed - our show (Thursday 7.30pm) was 4th from the bottom!:o

Our show (Saterday 2pm) got 5th from top! Was a good laugh, especially the car football, not worth the ticket price though.

tdc

ondafly wrote: »

Did anyone manage to take a photo of the 996/997 black GT2 in first hall ? It looked like a 996 inside but it had the front of a 997.

This one? http://www.bebo.com/PhotoAlbumBig.jsp?PageNbr=1&MemberId=2937948576&PhotoAlbumId=6431035373&PhotoId=6593966851

AFAIK its a 996 GT2 with a hamman front end conversion.

Alun

aquascrotum wrote: »

The exhibition imo was 70% tat and 30% <insert random stuff here>. My family paid <insert exorbitant amount cash here> 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 <insert random stuff here> used.

A pretty accurate description of just about any and every "event" hosted at the RDS, regardless of the theme, in my opinion. No real surprise there.

tdc

Head wrote: »

@ 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.

Well I dont know who made them but I will explain.

• The front bumper is way too high off the ground.
• The windscreen is a different shape/proportion than a genuine 360
• The interior (seats) is a dead give away
• Roll hoops (behind seats) are a different shape and positioned incorrectly than those on a genuine 360

I wasnt even at the show, I can just tell straight away, mainly because of the front windscreen and the seats. Did anyone get a look at the engine bay? The wheels are genuine though.

Also, someone said the music that was playing while they were on stage was not neccesary but I guess it was - if the music wasnt there I would imagine people would be wondering why these Ferraris sound so quiet.

Im sure there are people there that were convinced they were Ferraris and the thought of replicas never crossed their mind. these people make up the majority of the audience and they are just there to enjoy the show. I would think that only a handfull of people that were there would have been able to tell the difference.

Mc-BigE

Was at the 2pm show Sunday, overall i was impressed with the show, got good seats, in the middle about 4 rows from the front!, couldn't ask for better views. Was the Hamsters Smart Car rolling on its side thing a stunt or a once off accident?

Show was good, Stig thing was average to poor, the audience piss taking was good.

Paddocks thing was average, but i was expecting that from earlier threads

overall 7/10

tickets should have been 50 euro imo

blondes rule

I went to the show and my sister went on a different day and Hamster didn't roll his car when she was there, apparently the football is random. I thought the cars in the paddock were good but it was a bit fast.

Really thought the driving was soooooo cool - oh my god 4 bikes in the collinder of death was deadly - pardon the pun!!

Steve

OK, in case anyone is still feeling ripped off over this, there's much better value to be had elsewhere inthe world!

(Sorry Peasant, this isn't a troll, just what I've found)

Tickets for the Hong Kong show
VIP: HK$ 888 = €90
Premium: HK$ 508 = €51
Standard: HK$ 208 = €21

Or even cheaper:
Tickets for the Jo'burg show
VIP: ZAR 350 = €27
Premium: ZAR 290 = €22
Standard: ZAR 200 = €15
Children: ZAR 100 = €8

Whatever about the South African show, I would have expected costs to be a lot higher in HK, how can they sell the tickets that cheaply and still justifiy what they were charging us!

Does anyone know how much the UK shows were? or how much the AUS / NZ shows are (can't get through to the sites)?

blondes rule

I just looked at the UK site (out of morbid curiosity) - it's MPH over there - it's £38 £56 and £105 so not that much different really

LolaDub

blondes rule wrote: »

I just looked at the UK site (out of morbid curiosity) - it's MPH over there - it's £38 £56 and £105 so not that much different really

£38=44.68 euro, £56= 65.83 euro, £105=123.40 euro -thats a pretty huge difference actually.

blondes rule

the £38 is only to see the cars not the show at all. the tickets were €85 and 95 and someone else said there were cheaper ones and you said you bought brown thomas tickets and they were supposed to come with €50 vouchers (I know you didn't get them but other people did) and that was €20 - so not quite as huge as you say.

you've done all this research now - why didn't you do it before you shelled out all that money?

MarkN

Completely unexpected but my free tickets were front row so I was blessed.

I know someone who was involved in the show and all I'll say is 1) you couldn't throw a real Ferrari around like that as they weigh too much 2) I'm told from the horses mouth that they were Mazdas (but which type I'm not sure).

Ok show, surreal seeing the three lads walk inches in front of me as I was at the front but people who spent €250 do I think they would've been worth it? Not a chance.

HJL

stephenc_ie wrote: »

The whole James May disappearing thing I took for him being a bit under the weather but was he doing that at every show???

I was at the Fri 5pm and he went off too, but even on the tv show last night he was coughing so he probably has flu or something.

I thought the black taxi was class, i was amazed at the way the driver was throwing it around, made sense when Clarkson said it was an Evo with a black cab body over it!

Funxy

spartacus93 wrote: »

I didn't think so, but maybe. Indeed it is a Boards (and Octane) member, she also donated her TVR Sagaris and a Morgan Aero 8.

Great gesture on her part, fair play to her for giving them up for the weekend and letting other people enjoy them.

Thanks spartacus. The way i saw it was they are cars which i adored before being able to buy them myself. If i had seen them in person at a show a few years ago i would have adored that. So why keep them in the garage and not share them with fellow enthusiasts. Ok alot of people at the show may not have cared about those particular cars but usually an enthusiast would appreciate them

P.s I am not a fashion designer And hang around octane, not so much boards.ie!

qz

Funxy wrote: »

Thanks spartacus. The way i saw it was they are cars which i adored before being able to buy them myself. If i had seen them in person at a show a few years ago i would have adored that. So why keep them in the garage and not share them with fellow enthusiasts. Ok alot of people at the show may not have cared about those particular cars but usually an enthusiast would appreciate them

P.s I am not a fashion designer And hang around octane, not so much boards.ie!

The seats on your Diablo had me drooling. Bring us for a spin pretty please?

LolaDub

Funxy wrote: »

Thanks spartacus. The way i saw it was they are cars which i adored before being able to buy them myself. If i had seen them in person at a show a few years ago i would have adored that. So why keep them in the garage and not share them with fellow enthusiasts. Ok alot of people at the show may not have cared about those particular cars but usually an enthusiast would appreciate them

P.s I am not a fashion designer And hang around octane, not so much boards.ie!

Stunning cars funxy, thanks for sharing!

Ronan H

stephenc_ie wrote: »

The whole James May disappearing thing I took for him being a bit under the weather but was he doing that at every show???

The whole wristband/paddock thing wasn't explained.
I bought "platiunum tickets" - why are the basic tickets called platiunum?

AFAIK, James May did disappear at every show. Why, I have no idea, perhaps it's a contract thing? Initially I heard a rumour that he wasn't going to be there full stop, so maybe there was some stuff like that going on. I can see no reason otherwise why he would go off stage for so much of the show...

Yes there wasn't a mention of a Paddock Tour or wristbands etc... at the time the tickets were released initially, at least I didn't see anything about them and I'd like to think I am somewhat observant!

Saab Ed wrote: »

HOLD ON ... Are you saying what I think you're saying .. It cant be, that it was scripted. Nooooo. :P

I was fully expecting it to be scripted. I think it's reasonable to assume that a show like that will be scripted. It would perhaps be too much to ask to expect them to improvise ten shows in four days no?

tdc wrote: »

Well I dont know who made them but I will explain.

• The front bumper is way too high off the ground.
• The windscreen is a different shape/proportion than a genuine 360
• The interior (seats) is a dead give away
• Roll hoops (behind seats) are a different shape and positioned incorrectly than those on a genuine 360

...

...

Im sure there are people there that were convinced they were Ferraris and the thought of replicas never crossed their mind. these people make up the majority of the audience and they are just there to enjoy the show. I would think that only a handfull of people that were there would have been able to tell the difference.

Thanks for getting back to that tdc . I am certainly one of the people for whom the thought of replicas never crossed my mind. I suppose at the ennd of the day its about the spectacle of the show and if they have to stick a Ferrari body onto a Mazda to make the crowd go "Ooh" then so be it. When I was at the show the idea of them being Ferrari's was exciting for me, as I'm sure it was for all the others who aren't in the know. I'm now trying to retrospectively not let that take away from my enjoyment of the show .

And to whoever was looking for photographs of the Black Porsche, I think there's some in my gallery, see my signature below...

Head

stephenc_ie

Head wrote: »

I was fully expecting it to be scripted. I think it's reasonable to assume that a show like that will be scripted. It would perhaps be too much to ask to expect them to improvise ten shows in four days no?

I had expected the show to be scripted, but I had expected them to acknowledge that the show was scripted. Not pretend that this was coming off the cuff.

I thought it was a bit obvious that they were pretending things (they are presenters after all, not actors)

e.g. Swapping the GWiz for the Mustang - that was ballpark cringeworthy.
Good spectacle, but only an 8 year old would believe that Hammond didn't know that he swapped it.

Bluefoam

I think its gas that they have an exhibition of Porches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, cool and unusual cars from the TV show...

... and an Alfa Mito :eek:

Just goes to show what **** hot cars Alfas are!

smash

I think after all the complaints people should realise 1 thing..... you'll never see a line up of supercars like that in Ireland again! So even if it was badly scripted and the tour was rubbish like people are saying - I think the €100 to see the cars up close is well worth it... think about it, it's the cost of 1 night out!