Paul Simon RDS 13th July 2018

Choochtown

The set up at the venue was a disgrace as has been said.

At around 8pm I considered complaining and remember thinking that nothing can save this evening.

Unbelievably a 76 year old genius with a fantastic 2 hr 20 min performance managed just that.

I disagree with one of the comments above. I thought the performance flowed brilliantly with references to his folk awakening in London, reclaiming BoTW from "Artie", the string section centre stage, the solo voice and acoustic guitar parts, the band introductions and stories etc. I thought it was a masterclass in how to make a gig ebb and flow, speed and slow.

Admittedly what a feckin' back catalogue he has to choose from!

delbertgrady

Choochtown wrote: »

What a feckin' back catalogue he has to choose from!

Mrs. Robinson. I Am a Rock. The Only Living Boy in New York. El Condor Pasa. Slip Slidin' Away. Duncan. The 59th Street Bridge Song. Old Friends/Bookends. Loves Me Like A Rock. Father and Daughter. Gumboots. Hearts and Bones.

You really respect the scale and scope of his back catalogue when you realise that these are some of the songs he didn't do.
Remarkable.

Bellerstring

We had pitch standing.
Didnt get there til 6 cause of work.
Had to stand near the back.
Sound was very poor.
Couldnt hear the introduction to any songs (Simon and Taylor), but could hear the audience up the front laughing at the jokes and banter from the acts.
Couldnt see the stage at all, for the whole 4-5 hours we were there.
Watched it all on screens.
Paul & James were great.
RDS is a really sh1t venue foe gigs.
I will never go again.
Certainly wasnt worth €120 per ticket for something you couldnt see and barely hear

davef1000

Bellerstring wrote: »

RDS is a really sh1t venue foe gigs.
I will never go again.
Certainly wasnt worth €120 per ticket for something you couldnt see and barely hear

This should be a sticky at the top of the board.

Tom1991

davef1000 wrote: »

This should be a sticky at the top of the board.

For what it’s worth I worked at the rock shore bar just outside the main stand close to the Simmons court hall.

I couldn’t hear anything until the final 5/6 songs where there was a noticeable jump in sound levels and it’s seemed excellent from their.Talking to a steward at the gate closest to old Belvedere rugby club he said the sound was fine and could hear quite well.

Picture this I though was a wall of noise for most of it and the killers was excellent sounding.
Not a fan or die hard of any of the acts but there definately was a problem with the sound for most of the evening from where I was.

Aglomerado

Tom1991 wrote: »

For what it’s worth I worked at the rock shore bar just outside the main stand close to the Simmons court hall.

I couldn’t hear anything until the final 5/6 songs where there was a noticeable jump in sound levels and it’s seemed excellent from their.Talking to a steward at the gate closest to old Belvedere rugby club he said the sound was fine and could hear quite well.

Picture this I though was a wall of noise for most of it and the killers was excellent sounding.
Not a fan or die hard of any of the acts but there definately was a problem with the sound for most of the evening from where I was.

I have a friend who lives around Serpentine Avenue & he messaged me to know was the gig even on! He normally hears everything from his place.

TheRiverman

I'm not a Paul Simon fan,so I was not at the show,but I think seating on the pitch area is ridiculous and then a big gap to the standing area.Crazy.I have been on the pitch area at almost all the shows Bruce Springsteen performed at the RDS since 1988 and the sound was always excellent.Just wondering why the sound was not turned up for the Simon show until near the end ?

davef1000

Tom1991 wrote: »

For what it’s worth I worked at the rock shore bar just outside the main stand close to the Simmons court hall.

I couldn’t hear anything until the final 5/6 songs where there was a noticeable jump in sound levels and it’s seemed excellent from their.Talking to a steward at the gate closest to old Belvedere rugby club he said the sound was fine and could hear quite well.

Picture this I though was a wall of noise for most of it and the killers was excellent sounding.
Not a fan or die hard of any of the acts but there definately was a problem with the sound for most of the evening from where I was.

I have a severe case of tinnitus, and I have custom made earplug that I wear at EVERYTHING, even while driving (I drive a van so it's pretty loud in the cabin) and I didn't need them in at this gig until the last half hour or so.

Tombo2001

I picked up a ticket on the night; and having seen early comments on boards, made sure to get a seated ticket.

On the one hand - yes, Paul Simon is at the very top of the ladder in popular music. If this is your thing, then really no-one apart from Paul McCartney has a catalogue of songs that can match this.

I went to the Stones earlier this year, and its interesting to compare. Personally, I'd prefer Paul Simon and so on balance I preferred this show - but I did think both were outstanding, and there were a few moments in the Paul Simon gig that disappointed me - especially I thought they rushed through Graceland, as if there was a curfew coming; and disappointingly you couldnt hear the main guitar on it that Ray Phiri played on the original. Also, Spirit Voices would be on of my favourite songs of his, and I was v disappointed the didnt sing the Spanish section of it which is really beautiful. Again, comparing to the Stones - the Stones played stellar stomping versions of their great songs; Paul Simons gig had more thought gone into it and the reworking of Bridge over Troubled Waters was for me the highlight of the night. I actually enjoyed the more esoteric stuff; for example I thought the new song he played was really good. That would be another difference between Paul Simon and the Stones - not sure I would want to hear the Stones new music, but Paul Simon's new stuff can be very good.

On the other hand - my god, i will watch out for any shows in the future that are from Aiken Promotions in terms of what ticket I am getting and capacity to be completely messed about.

The standing tickets for this show - if they were 30 or 40 euros each fair enough but to charge 106 euros for that; its really just brazen.

They must have known how bad it would be in advance, but they also must have known that people wouldnt find out until the night.

The arena map was definitely not a representation of how far away the seated area was, or how unsighted it would be.

If this is the new layout for stadium concerts, then I would never ever buy a standing ticket again.

As mentioned, i was at the Stones and also at Taylor Swift; both concerts had the same layout - but in both cases (i) the seating area on the pitch was smaller, and (ii) the stage had ramps that came right out towards the standing area (Stones) or there were second stages set up in the middle (Taylor Swift) so the people in the standing area got close to the action.

IspeakcozIcan

Just looking at images from the Hyde Park gig last night...People standing in front of the stage from the get go, as it should be.



I think even Paul Simon was disappointed to see people sitting down, he asked people on more than one occasion to get up and dance. The atmosphere would have been so much better if people were up moving from the start. Mother and Child reunion & Me and Julio are those kind of songs.



We arrived early and seeing the shambles that was the standing section , we upgraded to sitting and we had a fantastic view. Made it up to the front of the stage for the last 45 mins. I will remember it for years to come...


Still, that set-up should have never been approved and it's not happening at other venues on the tour.

delbertgrady

IspeakcozIcan wrote: »

Just looking at images from the Hyde Park gig last night...People standing in front of the stage from the get go, as it should be.

I agree that Paul Simon in the RDS should have had standing up the front and seats behind, which is better for everyone, including the artist on stage. It also means that anyone who's getting there early enough to be up the front is there for the music and not using the performance as a backdrop to having a meet-up and non-stop chat with friends they've not seen in six months. However, it is worth pointing out that Hyde Park was fully standing and the tickets to stand nearest the stage - the Diamond Section - were £250, so around €290-€300 with fees added. The US model is well and truly creeping in now for so-called heritage acts. If you want to be up the front, you pay top dollar for it.

Zardoz

delbertgrady wrote: »

I agree that Paul Simon in the RDS should have had standing up the front and seats behind, which is better for everyone, including the artist on stage. It also means that anyone who's getting there early enough to be up the front is there for the music and not using the performance as a backdrop to having a meet-up and non-stop chat with friends they've not seen in six months. However, it is worth pointing out that Hyde Park was fully standing and the tickets to stand nearest the stage - the Diamond Section - were £250, so around €290-€300 with fees added. The US model is well and truly creeping in now for so-called heritage acts. If you want to be up the front, you pay top dollar for it.

To be honest the gig should never have been in the RDS ,its an absolute kip.
It should have been in the 3Arena ,possibly over 2 nights .
But it was greed by Aiken.
I stated back in February that the prices for Dublin were a rip off compared to his indoor UK gigs in Manchester and Glasgow.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=106109006&postcount=22

£60-90 for his indoor gig in Manchester Arena
£65-£75 for his indoor gig in Glasgow Hydro

100-166 euro for the RDS ,a dump of a venue.
Extortion

delbertgrady

Manchester and Glasgow didn't have James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt on the bill, though, so price comparisons are irrelevant here. Aiken clearly wanted to market the Dublin show as an "event".
I'm not disputing your points, though, and it's not the first time a show has been put in the RDS Arena when most if not all of the UK dates were indoors. Neil Young and Crazy Horse on the Psychedelic Pill tour is one example.

davef1000

Out of curiosity, do all gigs at the RDS get the same level of complaint on here? The last time I was there was for Springsteen in 2008, I think, and I was very disappointed with the sound on that occasion, though the arena setup wasn’t as bad. I swore then I’d never go to the RDS again, but the lineup for last Friday’s gig brought me out of retirement. This time though, I’m certain that I’ll never go to anything there again, and I’m almost done with outdoor gigs altogether. (Although I don’t go to many big gigs, to be honest.)

stateofflux

stateofflux wrote: »

I was in the seating section. brought my elderly Dad along as he loves Paul Simon. all round top class sound and performance. he was happy so im happy. apart from a load of twits yapping behind us--- thankfully we were able to stand in walkways between seating to get away from them.

But i can see how people in standing section would have issues ..it was way too far back from the stage. (half a football pitch) and the sound even up the front was not very loud at all.

Funny you say that. Last S&G concert supported by Everely Bros back in early 2000's was brilliant as a standing person- sound and vision both great- but I think stage was positioned differently - i.e. they took over one of the seating stands and plonked the concert there, along with a lot of ground floor seated audience- it worked for me as a standing person behind the seated viewing.

Roll on over 10 years and nearly everyone who was sitting complained about the Neil Young & Crazy Horse gig - again I was standing and sound was super- but I could see from moving around how the sound changed. But also, the stage changed from the previous Simon and Garfunkel concert 10 years perviously- (now both seated areas looking sideways at the concert as opposed to one seated area looking straight on- so not sure what the right aspect is for a gig in RDS but from my experience, standing helps.

The Nal

The RDS was great when the stage was on the side of the pitch.

Tombo2001

davef1000 wrote: »

Out of curiosity, do all gigs at the RDS get the same level of complaint on here? The last time I was there was for Springsteen in 2008, I think, and I was very disappointed with the sound on that occasion, though the arena setup wasn’t as bad. I swore then I’d never go to the RDS again, but the lineup for last Friday’s gig brought me out of retirement. This time though, I’m certain that I’ll never go to anything there again, and I’m almost done with outdoor gigs altogether. (Although I don’t go to many big gigs, to be honest.)

I can see your point of view.

The issue what large gigs as I see them is that if you dont pay mega bucks to be near the stage then you really dont know whether you'll be able to see or hear properly. Megabucks being 200+.

Much as I like Paul Simon - and i thought it was an excellent gig - the price for the standing tickets, for what people got, was far too much.

200euro to see the concert properly is much better value than 100 euro to not see it properly.

TheRiverman

I still believe that the sound at outdoor shows was much better years ago when the big speakers were stacked each side of the stage.That's my experience from Springsteen shows at the RDS and I only missed one of all of them he did there since 1988.Those speakers up on the pylons nowadays don't have the same range or power to my ears anyway.

dixiefly

CWone wrote: »

Jeez glad I didn't spend my money on this if it was bad! saw Simon and Garfunkel in RDS in 1982 absolutely brilliant gig was in the standing area on the pitch backing band was fab and so was the play list one of the best gigs I was ever at. Hope anyone who went tonight enjoyed it.

Yes 1982 was a great gig. I was actually also at the gig the previous September in Central Park. Long story as to how I ended up there as I was a student in NYC that summer but due to go home the previous weekend.

When the Central Park reunion concert was announced I thought that it might be the last time we would get to see Simon and Garfunkel. I didnt think we would be still getting to see Paul in 2018.

When I heard about the concert in Hyde Park being possibly his last and no mention of an Irish gig I bought a ticket for that one. In some ways Dublin would have suited me a lot better but myself and my wife had a nice weekend in London and I just went to the gig. I was in the Gold Circle standing area, not just at front but a little back behind the diamond section. Great atmosphere with quite a few over from the USA for the gig.

As stated by others here Bonnie, James and Paul were all on top form. Paul's new material sounds quite good. There were so many other songs he could have also played but I have probably got to hear them all live over the years.

Regarding the crowd, there was no chatter during the songs. One or two singing the lyrics too lowdly at the start of the gig but nothing like the chatter we are starting to see in recent years in Dublin. After one of the encores some around me wondered if he was gone but I knew he had to play Late In The Evening. When he did play it a lot of the crowd didnt seem to know it which probably indicates a crowd that hadnt seen Paul live before. As far as
I remember he has played that at every one of his gigs that I was at over the years.......in fact as far as I remember they played it twice in 1981 in Central Park.