Cats Stevens (1 Viewer)

[Unicron]

Play peace train you fuckin' bollocks?

Was that you Vinnie?

Is it wrong of me to sort of be on Stevens' side on this one? At least insofar that if someone gets up on stage to perform then they're entitled to do whatever the fuck they want.

Of course if the audience don't like it then they're entitled to be upset and leave (but not cause a ruckus).

 

[dudley]

from what i can gather it was pretty well advertised as a yusef islam gig, with plenty of fanfare for the musical section, so people shouldn't have been surprised by what they got

 

[dudley]

 

[Lili Marlene]

on the plus side he's never gonna play here again now

 

[Vinnie]

Was that you Vinnie?

Nahh. I shouted out "play Father & Son you motherfucker!".

Is it wrong of me to sort of be on Stevens' side on this one? At least insofar that if someone gets up on stage to perform then they're entitled to do whatever the fuck they want.

Of course if the audience don't like it then they're entitled to be upset and leave (but not cause a ruckus).

The dude is entitled to do what he wants at his own show but that doesnt mean that what he did wasnt a total crock of shit. I quite like the two Yusuf Islam records for what it's worth and sort of expected the set to lean towards them rather than towards some post-lobotomy musical bible studies therapy group. But it did so I left and went for a pint.

 

[kings lead hat]

Yusuf Islam owes me £50 from ProTools lessons. Seriously. I dont think I'll ever see that money.

 

[Franco]

Review here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...0765/Yusuf-Islam-at-the-O2-Dublin-review.html

Four stars. Brian Boyd didn't think it was a car crash anyways, blames the audience.

 

[Burgerbarbaby]

Heya Vinnie...this was going to be a text message but then it got out of control...
I was working at the o2, and saw most of the gig.
Here's the setlist:


Part 1:

Lilywhite
The Wind
Thinkin' 'Bout You
Where Do The Children Play
Boots And Sand
Welcome Home
Fill My Eyes
Roadsinger
Just Another Night
Midday
Sitting
I Think I See The Light

Part 2 (This is the "Showcase of the Musical" part):

Overture
World Of Darkness
Shamsia
Maybe There's A World
Matthew And Son
Shamsia Theme
But I Might Die Tonight
Remember The Days
Doors
Father & Son
Road To Findout
Life Theme
Sing Out
Bad Night
Wild World

There's a series of encores here which they didn't do:
Matthew & Son
Shamsia
Heaven
First Cut

Part 3:

Miles From Nowhere
Don't be Shy
Glass World
Bad Brakes
Moonshadow
Peace Train

Encore:
All Kinds Of Roses
Lilywhite (New Version)

Encore:
Father & Son (Reprise)

(And a final encore which they didn't do:
Tuesday's Dead
Be What You Must

The booing was unbelievable. I thought people were going to start firing 50 cent coins at them. After part two
he came out and said "Well SOME of you enjoyed that at least?", which got a smattering of applause. And after
part three, just before All Kinds Of Roses, he said "I'm going to do a new song". This resulted in more Cat-calls (ho ho ho)
and boos to which he replied "Now I know how Dylan felt". The reprise of Father And Son did indeed include a
grinning Ronan Keating. He got a much bigger cheer for appearing than any of the songs managed to.
The Musical stuff in part 2 was more or less stock West End fare, lots of
props and starry-eyed young men and women singing and dancing to Cat Stevens songs. It was very odd to realise
a few songs in that he wasn't going to be performing them. But the unexpectedness of it I found hugely enjoyable.
Seeing the songs threaded together into a narrative was actually kinda bonkers fun. It certainly wasn't like he was
trying to short change people or put on a shoddy show, there was clearly a lot of thought and effort put into
the whole concept. I was talking to Stan Erraught at one point, he was saying that it was very refreshing to
see an audience NOT being fed what they expected for once in a huge venue like the o2. I couldn't agree more.
I suppose if you really really hate something you should register your disapproval but for a bunch of people
who liked Cat Stevens enough to fork out €100 for a gig I didn't think they had a lot of patience or faith in
their hero. Their bad temper really made me think Stevens was doing something right. Obviously the
crowd wanted a greatest hits singalong while he wanted to do something else, but why should he when he has something
else going on which he clearly believes in, i.e. his new stuff and this musical? He still writes good songs - All
Kinds Of Roses is lovely.
Anyone who stayed to the end was treated to a MAGNIFICENT version of Peace Train. It was a lovely arrangement with
the most breathtaking harmonies I've heard in a long time. It's my favourite song of his, and it made me hope that
he'll do a Leonard Cohen on it and release a live album of the tour. As long as they can EQ out the catcalls from
the audience! Moonshadow was beautiful too. There was almost a sigh of relief from the crowd when he came back on
to do this section, and people did seem to relax.

So in conclusion, I think you're being a bit harsh Vinnie. I think the crowd were impatient and self-righteous. And I think the show was extraordinary.
And I'll thank you to leave Bible Studies out of this.

P.S. I woke up too late to hear Joe Duffy...was it any crack? I did hear Ronan Collins playing a song by Randy Newman or someone like that about
not doing what you're expected to do.

 

[Vinnie]

Im not supposed to get within 200 metres of standard west-end fare especially when it involves some of my favourite songs. Seriously, I hate it more than any other form of cultural expression. I missed all the booing and whatnot and I agree that it was way over the top and I feel bad for Yusuf but I dont think Im being harsh about the show by any stretch. I didnt think it was particularly good before the kids appeared and it fell into a volcano once they started blathering on about not having anywhere to play on planet Moonshadow because they have to work for Matthew & Son. Aaaaaargh!

Still though, that's a pretty eloquent defence of the proceedings so fair play but I disagree that simply doing the unexpected is to be applauded by definition. If it's shit and unexpected then that just makes it an unexpected shit and they are rarely things to be celebrated unless you're at the tail end of a dirty prtotest and you're late for a prior engagement.

Heya Vinnie...this was going to be a text message but then it got out of control...
I was working at the o2, and saw most of the gig.
Here's the setlist:


Part 1:

Lilywhite
The Wind
Thinkin' 'Bout You
Where Do The Children Play
Boots And Sand
Welcome Home
Fill My Eyes
Roadsinger
Just Another Night
Midday
Sitting
I Think I See The Light

Part 2 (This is the "Showcase of the Musical" part):

Overture
World Of Darkness
Shamsia
Maybe There's A World
Matthew And Son
Shamsia Theme
But I Might Die Tonight
Remember The Days
Doors
Father & Son
Road To Findout
Life Theme
Sing Out
Bad Night
Wild World

There's a series of encores here which they didn't do:
Matthew & Son
Shamsia
Heaven
First Cut

Part 3:

Miles From Nowhere
Don't be Shy
Glass World
Bad Brakes
Moonshadow
Peace Train

Encore:
All Kinds Of Roses
Lilywhite (New Version)

Encore:
Father & Son (Reprise)

(And a final encore which they didn't do:
Tuesday's Dead
Be What You Must

The booing was unbelievable. I thought people were going to start firing 50 cent coins at them. After part two
he came out and said "Well SOME of you enjoyed that at least?", which got a smattering of applause. And after
part three, just before All Kinds Of Roses, he said "I'm going to do a new song". This resulted in more Cat-calls (ho ho ho)
and boos to which he replied "Now I know how Dylan felt". The reprise of Father And Son did indeed include a
grinning Ronan Keating. He got a much bigger cheer for appearing than any of the songs managed to.
The Musical stuff in part 2 was more or less stock West End fare, lots of
props and starry-eyed young men and women singing and dancing to Cat Stevens songs. It was very odd to realise
a few songs in that he wasn't going to be performing them. But the unexpectedness of it I found hugely enjoyable.
Seeing the songs threaded together into a narrative was actually kinda bonkers fun. It certainly wasn't like he was
trying to short change people or put on a shoddy show, there was clearly a lot of thought and effort put into
the whole concept. I was talking to Stan Erraught at one point, he was saying that it was very refreshing to
see an audience NOT being fed what they expected for once in a huge venue like the o2. I couldn't agree more.
I suppose if you really really hate something you should register your disapproval but for a bunch of people
who liked Cat Stevens enough to fork out €100 for a gig I didn't think they had a lot of patience or faith in
their hero. Their bad temper really made me think Stevens was doing something right. Obviously the
crowd wanted a greatest hits singalong while he wanted to do something else, but why should he when he has something
else going on which he clearly believes in, i.e. his new stuff and this musical? He still writes good songs - All
Kinds Of Roses is lovely.
Anyone who stayed to the end was treated to a MAGNIFICENT version of Peace Train. It was a lovely arrangement with
the most breathtaking harmonies I've heard in a long time. It's my favourite song of his, and it made me hope that
he'll do a Leonard Cohen on it and release a live album of the tour. As long as they can EQ out the catcalls from
the audience! Moonshadow was beautiful too. There was almost a sigh of relief from the crowd when he came back on
to do this section, and people did seem to relax.

So in conclusion, I think you're being a bit harsh Vinnie. I think the crowd were impatient and self-righteous. And I think the show was extraordinary.
And I'll thank you to leave Bible Studies out of this.

P.S. I woke up too late to hear Joe Duffy...was it any crack? I did hear Ronan Collins playing a song by Randy Newman or someone like that about
not doing what you're expected to do.

 

[ann post]

If it's shit and unexpected then that just makes it an unexpected shit and they are rarely things to be celebrated unless you're at the tail end of a dirty prtotest and you're late for a prior engagement.

it said on the poster though, right?

 

[Stereobaby]

€100

 

[Love Saves The Day]

it said on the poster though, right?

i'm sure people thought the songs from the musical were going to at least be performed by him.. the posters i've seen were a little bit misleading.

i wonder was there a moment where they were worried that Ronan Keating coming on stage to join him might actually trigger the riot?

 

[Love Saves The Day]

DYING for UB40 now!

 

[Vinnie]

it said on the poster though, right?

Unexpected to me, as I said 20 posts back. I wasnt aware it was part of the show but that wouldnt have bothered me in the slightest if it hadnt be so hackneyed. It's not the unexpectedness of it that I objected to, it was simply that it was terrible.

Anyhoo, I think I got no more to say on this. Im sort of annoyed with myself for bringing this onto the internet. Seething quietly and then forgetting about it is much more productive and less permanent

 

[ann post]

they should at least refund people for every second keating was on stage. that wasnt on the poster.

 

[Unicron]

Nothing on Liveline today. I had to listen to someone bitch about a dude in Sligo selling fake vouchers for flying lessons instead.

Had the popcorn ready and all.

 

[jay69]

Nothing on Liveline today. I had to listen to someone bitch about a dude in Sligo selling fake vouchers for flying lessons instead.

Had the popcorn ready and all.

ditto

 

[Kermit McDermott]

His new songs are poxy.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

His new songs are poxy.

his old songs are pretty poxy as well if you ask me. i can't stand the guy. he's a giant ass

 

[Kermit McDermott]

True