EU tour 2014

michaelphillips wrote:

mingus wrote:

Cool! All the way from London? I'm going the other way around, Brussels now and then Edinburgh at the end of the month

And preshow as well? Just ordered mine, after weeks of non-stop doubting. I hope it'll be worth it!

I am from London though I was visiting a friend in Bruges anyway so the Gaslight gig in Brussels sort of fitted in quite well. I am also seeing them in London and Birmingham so it will be interesting to compare! Did not do the pre-show this time, still considering whether to do it or not, and if I did it would be the Birmingham show probably.

Found it very different to watching them in London, crowd seemed very quiet from where I was (at the back at the very top of the balcony - the friend I went with would not normally survive being near the front of a Gaslight gig). Loved the slowed down version of Elvis and thought 1000 Years sounded really good live. Brian seemed in good spirits and had some good banter with the audience.

How was the pre-show? Was it worth it? What did they play?

Crowd was kind of quiet indeed, unfortunately it is the case in a lot of Belgian shows. Don't know why, we're a little bit shy when it comes to singing along sometimes
But I liked the show though, too bad they only had 1h30: they cut some of the best parts of the shows in Germany imho (no slow version of Great Expectations, no Diamonds, no Old White Lincoln,... I think I would have chosen differently). But especially the last half an hour was awesome: loved Sweet Morphine, loved Red Violins, and especially the ending trio Diner - She Loves You - Backseat. Brian was in good shape!

Great to see them again, can't wait till Edinburgh. I just hope they can play a bit longer, and include some more slow stuff then.

Preshow: I didn't have huge expectations of it, I knew it was going to be short and not much more than the songs. But it was alright, nice to see them close up and in an empty venue. We got Drive, Boxer (slowed down), a Misfits cover, Biloxi Parish, and one in between that I can't seem to remember. All in all it was worth it, more on a personal level than because of the complete value of the package.

A few impressions of my experience at the show and pre-show in Brussels:

Pre show package Brussels:
I didn't do any research so didn't know what to expect.
But since Belgium is typically not 'tooo crazy' about anything really, we'd expected attendance to be rather low. In total, there were seven of us. They escorted us into the venue and we got a private fully amplified mini set.

This was the set (not sure about the order)
- Drive (they openend with it, this made my day)
- The Diamond Church Street Choir (reading the above post I'm starting to doubt this one)
- Boxer
- Biloxi Parish
- Misfits cover: Astro Zombies

It was very cool seeing them play just like you'd expect any other band in a more or less rehearsal kinda setting.
But it was really short as wel (maybe I should have looked into this beforehand), we had already left the venue within 20 minutes after entering, but we arrived just in time I might add.

We got the caricature after the main show but it wasn't signed.
As for the download, I'm hoping we are still getting a link to that but we didn't get any further information.
I think everybody would agree the only thing really worthwhile in the 'package' is the soundcheck attendance but I don't really get why they needed to pitch it as being a package include things they could or would not really deliver (photo pass raffle could be nice and in our case even the caricature).


As far as the main show went:
It wasn't bad at all, it even was some of the best singing I've heard from Brian Fallon.
The crowd bummed me out a bit, not being as heartfelt as you'd expect. I feel like in Belgium there's a very distinct divide between bands who draw a more or less punk rock kinda crowd but who can only fill pretty small clubs and bands who play bigger venues who draw a more mainstream crowd which is really static/quiet.

The standout moment: Finishing a set with The Backseat is killer, right.
Sometimes a song will simply put a smile on your face for at least 10 minutes straight.

Any news whether Alex Levine will be joining the tour at any stage yet?

simple-man wrote:

Pre show package Brussels:
I didn't do any research so didn't know what to expect.
But since Belgium is typically not 'tooo crazy' about anything really, we'd expected attendance to be rather low. In total, there were seven of us. They escorted us into the venue and we got a private fully amplified mini set.

This was the set (not sure about the order)
- Drive (they openend with it, this made my day)
- The Diamond Church Street Choir (reading the above post I'm starting to doubt this one)
- Boxer
- Biloxi Parish
- Misfits cover: Astro Zombies

It was very cool seeing them play just like you'd expect any other band in a more or less rehearsal kinda setting.
But it was really short as wel (maybe I should have looked into this beforehand), we had already left the venue within 20 minutes after entering, but we arrived just in time I might add.

We got the caricature after the main show but it wasn't signed.
As for the download, I'm hoping we are still getting a link to that but we didn't get any further information.
I think everybody would agree the only thing really worthwhile in the 'package' is the soundcheck attendance but I don't really get why they needed to pitch it as being a package include things they could or would not really deliver (photo pass raffle could be nice and in our case even the caricature).

Good review, thank you!

Did you have to wait until after the main show to receive the caricature?
I noticed that the pre shows seem to differ from show to show regarding Q&A/ no Q&A, disposable cameras, length of pre shows etc. Am really wondering how this will turn out for the other European countries.
I am going to the Amsterdam pre show myself, and am really curious about other people's experiences!

Yeah they told us at the pre show Brian hadn't signed them yet, but as it turned out even after the headline show they weren't signed by any of the band members for that matter. I was already on the way out of the venue when I noticed and I didn't want to give the guy a hard time either to be honest.

Disposable camera's: didn't get those. It's not major but why include them?

About the Q&A, we had the opportunity for that but my guess is nobody at this pre show knew about this and so we didn't have any questions really... Or it could be typical Belgian self-consciousness, who knows.

My guess is Amsterdam's pre show will have a higher attendance and a more manifest audience as well. Certainly because it's a week-end show. But I also feel like it's better to have read up on some pre show experiences, it maybe takes away some of the magic but it will probably make you enjoy it more.

So for the performance of Halloween on Halloween they were tuned a half-step down. Can anyone confirm if they were tuned down the whole show? Because it sounded great. In general that performance is the best thing I've heard and seen from them in a long long time. Maybe they should always wear that makeup haha

Simple-man: thanks for the extra info!
Looking forward to it!

Jack wrote:

So for the performance of Halloween on Halloween they were tuned a half-step down. Can anyone confirm if they were tuned down the whole show? Because it sounded great. In general that performance is the best thing I've heard and seen from them in a long long time. Maybe they should always wear that makeup haha

I don't remember where I heard this exactly, but I think it was Brian who said it, but I guess they've been playing everything (or at least nearly everything) a half step down this tour?

Christophe wrote:

Any news whether Alex Levine will be joining the tour at any stage yet?

The crew at the preshow in Brussels told me he probably won't.

StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:

Jack wrote:

So for the performance of Halloween on Halloween they were tuned a half-step down. Can anyone confirm if they were tuned down the whole show? Because it sounded great. In general that performance is the best thing I've heard and seen from them in a long long time. Maybe they should always wear that makeup haha

I don't remember where I heard this exactly, but I think it was Brian who said it, but I guess they've been playing everything (or at least nearly everything) a half step down this tour?

Yes, he said that in Berlin as well. It's easier for him to sing that way.

mingus wrote:

Christophe wrote:

Any news whether Alex Levine will be joining the tour at any stage yet?

The crew at the preshow in Brussels told me he probably won't.

Ah that's a shame. Hopefully everything is okay with him and his family.

That does suck if true about Alex

Also surprised that R&T has completely disappeared

miked331 wrote:

That does suck if true about Alex

Also surprised that R&T has completely disappeared

I really figured it would be a staple, at least for this tour.

I'm going to the show in Stuttgart and I'm looking for a train connection.
When did the shows in Berlin and Hamburg end?

Berlin was around midnight, Munich finished 11.15.

shredderrrrrr wrote:

miked331 wrote:

That does suck if true about Alex

Also surprised that R&T has completely disappeared

I really figured it would be a staple, at least for this tour.

Wow, that's really strange. I expected the lead single would be one of the first they wrote on their setlists.

CapedAvenger wrote:

shredderrrrrr wrote:

miked331 wrote:

That does suck if true about Alex

Also surprised that R&T has completely disappeared

I really figured it would be a staple, at least for this tour.

Wow, that's really strange. I expected the lead single would be one of the first they wrote on their setlists.

Especially because it is such a high-energy song that translates so well live.

Has The Spirit of Jazz featured on this tour yet? I would love it if they played this song at Manchester on 18 November. Last time I saw them they played it and it is so fun live. From the one or two setlists I have seen so far we are in for a treat whatever they play. I can't wait! 10 more days

I can't realize that I'm gonna see them again in 3 days! Can't wait!

I really wanted to hear R&T live too.

10 days til london

Back from the gigs in Munich and Vienna and they were both great although Vienna beat Munich by far - we had such a brilliant time there.

Me and my friends also went to the preshow in Vienna which was a lot of fun. We knew what to expect and were surprised by rather long set where they played Too Much Blood, Have Mercy, Stray Paper, Break Your Heart, Drive, Stay Lucky and Astro Zombies and even did a short Q&A on top of that. In total the preshow lasted for around 45 mins. Totally worth going!

The show itself in Vienna was amazing. Just like 2 years ago easily the best one I saw on this tour so far. Great setlist, the band was in the best mood and the audience was too. They did this wonderful transition from Biloxi into War Pigs (Black Sabbath) into Too Much Blood - it was amazing! And again no encore which works extremely well for me.

And we waited with a few other people outside after the show and had a lovely chat with Kyle and Brian. I think we saw Alex talking to a few other people at another backstage door.

Setlist Munich: http://instagram.com/p/u1bNybQnAr/?modal=true
Setlist Vienna: http://instagram.com/p/vKEH8uQnJF/?modal=true



Dark Places @ Zenith, Munich


Halloween @ Zenith, Munich


Have Mercy @ Gasometer, Vienna


45/We Came To Dance @ Gasometer, Vienna
not the best quality sound- and picture-wise but it does capture the mood quite well


War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover) @ Gasometer, Vienna

How long, time wise, are the shows now?

Labhras wrote:

10 days til london

Can't wait!, really should have booked my flights earlier, they're up to 60 euro now -_-

I hope the trains will not strike again -.- otherwise I do not know how to get to Amsterdam....

Woody wrote:

How long, time wise, are the shows now?

The ones I've been to were all 2 hours +/- a few minutes.