Isle of Wight - PJ Festival advice

Ozzie

Hi - a bit of a double post here. This'll be my wife and I's first PJ show and we're wondering what we can expect from a festival set from PJ? How long etc.? Obviously won't be as long as a 'show', but work timings mean this is all we can head to!

Secondly, also an op. for people heading to the IOW to say howdy!

Brisk.

Well 1 hour 30-2 hours tops, never been to IOW so don't know what their sets are.

You'll get a rocker set with all the major songs and maybe the odd rare song if you're lucky.

ilockyer

Have a look at some of the festival sets from the 2010 tour, that'll give you a good idea of what you can expect. I think all of those, bar Arras, were 2 hour sets. I think PJ will get an hour 45, maybe a little longer.

Brisk.

ilockyer wrote:

Have a look at some of the festival sets from the 2010 tour, that'll give you a good idea of what you can expect. I think all of those, bar Arras, were 2 hour sets. I think PJ will get an hour 45, maybe a little longer.

Arras 1 hour 30 :P Worst.show.ever.

Olivavu

Brisk. wrote:

ilockyer wrote:

Have a look at some of the festival sets from the 2010 tour, that'll give you a good idea of what you can expect. I think all of those, bar Arras, were 2 hour sets. I think PJ will get an hour 45, maybe a little longer.

Arras 1 hour 30 :P Worst.show.ever.

Bullshit. The set was short in Arras, but they played brilliantly and the setting was superb.

Hard Rock Calling was much worse. The crowd were awful and the sound was pathetic.

Reading 2006 was the best festival show I've seen by them. Best live show I've been to, in fact.

You'll get between 15-20 songs at IOW I expect. Which isn't that much, but it's down to the time limit they put on headliners at that festival.

They did 28 at Reading 2006 and 23 at Leeds 2006. So maybe they might sneak a couple more on at IOW than most headliners.

Digital Twilight

Olivavu wrote:

Brisk. wrote:

ilockyer wrote:

Have a look at some of the festival sets from the 2010 tour, that'll give you a good idea of what you can expect. I think all of those, bar Arras, were 2 hour sets. I think PJ will get an hour 45, maybe a little longer.

Arras 1 hour 30 :P Worst.show.ever.

Bullshit. The set was short in Arras, but they played brilliantly and the setting was superb.

Agreed. The quality of a show is determind by more than the length or how many 'rareities' they play. Arras sounded fantastic and the venue was something different. Great show, just a little shorter than usual.

Olivavu

Exactly. It was a beautiful setting and the crowd were up for it. It was a hell of a lot better than Hard Rock Calling as well, which was possibly my least favourite PJ show ever. The sound levels were atrocious and the crowd was too mainstream and fashionable. I also didn't like the way people moaned when asked to move back - which clearly showed how few of them were genuine fans, otherwise they'd have known why that was being done.

dottles

Olivavu wrote:

Exactly. It was a beautiful setting and the crowd were up for it. It was a hell of a lot better than Hard Rock Calling as well, which was possibly my least favourite PJ show ever. The sound levels were atrocious and the crowd was too mainstream and fashionable. I also didn't like the way people moaned when asked to move back - which clearly showed how few of them were genuine fans, otherwise they'd have known why that was being done.

I liked Arras too....however HRC was a good gig so I disagree with that point. The sound levels weren't good admittedly, it's bound to be mainstream - a festival not everyone there were there for PJ, I don't think that's always a bad thing. But the crowd depended on where you were, I spent that gig with the most awesome group of PJ fans and we had an absolute blast - made our own space, sang, danced - it was great

As far as IoW goes, it'll be interesting to see what the crowds are like there, they seem to vary each year. There has been a bit of a backlash against the organisers for booking 'classic rock' from some people who want mainstream stuff.

Brisk.

Digital Twilight wrote:

Olivavu wrote:

Bullshit. The set was short in Arras, but they played brilliantly and the setting was superb.

Agreed. The quality of a show is determind by more than the length or how many 'rareities' they play. Arras sounded fantastic and the venue was something different. Great show, just a little shorter than usual.

Ha it is to me mainly nowadays.

At least there was a crowd at Reading..

veddertown

Olivavu wrote:

Exactly. It was a beautiful setting and the crowd were up for it. It was a hell of a lot better than Hard Rock Calling as well, which was possibly my least favourite PJ show ever. The sound levels were atrocious and the crowd was too mainstream and fashionable. I also didn't like the way people moaned when asked to move back - which clearly showed how few of them were genuine fans, otherwise they'd have known why that was being done.

If you listen to the Hyde Park boot you'll see who was there by the singing. That was pretty much a PJ crowd. It's not like that many turned up for the rest of the lineup. Shit sound I agree on but I don't know how you can judge how many people moaned about moving back a couple of steps. You're only surrounded by a fraction of the audience at a show attended by tens of thousands. We were pretty close to the front and I didn't hear any complaints besides a few who found it too rough at the barrier. I didn't attend Arras so can't comment from experience but I've heard the show and the only complaint I've heard is about the duration of the set. The performance was high quality as usual and the setting looked immense. I think people set their expectations too high for festivals but if you want to make it a good experience then some of that is plainly down to the individual. I, like many I know who went to Hyde had a great time surounded by great people and some songs were among the best versions I've heard them perform, Go, Red Mosquito, Black, Porch, Nothingman, etc. IOW will be a great day out for anyone as long as they intend to make the most of it and I'd love to be there....

boyo79

I expect a full set at IOW. The organisers have already said Springsteen will be playing a full 2 - 3 hour set and I expect the same for PJ.

ilockyer

boyo79 wrote:

I expect a full set at IOW. The organisers have already said Springsteen will be playing a full 2 - 3 hour set and I expect the same for PJ.

I think it's unlikely PJ will play a full set. They haven't negotiated that at any other festival they've played in the last 5 years, and I can't see Isle of Wight being any different. 2 hours is about average for a PJ show in Europe, and most people will be more than happy with that.

The fact that Bruce has been given a full set will have nothing to do with negotiations made with Pearl Jam. Bruce will get 2.5 hours, as he did at PinkPop, Glastonbury and Hard Rock Calling in 2009. If he plays longer, it'll be because they decide to eat the fine and break the curfew. I think they're tough on curfew's on IoW though, didn't The Cure nearly get turned off at Bestival?

Agree with what others have said about Arras, yes, it was a bit short but it was probably the most fun of all the shows I saw in 2010. I reckon that's probably down to it being a festival and having lower expectations as a result.

veddertown

ilockyer wrote:

2 hours is about average for a PJ show in Europe, and most people will be more than happy with that.

Amen to that Ian!! PJ aren't exactly spring chickens and 2 hours will probably become more frequent as the years pass. As long as they never start doing tours like AC/DC or Iron Maiden with the same set in stone setlist for every show before the tour even begins people will still scramble for tickets. I'd prefer no festival shows like most people but I'll take whatever they offer.

Ozzie

A two hour show would be excellent, particularly to someone who hasn't seen them before! Yeah, a long show with lots of rarities would be nice, but I'll take what I can get...

veddertown

Ozzie wrote:

A two hour show would be excellent, particularly to someone who hasn't seen them before! Yeah, a long show with lots of rarities would be nice, but I'll take what I can get...

Don't worry, Isle Of Wight is apparently a great place, the festival is very well organized, you love PJ and it's your first show. Prepare yourself for having a great time and don't worry about how long they'll play or what they will or won't play. I had my first show in Dublin, first show of the tour and I heard some people say they were sloppy and jet-lagged but to me it was heavenly, uplifting and everything I'd hoped it would be. Trust your judgement on this show, you will have a great weekend and PJ will blow your socks off! I just wish I could be joining the masses too but the Manchester shows are all I can fit in. Have fun!!

Ozzie

veddertown wrote:

Have fun!!

Cheers - I fully intend to!