iTunes Festival 2014 - Roundhouse Camden - 23/09/2014 - London U.K.
Itunes Festival - Placebo
Concert review by Amazia Shining in colaboration with Placebo Anyway
Pictures: Amazia Shining & taken from this album (more than 400 pics) with sources
Layout /design: SusanneCk
Best in
advance birthday and christmas gift ever…
… or what
it feels like being in the front row for Placebo’s gig at iTunes festival 2014
XD
First of
all: I never ever win anything, but somehow I more or less accidentally won
tickets for Placebo at the Roundhouse. I
must admit I’ve listened to their music pretty much from the beginning, but I
have never been a really huge fan until I saw them in Mönchengladbach about
five weeks ago. It definitely wasn’t love on first sight, but the moment I saw
them live for the first time I immediately regretted I never went when they
played in Germany before. I was just overwhelmed somehow, not only by the band
alone but by the whole day which was surely one of the best days in my life so
far. I just wanted to go back and I was totally heartbroken there weren’t any
further gigs close enough I could even think about attending. The only thing I could do was buying every
single album, all at once.
 |
| Mönchengladbach 20/08/2014 |
Then they
announced Itunes and I was like: I have to go… I have to… I can’t even
remember wanting anything in my life so badly before but there wasn’t much
hope, especially with a German I tunes account.
Then there was the other raffle via Placebo World and I totally missed
the small paragraph on the form saying UK residents only. That’s why I said I
accidentally won :P
As you guys
can imagine I totally freaked out because there was just no way of me missing
that gig. I moved heaven and hell to get to London somehow although I was
totally broke (bye bye birthday and Christmas presents from every single part
of my or my boyfriend’s family, but I don’t care). I would have walked to
Calais and swam to Dover if I’d had to, seriously. I know I’m maybe boring you to death right
now but I just don’t know how to put into words what kind of a big deal this
gig was for me.
Everything
about it scared the shit out of me. I don’t show it often but I really don’t
like leaving the house, especially alone. I love adventures but I’m scared as
f*** at the same time. I was scared of the flight, scared of going to London
alone, scared I’d get in trouble because it’s pretty obvious I’m no UK
resident. Maybe I made myself crazy but that’s just me. Relaxed on the outside,
freaking out on the inside.
But as
scared as I was, it was just perfect -the gig itself of course, but also
everything else about this trip. The people I met were incredibly nice. I’ve
been to a lot of concerts before fear took over, and I’ve been to some gigs
during the past three years since I decided I won’t give up that easily (I
barely left the house for about 6 years in between) and I swear I’ve never seen
a nicer, more disciplined inlet ever. No screaming, pushing or running,
although we were pretty much in the front.
Maybe that was because of the ID checks and because we had to go to the
counters, get our IDs checked (again), get the tickets scanned and exchange
them for wristbands before we were allowed to move further to the pit. We could
walk to the barrier and the venue filled slowly. I think it took about twenty
to thirty minutes until the front row was full. People were just dropping in oh
so slowly.
There was a lot of time to appreciate the building itself. The Roundhouse
is really, really small and just beautiful (but I guess everyone who saw the
streaming noticed that). In fact, it’s even smaller in real life than it seems
on the videos or on pictures. I could hardly believe how small it is, how small
the stage was and how close you are. I stood second row in Mönchengladbach and
there’s no chance comparing the setup. ITunes was a completely different world
and it was amazing. I couldn’t stop looking around, staring at the ceiling, at
the pillars, the lights. Even the drinks were affordable compared to the bigger
venues I’ve been to. We just bought one bottle of water anyway because we
didn’t want to leave the barrier once we stood (or in my case sat) there.
I can’t
tell you a lot about the support act, except I liked the music they played and
my friend and I were dancing all the time. I don’t think we were the only ones
who were actually enjoying them, but you could tell the people around us were
waiting for Placebo to take the stage and it definitely wasn’t easy for the
mirror trap to warm them up. I was a bit sorry for them. I didn’t understand a
single word the singer was saying but we danced anyway. So I already was thirsty again and a total
mess when The Mirror Trap left the stage and the crew started setting
everything up for Placebo.
So the small cups of water the security gave us were highly appreciated. By the way I’ve never seen something like that before on a concert. The organizers are usually too much into making money from the drinks to distribute water to the crowd. I don’t know, maybe it is common on UK festivals but it was something I noticed cause I’m just not used to it.
So the small cups of water the security gave us were highly appreciated. By the way I’ve never seen something like that before on a concert. The organizers are usually too much into making money from the drinks to distribute water to the crowd. I don’t know, maybe it is common on UK festivals but it was something I noticed cause I’m just not used to it.
The winner
of the cutest thing of the day award by the way goes to Cody, because he was
there proudly ‘helping’ the crew XD. I think that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever
seen in my whole life, the guitars were almost bigger than he XD
The crowd
was still very relaxed when the countdown started, but you could feel the
excitement rising with every second. It was quiet in the beginning, but til the
count of seven or six the whole venue was counting along. We had a lot of space
left to dance anyway when Placebo played the first songs of their set. I was
even wondering how much space there was, there was still no pushing at all
(definitely a new experience for me). But on Meds, all of a sudden it felt like
the whole venue exploded. Everybody started jumping and freaking out, people
were pushed against us so hard, I thought I might fall over the barrier any
second (I’m pretty tall). I think that was the moment the music really took
over, at least on our side. I’ve seen the recording on I Tunes and to me it
looks like it was just the front on the right side of the venue but it didn’t
feel like that. But probably I was just too lost in music and too busy with
dancing to notice what the rest of the crowd was doing. I was so lost in the
moment I can’t even remember the set or anything else but total happiness (wow
that sounds cheesy lol).
I was just
dancing and singing my heart out and I just took one picture of Stefan in the
beginning, just to show my boyfriend at home who wasn’t happy at all about my
adventures, how close we actually were.
My Blackberry wasn’t made for taking pics, especially in the dark so it isn’t even close to good quality but it will do I guess. Stefan still looks way further away on the pic than he actually was. I’m not good at estimating distances (or age, or anything) at all, but he stood maybe two, maximum three meters away from us. I wish I could tell you more about the actual show, but I can’t except it was fantastic, although it was about five songs shorter than the one in Mönchengladbach and it was kind of sad, because I could have went on dancing and singing along like forever.
I’m pretty sure if I
hadn’t been so high on adrenaline and so drunk by the music I would have cried
when they played Infra Red because I knew it was the last song of the set. I
was just too high to feel the pain on Tuesday, but it is here now.
Writing this post took some time, even starting it took time because I kind of avoided it. It’s a goodbye to an incredible week, incredible people, the best thing I’ve ever done and I’m not ready for letting it go. Some of you might say it’s kind of sick thinking or feeling the way I do right now, cause I’m getting all emotional and yes, right now I sit here crying because I have to say goodbye and I really don’t want to. And yes, I cried my eyes out on my way to the airport and I was so sad I had to leave all those wonderful people and this wonderful city called London behind. Maybe that’s weird but I don’t care, I can’t switch my feelings of anyway, even if I wanted to.
So all I
can say is it was just perfect for me and I’d definitely do it again no matter
how stressful the organization or the travelling was. And if you, or you, or
you, anyone should ever get such an opportunity don’t let it slip, no matter
what. No matter if you should be at work, you’re scared like I was or if
everyone around you says you’re completely insane. Say f*** you and do it no
matter what. And if you have to walk one billion miles on your two feet, do it.
That’s all I can say.
My Blackberry wasn’t made for taking pics, especially in the dark so it isn’t even close to good quality but it will do I guess. Stefan still looks way further away on the pic than he actually was. I’m not good at estimating distances (or age, or anything) at all, but he stood maybe two, maximum three meters away from us. I wish I could tell you more about the actual show, but I can’t except it was fantastic, although it was about five songs shorter than the one in Mönchengladbach and it was kind of sad, because I could have went on dancing and singing along like forever.
Writing this post took some time, even starting it took time because I kind of avoided it. It’s a goodbye to an incredible week, incredible people, the best thing I’ve ever done and I’m not ready for letting it go. Some of you might say it’s kind of sick thinking or feeling the way I do right now, cause I’m getting all emotional and yes, right now I sit here crying because I have to say goodbye and I really don’t want to. And yes, I cried my eyes out on my way to the airport and I was so sad I had to leave all those wonderful people and this wonderful city called London behind. Maybe that’s weird but I don’t care, I can’t switch my feelings of anyway, even if I wanted to.
To all the
people who made those two days and (of course) the show so special (you know
who you are): Thank you!!! Thanks for your time, patience, kind words, help and
thank you for being so incredible
Concert review by Amazia Shining in colaboration with Placebo Anyway
Pictures: Amazia Shining & taken from this album (more than 400 pics) with sources
Layout /design: SusanneCk
