PRAGUE - 20th April

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aldinblack
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PRAGUE - 20th April

Post by aldinblack »

Sitting in my Milan hotel room, leaving for Prague in the morning - never been there before...the anticipation is building, can't wait !

So I thought I'd get this thread going again for no better reason...

(come on guys just humour me :-)
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aldinblack
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PRAGUE - 20th April

Post by aldinblack »

Just come out of the Prague gig - another awesome night..

Met RattusRattus aka Gareth and his lad Shaun ( hope I have the right spelling). Really great to meet up - thanks for making the contact - we had a few beers before & after the gig.

During the set I was in the thick of it at the front, & I loved every minute. Very hot & sweaty, but great atmosphere. I met some locals, as well as others from this forum/uk

Slight set change, started with BUT, 5 mins still on a bit later. Giants still in, Raven & SLG added back in.

TTD dropped.

Sound excellent - good balanced mix I thought, Baz said something like "welcome to my mums front room".

It was tight in there but it looked and sounded great.

Thanks again to Gareth, enjoyed havin a few beers with you & I hope you have a good 'un in Berlin.

Even got a handshake from Dave at the end. That's it from me, Prague site seeing tomorrow then home and back to work Monday - cant wait :-)

Goodnight.
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Re: PRAGUE - 20th April

Post by derby62 »

Glad you had a good time Aldi thanks for sharing with us
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PRAGUE - 20th April

Post by aldinblack »

It was so fcuking great I just can't get it outa my mind. Pretty much at the front central between JJ & Baz, tight but with enough room to move around to the awesome Mercury Rising, JJs bass lines going right through me, and Baz's solos screaming at me. Me singing (or shouting) along to the chorus. Everyone around me is dancing and jumping around as well - are they feeling every moment like I am ? Probably.

No other band can ever do this to me ever.
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Re: PRAGUE - 20th April

Post by Bobinblack »

aldinblack wrote:It was so fcuking great I just can't get it outa my mind. Pretty much at the front central between JJ & Baz, tight but with enough room to move around to the awesome Mercury Rising, JJs bass lines going right through me, and Baz's solos screaming at me. Me singing (or shouting) along to the chorus. Everyone around me is dancing and jumping around as well - are they feeling every moment like I am ? Probably.

No other band can ever do this to me ever.
Great review that, sorry I couldn't attend this as I love Prague, glad you all seem to have enjoyed it. I've done an overnight rail jaunt from Prague to Berlin, Czech border police were absolute wankers, 4 in the morning Search & Harass attitude :lol:
Think I'll go for a stroll in the trees.
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Re: PRAGUE - 20th April

Post by Alias »

The Prague Post review:

http://www.praguepost.com/night-and-day ... glers.html

"While grayer around the edges, British rockers The Stranglers, who have been going strong for four decades, are as feisty as ever. Judging by the cover of their latest album, it's all over for The Stranglers, as they are pictured dangling lifeless from nooses hung on a swing set. But don't be fooled. Controversy has worked to the band's advantage for the better part of four decades, and things aren't going to change now. Even the promotional posters for their latest tour raise an eyebrow, with the band's legendary 73-year-old drummer Jet Black pictured wearing an oxygen mask. He suffers from asthma and also has diabetes and heart arrhythmia, but is a true warrior and plays whenever he can.

Giants is The Stranglers' 17th studio album and one of their most eclectic to date. A line from the title track reveals a great deal about the album's general mood. "Once there were giants walking amongst us/ Now I have to deal with little men with little hearts."

"It's about small-minded people," bassist and vocalist Jean-Jacques Burnel tells The Prague Post. "Everything is petty now. Even the riots last summer in the UK weren't driven by huge political or social ideas - it was just greed. How can you have respect for lawmakers and politicians when they stick their snouts in the trough as well? Like Nelson Mandela, their legacy has been completely corrupted by their successors. Václav Havel was a true giant."

With other highpoints such as "Lowlands," "Mercury Rising" and "Time Was Once On My Side," Giants is a genuine return to form that demonstrates the many facets of a band determined to remain just as relevant now as when they first started out.

Labeled instigators of punk rock alongside The Clash and Sex Pistols, The Stranglers were nevertheless pushed to the periphery by their use of keyboards. But The Stranglers still possessed an aggressive punk attitude that inevitably led to them become the black sheep of music media. Any music hack who dared write a word against the band in their heyday were usually gaffer-taped or kidnapped.

Ronnie Gurr was a writer who experienced the latter, being flung into the back of a transit van and taken to one of The Stranglers' shows. Guarded at the side of the stage by Burnel's "Finchley Boys," Gurr was forced to sit through the support acts before managing to escape by jumping off the stage and running into the police station next door.

"He just wound me up, so I kidnapped him," Burnel says. "When he went to the police station, I had to hide in a woman's wardrobe, as you do, while the police searched the building."

Meeting up with Burnel in Liverpool, four dates into the current tour, it's hard to imagine you're speaking to the same person these rock stories reveal. Very personable, he even offers tea. But he still doesn't suffer fools gladly, as one member of the Liverpool audience later that evening found out after throwing his beer all over the bassist during the anthemic "No More Heroes."

Burnel, who incidentally is also a karate expert, made an example of the wretched culprit by unloading a few hefty slaps. A video of the incident can be seen on the Internet. Ironically, something very similar happened when the band played at Lucerna back in 2001.

"We had a bit of a punch-up there. And it was a Brit," Burnel says.

With tongue firmly entrenched in cheek, Burnel admits his interest in violence comes from his upbringing, by French parents in England.

"I didn't want to be who I was," he says. "I was always picked on for being French, so I quickly learned the only way to fend people off was to beat the crap out of them - to be nastier to them than they were to me."

To date, The Stranglers have sold more than 20 million records worldwide, and their enthusiasm for touring remains their No. 1 priority.

"It's why we started the band, to play," Burnel says. "We love to play, and we're in a very privileged position after all this time to be in awe of all the possibilities you can do with music. People come to see The Stranglers because we've got a reputation for decades, and I want people to leave a Stranglers concert feeling elated."

Since Baz Warne took over vocal and guitar duties 12 years ago, he's fit into the band perfectly, following an acrimonious split with former singer Hugh Cornwell.

"I think Baz has given The Stranglers a whole new lease on life, which is probably why there will never be another band like The Stranglers," Burnel says. "This is because the music scene has changed; conditions have changed, and no other band is going to come from our situation with such diversity, so many different age groups, and make all the wrong moves that we've made over the years and still survive and be commercially even more successful than before."
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Re: PRAGUE - 20th April

Post by Bobinblack »

Good article, thanks for posting it.
Think I'll go for a stroll in the trees.
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