2014-07-11: Milton Keynes Bowl: Milton Keynes, UK

[Sgt. Crackpot]

[ABNorman]

I'm right in assuming this should be one of the easiest to pick up tickets for a bit later down the line, right? It's the cheapest for me to go to, but I'm hoping to get into the Amsterdam show, and then get into a possible/probably second Amsterdam show.

[igotworms]

Doors open at 1400, so that points to a bigger bill than the other gigs on this tour. Maybe we'll get a belated pj20 celebration in Europe. With soundgarden as support (note that they are supporting Sabbath in Europe at the end of June with their Cameron replacement.... So just maybe it isn't beyond the realms of possibility...)

[igotworms]

Soundgarden playing London's Hyde Park on Friday 4th July, precisely one week before PJ's giant Milton Keynes show. Can I sound the rumour klaxon on this one?

[dimejinky99]

Black rebel motorcycle club confirmed and shock horror, mudhoney almost locked. announced as supports.

Glad I'm not going to this shit.

[igotworms]

Heard about BRMC, but didn't know about Mudhoney. Source? Thx.

[dimejinky99]

Rumour at this point

[Lament]

I used to hang out with BRMC a bit back around 2000-2002. I got made fun of on more than one occasion by Robert & Peter for being a Pearl Jam fan. This amuses me.

[dimejinky99]

Which confirms my view of this band. Leather jackets skinny jeans hipster haircuts and a nauseating 'we're too cool to live' attitude.

They've been godawful each time I've seen them.

[Lament]

I probably saw them 25-30 times in the aforementioned era. They played some amazing shows and had an absurd amount of promise. I genuinely loved that first album and played it to death. And in the name of fairness, they were unbelievably nice to me and went out of their way for a period to look after me as a fan. Robert used to sneak me in back with them so I could see them play in 21+ venues when I was still underaged. I found the second album to be super lazy and disappointing, and after seeing them play one of the worst shows I've ever seen in September of 2003, it all became a bit too much and I walked away. I'm glad they managed to carve out a lengthy career; I just have no personal interest in anything they do. They were always very calculated (I could tell you some crazy stories), but at first the music was so good that it didn't seem to matter. I remember looking at the tracklisting when their 3rd or 4th album came out and seeing it was still packed with songs they were playing in 2000 before the first one came out (and ones they used to swear were "jokes" that they'd never release, like Shuffle Your Feet). I do have some awesome memories of those first few years of their career though. And some cool memorabilia stashed in a closet somewhere.

I don't think there was a band that came up in conversation (present or past) that they didn't very openly think they were better then. Which, I suppose is good for them and their confidence. But they went way out of their way at the beginning to hide a lot of their backgrounds in the name of cred.

[dimejinky99]

None of that surprises me at all.

When I've seen this band they've always been trying harder to appear aloof uninterested and effortless when it comes across as they'd rather be doing anything else anywhere, then be there.
That attitude might intrigue teenagers seeing their first show but it doesn't invite interest from anyone else.

Weird weird choice by the promoter/Pj mgmt. but it is festival season so maybe bands are hard to come by.

[Birds in Hell]

Hasn't Mike worn a BRMC shirt a number of times recently? I guess he's a fan.

[dimejinky99]

Was that the bootleg tshirt? And someone from whatever band gave him shit online for wearing non official merch?
Was that them?

[Birds in Hell]

Yeah, that sounds right.

[dimejinky99]

Pj usually pick their supports. This time of seems to be the promoter.
The head of livenation is all atweet about this MK gig.
The tickets just aren't selling. Or weren't at least

[igotworms]

The reports I'm reading are indicating that BRMC will be headline/main support. Would BRMC really be higher up a bill than Mudhoney? Come to think of it, would they really be higher up a bill than any band...

[igotworms]

Pj usually pick their supports. This time of seems to be the promoter.
The head of livenation is all atweet about this MK gig.
The tickets just aren't selling. Or weren't at least

Doesn't surprise me at all. All due respect to anybody who lives that neck of the woods, but MK Bowl isn't a great venue (not least because of public transport reasons) and at £65 they're discouraging all but the hardcore PJ fans from buying tickets.

I was expecting/hoping that they would add a couple of fairly big support bands to drive uptake of this show, but they're barking up the wrong tree with BRMC.

This could be an embarrassingly under-attended gig. I predict lots of competitions giving away tickets and plenty of cut price tix in the week before the show.

[mac]

Hello! I've browsed this forum from a far for a few years, but I felt like I had to voice an opinion on this matter. I fully agree with the above sentiments. But you know what? It's Pearl jam and the promoters own fault these tickets aren't selling - and I have absolutely no sympathy for them, whatsoever. Why do you have to pay £65 to stand in the appalling Milton Keynes with way more people than at leeds, where there are only 8000 people, and it sounds amazing and tickets cost 55? Why is MKB more expensive? I can only think of one answer - appalling greed. This show offers no bang for buck whatsoever! For example - lets look at what you get the weekend before in central London for the same ticket price. Black Sabbath - one of the greatest bands of all time, arguably more popular in the uk than pearl jam...Soundgarden - a band on arguably a similar level of popularity to pearl jam in the uk...Faith no more - amazing band, who still do really interesting things live and never phone it in...and to top it all off, Motor-fucking-head. This is a great line up.

Lets look at what you get with PJ for the same money - one of the worst venues in the world and BRMC. Why BRMC!? Who cares about this pointless band? They were rubbish when they came out and they are rubbish now, and this will do NOTHING to help flog tickets. It just seems like a really desperate attempt to pad out the bill with whatever crap they can book quickly because they are panicking. I can imagine a big gun like queens getting added if they don't have a show booked, but this is unlikely, and I can imagine an eddie solo set. But honestly, it's the sort of show where you can't even look forward to it because of how bad the venue is. I remember when I heard that they where playing MKB - my heart sank. It is the shittest. Then add the fact they want £65? That is offensive and they should be ashamed of themselves. I'm gald no one is buying tickets, they got incredibly greedy. I hope it sends out a very clear message. I honestly think they should cancel it, and make a public apology to the fans. I used to think that pearl jam were very reasonable with their ticket prices, but this is the most offensive thing I have heard of the band doing. Pure greed. I honestly don't what they where thinking. £45 would be too much for this line up at such a huge capacity venue. I paid £50 to see Bruce last summer, he put a 3 hour show on, with a much bigger band, and loads of at least established support acts in a nice place with good sound! What the fuck are pearl jam thinking!?

A real shame, but this was a greedy move and a real shitty one too. I am truly glad they have been given the finger by people.

[igotworms]

Amen to that. I genuinely thought that as it's at a venue that is not reflective of the band's UK popularity (i.e. too big), and with a whopping £65 ticket, and with the doors opening at 1400, that the Milton Keynes gig was going to have a pretty good bill. But if BRMC are the main support....then that's that out of the window!

And I FULLY agree with your opinion about the Sabbath gig - what a line-up.

[mac]

Amen to that. I genuinely thought that as it's at a venue that is not reflective of the band's UK popularity (i.e. too big), and with a whopping £65 ticket, and with the doors opening at 1400, that the Milton Keynes gig was going to have a pretty good bill. But if BRMC are the main support....then that's that out of the window!

And I FULLY agree with your opinion about the Sabbath gig - what a line-up.

Just noticed they are advertising all over the ebay search engine now! Jesus, they must be in trouble. Serves the greedy bastards right.