Thanks ArrGee!

>He got quarter of an hour and two songs (no one else got that time). Jools Holland gave him the award, and lots of oldies praised him (Bono, Sting, Annie Lennox, Pete T, Elton...).  Even his acceptance of the award was unusually modest!<

LOL. I think that award may have really meant something to him.

>strings and horns<

With BG on stage??

Don't know much about yousendit.com/avi - is that a format for videos? What kind of player would I need? Great if I could see some of it though!!

Katharina

ArrGeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, ello- lacking energy and enthusiasm- ABSOLUTLY not so

 GELDOF'S SET was  fing dynamic - coupled with the rare ingredient, raw talent. 

 From....... all at the Radio-love

I was there and have to say the atmosphere was excellent, Bob got the respect he deserved and was very well received by the crowd, he seemed genuinely touched by the award.  What a great choice of songs that provided a wonderful trip back down memory lane, all the words came flooding back not just for me but for all the people on my table who were also, for the record, standing on their seats. Bob and the gang was magnificent far exceeding my expectations, both his performance and in choosing Rat Trap and I don't like Mondays. The finale this year was so much better than Van Morrison, Tom Jones and Duran Duran at previous Brits.

The upshot is that I now have all my vinyl albums out and am introducing my 11 year old to the Rats, he loves them and Busted busting are a faded memory!

Thanks Bob, I had a thoroughly enjoyable night, felt 20 odd years younger and remembered what life was once all about! Long live the Boomtown Rats! 

Dylan

I thought Geldof tried too hard during "Mondays", but "Rat Trap" was fine. To be honest, "Mondays" or "Rat Trap" ought to be put to bed for a more gig style number whenever he does these shows - this is where the likes of "Diamond Smiles" or "The Great Song Of Indifference" come in handy!

At least he didn't make a tit of himself like Siouxsie Sioux did by trying too hard. One could see the tumbleweed going through the audience as her lines fell flatter than Geldof's infamous "sell records" pitch to the Columbia sales reps! He had a cold & was not firing on all cylinders, but still did the business.

Was in HMV today, buying "Hot Press" (Ireland's version of the NME, except without the juvenilie pretentions!), and boy did it feel good to see the Rats videos on their TV screens & hear the "Best Of..." blasting out of the speakers...

..but not half as good as seeing the completely empty racks where the back catalogue had been! The copies of "Five Deep" had arrived later in the week, after the other five albums, and I got the last copy...the last of anything bar the "Best Of..." CDs!

As the guy as the HMV desk put it, "Yeah, weird innit? Who'd have thought!"

quote:

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Originally posted by: ArrGee
"Gwen Stefani was pretty good.  Better than I expected.  A little offbeat, and the song reminded me of Clockwork!"

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That's what I thought when I first heard the song. I tried to find out if a certain Dave Stewart was the producer of this song (I know he produced some songs for G. Stefani, but I'm not sure about this one) - does anybody know? A possible connection?? (Just joking.)

Hi,

ArrGee, would you please give me as well the info to load that clip?

THX

Naturally, I disagree with most of you.  I thought playing in front of a full orchestra was a brilliant idea, brilliantly executed. 

Those of you who know me know that I REALLY dislike Mondays, and generally prefer the solo work to the Rats stuff.  Well....the Brit awards actually had me liking Mondays for the first time.  That's saying a lot.  I also developed a new respect for Rat Trap.  Who knew BG was always meant to front an orchestra? 

No, MJ, THAT'S JUST NOT POSSIBLE!!!!!   I'm...shocked!

And, yes, thanks ArrGee.  And Jules.

Wanted to mention that I just happened to stumble on the show, which was just broadcast on BBC-America.  And now, for my totally subjective personal opinion:

It's interesting to see, even after just the first segment with Scissor Sisters and Franz Ferdinand, both bands I do NOT like.  For reasons unknown, I found both performances enjoyable, and finally understood why these bands have fans.  Mysterious. 

This show was also the first time I found Joss Stone convincing, but she lost me again in the duet with Robbie Williams.  Mr. Williams, I think I've seen him before...not my style, but he wasn't atrocious. 

Weird that I'd never heard of SO MANY nominees.  At all.

David and Natasha Bedingfield - who are they and why are they butchering (umm, I mean covering) CHAKA??  Why are a brother and sister singing a song about lust as a duet?  So many questions....

The Streets (?) - sort of interesting, but noooooo.....really missed the mark.

Jamelia and Lamar?? - more people I've never heard of before.  Kept wondering where Mick and Tina were (was the entirety of the choreography lifted? or merely inspired by?) ... but props to Jamelia for working the high heels and, damn girl!, you do have great legs!

Green Day kicked some serious ASS.  WOO HOO!!!  Knew I shoulda put a tape in!

Keane - don't think I'd seen them perform live before.  Loved the lead singer's wide white belt, gave me fashion flashbacks.  Sad he's not prettier, they'd get more TV exposure in the US if he were... I like this band.

The winner in the category of "Performance?  That's all about the costumes, choreography, make up and set design" - clearly Gewn Stefani.  The short red gloves?  Killer.  The shoes?  Killer.  The dress?  Killer.  The dancers kneepads?  Killer.  Gwen's got the best designers on the planet.

Snoop and Pharrell Williams - I hope The Streets were paying attention.  Children, THAT'S how it's done.  Hmmm...wonder if BG and Snoop were hanging in the green room together?  I'd pay money to be a fly on that wall...hilarity might have ensued!

The host was quite a disappointment, as were most of the presenters.  And the MasterCard logo was just TOO damned ever-present!  Generally, the evening's fashions weren't too exciting, nor was the stage design. But props to the lighting designer.  God bless Vari-Lite.

Yeah, now having seen the BG stuff on a nice full sized TV, I wish I'd taped it.  Better than the mini-version on the computer screen.  MJ, you were right.  Vince IS smoking onstage!  So much for his being a health freak...it's the devil nicotine.  The man's obviously possessed.

Of course, I'm still pissed that Kanye West didn't win.  Jesus Walks is just SO brilliant.

Finally, thank you to everyone who's ever said I looked like Minnie Driver.  I wish.

The problems I had with the Streets had nothing to do with the language, and everything to do with the inability (in my opinion) to put across attitude, coupled with the complete inability to sing...

But OK, what's a chav?

And I think what went on in Rome was perfectly normal, drunk or not.

quote:

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Originally posted by: Katharina
"So you guys like a singer for good looks instead of for a good voice?"

This is a very simplistic answer, but - with very rare exceptions, you simply don't get to be on TV unless you're beautiful.  That goes for actors, newscasters, people in commercials, people in "reality" TV shows, and probably even more so for singers.  It's a VERY visual culture.  Few singers will get any exposure unless they look good to begin with. 

"What is Vari Lite?"

www.varilite.com  They'll probably explain it better than I will, go to the "company" page ... but also look at the other stuff on the site and you'll understand it all.  My bare bones explanation: Historically, theatrical lights were stationary, and to get a color effect you'd put colored plastic sheets in front.  Vari-Lite invented a system where the lights are controlled by computer, and can rotate both side to side and up and down.  The color changes come from within the light itself, so you can change through lots and lots of colors very very quickly, all while the light is moving.  I studied lighting design in the 70s.  Vari Lite changed the lighting industry by designing Phil Collins' 1981 tour.  I've worked on shows with Vari Lites, and I just love them (I've never designed with them.  I never did much lighting design professionally, but I'd have loved to.).  They're amazing pieces of design, both technically and creatively.  You can do all sorts of great things with them.  And the Vari Lite guys that come out from corporate to run them are usually hot - always a plus.

Anyway, I didn't see the Brit Awards listed on the Vari Lite site as a show they'd done, so I suppose it's possible they weren't actually Vari Lites, but 1) they certainly looked like Vari Lites to me, and 2) Vari Lite has a patent on the design, so I don't know how close anyone else can really get.  At this point, I'd say if the lighting looks like that, it's probably a Vari Lite system.

And by the way, that sort of design is expensive.  If you're doing a small show, a show on a budget, you're not running Vari Lites.

 

"Franna, where did you see Vince smoke on stage in that clip??"

I didn't see it in the clip.  MJ said she did...  I only noticed it when I saw the footage on my 27" TV.  I'll have to look through the clip again, but I still don't know if I'll see it.  Ask MJ.  She probably watches the clips on her home theatre screen, big as life.

 

"By the way: Have you noticed that Bono - apart from sounding a bit corny - sits in front of a putto??"

Corny?  That's tame for Bono, you should hear him when he really gets going!  What's a putto?

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