I went all the way down to Cork from Dublin to go to The Marquee and I have to say that I was very disappointed. Now I
love Bell X1 but I really didn't think last nights gig was up to their usual standard.
For starters the sound was really bad, lots of feedback, especially during "I'll see your heart" which was a bit crap (the feedback not the song) because Paul had dedicated it to the Cork fans and I have to say I cringed a little bit. The stage set-up wasn't nearly as good as it usually is, the looked tiny on the huge stage and it looked really bare with no props or any of the usual stuff. I also thought they kinda rushed the gig and just weren't as into it last night. There seemed to be issues with drums and guitars throughout the whole gig.
Now I know a lot of that stuff is out of the bands control but I came away feeling a little bit let down.
I suppose I had come down from Dublin (€71 for a train ticket?!
) so with hotel, taxi's and all the eating and drinking I ended up spending a fortune. I'd also brought along a friend that wasn't too familiar with Bell X1 and I had to tell her that the gigs are usually better than that.
Maybe they should charge more for the tickets to get a better quality sound etc. €35 is the cheapest ticket for any gig that I've been to so if the price was slightly increased they could improve some things? I for one will never return to the Marquee in Cork again but I can't wait to see them at Electric Picnic. In fact the only reason I'm going to EP is to see Bell X1, if they weren't playing I wouldn't bother.
On a more positive note; Pauls' version of Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror was excellent and the crowd took a little bit of time to warm up but when they did the place really rocked.
Sorry for the rant but I just had to get it off my chest. Still love 'em though.