Make Trade Fair
Hammersmith Apollo September 14th 2004

Not only was this a fabulous gig - it was a very important one - well done to all concerned. Please continue to support Oxfam in this essential work www.maketradefair.com

We thought that the production team working on this gig were amazing and they managed to do some really fast turn around between sets - impressive stuff! - Couldn't get a decent photo but this chap was amazing with the most astounding hair do ever - we don't know who was responsible for the production of this gig but we thought the whole team deserved a mention because their hard work made the show a great gig for all of us - thank you guys - always the unsung heroes of these events.

The venue was good - not overcrowded and it seemed that you would have a have a good view of the stage wherever you happened to find yourself. Seemed to be a lack of toilet facilities and we weren't sure that disabled facilities in general were very good - perhaps you know first hand whether they are good enough?

Showsec were in charge of security and we have to say that we found them overall to be a bit surly and not very approachable. A Showsec employee who was trying to force the crowd to queue outside in the way she wanted was impolite and treated the customers like idiots - trying to make those behind push in - not a good start. One guy did answer some questions when we asked - however, as the gig ended security blocked off the ladies toilets nearest the stage - this was frankly unacceptable for many reasons - when I asked the Showsec employee for an explanation I was totally ignored - not the way I would want or expect members of the public to be treated. Surely we are permitted such a basic human right and if it is being denied us don't we have a right to ask why? and on that point I do expect to be treated with a little bit of respect and at least have an acknowledgement. Our only other criticism concerns the tickets issued by ticketmaster - there was no way that the terms and conditions could be read by any mere mortal - so the point in having them on the ticket in the first place was..??

So - aside from a very few niggles this gig was tremendous representing tremendous value for money - doors opened 10 minutes late but the show started promptly - and what a show it was! We had Dermot O'Leary acting as compare for the evening! (couldn't get a good shot of him either!) Razorlight opened with a 20 minute fun set - we rather liked them! Lots of energy even though we were rather concerned that Johnny Borrell might just have been displaying symptoms of tourettes syndrome!!

They were followed on stage by Jamelia - the first big surprise of the evening - she stormed it - a much bigger talent than we had expected and the crowd loved her - she thought she wasn't the sort of act that really fitted in - oh yes you were girl - you were damned fine!! - oh and that was some frock....

Jamelia and Razorlight's frontman Johnny Borrell then gave us a rendition of Blondies 'Heart of Glass' - apparently only thought of and rehearsed an hour or so before the gig - it showed but who cared - it was fun - it was touching - it was sweet and we loved it.

Minnie Driver is undoubtedly a good actress - please do not give up the day job Min.

The Thrills did quite a nice set which was well received by all especially when REM's Peter Buck joined in - what a pity then that the twat AKA the bass guitarist who had looked like a complete nerd all the way through suddenly decided at the end of the set to come to the edge of the stage - frankly he looked ill and we thought he was going to puke or faint - but oh no - the pure 24 carrot idiot lunges into the crowd for a bit of a stage dive and surf - what a pity that this idiot had to behave like that and by so doing taint an otherwise nice set - and what a pity he didn't do it by me a good slap would have made us feel a whole heap better - even better if he'd just been left to drop like a stone to the floor eh?

So there we were waiting for the act we'd all really turned up to see and on popped Ricky Gervais who thrilled us all with a 15 minute set and in his usual inimitable irreverent manner proceeded to take the piss out of a whole host of very near the knuckle subjects - pure gold!

Finally - the highlight of the evening - REM take the stage to rapturous applause - the set kicked off with ’Losing My Religion’ continuing with ’Bad Day’, other numbers included the forthcoming single ’Leaving New York’, and other new songs ’I Wanted To Be Wrong’ and ’Boy In The Well’. An ecstatic crowd were delighted when Coldplay's Chris Martin joined REM on stage for a verse and a chorus of 'Man in the Moon' - as could have been predicted a superb set from a superb international band of pure gold superstars - we salute you!

Accolade for Twunt of the evening goes to five star prat Padraic McMahan - obviously unaware of anyone's needs aside from his own.