dylan62

Don't remind me Milly. I'm trying to erase them from my memory :)

Sorry Pippa. Someone voted and I assumed it was you because of your post. :) When it comes to tours TT have made a rod for their own back. The balance was right for the Ultimate Tour and BW Tour and The Circus tour was such a magnificently well constructed show that it didn't necessarily over shadow the music. The problem did however stem from that tour. Because the production was so immense they assumed that people would expect bigger and better with each tour and they're now stuck with a dilemma. Do they go for a massive production because many come to see them for that very reason, or do they tone it down and possibly risk the wrath of those expecting a big show? The balance wasn't right with Progress and in hind sight I don't think it was for III either. Hyde Park demonstrated that they could perform to a large crowd without a huge production. That show was rather muted production wise, some dancers but limited dance routines. What they did very cleverly was to up the light show which looked so beautiful as night fell. I think the anniversary show will have a huge production. If they tour before that I'd like them to go for a more simple acoustic set /production as a contrast to other tours. The SISYL tour proved that fans/general public will love the show if the music is right. Gary's show was understated aside from the gorgeous suspended lights - it goes to show they don't need an elaborate set.

Agree, Jay. I wasn't a fan of Portrait and thought if fell flat in the show. The flying bike was visually great and HTH would have been a far better choice. I think Mike Stevens tweeted something about the song being tried out but for whatever reason it never made the final set list.

Surprised you went for BW, Pippa. For some reason I expected you to vote for The Circus era. I'd forgotten about the Abbey Road release, wasn't that wonderful? If the Abbey Road DVD had aired on TV I've no doubt it would have had a massive impact on their album sales. The reason I love the BW tour is actually the simplicity of it. Whilst there were some stand out moments the music took centre stage, and aside from the 'lap dance' section I adored every bit of that concert. The centre stage part with EC and CIBM was quite beautiful. I loved the production for RTW and in spite of my general dislike of RLMF the BW production is in my view their strongest live performance of that song. If you remember they also did the New Year show at the 02 which aired on TV - good promotion yet again. I loved An Audience With - my only issue was the dance routine for Shine. I thought it was cringe worthy and they certainly didn't look comfortable performing it. The show itself was fab and they all came across so well. That era was marketed superbly - I do wonder what's gone wrong since then?

It's never been a fantastic show, but it's got worse as time's gone on. I will say that TT regularly perform on the show which I find somewhat strange because The Brits seem apathetic towards them at best certainly in terms of actual awards. They introduced the Best Live Act award which TT won and then quickly withdrew it. I think there's a Best Video award now which TT would never win. I wasn't keen on TT's performance of LITS. I actually would have preferred Higher Than Higher at the Brits, but I seem to be out of kilter with the bands song choices at the moment.

Can't see either happening, Milly. As far as the IN awards are concerned they've moved on to newer artists and unless TT secure a massive selling single it will be difficult to gain their attention. In terms of the Brits I may be wrong, but the only award given to them by the industry was Best Group. All their other awards have been voted for by the public - I think that's very telling. I haven't watched The Brits properly for many years. I watched TT's most recent performance but many of the artists aren't on my radar. Dislike the fact that the audience is no longer front of the stage which makes the show seem even more corporate led than before, lacking in any sense of atmosphere or vitality.

This is an easy decision for me. As much as I love the Circus era - fab album and an amazing tour, BW wins hands down. A brilliant comeback album full of wonderful songs, great promotion/marketing, a fantastic tour /DVD and a brilliant initial release in Patience. At this point they were also releasing quality B sides. 2006 was when I became a TT fan and for me the period when all four appeared strongest as a unit, to such an extent I never imagined that within 6 years the 2012 Olympics would be Jay's last public performance:(

Extremely unlikely, Pippa. I very much doubt TT will ever be recipients of this award. Only two previous British artists have received the ICON - given only to those deemed to have made a considerable and lasting impact on British music/culture. The Brits have never favoured TT, and I don't see their 25th anniversary changing that.

I don't normally follow the singles chart but out of the blue James Arthur has secured a No1 with little promotion as far as I can tell. I like the song, Ed Sheeran like and quite under stated. It just goes to show it can be done. I understand his sales are around 80,000 plus. 40,000 based on downloads and 4 million plus through streaming which brings the overall total to around the 80,000 mark. Streaming will obviously be the downfall for many established artists and unfortunately TT will be one of them. There's some Radio 2 award show coming up and Gary's name is down on the list, but at this stage I'm not sure in what capacity. It may well be he's giving out an award. Shame TT aren't performing - it would come at the right time.

SISYL was a good strategy and fun to watch the album cover slowly exposed as time went on as well. Hopefully they'll think more clearly about the marketing this time around. It's vital the video is available when the single drops. I don't understand why they schedule the filming for their videos so late into the process.

Oh please, please, please let the next song be a good one!!! A lovely little ballad will suit me down to the ground- boring as that sounds. Not long to wait and I think Gary has also tweeted about possible tour news at the end of this month. I think they'll use a similar strategy as last time with people who pre-order the album having priority tickets for the tour.

No problem, Milly. All in all I think the best strategy for me is to stay clear of posting anything which involves Rob. I'll stick to criticising TT3 :)

Elisabeth/Laura I've never intended to suggest that Rob fans were in any way 'idiots', I don't think anyone has intended to do that. Comments made have often been in response to posts and most have been opinions regarding his current single (which is of course a subjective thing) and mostly his stage persona which by and large is factual because he does do the things I've alluded to in my posts. I'm a little upset to think that people perceive any of my comments as nasty (I certainly didn't mean them to be), so I wont post any comments about Rob on this thread in the future. I wont even comment on Rob when he returns to TT. Hopefully that will placate Rob/TT5 fans who come onto the forum, as I'd like to think it's open to Gary and TT 3/4/5 fans to enjoy and participate in.

Some of my friends have been known to call me 'Doris Day :) Although some of you are probably too young to know who she is !!! I don't think any of us on this forum set out to be mean, we just get carried away sometimes. I just hope TT bring out a fab single and fantastic album - fed up of being critical of their work of late.

Elisabeth did you actually read my post? I clearly stated that Rob was considerably wealthier than the others and far more popular and I've congratulated him on his longevity. I clearly stated that I wasn't putting Gary in the same league as Sinatra or Ella - so I'm somewhat confused - although these days it doesn't take much :) Neither was I saying that Gary was on par with Billy Joel, merely pointing out that I don't find these kind of performers boring. I don't see how you can defend Rob when it comes to his treatment of Gary. I accept that Gary didn't always treat the lads well in the 90's but he didn't publicity humiliate or try and crush them either - there's a considerable difference in the way Rob behaved to Gary and vice versa. I have a right to my opinion on Rob as a performer and song writer ( as you also do re Gary and TT) and in my view his new song is dire, but I said the same about Hey Boy so I don't see any bias in my approach. I don't think my critique of Rob on the GN was done in a nasty way - more tongue in cheek I thought, but sorry if you thought I over stepped the mark.