Brian's Ignorance

djaef wrote:

Oh Benn, sorry I had no idea you lived in Australia. :)

It's good to see you supporting the bid for our pommie cousins. It'll be fun to see them fall on their asses if they get it, particularly following as they are in the footsteps of Sydney 2000, the benchmark Olympic games of the modern era :)

I know this is a little off topic, but did you know that by using the word "pommie" you are actually referring to Australians coz the word pommie really comes from the phrase "Prisoner Of Mother England". Think about it... where did the English send their prisoners in the old days?

Now back to the subject, as someone already said Brian is entitled to his opinion but I couldnt help feel that his hand was forced into making a comment about the venue after hearing of all the negative comments. I mean if he had kept his mouth shut, he would have been damned for it so he "might" have said this to save face. Thats just my opinion.

Axel F: "...did you know that by using the word "pommie" you are actually referring to Australians coz the word pommie really comes from the phrase "Prisoner Of Mother England".

Actually, this is another urban legend which is simply NOT true.

"Pommy" was based on the word "pomegranate" - either because the redness of the fruit supposedly matched the typically florid British complexion, or because (like "Johnny Grant") it was used as rhyming slang for "immigrant."

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/pommy.htm

However, it would be interesting to read what our Australian cousins have to say about the subject.

(PS: Because is spelt b-e-c-a-u-s-e not c-o-z!)

Benn wrote:

Djaef,
- where was the aboriginal representation other than as a token gesture at the opening and closing ceremonies? For such a "multi-cultural" country, there was a surprising amount of xenophobia........

This is an ignorant remark. For one thing, most aboriginals are not interested in the Olympic Games as they see it as 'white mans sport" - but they will turn out in droves to support their own Rugby finals. Also there are not alot of Aboriginals that live in Sydney as it is way too expensive to live there (and sadly, most aboriginals live on welfare) - they live mainly up on the coast of New South Wales - in places like Bowraville and Nambucca Heads - and I can assure you, they were not one bit interested in the games - even when Kathy Freeman was running as they think she sold out to her race anyway, by participating in white man sports !! But they do actively follow their own Rugby. But to say that Australia was Xenophobic coz they could not afford to buy tickets to go and see the games, well that is just stupid - as there were alot of others that could not afford it either. And the fact that not many participate in the games themselves shows they have little interest in it too, along with the few of them that play Aussie cricket? (again they refer to that as "white mans' sport). As for the Olympic Games - well tis nice for a city to hold them I guess, but they usually cost more than they make and become a liability to the country. Oh and for the record - Telstra Stadium is being used ALOT for various sporting and music events and conventions. It is not sitting there idle. It is a great stadium.

Just sent to BM, lets see if he replies (he replied to my last one)

Subject - Wembley - Olympics and Ken have NOTHING to do with this

Brian

You seem to be missing the point. Blaming everyone under the sun does not make you or us feel any better about the situation. I was 3 rows from the back and am fuming that you have the audacity to blame Ken Livingstone and every other poor sod. This is a private venue and the reason it is crap is because the other alternative the Wembley arena had been crap for far too long and the company that owns it and the stadium is now doing something about it. It was your management team that booked it. If you refused to use it, it would not exist. I suspect the economics of capacity and return on capital came into play.

Why don't you and Wembley do the decent thing and offer people who were behind the mixing desk a free download of the gig or a CD. It'll cost peanuts and will restore some confidence with the real fans who were at the back !

By the way the advertising for the olympics bid is paid for by companies like mine who are premier partners on the bid. (BA, Virgin Atlantic, EDF Energy, Accenture, BT) . These companies see the long term benefits for london and the country, and obviously will benefit out of it too. Having grown up in wembley and seeing it decline so much, it is great to see the new stadium go up, and the arena being refurbished. Getting the olympics will also boost other areas too. See here for more details. http://www.london2012.com/en/support/corporate/premierpartners.htm

Cheers

See you in Hyde park

Steve

John S Stuart wrote:

(PS: Because is spelt b-e-c-a-u-s-e not c-o-z!)

I know how its spelt John, I was only using the abbreviated version. :P

i can agree with what most people have said about Brians comments regarding the venue,
surely a band checks an arena before agreeing to play it,they don't just turn up on the day and think "SHIT this is crap!!"
Compared to the other shows in the UK ie-Sheffield,Newcastle etc Wembley must have looked like a giant dog kennel and it is beyond belief they agreed to use it.
Fans should complain to QueenProductions not wembley as they are selling a venue TO Queen NOT to the punters,as someone mentioned a free download of the show is the least these fans deserve as some kind of apology.Glad i went to Sheffield now but still feel for the fans who were short changed by this whole fuck up
end of rant...............

Yes, spot on "Whiteman" - there are folks that are PAID to check on venues and their suitability - so the responsibility does lie there, that is for sure. I am so sorry that for so many Wembley was a disaster.

John S Stuart wrote:

Axel F: "...did you know that by using the word "pommie" you are actually referring to Australians coz the word pommie really comes from the phrase "Prisoner Of Mother England".

Actually, this is another urban legend which is simply NOT true.

"Pommy" was based on the word "pomegranate" - either because the redness of the fruit supposedly matched the typically florid British complexion, or because (like "Johnny Grant") it was used as rhyming slang for "immigrant."

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/pommy.htm

However, it would be interesting to read what our Australian cousins have to say about the subject.

(PS: Because is spelt b-e-c-a-u-s-e not c-o-z!)

Thanks John! I always couldn't understand the the last word in line "getting so hard to tell - if you're yank, oz or pom" in Roger's 'Dear Mr Murdoch'.

Dilemma wrote:

Just sent to BM, lets see if he replies (he replied to my last one)

Subject - Wembley - Olympics and Ken have NOTHING to do with this

Brian

You seem to be missing the point. Blaming everyone under the sun does not make you or us feel any better about the situation. I was 3 rows from the back and am fuming that you have the audacity to blame Ken Livingstone and every other poor sod. This is a private venue and the reason it is crap is because the other alternative the Wembley arena had been crap for far too long and the company that owns it and the stadium is now doing something about it. It was your management team that booked it. If you refused to use it, it would not exist. I suspect the economics of capacity and return on capital came into play.

Why don't you and Wembley do the decent thing and offer people who were behind the mixing desk a free download of the gig or a CD. It'll cost peanuts and will restore some confidence with the real fans who were at the back !

By the way the advertising for the olympics bid is paid for by companies like mine who are premier partners on the bid. (BA, Virgin Atlantic, EDF Energy, Accenture, BT) . These companies see the long term benefits for london and the country, and obviously will benefit out of it too. Having grown up in wembley and seeing it decline so much, it is great to see the new stadium go up, and the arena being refurbished. Getting the olympics will also boost other areas too. See here for more details. http://www.london2012.com/en/support/corporate/premierpartners.htm

Cheers

See you in Hyde park

Steve

Great letter. Please let me know if Brian answers and what he says.

I am an Aussie and the term "poms" has always referred to the British. I believe it was born out of wartime. Also it is not used as much now as it was - except for in the Cricket - when we play the "poms" at their game. But there are still alot of us that use the term "Poms" for the British and "Yanks" for the Americans.

Quite a large letters update on Brian's website last night, but, as expected, he has decided to ignore the questions surrounding his opinion of the London Olympic Bid.

Seemingly, he is arrogant enough to believe that he can not be challenged on this point.

Unsurprising really.

Dilemma wrote:

Just sent to BM, lets see if he replies (he replied to my last one)

Subject - Wembley - Olympics and Ken have NOTHING to do with this

Brian

You seem to be missing the point. Blaming everyone under the sun does not make you or us feel any better about the situation. I was 3 rows from the back and am fuming that you have the audacity to blame Ken Livingstone and every other poor sod. This is a private venue and the reason it is crap is because the other alternative the Wembley arena had been crap for far too long and the company that owns it and the stadium is now doing something about it. It was your management team that booked it. If you refused to use it, it would not exist. I suspect the economics of capacity and return on capital came into play.

Why don't you and Wembley do the decent thing and offer people who were behind the mixing desk a free download of the gig or a CD. It'll cost peanuts and will restore some confidence with the real fans who were at the back !

By the way the advertising for the olympics bid is paid for by companies like mine who are premier partners on the bid. (BA, Virgin Atlantic, EDF Energy, Accenture, BT) . These companies see the long term benefits for london and the country, and obviously will benefit out of it too. Having grown up in wembley and seeing it decline so much, it is great to see the new stadium go up, and the arena being refurbished. Getting the olympics will also boost other areas too. See here for more details. http://www.london2012.com/en/support/corporate/premierpartners.htm

Cheers

See you in Hyde park

Steve

No direct reply from Brian to me as yet, but I do think his offer of something at Hyde park may go some way to appease people. Providing that is that they want whatever it is......

Perhaps he's taking the flak on the chin as opposed to carrying on blaming others.

See http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbmay05a.html#12 for his response.

See ya in Hyde park ......hopefully for a freebie !

In response to those who believe a band should check out every venue they perform at ...
This is not always easily done.
You rely on management to have an awareness of appropriate venues.
There isn't always opportunity to scope out each venue and by the time you are doing your soundcheck it is too late to bail.
At least he's aware of the sound problems.

Teleman,

The band's management company is based in the UK - the band members all live in / around London. The venue they are saying they are so sorry for playing at is IN London.

There is no excuse AT ALL for this.

Benn wrote:

Teleman,

The band's management company is based in the UK - the band members all live in / around London. The venue they are saying they are so sorry for playing at is IN London.

There is no excuse AT ALL for this.

There is always an excuse :)
Seriously speaking, I would hold management responsible.
As a musician there isn't always time to check out even a local venue. How often does a venue have live bands playing and how many free nights are available to the band members to go to the venue on a night when a similar band is playing? And for members of a band like Queen+ they have to deal with the fame factor as well.

After a quarter century of performing I've suffered the same fate on a smaller scale. Nothing like being booked into a sh!t venue and being unable to scope it out beforehand.