I was at the Guns N’ Roses concert at the O2 in Dublin, and I was appauled at the behaviour of so called fans when Guns N’ Roses eventually took to the stage at around 10:30pm. The support act were late finishing and for 1h 30 minutes there was a gap. For the most part it was good humoureed with a few Mexican Waves, cheers and so forth. However once it came near 10:15pm booos started to ring out. The band took to the stage at 10:30 to a tirade of boos and jeers. Then bottles and cups full of liquid started hitting the stage and for Axl all hell was breaking loose.
For a performer, being on stage, with the lights in your face, you may not see very much – so if a bottle or cup full of beer is thrown you have no way of avoiding it. I think that sort of behaviour from “Fans” was uncalled for. Axl asked for people to stop and said that he would walk if it happened again … only minutes later this is exactly what happened and I don’t blame him. No performer should be attacked in this way.
The start to the show was spectacular, fireworks, pyros, huge intro so it wasn’t a half-baked or poor performace. There was no need for the jeering or throwing. Many people left when the house lights came back up, thinking it was all over. I asked an O2 steward and was told ” There is no chance of him coming back on “. Apparently the promoter, MCD, restrained Axl and prevented him from leaving the venue after walking off stage. The promoters did come on stage twice to ask for calm and patience while technical difficulties were looked at.
I left the O2 once the house lights came back on, and 20 minutes later I got a phone call from my sister (Thanks Elaine) letting me know that the concert was back on. We went back and the atmosphere was less hostile but still not right. Axl was back mid-stage to avoid any missiles, almost at the drum kit. He just stood at the mic and sung, breaking once or twice to play the piano – November Rain was excellent. The band itself were excellent and it good humour despite what happened.
They played until just before 1am to a creshendo of tickertape and pyros.
I think the organisers should have had the stage better perpared, as they seemed to be doing sound checks, stage clearance, wiring and so on for about an hour. Also, having people drinking for 4 hours before Guns N’ Roses appeared on stage was not a good idea. Although Guns N’ Roses have a history of problems and late shows, you know this about the band and its not a reason to run riot and physically attack an artist.
Guns N’ Roses released a statement after the concert which read: “Despite every effort being made by promoters to ensure Guns N’ Roses would go on stage on time, they went on at 22:26hrs having been due to be on stage at 21:45hrs, support artist finished at 21:00hrs.
“During the second song Axl requested members of crowd who were throwing plastic glasses containing unknown substances to immediately stop or he would have no option but to leave the stage. He confirmed band’s wish to perform stating “we want to stay…one more bottle and we go home”. Despite his continued appeals, having tried to continue performing for 22 minutes, people continued throwing unknown substances leaving artist with no choice but to leave the stage.
“From the stage MCD Promoter Denis Desmond again appealed to audience to refrain from throwing items and stated that the band would be back on stage shortly.
“The artist was prevented from leaving the venue by the Promoter and following backstage discussions Guns N’ Roses went back on stage at 23:20 hrs and performed their full set until 00:53 hrs.
“While the artist has a long history for being late on stage (Slane 1992 – crowd waiting 2 hours and last weekend’s UK Reading festival), NO artist should be subjected to missiles and unknown substances being thrown at them. However, despite this the band went back on stage after people stopped throwing items performing their full set of songs in full.
“MCD and The 02 wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused due to late running of the show.”
The new iOS 4 update brings new powers to the iPhone!
The new iPhone will have over 100 new features, the free iOS 4 Software Update will allow iPhone 3Gs users to experience the majority of these. The new iPhone OS, iOs 4, will be released on Monday 21st June 2010 – iTunes 9.2 has been updated so download this first and upgrade your systems in preparation for the new iOS 4 release.
The new features of iOS4 will include the following;
You can use Multitasking and switch between your iPhone apps instantly, without apparently slowing down the performance of the foreground app or draining the battery unnecessarily.
There are Folders so that you can organize your iPhones apps into relevant folders using a drag-and-drop technique. You can also manage up to 2160 apps (the current limit is about 180 apps) and get faster access through your folders.
Text Messaging update – There will be a Character Count option in Messages Settings, so you can keep a track on the number of characters while typing an SMS Text message.
The Email client has been improved and you can see messages from all your accounts in a unified inbox, organize your email messages by threads, and you can open attachments in third-party apps.
There is an ebook reader functionality called iBooks. This is not just an ebook reader, rather iBooks allows you to browse and shop for books as well as reading them (or PDFs) within the system.
The new iPhone will have 5x digital zoom with the Tap to focus function
While shooting video, tap the display to choose where to focus. You will also be able to tag photos and GeoTag where they were taken.
The Home screen wallpaper can be changed so that you can have your custom background wallpaper on your Home screen.
For techies, the iPhone iOS 4.0 includes more than 1,500 new APIs for app developers.
There are many other new features, such as improvements when reading documents, improvements in the contacts section, a photo resize option, playlist creation, and you will find even more when you install your own iOS 4 update (or if you are luck enough to get the new iPhone 4).
The new iOS 4 will work with iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 3G (some functionality for later third generation iTouch models also). Not all features of the features above are compatible with all the devices. For example, multitasking is available only with iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS and Multitasking then is only available with Apps that have been specifically developed to work with iOS 4 multitasking mode. Also note that the Face Recognition system only works with iPhoto on the Mac (sorry PC users).
The new iPhone4 / iPhone 4G should be on sale in Ireland & UK fairly soon, hopefully in the next month. Carriers such as Vodafone, O2, 3 Mobile and Orange will be making sure customers know well in advance of pending sales of the new iPhone.
This looks like this update will boost the iPhone in the market – great improvements to an already great piece of technology.
The much-hyped release of the new iPhone 4G should be with us in Ireland by mid June – and although rumours of early July still persist … we will have to wait and see what happens!
iPhone 4G NEWS UPDATE – Apparently the date is now July for Ireland and the UK with the prices being roughly the same as current 16 – 32Gb versions.
The new 4G iPhone will sell in the US first and the date of June 7th was being mentioned as the possible release date. I don’t think that will happen though.
On the back of the iPad release, the new iPhone 4G should have a huge amount of interest in Ireland & UK. Keep an eye on Vodafone, O2, 3 Mobile and Orange who will be pushing to be the first in Ireland & Uk to sell the new iPhone 4G.
The feature list on the new iPhone is becoming clearer, apparently coming with ;
a 5 MegaPixel camera
possibly including multitasking of iPhone apps
sleeker body design
sturdier construction
clearer picture with a high definition capability
a 3.5 inch TFT touch-sensitive screen
available in 64GB & 80GB storage
built in half gig of RAM.
For those with the 3Gs iPhone there should be an OS upgrade also, which should give you some of the features of the new iPhone.
Note : the new 4G iPhone is actually a reference to 4th Generation and does not reflect a transition from a 3G network to a 4G network.
The next generation iPhone 4G has apparently been “found” on the floor, in the bathroom of a bar in California, USA.
Gizmodo.com have announced that the phone in indeed believed to be iPhone 4G, the fourth generation iPhone. Watch the video of the iPhone 4G below which is from the Gizmodo website…
Although disguised as the iPhone 3GS by peeling off the fake casing it revealed the new-look iPhone 4G model. The new phone apparently has a host of different features, according to the Gizmodo.com website, including a front-facing camera for video chatting, has a physically larger battery, uses a Micro-sim, a larger lens on the rear camera (which should improve picture quality) and a camera flash. One notable difference is that the back is perfectly flat as opposed to the curved back on the current iPhone.
Gizmodo.com say there was almost no possibility the phone is a fake. Apple have also rumoured to have said that the phone was not lost but stolen – they want the prototype back.
The new iPhone 4G is Due for release in June. Vodafone and O2 in Ireland both have the iPhone 3GS on sale , starting at €199 for bill pay. Might the price of the 3GS drop after the release of the new iPhone 4G? Is it worth buying an iPhone 3G or 3GS now? Would you wait and see? is the iPhone found in the USA a fake? … We just have to wait and see !
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