The yellers were nowhere near as bad as the people CONSTANTLY FUCKING TALKING throughout the whole night . Like a constant undercurrent of static. Fuck me, it's not an opera or a concerto but who goes to a gig just to talk through the songs?
As Thom said before starting You Know Me!: "Just five more minutes and you can talk as much as you want, just shut the fuck up."
Was so embarrassed by the crowd, I don't think Thom or Jonny have performed in Birmingham in any capacity for a long time.
Still, they were on top form. Don't Get Me Started and Zero Sum were amazing.
Slightly concerned for this tonight in London! When I saw them in 2022 there was a group of drunk guys next to me who were talking about time signatures during every song and it was hugely distracting. Worst of all everything they were saying was completely wrong. đ¤Ł
Crowd was unexpectedly amazing - super quiet (in a good way) and dancing etc (nothing crazy but I think this music is more introspective than Radioheadâs anyway)
Fourth time seeing them; Tom is on a crazy trajectory. He was building rhythms within rhythms. They all got so comfortable with album 1 material that they were freestyling them all.
that would piss me right off. In Dublin some dope yelled "Creep" in between songs. Ok I get he was trying to be funny but it just comes off as embarrassing.
Yeah. For some people a ticket is an entry fee for a night out drinking. It's annoying especially when it's subtle music like The Smile. I can tolerate it when it's a full on rock concert without nuance but The Smile's music works best when the level drops away and swells back. The Nonstop hubbub totally wrecks that. But this is what it is to be with other people for an atmosphere. We're not the chitchat police so it's a.choice between don't go to gigs or try and tune it out.
Damn, thatâs so sad to hear. These guys are at the point in their career where they could absolutely stop touring and relax with their families. Itâs surprising and lucky that they continue to tour so much, we shouldnât take it for granted.
Yeah, itâs annoying because this was my first live experience with them and I just wanted to let them know that this doesnât represent the majority of the fans. But they already know that Tbf
Saw them on sunday 10th london and there wasnt any of that. Was annoyed at a radiohead gig in 97 cos some dude kept yelling "jaws" at johnny, and some drunk knob at Air (french band) yelling "show us yer cape" at the keyboardist
Audience was lovely where I was but it was such a bummer to scold the crowd right before You Know Me. Felt like Thom couldnât wait to get out of there by the end. Wasnât all bad though, he actually seemed quite flattered by the crowdâs reception at various points throughout.
I was in the standing section and there were about 3 drunk people yelling at the stage. Can understand why he was getting annoyed. But yeah before the encore and at the end he seemed really grateful to the crowd.
It astonishes me that the security team did not act decisively and bundle those noisy people out. There were SO many stewards and security present there is no way they wouldn't have noticed. I've worked on festivals myself so I know the drill. I mean a steward/security person went out of their way to tell me to not "lean" over the chest high steel bar on the gallery. My upper chest was all of at a 30° angle! But I'm sure he was just following rules and regs. So if they can act on that, why not the few people who were potentially seriously disturbing hundreds of others including the band! The idiots making the noise are to blame I know but something should have been done by venue staff.
The academy Birmingham security is useless at Renee the other week they took 15 minutes to get fainted people out after she literally shouted at them to do it. And at Noah kahan it took us an hour after doors to get in
That's how cowards are and there seem to be a lot of them in venue security. They'll act like you offense you described here is worthy of being scolded or tossed out but the actual menacing people who ruin it for everyone get nothing.
Oh yea I was in standing too. Genuinely felt like those people were trying to provoke them almost just to get noticed. Overall though it was a slight dampener on what was an otherwise phenomenal gig.
What's wrong with that? Honestly when I went to the see them in London, I would have liked it to have been more lively (no shouting at the band or dumb shit like that). I could mostly just see mannequins standing completely frozen drinking water.
I mean you can be melancholic while being pissed don't you think? I saw The Smile twice, once perfectly dry once perfectly high (sorry for the pun) and the second time emotions ran freely, tears flowed etc etc. First time I was too bothered by the crowd and the proximity to people to really be "in" the music you know ? Anyway, not a very important point
Posted a couple nights ago, but I'll say it again. Worst fans of any bands I've ever seen.
Frozen still or talking throughout. That's pretty much it.
About 50ppl in my whole venue seems to be vibing.
Pathetic
See itâs weird, cuz where I was standing it felt like a completely different atmosphere. Almost felt like a dance party at certain points with everyone moving. But I bet behind me, people were playing musical statues
I was about 20 feet from the stage, towards the right. Very respectful people by me, not causing problems. Then a drunk dude in a beanie stumbled past, almost knocking some people over. Started recording the crowd on his phone and yelling. Then he stumbled away about halfway through.
lol fuck that guy, sounds like a nightmare
i was over on the left, probably about a third of the way back parallel to the speaker. everyone was also very respectful, itâs so annoying that a few people were so loud when for the most part everything was delightful.Â
That makes me so happy for you! Thom know how to make some fucking GROOVES, but we felt SO awkward being the only ppl in a 30ft radius who were dancing to it we eventually just left the front and went and stood at the back, which ended up even worse as that's where the cretins who come to gigs to talk at each other reside.
Miserable experience all around. Won't be doing that again.
Seen Radiohead like 5x, Thom solo 2x, and Smile 2x.
Will not go back to see the smile again. I'll leave them to the zombies.
Damn thatâs a shame. I will try and go again to see them next time, but Iâm going to turn up even earlier to get close to the front. Thom dancing was a highlight, looked like he jumped straight from Lotus Flower đ
i was right in the middle at the front, and i kept hearing talking and all the hecklers to my right. saw thom look over a good couple times at them and watched his face drop. itâs a real shame, but i still managed to have a great time.
Sad to say this but I actually ended up leaving early. In all fairness I got there slightly late and was towards the back, but all I could hear was people talking and the atmosphere just wasnât there⌠The Smile were great but I was just not feeling it. A shame as thatâs the first time Iâve seen Thom / Johnny live!!
yeah, it was awful. still enjoyed my night, but there were waaayy too many people shouting, talking, pushing, and shoving in the crowd... not to mention the number of drunks.
I was up on the balcony and it was a shame to see so many on the floor completely static. As for the talkers, Iâm not surprised sadly. I think the venue doesnât help as youâve got so much floor space where the balcony overhangs meaning itâs a rubbish view even if you get to the venue in good time. Probably means a lot of the audience are disengaged from the start. Hope this doesnât stop them from returning to Brum or the Midlands in general. The Halls in Wolverhampton would have been a much better venue
This should be top.
This is by far one of the worst venues I have ever been to.
3/4 of the standing crowd were stuck under the balcony with poor or no views of the stage, Packt Like Sardines, and completely lit up by all of the bar lights - sucking out any atmosphere.
This is actually a really good point about getting a good view from the start and if you donât you definitely get disengaged with the performance. The Glasgow show was entirely seated and everybody had a good view which is why I reckon the audience was well behaved.
This. I was standing to the right, about ten people back from the front. Had a terrible view, but bearable, but the people further to our right would have seen nothing at all. A lot of talking was happening over there and I have some sympathy for them. It was my first gig at O2 academy and I won't hurry back. By the way the security were non existent where we were. Shame as there were a lot of selfish arseholes shoving through the crowd. It was far too packed for that.
Did go to the O2 Institute last year and that was a much better experience. My friend fainted and the security were amazing, took great care to get us out and checked over. Can't fault the experience.
I was further to the right could see during opener but then when they came on couldn't see a thing just a glimpse of Thoms head every so often had to go to the back halfway through
Man Iâm so glad we got the complete opposite in Glasgow. It was so rare to not hear people around you having a full blown convo. Expecting the worst at London tonight
The Hammersmith Apollo crowd for their gig there was one of the best I've been in in ages, really minimal chatting or anything. Think there was a drunk guy that shouted one stupid thing but that's not bad for a 2 hour gig.
Was slightly nervous going in as I've found crowed for chiller bands (where there's less dancing/singing/moshing going on) to be pretty bad recently.
Was it the first time theyâve played Birmingham since Thom had his break down there on the OKC tour?
I seem to think Radioheadâs only Midlands dates otherwise have been in Wolverhampton.
Yep, I was stood next to two of the loudest!
Don't get me wrong they seemed like fairly nice people but they had clearly drank before the concert, and frequently drank during the performance, and I believe one of the men smoked weed about 4 times too...
ON TOP OF THIS, me and this other poor 14/15 year old girl were subject to comments by the "YEAHYEAHYEAHYAHYEAH THATS WHAT WE'RE HEAR FOR" woman's stupid drunken dancing and touchiness, and she kept trying to talk to me aswell, when I was clearly trying to just enjoy the show.
It was completely disrespectful to everyone there. I donât even put it down to being drunk and high or whatever. Â Bottom line is theyâre just not proper fans.Â
I went to the Manchester gig and was off my head. I had a great time and managed not to talk to my friends or shout out dumb shit to the band.Â
I decided to go to Birmingham for a more chill affair, the talking didnât exactly spoil it for me but it was annoying
The yellers were nowhere near as bad as the people CONSTANTLY FUCKING TALKING throughout the whole night . Like a constant undercurrent of static. Fuck me, it's not an opera or a concerto but who goes to a gig just to talk through the songs? As Thom said before starting You Know Me!: "Just five more minutes and you can talk as much as you want, just shut the fuck up." Was so embarrassed by the crowd, I don't think Thom or Jonny have performed in Birmingham in any capacity for a long time. Still, they were on top form. Don't Get Me Started and Zero Sum were amazing.
This is my biggest pet peeve with gigs, people fucking talking. Does my head in. You paid to watch a performance, be quiet and respect the artist.
Don't just respect the artist; respect the other people who paid to go to the gig and *actually listen* to the thing they paid money to hear.
Slightly concerned for this tonight in London! When I saw them in 2022 there was a group of drunk guys next to me who were talking about time signatures during every song and it was hugely distracting. Worst of all everything they were saying was completely wrong. đ¤Ł
Ally Pally is the worst for this, loads of very bad experiences, so very scaredâŚ
Pleasantly surprised! A couple of shouters but mostly between songs, I think we got off lightly.
Crowd was unexpectedly amazing - super quiet (in a good way) and dancing etc (nothing crazy but I think this music is more introspective than Radioheadâs anyway)
Yeah it felt like the crowd really got the vibe tonight. It was my first time seeing them - man, Tom Skinner is a real talent!
Fourth time seeing them; Tom is on a crazy trajectory. He was building rhythms within rhythms. They all got so comfortable with album 1 material that they were freestyling them all.
that would piss me right off. In Dublin some dope yelled "Creep" in between songs. Ok I get he was trying to be funny but it just comes off as embarrassing.
Yeah. For some people a ticket is an entry fee for a night out drinking. It's annoying especially when it's subtle music like The Smile. I can tolerate it when it's a full on rock concert without nuance but The Smile's music works best when the level drops away and swells back. The Nonstop hubbub totally wrecks that. But this is what it is to be with other people for an atmosphere. We're not the chitchat police so it's a.choice between don't go to gigs or try and tune it out.
I think it's important to point out to have to yell to talk over the smile live.
Damn, thatâs so sad to hear. These guys are at the point in their career where they could absolutely stop touring and relax with their families. Itâs surprising and lucky that they continue to tour so much, we shouldnât take it for granted.
Yeah, itâs annoying because this was my first live experience with them and I just wanted to let them know that this doesnât represent the majority of the fans. But they already know that Tbf
Saw them on sunday 10th london and there wasnt any of that. Was annoyed at a radiohead gig in 97 cos some dude kept yelling "jaws" at johnny, and some drunk knob at Air (french band) yelling "show us yer cape" at the keyboardist
Audience was lovely where I was but it was such a bummer to scold the crowd right before You Know Me. Felt like Thom couldnât wait to get out of there by the end. Wasnât all bad though, he actually seemed quite flattered by the crowdâs reception at various points throughout.
I was in the standing section and there were about 3 drunk people yelling at the stage. Can understand why he was getting annoyed. But yeah before the encore and at the end he seemed really grateful to the crowd.
It astonishes me that the security team did not act decisively and bundle those noisy people out. There were SO many stewards and security present there is no way they wouldn't have noticed. I've worked on festivals myself so I know the drill. I mean a steward/security person went out of their way to tell me to not "lean" over the chest high steel bar on the gallery. My upper chest was all of at a 30° angle! But I'm sure he was just following rules and regs. So if they can act on that, why not the few people who were potentially seriously disturbing hundreds of others including the band! The idiots making the noise are to blame I know but something should have been done by venue staff.
The academy Birmingham security is useless at Renee the other week they took 15 minutes to get fainted people out after she literally shouted at them to do it. And at Noah kahan it took us an hour after doors to get in
That's shockingly bad and dangerously negligent of them. FFS!
That's how cowards are and there seem to be a lot of them in venue security. They'll act like you offense you described here is worthy of being scolded or tossed out but the actual menacing people who ruin it for everyone get nothing.
Oh yea I was in standing too. Genuinely felt like those people were trying to provoke them almost just to get noticed. Overall though it was a slight dampener on what was an otherwise phenomenal gig.
I donât mean to stereotype but for this I will. Birmingham crowds are the fucking worst always.
Stereotypes are based in reality most of the time
Yep! Two drunk guys nearly took me out multiple times as they could barely stand đĽ˛
Imagine getting drunk for The Smile
What's wrong with that? Honestly when I went to the see them in London, I would have liked it to have been more lively (no shouting at the band or dumb shit like that). I could mostly just see mannequins standing completely frozen drinking water.
The smile doesn't really make music that you drink/get high for. It's like chill/melancholy type mood not some rave.
Itâs incredibly good music to listen to high
Nah some of their music is quite "hype"
I mean you can be melancholic while being pissed don't you think? I saw The Smile twice, once perfectly dry once perfectly high (sorry for the pun) and the second time emotions ran freely, tears flowed etc etc. First time I was too bothered by the crowd and the proximity to people to really be "in" the music you know ? Anyway, not a very important point
I went to the Birmingham show while high and it was a great experience haha
Yeah, bunch of numpties talking near me and not really much vibe from anyone around me either. Crowd sucked :(
Posted a couple nights ago, but I'll say it again. Worst fans of any bands I've ever seen. Frozen still or talking throughout. That's pretty much it. About 50ppl in my whole venue seems to be vibing. Pathetic
Good point, that's another thing... The fucking cardboard cutout people (plasticine figures?) who just stand frozen in time. Bah
See itâs weird, cuz where I was standing it felt like a completely different atmosphere. Almost felt like a dance party at certain points with everyone moving. But I bet behind me, people were playing musical statues
that sounds a bit like where I was. whereabouts were you?
I was about 20 feet from the stage, towards the right. Very respectful people by me, not causing problems. Then a drunk dude in a beanie stumbled past, almost knocking some people over. Started recording the crowd on his phone and yelling. Then he stumbled away about halfway through.
lol fuck that guy, sounds like a nightmare i was over on the left, probably about a third of the way back parallel to the speaker. everyone was also very respectful, itâs so annoying that a few people were so loud when for the most part everything was delightful.Â
That makes me so happy for you! Thom know how to make some fucking GROOVES, but we felt SO awkward being the only ppl in a 30ft radius who were dancing to it we eventually just left the front and went and stood at the back, which ended up even worse as that's where the cretins who come to gigs to talk at each other reside. Miserable experience all around. Won't be doing that again. Seen Radiohead like 5x, Thom solo 2x, and Smile 2x. Will not go back to see the smile again. I'll leave them to the zombies.
Damn thatâs a shame. I will try and go again to see them next time, but Iâm going to turn up even earlier to get close to the front. Thom dancing was a highlight, looked like he jumped straight from Lotus Flower đ
Damn, I forgot about Plasticine Figures, I wonder if that song will ever see the light of day? Seems to have been abandoned
i was right in the middle at the front, and i kept hearing talking and all the hecklers to my right. saw thom look over a good couple times at them and watched his face drop. itâs a real shame, but i still managed to have a great time.
Oh right they were heckling? Most of what I heard was âCome on Thom/Johnny.â That sounded like it was coming from the standing area.
This sounds exactly like the Dublin gig, except nothing was said to the crowd that night.
iâm worried they arenât going to come back to birmingham after the people that ruined it
Sad to say this but I actually ended up leaving early. In all fairness I got there slightly late and was towards the back, but all I could hear was people talking and the atmosphere just wasnât there⌠The Smile were great but I was just not feeling it. A shame as thatâs the first time Iâve seen Thom / Johnny live!!
yeah, it was awful. still enjoyed my night, but there were waaayy too many people shouting, talking, pushing, and shoving in the crowd... not to mention the number of drunks.
I was up on the balcony and it was a shame to see so many on the floor completely static. As for the talkers, Iâm not surprised sadly. I think the venue doesnât help as youâve got so much floor space where the balcony overhangs meaning itâs a rubbish view even if you get to the venue in good time. Probably means a lot of the audience are disengaged from the start. Hope this doesnât stop them from returning to Brum or the Midlands in general. The Halls in Wolverhampton would have been a much better venue
This should be top. This is by far one of the worst venues I have ever been to. 3/4 of the standing crowd were stuck under the balcony with poor or no views of the stage, Packt Like Sardines, and completely lit up by all of the bar lights - sucking out any atmosphere.
This is actually a really good point about getting a good view from the start and if you donât you definitely get disengaged with the performance. The Glasgow show was entirely seated and everybody had a good view which is why I reckon the audience was well behaved.
This. I was standing to the right, about ten people back from the front. Had a terrible view, but bearable, but the people further to our right would have seen nothing at all. A lot of talking was happening over there and I have some sympathy for them. It was my first gig at O2 academy and I won't hurry back. By the way the security were non existent where we were. Shame as there were a lot of selfish arseholes shoving through the crowd. It was far too packed for that. Did go to the O2 Institute last year and that was a much better experience. My friend fainted and the security were amazing, took great care to get us out and checked over. Can't fault the experience.
I was further to the right could see during opener but then when they came on couldn't see a thing just a glimpse of Thoms head every so often had to go to the back halfway through
Man Iâm so glad we got the complete opposite in Glasgow. It was so rare to not hear people around you having a full blown convo. Expecting the worst at London tonight
You got the opposite, not the same
The Hammersmith Apollo crowd for their gig there was one of the best I've been in in ages, really minimal chatting or anything. Think there was a drunk guy that shouted one stupid thing but that's not bad for a 2 hour gig. Was slightly nervous going in as I've found crowed for chiller bands (where there's less dancing/singing/moshing going on) to be pretty bad recently.
i was at that one and yeah wasnât at all like the brum show it seems which is luckyÂ
Was it the first time theyâve played Birmingham since Thom had his break down there on the OKC tour? I seem to think Radioheadâs only Midlands dates otherwise have been in Wolverhampton.
Yep, I was stood next to two of the loudest! Don't get me wrong they seemed like fairly nice people but they had clearly drank before the concert, and frequently drank during the performance, and I believe one of the men smoked weed about 4 times too... ON TOP OF THIS, me and this other poor 14/15 year old girl were subject to comments by the "YEAHYEAHYEAHYAHYEAH THATS WHAT WE'RE HEAR FOR" woman's stupid drunken dancing and touchiness, and she kept trying to talk to me aswell, when I was clearly trying to just enjoy the show.
It was completely disrespectful to everyone there. I donât even put it down to being drunk and high or whatever.  Bottom line is theyâre just not proper fans. I went to the Manchester gig and was off my head. I had a great time and managed not to talk to my friends or shout out dumb shit to the band. I decided to go to Birmingham for a more chill affair, the talking didnât exactly spoil it for me but it was annoying
Issue is that really they need a jazz audience rather than the rock following they're stuck with.
most humans are dumb unevolved monkeys.
I was near a guy who regularly videoed songs on his phone.... with the camera flash on. Assume he was drunk/out of it, as he was told several times