Jubilee Concert: I expected cheese, I got big emotion. Am I drunk?

Although I didn’t see the first bit, the rest was a professionally put together show. Didn’t like Diana Ross at all, but I never did. The Queen and Paddington sketch was class, particularly the Queen’s acting. Nice long weekend for Britain.

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Simon Le bon struggled too- I guess these guys love what they do ( and its hard to criticise them for that) and they just want to keep doing it - understandable. Im not a Rod fan- but I can imagine people would pay to see him even if he just stood there.

Yes, absolutely superb production. Some iffy acts for sure but hey, it’s a diverse market.

However, the uber talented professionals shone through, I’m looking at you Alicia!

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A certain event in 2016 put paid to that unfortunately.

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HH I have a riposte for that but it would be obviously political and I would therefore risk being sent to the tower!

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Some change citizenship. Not without the bounds of possibilities for the disaffected!

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I’m sure the several thousand Service personnel who were required to work this bank holiday in support of this ‘fiasco’ would be made up that you enjoyed your holiday…

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And the drones producing the spectacular above the palace was truly amazing. Very clever stuff.

Hooray back on subject! Yes the drones were impressive. A new art form?

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My wife tried to pursuade me to watch the jubilee concert last night but I managed to find a fun Bill Nighy film instead (Still Crazy) about an ageing rock band getting back together - a well worn concept but very well scripted by D1ck Clement and Ian Le Frenais of Likely Lads fame and with a superb British cast.

I had very low expectations of the concert but the missus put it on today and I’m absolutely captivated to the point where I’ve had a few tears welling up moments. London looks absolutely stunning, the artists from across the generations have been extremely well chosen. Highlights I have to say have been Alicia Keys who was just mesmerising, Queen who were brilliant as they always are, Elbow who managed to be majestic especially backed by the orchestra and of course Bocelli whose voice was extraordinary and commanding I also really enjoyed the British pop mash-up which led you from the Beatles to the present day fronted by I think a rap artist who is unknown to me.

I’m genuinely in awe of the performers, the dancers, the lighting designers and the stage designers - for me it’s been the highlight of the whole jubilee celebration. It made me realise how music remains probably the most unifying, elevating and beautiful force in the universe. All those people, all those generations just experiencing so many wonderful musical moments together - utterly magnificent. There are some musical events that somehow seem to transcend politics, generations or religion or race and this is one of them. I found myself hugely proud of this country and quite frankly that’s a rarity for me nowadays - I’ve honestly felt so let down by some of our leaders I started to feel the country was sliding into a morass of scum and corruption, but this shows the best of us and what we can/could be.

Just about to restart for the Zimmer/Royal Ballet, sitting here nursing a cold so I think it’s now late enough in the day to justify some whisky!!

Jonathan

Excuse the mis-spelling of Mr Clement’s name, it appears the forum won’t let you post the word D1ck in case you’re using it in a naughty context - seems a bit draconian to me!!!

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Like most here I sat down with my wife to watch last night without much expectation. We just felt it would be ‘letting the side down if we didn’t’.

The only artists we liked were Queen, RS & EJ. As most who have posted here said, we got to the end & both confessed to thoroughly enjoying it. The length of each performers slot was such that even those who weren’t to our taste did not have time to grate on us & the variety of artists probably provided ‘something for everyone’.

Rod Stewarts voice may well be past it’s best but, showman that he is, I couldn’t help wondering if his 'restricted ’ delivery of ‘Sweet Caroline’ was a deliberate attempt at audience participation. If so, it certainly worked in a big way & really set them up for the remainder of the show.

As others have said, the biggest stars of the show were the brains behind it, the organisers & technicians. A truly wonderful spectacle &, when a royal connection is involved, showing that no one can put on this type of event like us Brits. A special mention must be made of the genius who came up with the Paddington Bear opening ending with the Queen leading in Queen!

Congratulations to all involved in both the performances & staging.

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Missed it last night but have just caught up with it. Like most people on this thread my expectations weren’t high but my goodness that was brilliant. We do this sort of thing so very well

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May not have been something you wanted to watch or participate in @anon4489532, but whatever it was, this four day event certainly wasn’t a fiasco.

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image
Lots of social media about the very grumpy lady! Didnt crack a smile all evening

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Lol :joy: excellent photo!

I didn’t watch the concert because I had no interest in any of the artists involved, but from the clips I saw on the news, it looked to be a superbly-staged event. I thought the corgi created by drones was really clever and the Queen-meets-Paddington clip was very cute.

I’m not a royalist, I’m really an agnostic on these matters. I can see that the monarchy is a bit of an anachronism in the 21st century - but I have yet to be convinced that getting rid of it would save money, make Britain more democratic, help the poor etc.

This long weekend, both on TV and in the flesh, I’ve seen a lot of happy, smiling faces, especially kids. You’d really have to be some kind of miserable wanker to begrudge people a bit of joy in these unhappy, uncertain times.

It’s also hard to argue that this Platinum Jubilee hasn’t been a huge success. Three roads near me in South London are closed off and are hosting street parties. Everyone seems to be having a great time. Once again, Blighty has proved that we do this ceremonial, celebratory stuff better than anyone else. The Platinum Jubilee is another 2022 triumph to file alongside Crossrail/The Elizabeth Line.

For the time being, at least, the monarchy is safe and republicanism is, if not dead in the water, then certainly splashing and flailing around. If the anti-monarchists and republicans are to win over the British public, they neeed to stop coming over as miserable, lemon-sucking, mean-spirited, finger-wagging old bores, like the bloke (I think he was CEO of a republican campaign group) who was on LBC earlier today.

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I sank a couple of glasses of white too early in the evening as I set up the BBQ for some large tandoori chicken kebabs, and was faffing around adjusting the temp trying not to dry the meat out too much, and to my annoyance it went out. More faffing around trying to add charcoal from a chimney starter mid way through meant I was in and out as Mrs AC and daughter watched the concert.

Loved the Paddington bit.

Fantastic visuals.

I was a bit critical of some of the acts which didn’t go down well.

For one minute I thought Jack Jones was on next (I mean c’mon no Shirley or Tom?). Turned out it was some chap called Jaxx Jones or something wearing a Jamiroquai like hat - pretty good.

When they did Phantom of the Opera I nearly got belted for saying they should have had Floor Jansen and Henrik Port instead though the female singer’s voice was quite mellifluous as the song went on.

I commented that one of the female singers was quite ‘chunky’, I was digging a hole at this point as Mrs AC remonstrated that’s a ‘real woman’.

I nipped next door to pop the projector on and YouTube videos must have been playing all night, and was surprised to see a new Rammstein video for “Dicke Titten” from their latest album - I called Mrs AC to see it saying ‘Well, those are certainly real women’. Quite how I survived I’m not sure :rofl:

All in all, a very enjoyable concert and would have to agree it was extremely well staged. May even watch it properly on iPlayer.

Perhaps aimed at younger generations, but the themes and sentiments were spot on.

We’ll never see another monarch like Queen Elizabeth II, which is very sad.

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I mentioned that to the family, again digging that hole.

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Yep we kept commenting on that too. Today there was a lady behind Charles who kept nodding off through the pageant. I suspect she may appear in a few memes…

I did think it was very creative of Celeste (a very fine singer) and Hans Zimmerman to perform “What a Wonderful World” without any of the notes of “What a Wonderful World”.

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