Concert Time

We haven't been to an arena concert for some time, but tonight we caught the train to Birmingham and enjoyed performances from Olly Mars (who was celebrating his 40th birthday) and the headliners, Take That.  

Olly was a bundle of energy during his 45 minute set and produced a great performance.  The only thing that irked me was my watch going off every few seconds with a warning of loud noise.  Previously the only time I've had that happen was when using hand driers!  I've had plenty of experience dealing with noise at outdoor concerts, as the representative of the licensing authority and I wasn't surprised to see levels above 100 decibels on the watch.  Equally, I'm aware that such levels on an uncalibrated device need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Take That came on just before 8:30 and did a 2 hour set, going through their hits as well as newer material.  Many got everyone up and dancing (some more reluctantly than others).  The audience was probably an 80:20 split, women to men and it would not be unfair to call the age profile as mature.

After the concert we caught the last train home, packed in our carriage.  It stopped at every station on the way home, which isn't normal but I guess it is to provide a more comprehensive service as the last transport of the night.