Concert report from the Point

Hi folks,

I've just gotten back from the Corrs concert at the Point (on 15th Jan
1999).  I'm rather tired as I write this so please excuse me if this
gets a bit rambly and incoherent...

The doors for the concert opened about 7:30pm and which is about when I
got there.  The support act, Picture House, actually started playing at
7:45 even though the ticket said that the starting time for the show was
at 8!  I hadn't heard Picture House before.  I quite liked their songs,
although I didn't *really* get into them.  The audience was also
clapping along quite nicely, and even booed a bit when the singer
annnounced the last song.

After Picture House had played, there was a delay of about 35 mins while
the stage was being set up for the Corrs etc.  They were playing the new
Sheryl Crow CD as background music which was quite nice.  They also
showed on the big videoscreens the spoof of the Corrs as done by French
& Saunders.

Here's the setlist for the concert -- as far as I can remember, the ones
for which I'm not sure about their order are marked with a *.

When He's Not Around
No Good For Me
The Right Time
Carraroe Jig
Forgiven, Not Forgotten
What Can I Do (remix version) *
Hopelessly Addicted *
Jim's solo *
No Frontiers *
Runaway *
Haste to the Wedding *
Only When I Sleep *
Queen Of Hollywood *
Secret Life *
Dreams *
I Never Loved You Anyway
---
So Young
Toss the Feathers


Little bits from the concert in random order:

The concert was seated, but I had a really good seat -- 3rd row, off to
the left (almost in front of Sharon), but just beside an aisle so I had
a very good view to the entire stage and even towards the end of the
concert it was easy to get up and stand in the aisle.  More on that
later.

There was a walkway behind/above Caroline at the back of the stage,
similar to the one which is seen on the RAH concert.  Andrea walked up
there several times, once when a song ended (QoH I think) she sort of
stayed there doing nothing, and then said to the mic "There's a breeze
up here", I guess she was hot. :)  Also, when coming doing the stairs,
she kept repeating "I'm not going to fall, I'm not going to fall"...

There was a really great drum solo by Caroline during Secret Life (I
think)...  Hadn't heard that before.  Overall, I think they had an even
rockier sound towards the end of the concert than what I'd heard before.
Maybe that's just my imagination, but I definitely had a good time. :)

I had made four really simple small banners from two sheets of paper
taped together with the name of a band member on each of them.  I'm
fairly confident I managed to get both Andrea and Sharon to see theirs,
not so sure about Jim and Caroline.  I managed to make eye contact with
Andrea a few times after that, at least I think I did, the distance was
a bit too long to be entirely sure... 

During player introductions in INLYA, Andrea for some reason skipped
Anto Drennan entirely.  Strange.

The audience was quite enthusiastic about cheering and clapping, but I
was surprised nobody stood up at all until the encores.  I did during
INLYA (since I knew it was the last song before encores) but nobody else
did, so I did sit down after a minute.  I did try to encourage the girls
beside me to stand up but unfortunately they refused...  Oh well.
During So Young, everyone did eventually stand up though.  I sort of
expected a bit more from an Irish audience.  Talking about the audience,
the mix of people seemed to include people from a lot of different age
groups...  Although there were a lot of teenagers around, there were
also entire families (parents in 40's and with under teenage kids), for
example.

When Jim played his solo, he said quite a few things to the mic before
beginning...  Started with "Now it's my turn... at last!" and then said
the thing about becoming nervous and possibly making mistakes.  He also
said that he would expect a huge round of applause after he'd finished. 
He did too. :-)  He didn't do the Les Dawson impersonation (I think
anyway... I'm not sure if I would recognise it, not being familiar with
it.)

At the end of the concert, Andrea tossed her tin whistle to the audience
-- close to me, a few feet away, but I was thinking she was aiming for
someone specifically so didn't try to grab it.  However, I managed to
obtain a drumstick for myself by asking one of the roadies...  Even
despite an annoying security guard who was trying to usher me out and
saying that it would be impossible to get anything. :-)  He also said
that I couldn't get the setlists because they would be needed for
tomorrow night, to which my reply was "okay, I'll be here tomorrow for
them!".

When I was queuing for buying merchandise, a couple asked if I had been
sitting in the third row.  I said yes, and they commented that I must be
an enthusiastic fan (I wonder how they noticed that? *grin*)...  I had a
nice little chat with them.

About merchandise, there were about 6 different type of t-shirts
available.  Well ok, maybe just 4 normal, but in addition to those there
was a fleece top (?) and a one-size-fits-all kind of t-shirt meant for
girls which said "Valentino? I don't think so!" -- I thought that was a
really neat one. :)  Also on sale were a tour book, a poster, a Corrs
lighter, and Corrs mugs.

After I got out of the venue, I set out to wait at the back door (sort
of) in case I could get a chance to meet the Corrs.  Stephen who hadn't
been along to the concert came along to wait with me.  We waited for
about 2 hours total (30 mins more for me after the concert before
Stephen got there), it was quite cold but not raining thankfully.  One
of the crew people told us that they were actually inside talking with
Bono, so it would be a long wait.  We *did* manage to see through a
window a couple of the Corrs sisters, probably Sharon and Caroline,
talking with someone inside the building...  Unfortunately, we were
asked to move away from the alley kind of place by a crewman, and after
about 30 more mins waiting we determined that the Corrs (those who were
present anymore anyway) probably left through another door at the other
side of the building.  So, no Corrs meeting and no autographs for us
today. :-(

Anyway, tomorrow I will be going again, and really looking forward to
it.  And I will for sure bring my camera, as cameras indeed are allowed,
even if my seating won't be as good.  (A hint to anyone who is also
going to the Saturday show...)  There was a huge number of flashes this
night, especially during No Frontiers.


Mikko