Plaything of the gods
Well-Known Member
Yesterday was my first opportunity to experience a game live at the Etihad stadium.
I was not at all impressed.
Firstly, even when (almost) full, the stadium looks half-empty - or half-finished - with all that open lattice-work at the top and space between the stands on the top level.
When the teams came onto the field, the stadium WAS half-empty - except for the Hull fans packed in and singing. I heard nothing from City supporters except polite clapping. People were still arriving at their seats five minutes after the start of the match - what's that about?
What were those huge flags and the enormous banner opposite the players entrance for? The under-11s team had to walk through a shower from the sprinklers towards the banner. What an insult.
The way the 1894 Group surfer banner was moved was embarrassing. To move along horizontally either the banner has be be held and walked by a person at each corner or the people in the seats under the banner need to know what's expected of them.
The Hull fans moved their banner very effectively. Can't the City fans use that enormous one the club had had on the pitch?
But what I found most disappointing - uninspiring even - was the club's pre-match and interval effort. A group of sixth-formers could have put together a better show. Specifically.
The "entertainment" in 'BT' City Square was amateurish. I didn't hang around for long as nothing of interest was happening. The presenter (Danny was it?) seemed as if he didn't know what to say. (I'd seen Natalie walk past me consulting something in her hand and a sour look on her face just prior.) He tried to get the Star and the Summerbee bars into a singing/dance competition but it was only about 12 o'clock and the music wasn't dance music so I don't know what he was hoping for. Then someone with a guitar who looked as if he had been dragged onto the stage started to play something rather boring. I left for my seat then.
Inside the stadium, what was showing on the big screens was a mixture of transmissions of what was happening outside in 'BT' City Square and other stuff. Of the transmissions from 'BT' City Square, only the music by a multiracial group with the 'singer' doing sounds into the microphone was worth bothering with - very good lively, up-beat, uplifting music actually, but no idea who they were as the voice sound in the transmission was neither loud nor distinct enough.
Of the other stuff, there was some dull, dirge music and a silent countdown on the screens to 0, at which point nothing happened except some clips of past goals being scored - a big anticlimax after the massive build-up - and then a clock counting down the time till kick-off. Someone then played and sang Bluemoon which was loud and clear, but he was singing it to a less than half-empty stadium and I didn't hear any singing along to it. The Hull fans must have found that funny. There also seemed to be a lot of nothing going on on the screens and with the sound, as if whoever was doing it was hunting for the next thing to put on.
I don't remember anything of interest during the interval except the big mascots clowning around and the little mascots doing their dribbling.
All this is very negative I know but, as I said, it was first impressions. If the atmosphere in the ground is poor, as was stated in a thread started yesterday, I think, seating- and standing-arrangements apart, that the club must take the blame for not firing up the crowd pre-match and during the interval. Where is the thumping, invigorating music that makes you want to get up and dance around and sing, or at least lift your spirits? I don't like Chelsea but their Liquidator is a fabulous tune that almost makes me want to clap and chant along. And other clubs have their own upbeat songs to fire up the crowd. City has Bluemoon. I know I'll get a lot of criticism for this, but Bluemoon is a miserable song, as is all the music I can think of that comes out of Manchester. It may fit in with the ironic, gallows humour of City fans, but is there no uplifting, inspiring music from Manchester that could be used to fire up the crowd in the ten minutes of so before kick-off? The club could also shut down the 'BT' City Square 'entertainment' earlier and encourage the crowd into the stadium for community singing there. Maybe 'BT' City Square could also be used to showcase some local comedians taking the piss out of the football world and particularly United and the day's opposition?
I was not at all impressed.
Firstly, even when (almost) full, the stadium looks half-empty - or half-finished - with all that open lattice-work at the top and space between the stands on the top level.
When the teams came onto the field, the stadium WAS half-empty - except for the Hull fans packed in and singing. I heard nothing from City supporters except polite clapping. People were still arriving at their seats five minutes after the start of the match - what's that about?
What were those huge flags and the enormous banner opposite the players entrance for? The under-11s team had to walk through a shower from the sprinklers towards the banner. What an insult.
The way the 1894 Group surfer banner was moved was embarrassing. To move along horizontally either the banner has be be held and walked by a person at each corner or the people in the seats under the banner need to know what's expected of them.
The Hull fans moved their banner very effectively. Can't the City fans use that enormous one the club had had on the pitch?
But what I found most disappointing - uninspiring even - was the club's pre-match and interval effort. A group of sixth-formers could have put together a better show. Specifically.
The "entertainment" in 'BT' City Square was amateurish. I didn't hang around for long as nothing of interest was happening. The presenter (Danny was it?) seemed as if he didn't know what to say. (I'd seen Natalie walk past me consulting something in her hand and a sour look on her face just prior.) He tried to get the Star and the Summerbee bars into a singing/dance competition but it was only about 12 o'clock and the music wasn't dance music so I don't know what he was hoping for. Then someone with a guitar who looked as if he had been dragged onto the stage started to play something rather boring. I left for my seat then.
Inside the stadium, what was showing on the big screens was a mixture of transmissions of what was happening outside in 'BT' City Square and other stuff. Of the transmissions from 'BT' City Square, only the music by a multiracial group with the 'singer' doing sounds into the microphone was worth bothering with - very good lively, up-beat, uplifting music actually, but no idea who they were as the voice sound in the transmission was neither loud nor distinct enough.
Of the other stuff, there was some dull, dirge music and a silent countdown on the screens to 0, at which point nothing happened except some clips of past goals being scored - a big anticlimax after the massive build-up - and then a clock counting down the time till kick-off. Someone then played and sang Bluemoon which was loud and clear, but he was singing it to a less than half-empty stadium and I didn't hear any singing along to it. The Hull fans must have found that funny. There also seemed to be a lot of nothing going on on the screens and with the sound, as if whoever was doing it was hunting for the next thing to put on.
I don't remember anything of interest during the interval except the big mascots clowning around and the little mascots doing their dribbling.
All this is very negative I know but, as I said, it was first impressions. If the atmosphere in the ground is poor, as was stated in a thread started yesterday, I think, seating- and standing-arrangements apart, that the club must take the blame for not firing up the crowd pre-match and during the interval. Where is the thumping, invigorating music that makes you want to get up and dance around and sing, or at least lift your spirits? I don't like Chelsea but their Liquidator is a fabulous tune that almost makes me want to clap and chant along. And other clubs have their own upbeat songs to fire up the crowd. City has Bluemoon. I know I'll get a lot of criticism for this, but Bluemoon is a miserable song, as is all the music I can think of that comes out of Manchester. It may fit in with the ironic, gallows humour of City fans, but is there no uplifting, inspiring music from Manchester that could be used to fire up the crowd in the ten minutes of so before kick-off? The club could also shut down the 'BT' City Square 'entertainment' earlier and encourage the crowd into the stadium for community singing there. Maybe 'BT' City Square could also be used to showcase some local comedians taking the piss out of the football world and particularly United and the day's opposition?