Punters come to blows with mega-venue Alexandra Palace, while the dance behemoths live it up.
High up and all alone on the hill, Ally Pally has not historically enjoyed the most enviable of reputations as a live music venue, despite its impressive appearance.
It was a nightmare to get to, sound would echo off The Great Hall’s immense back wall, atmosphere was paper thin and the queues (entry, cloakroom, bar and toilets) were soul-sapping.
With new management in place, hopes were high they could show us all how it’s done.
What a shame then that I passed at least 2,000 people queueing outside, huddled like penguins against Arctic winds, then spent 20 minutes queuing for a beer at the besieged bar - after queueing 10 minutes for beer tokens first.
Deciding against tackling the cloakroom queue as well, I made it in for Hot Chip’s final 30 seconds.
LCD’s James Murphy was buzzing at least, still singing thanks to a dose of steroids and leading from the front with his party-vibe dance machinations and a blinding light display.
The sound, thankfully, was spot-on, but even Murphy’s most upbeat tunes had a hard task revving up a pretty peeved crowd.
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