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Post by Wyvern on Oct 26, 2012 19:09:31 GMT
four nights? won't you get bored? No - I have a birthday and a hen night while I'm up here, and I'm staying with a very good friend I don't get to see half as often as I'd like. No chance at all of boredom, even in Birmingham ;D |
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Post by jmsquared on Oct 27, 2012 7:27:09 GMT
It's a manly pose - confident yet casual. It's either that or jazz hands. Right, what are "jazz hands"? |
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Post by amie8 on Oct 27, 2012 9:35:52 GMT
It's a manly pose - confident yet casual. It's either that or jazz hands. Right, what are "jazz hands"?  |
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Post by jmsquared on Oct 27, 2012 10:25:19 GMT
Hehehe! Thanks.
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Post by jacqui on Oct 28, 2012 19:23:19 GMT
Well that’s TGL UK over with for another year seemed such a long time coming then gone in a flash!  Firstly, it was great to meet up with Di and Antonia and her daughter! ;D Now the show…. The Track part of the arena show was average, same content/format as last year the highlight being, for me, the drifting, I could watch that all day given the chance! The TG3 show, well, in my opinion, good but not brilliant as it has been in past years. I felt there was too much repeated contented but the guys themselves were entertaining as always and the banter between them is always enjoyable. ;D Don’t get me wrong, I admire the talent of the guys on the pogo sticks, what they did was beyond anything I could do on the antiquated school pogo sticks of yester year!  The 720 stunt was breath taking and Paul Swift and his team were precision personified! ;D Yet cars on fire, girl twirling fire and cyclists performing acrobatic moves off a slope have been done before.  Jezza was highly entertaining on the Polo bike and he was hysterical as a human target, I do hope his gentlemans vegetables recover! James was great (and looked great, perfect hair length going on at the moment!) Richard revealed in being the fit youngster minus the man-babies!  ;D The exhibition wasn’t much to write home about however, I know what you pay for your ticket really relates to where you would prefer to sit in the arena but it would be nice to have some “benefits” worth the money in the exhibition too. Frankly, the “Behind the Scenes Tour” was pathetic, a vast space 80% empty really disappointing.  From a few people I spoke to who were Platinum the Paddock tour was also a bit of a let-down. In the past the NEC TG Live show has benefited from having the Classic Car Show on at the same time; I think the organisers have missed the point that many TG fans are classic car and bike lovers as well as super car speed freaks! There was very little classic content on the stands. I know TGL was promoted as bigger and better than past shows and I am sure this is why ( as well as being half term in most parts of the country) they decided to separate from the Classic Car Show so they could have more halls at the NEC. Was it bigger and better? In my opinion, no.  I missed the Classic car show, the concourse stands, the old style paddock tour, the live cool wall, the Dunsfold track game. I would rather have a longer arena show with the guys, incorporating some of the Track content such as the Drifting and maybe a modified SIARPC. I apologise now to anyone reading this from the production teams etc. I know there is a lot of hard work that goes in to planning these events and that is whole heartedly appreciated. The best move was having the two shows rolled in to one so we didn’t have the four minute dash across the NEC, the organisers obviously listened and thank you for that. Everyone has their own opinions and I’m sure there are many that absolutely loved it, this is just mine. Will I go next year? Yes, probably…. Maybe I’ve got a few photos once I get them in my bucket I’ll post a link on the members photo thread. First I need to find the best of just 449! ;D |
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Post by dit on Oct 29, 2012 1:27:39 GMT
And here's my report.
First - yes, it was great to meet up with Jacqui, Antonia and their daughters, even though it was very rushed as we were going to different performances and theirs ran late. Hopefully there will be another chance at some point!
Secondly - I understand a lot of what Jacqui has put in her message. I found the track show very repetitive, but having said that although I rate Tiff's achievements I've always found him a bit wearing as a presenter. The driving skills were excellent and yes, the drifting skills are a very specific and impressive art form.
I also agree about the exhibition and the 'extras'. One advantage of going to this sort of thing on your own is that you end up talking to the staff, and those I talked to were embarrassed about the Behind The Scenes and Paddock sections. I had chats with staff about the ambiguity of the bar sections - trivial I know, but in past years there have been clearly marked Gold/Platinum/VIP bars but this year it wasn't as clear.
The exhibition was good, but there wasn't really enough to keep you there all day, and of course being the NEC there are very few places to sit! I enjoyed it and took plenty of photos but I was there two days and twiddled my thumbs a bit.
So it may sound as if I'm doing a hatchet job, but no....bear with me........
Personally I thought the actual arena show was brilliant. To my eyes there was more cocking about than in previous years, and nearly every time the guys came out it was to do something or be involved. I totally agree with Jacqui when she says "cars on fire, girl twirling fire and cyclists performing acrobatic moves off a slope have been done before" and though they do it so very well, I hope they have some fresh ideas next year, but I really enjoyed what the guys did and felt there was a bit more of them this year. The 'Shoot Jeremy' segment was silly, especially when he had to get out of the car today for the last section as it broke down, and he had to run through the moves without the car. The Polo section was exciting both times I saw it. There were families around me who had clearly never seen any of it before (apparently there was a conscious decision to go for the half-term, family ticket dads-and-lads market this year) and they were delighted, if the sounds they were making were anything to go by!
So yes, major weaknesses but also major delights. Would I go again next year? Yes, but I'd like to see some new stuff. I haven't downloaded my photos yet but they're clearly total rubbish, despite being on the front row today but if any are part-way acceptable I'll put them here.
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Post by Wyvern on Oct 29, 2012 9:54:31 GMT
I thoroughly enjoyed the shows, although I do agree about the extras and was glad we only booked silver tickets this year. Having said that, there was one very obvious reason why they were restricted on how much new stuff they could afford to do - surely I wasn't the only one to notice that they lost their lead sponsor (Shell) as well as the secondary sponsorship from Skoda? Still, I thought the boys more than made up for it, and the motorbike polo in particular was wonderful. I think I nearly wet myself laughing at Jeremy running around during the Autotesting segment  Will I be back next year? Yes. As long as they're there, I'll be there too. |
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Post by dit on Oct 29, 2012 12:13:30 GMT
Ah, must admit I hadn't thought about the sposorship issue, though a thought did occur to me - I wonder how many people there had been every year since 2008, as many of us have been? One thing I didn't mention was that I thought James was looking very good. His hair is excellent at the moment, and he seems to have lost some of the extra he was carrying. Below is a link to a newspaper article, and a couple of the pics are in the NC. www.birminghammail.net/whats-on/tv/presenter-james-may-happy-to-have-top-gear-264702 |
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Post by jacqui on Oct 29, 2012 13:35:18 GMT
Shells absence didn't go unnoticed and the adverts weren't missed! Maybe that was the reason the exhibition extras were - as i said previously- pathetic, but the TG brand isn't without a coffers in its pocket and if they want to keep people coming year after year then a few changes need to be made for next year. I also spoke to a security chap on saturday who was highly embrassed at the lack of content in the extras and was a bit hacked off at getting his ear bent from punters who felt they had been diddled some what! Interesting you mention the man babies Dit - the first thing my daughter said was something along the lines of - who ate all the pies!!! ;D ;D Different angles etc etc!!! ;D |
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Post by dit on Oct 29, 2012 15:00:49 GMT
I think I was looking at bum, legs and face!
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Post by Wyvern on Oct 29, 2012 17:02:18 GMT
...the TG brand isn't without a coffers in its pocket and if they want to keep people coming year after year then a few changes need to be made for next year. Of course, the question is, do they actually expect the majority of their audience to come back year after year? I'm pretty sure they don't, although they must be aware that they do have a core of regulars. Mind you, there is only so much you can do with arena-based car stunt displays so there will always be some repetition. The parts of the show the boys were doing have always been different year on year, even if the format has been similar. Having said that, this year was the first time they've not had an obvious theme to the show, and I think it did miss that - but on the other hand, I think the supporting artistes were much better used than in previous years (the girls on the ribbons were particularly well used, given the Bond theme to that segment). It's a really difficult year for both the entertainment industry and the car industry though, and that really did show. There were far fewer manufacturer stands than in previous years, no Auto Glym Celebrity Concourse, no Shell science stand, and more of the interactive stands (e.g. radio controlled car games etc.) were charging this year. There wasn't a single completely new vehicle in the supercar lineup this year either. It's a sad thing, but although you go to an event like TGL to escape from reality for a few days, the state of the world at present was inescapable. And although the TG brand of course is a profitable one, even their merchandising has been cut back dramatically this year. If the overheads of the show were to rise too much with the lack of sponsorship, they weren't going to throw more money at it and cut their profit margins further. I'm not sure it's really a criticism, but this is the big difficulty for Top Gear - they've always said they put as much of the money as possible in front of the camera, and so presumably they do the same on stage. When there's less of it around, it really does show Personally, I was disappointed in the way the extras were going last year, which is why I didn't pay for them this year. I have to admit, I was able to visit the 'behind the scenes' display anyway because I wrote a cheeky email before the event, but I can see how people who'd paid for it would have been unimpressed. I really liked that they showed a lot of the storyboards for the various events though, and I did take some positives, but even so, it was mostly empty space and it felt like a missed opportunity. Still, I suppose it depends what you go for - for me, the main attraction is the boys, and they did every bit as good a job as usual, if not better. To me, it felt like they knew they had a few things to make up for, and they seemed to be throwing themselves at it with more energy than in some of the past years, particularly Jeremy, who seemed more than happy to make an absolute fool of himself for our entertainment. And we definitely got more of the boys this time; the show only had one sponsored advert instead of the usual 3, but the show still ran for the usual 80 minutes plus. And I really did enjoy the track show, which was more effectively themed this year, and for the first time everything was presented by TG presenters past and present. I was really pleased to see Vicky get to do some driving, and one of the highlights had to be the way Tiff's half-Audi got graffiti-d yesterday. Not sure which of the boys was making merry with the paint brush, but it was enough to make Vicky blush anyway ;D Completely different classifications of rally cars from last year, the mini-Nascar-Omnium was a pretty inspired idea and the half car racing was hilarious, so apart from the drifting, there was quite a lot of very different content from the previous version. Unless you aren't all that interested in motorsport, which apparently some people aren't, in which case it was mostly lots of cars rushing around in circles, or circles with wiggly bits in the middle! My highlight of the whole thing though was probably Jeremy finishing the Autotesting on foot when the batteries in his G-Wiz 'ran out' ;D - although an honourable mention has to go to Tiff too for completely cocking up the handover of his GT86 and stuffing it very, very hard into a wall on Friday afternoon... One bugbear was that the NEC still seems to be completely incapable of organising a queuing system. Utterly, utterly useless. But that was a very small fly in a very agreeable pot of ointment really. I had to budget very differently and make a few cuts this year too. Didn't miss the Hilton at all to be honest, spent no part of the weekend either drunk or hungover and my friend and I had, I think, very realistic expectations for the weekend. Over dinner last night, we were discussing how much more we'd enjoyed ourselves, and while we certainly hope that things pick up again next year, we were in the end very satisfied with our holiday |
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xsarabee
Smutty Mayhemer
... a sorta fairytale with you...
Posts: 119
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Post by xsarabee on Oct 31, 2012 11:34:03 GMT
This is the guy who got the job as the Finnish host on TGL. Don't know if he was in awe of James and Jeremy or is it because he's not used to speak English that much (he's a Finnish radio personality) but he really didn't do that well in this "job interview". Hope he gets his act together on the show. Less than four weeks now! ;D
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Post by jmsquared on Nov 5, 2012 3:52:02 GMT
Been away and just catching up with all this. Many thanks for the reports and the pics everyone. Much appreciated.
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Post by lydiadustbin on Nov 5, 2012 8:02:38 GMT
Just to add my tuppence worth if I may.
It was a first time visit for us so obviously everything in the arena was new to us, we thought the show was great with lots of laughs.
However (there is always a however isn't there!) we did not think our platinum tickets were very good value for money. Having been to the NEC before for the Good Food show which I realise is an entirely different thing altogether we were expecting more.
There when you are given access to the lounge it is actually a separate room with free drinks & cakes, also we got a goodie bag each which when we totted up the value was worth about 50 quid, almost the price of the ticket back!
Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed our day very much and are glad we went but would I got back? probably not. Would I recommend a visit? yes but don't pay over the odds for a special ticket.
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Post by dit on Nov 5, 2012 11:08:14 GMT
I think there were a few who felt as you did, lydiadustbin. I'm pretty sure that a couple of years ago I got a free drink in a separate bar, and that was on just a gold ticket. When I chatted to staff they were also saying they felt a bit embarrassed this year at the lack of 'extras' for those who'd paid most. I think it's something they need to address in future.
I've finally got round to downloading the photos I took and, as I suspected from the quick glance I gave them, they are universally dreadful, both from my camera and new phone (that's the new phone I specifically picked because I was assured that the camera was excellent). The ones of the exhibition are fine, it's the ones of the performasnce. I sat in the audience seeing people's screens around me, all full of crystal clear close-ups, whereas I was peering at pin-prick figures in the distance on my screen. I don't know what I have to do to get decent pictures.
So if anyone has any good pics they'd like to send me, please let me know!
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Post by Wyvern on Nov 5, 2012 12:26:12 GMT
Would I recommend a visit? yes but don't pay over the odds for a special ticket. As things stand at present, that is exactly the way to go IMHO. On Sunday, our seats were next to the Gold section anyway ;D My photos aren't bad, but I did take a lot and as I've been busy since I got back, I've not uploaded them anywhere yet. But I will, honest! |
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Post by dit on Nov 5, 2012 12:59:03 GMT
Would I recommend a visit? yes but don't pay over the odds for a special ticket. On Sunday, our seats were next to the Gold section anyway ;D Yes, I think it may also have a lot to do with when you book. I sat on my own this year and booked as soon as the tickets went on sale. This meant that I ended up on the front row for the final show on the Sunday, with a gold ticket - most of those around me were on platinum. Another good thing I've found (suits me anyway) is that I phone for tickets rather than doing it online. That means I can negotiate the best possible seat. |
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Post by jacqui on Nov 5, 2012 13:45:05 GMT
We went Platinum one year and got two free drinks and a meal in a place well away from the madding crowd ;D Agree, unless they up their game and make the extras worth paying for, go cheap and banter with the ticket guy for good seats ;D |
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xsarabee
Smutty Mayhemer
... a sorta fairytale with you...
Posts: 119
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Post by xsarabee on Jan 16, 2013 11:56:20 GMT
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Post by jmsquared on Jan 16, 2013 23:21:28 GMT
Nice pics, thanks XSB. |
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Post by dit on Jan 16, 2013 23:48:25 GMT
This has been driving me gently mad - can anyone help?
Each year I've been to TGL you're encouraged to get into your seats early, whereupon you sit through a loop of car adverts on big screens with very loud music. Actually, some of the music is pretty good - in 2011 there was a heavy-bassed version of '20th Century Schizoid Man' that I must have heard so many times I lost count and I can still hear in my head when I stop and think of it.
I hadn't specifically remembered anything from 2012, then the ads started on the TV for the Citroen DS. The track is apparently One In A Million by DatA from 2009. My question is this - was that one of the ads shown on the run-up to the 2012 shows, or have I imagined that?
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Post by dit on Jan 18, 2013 19:22:23 GMT
TopGearLive have/has (?) just uploaded this video onto YouTube It's called "Behind the scenes of TGL", and although it's rather more a compilation of action shots from over the years, the last two minutes consists of interviews with James and Jeremy that are quite fun. www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL4fBpUDJis |
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Post by Wyvern on Jan 21, 2013 12:47:25 GMT
This has been driving me gently mad - can anyone help? Each year I've been to TGL you're encouraged to get into your seats early, whereupon you sit through a loop of car adverts on big screens with very loud music. Actually, some of the music is pretty good - in 2011 there was a heavy-bassed version of '20th Century Schizoid Man' that I must have heard so many times I lost count and I can still hear in my head when I stop and think of it. I hadn't specifically remembered anything from 2012, then the ads started on the TV for the Citroen DS. The track is apparently One In A Million by DatA from 2009. My question is this - was that one of the ads shown on the run-up to the 2012 shows, or have I imagined that? I think that ad was shown before the 2010 shows. It's definitely been used at TG Live, and I think it was the year the DS3 launched. |
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Post by dit on Jan 21, 2013 15:40:44 GMT
Thanks for that Wyvern, at least I know I wasn't imagining the TG Live connection! It's funny how certain pieces of music can stick in your memory, even if you can't remember all the details.
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The 720 stunt was breath taking 
;D
From a few people I spoke to who were Platinum the Paddock tour was also a bit of a let-down. In the past the NEC TG Live show has benefited from having the Classic Car Show on at the same time; I think the organisers have missed the point that many TG fans are classic car and bike lovers as well as super car speed freaks! There was very little classic content on the stands.
I missed the Classic car show, the concourse stands, the old style paddock tour, the live cool wall, the Dunsfold track game. I would rather have a longer arena show with the guys, incorporating some of the Track content such as the Drifting and maybe a modified SIARPC.
I love a man who can handle a gun 
Will I be back next year? Yes. As long as they're there, I'll be there too. 
