A Mark In Time
Mark Knopfler Discussion => Mark Knopfler Discussion Forum => Topic started by: IrisRose on August 13, 2012, 05:24:29 AM
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Closing ceremonies were fantastic!. But. . . . . . George Michael and not MK? What???????
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These things are never really about music as such - plenty of numbers that made me cringe, Madness, Pet Shop Boys, ray Davies and Brian May to name a few...
I'm glad Mark resisted the urge to play or reform his old band.
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It was amazing Mike Oldfield got a huge part, he deserved it. Nice they played Wish you were here, pity it was only Nick Mason from Pink Floyd playing it though.
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Nice they played Wish you were here, pity it was only Nick Mason from Pink Floyd playing it though.
Completely agree- I got goosebumps when I heard the opening chords and thought "Another reunion? After Live 8! Yay!! Oh..."
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Dont forget MK was celebrating his birthday... I bet he refused to be part because he rather be with the family celebrating ;)
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I'm glad Mark resisted the urge to play or reform his old band.
Yeah, but Walk of Life was tailor-made for the Closing Ceremonies (while large screen pics of the athletes and fans in attendance at this year's games would replace the ones in the old Walk of Life video). Lost opportunity there!
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I'm glad Mark resisted the urge to play or reform his old band.
Yeah, but Walk of Life was tailor-made for the Closing Ceremonies (while large screen pics of the athletes and fans in attendance at this year's games would replace the ones in the old Walk of Life video). Lost opportunity there!
I agree RKD - I can picture the whole spectacle in my mind! What a lost opportunity! ::)
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just read that a whole lot of real stars (stones, bowie etc..) refused to play there, good thing our mark was smart enough...
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just read that a whole lot of real stars (stones, bowie etc..) refused to play there, good thing our mark was smart enough...
Yes, but lots of bands were at least mentioned and their music was played by someone else eg David Gilmour/Pink Floyd by Ed Sheerin! ::) Not even a mention of DS/MK! Bowie was mentioned and his music played too!
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I see someone asked about this on Guy's forum- Guy's reply- "Mark may well have been asked".
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I never like to watch the Olympic games, and I am disgusted with the commercialization of every aspect of this revival of ancient peace and competition. I would have kept a perfect score, if it wasn't for my wife, that called out that some rock music is being played. I guess it was a celebration, a big finale but sorry to say, it seemed to me like a decadent show from another day and age. It has nothing to do with the artists or the songs, which I like a lot. It was more like a staged show with no warmth, just performing some old songs to remind of the great British rock music heritage, and the fan of it, the bringing together of people was lost in favour of a direction for the TV. I can not quite put it in words, but I think both rock and the Olympics were not benefited by it.
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I'm glad to hear I'm not alone. I agree with you VGONIS2002 and indeed the commercialisation of it was criticised prior to the games here in the UK. How ironic that two of the main sponsors were Coca-Cola and McDonalds when we are trying to promote something sporty and healthy!
The main disagreement I have with it though is with the media and politicians and their attitude regarding our own athletes. The extreme competitiveness and "winning is everything" attitude is not great imo. Taking part and enjoying yourself is the main thing and surely in the true spirit of the olympics.
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It was amazing Mike Oldfield got a huge part, he deserved it. Nice they played Wish you were here, pity it was only Nick Mason from Pink Floyd playing it though.
I thought Oldfield only took part in the opening ceremony? The Pink Floyd cover band thing made me cringe. Who was that pale redhead singing "Wish You Were Here"?
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It was amazing Mike Oldfield got a huge part, he deserved it. Nice they played Wish you were here, pity it was only Nick Mason from Pink Floyd playing it though.
I thought Oldfield only took part in the opening ceremony? The Pink Floyd cover band thing made me cringe. Who was that pale redhead singing "Wish You Were Here"?
Ed Sheeran, the one from the a team. (the song).
LE
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It was amazing Mike Oldfield got a huge part, he deserved it. Nice they played Wish you were here, pity it was only Nick Mason from Pink Floyd playing it though.
I thought Oldfield only took part in the opening ceremony? The Pink Floyd cover band thing made me cringe. Who was that pale redhead singing "Wish You Were Here"?
Ed Sheeran, the one from the a team. (the song).
LE
Huh, thanks. Must admit I never heard of him. ???
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It was amazing Mike Oldfield got a huge part, he deserved it. Nice they played Wish you were here, pity it was only Nick Mason from Pink Floyd playing it though.
I thought Oldfield only took part in the opening ceremony? The Pink Floyd cover band thing made me cringe. Who was that pale redhead singing "Wish You Were Here"?
Oldfield did only play the Opening ceremony, I was just saying it was great to see him there, MK,Mike Oldfield and Pink Floyd are my 3 favourite artists. As for that pale redhead(Ed Sheeran) singing Wish You Were Here, sorry but It shouldn't be aloud!!
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Some comments on what has been posted before.
Yes, I know that the modern Olympics is different from the original ethos of Pierre de Coubertin and very different indeed from the Ancient Games but it is huge global event with a tremendous "reach" - something that does bring together people from across the globe, not just athletes and officials but vast viewing audiences.
Olympic opening ceremony: some I never watched at all. Others I have watched in part but I have never watched it in its entirety before (not ever). This year was the exception for me and, somewhat to my surprise, I enjoyed it and even found it uplifting in a way. I had expected to leave the room shortly after the start but I stayed in my seat right to the end.
We only just got back in time for the broadcast (having gone up to London to collect some Olympic tickets at Club France, the tickets having been bought through the French Olympic website). I mention this because (and I hope I haven't said this already) we were given a small booklet at Club France. This was the morning of Opening Ceremony and thus in advance of the actual ceremony. This booklet specifically mentioned a film of James Bond called "The Arrival" and suggested that the Queen would surely be involved. So much for it being a surprise.
Anyway, I thought that sequence was great, plus the raising of the five Olympic rings and the lighting of the flame.
The closing ceremony : This was less enjoyable. Yes, there was a lot of music but, as someone said earlier, it was simply a parade of British rock and pop over the years. It didn't hang together particularly well.
The torch relay: This went really well. The flame stayed overnight where I live, so I saw its arrival in the city one evening and its departure quite early the following morning. On both occasions, the crowds were large in numbers. This torch relay really did generate a lot of momentum behind the games amongst the ordinary British public. I also got to hold one of the torches, which I found quite exciting - unexpectedly so, I might add.
Over-commercialisation: There is some basis in this criticism, though, in the Olympic Park itself, much less than I had expected. There were too many "proud to be a VISA partner" signs around - each quite small but at every retail outlet? MacDonalds building was large but not intrusively so and there were many other food outlets, where the quality, in our experience. was quite high and the prices not really any more than you'd pay at similar events. Brtish Airways promoted their Park Live set-up (basically following Olympic events on big screens) and this was incredibly popular. You could go into the Olympic Park at any time with an event ticket, even if your event was much later in the day, so people soaked up the atmosphere before and after watching their own events.
The travel to and fro went extremely well. The security checks barely held us up at all (better than almost any airport security I can think of) and the there was terrific atmosphere, with everyone we met and talked to being very friendly. We spent the whole day in the Olympic Park and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The cheering in the Stadium was for everyone and must have been encouraging for all those taking part but was especially loud for British athletes. We were there for the last night of athletics. As the 5000 metre runners circled the track, the crescendo of noise followed them around, rather like a Mexican wave of sound. There was almost a physical weight to the sound. Everyone shouting, flags waving, old and young, Brits and others, throughout the race but, as the athletes approached your section of the crowd, you knew that this tsunami of sound was about to hit you. It just swept over you, through you almost and your own contribution added to the effect. It was incredibly exhilarating. We have been to athletics meetings before (at Gateshead International Stadium, at Meadowbank in Edinburgh and at Crystal Palace in London - more than once in each case - and I even attended sporting events, including some athletics, at the old White City Stadium in London when quite young, not to mention football and Rugby League matches at Wembley) but I have never heard anything like it. It is a cliche but I doubt I'll ever forget that evening.
There were only six events that night, all finals, and 11 victory ceremonies in all, but, once the events had ended, only a small proportion of the crowd left. I would estimate that more than 90% stayed on for the remaining victory ceremonies. Many were staying there for the Mo-moment but I suspect most simply didn't want to leave, just wishing it could all go on longer.
And, as we left the Olympic Park, how could I forget a line of policemen and women doing a "Mo-bot" as we left, followed by a "lightning Bolt" - mugging for the crowds, who were all laughing and trying to take their photos. Or the line of security people along one fence, high-fiving the passing crowds.
If I had a complaint, it was the ticketing arrangements. The ballot was opaque and its lack of clarity was annoying. Most of our applications were unsuccessful but even the successful one left us uncertain where we would be in the stadium until the tickets actually arrived. Seeing empty seats on TV for events or venues for which we actively wanted tickets was immensely irritating.
Now we're checking the sites for Para-Olympic tickets, particularly for the Velodrome. And I'd like to think that we will manage to get to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games in 2014. We thought LONDON 2012 was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for us but, maybe, we should start saving now for Rio in 2016.
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lol, well written twm.
now i have been wondering, as i missed that part and did not read about it anywhere afterwards, who DID light the flame in te stadium??
p.s. loved the daniel craig/queen sequence.
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Pottel. the lighting of the flame was innovative and a bit difficult to describe.
As the various athletes came into the stadium following their country's flag, they also followed a smallish copper construction. I'll call them petals. There were 204 participating countries and thus 204 petals. As the flags were put in place, so were the petals put in their place - more of this later.
No single person lit the flame. Seven British Olympians (past and present) were each asked to nominate one up-and-coming athlete. This was in keeping with the theme of LONDON 2012, namely "Inspire A Geenration". Each of the older seven passed a flame to their younger nominee. It was this group of seven young (and effectively "unknown") athletes that lit the flame - except, in a way, they didn't.
By now, each of the copper petals had now been placed on the end of its own pipe, all 204 petals laid out in several concentric circles, not quite flat on the ground. The seven young athletes lit seven petals and the flame spread until all 204 petals were lit. Then the 204 pipes were raised until they all stood almost vertically. The Olympic flame was thus a cauldron of 204 flames.
After LONDON 2012 is over, each of the 204 petals will be sent to its respective country, in the hope that each country will display its own petal in a place where it can be seen by memebers of the public.
Really, though, you should see it for ypourself, by buying the "LONDON 2012" DVD that will be coming out later this year.
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The biggest opportunity that was missed in my opinion was to follow Queen's 'We Will Rock You' with 'We Are The Chapions' - it was crying pout for this - 6,000 Olympians in a stadium, what else were they but champions! And Queen used to play We Will Rock You followed immediately by We Are The Champions live at most of their concerts.
Shame there was so much miming though especially from the headliners aka the Who. One of the best rock bands in history as they weren't afforded the luxury of a sound check prior to kthe ceremony.
And the Spice Girls miming too wasn't an issue - they always mimed so it was nothing new:-)
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The biggest opportunity that was missed in my opinion was to follow Queen's 'We Will Rock You' with 'We Are The Chapions' - it was crying pout for this - 6,000 Olympians in a stadium, what else were they but champions! And Queen used to play We Will Rock You followed immediately by We Are The Champions live at most of their concerts.
Shame there was so much miming though especially from the headliners aka the Who. One of the best rock bands in history as they weren't afforded the luxury of a sound check prior to kthe ceremony.
And the Spice Girls miming too wasn't an issue - they always mimed so it was nothing new:-)
I didn't notice that the Who were miming
are you sure about that ?
do you have any info ?
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Roger Daltrey was on Radio 2 a couple of days before the concert saying there was to be no time for sound check for them so they had to record the set prior to going on stage to mime it.