Tt 2009

[oogie boogie]

Fuck all that though, PLANES OVER PARIS AT THE TRAF tonight, gibber!

 

 

fixed that for there fellagh!

[Slim]

fixed that for there fellagh!

 

You keep on pushin baby, like I've never known before!

[bikerchick]

It does all feel a bit pish this year.

We noticed how quiet 'Mad' Sunday was last night. The DTL acts are a joke. The gardens hold 1,000's of people, so how have they only managed to get these acts? U2 UK was apparently piss poor turn out. I was at the Chili Pipers last night to see King Chiaulee and I'd say it was just over half full. They made the Thunderbirds free entry!!!! Who the hell are Jet Black? and why in gods name were Quill playing after the 'Headlining' act. WHO NOW AREN'T HEADLINING!!!!!!!

Game onto them with the LSO, but I'm pretty sure that's the TTX people organising that and not the DTL.

 

I'd say it was half full for King Chiaullee, but they would have sounded better if the sound had been turned up. They seemed to turn it up for the Chilli Pipers (who were excellent) and I'd say it was three quarters full by then. Like you say though - what a stupid idea to stick Quill on last - not many stuck around to hear them.

 

Found this forum on Google. Thought that last year was much better on the Prom. Some of my Irish mates talked me into going to see the Chilli Pipers. I hate bagpipes!!!!! Whoever booked this lot should get a huge pat on the back. They stood out a mile. They connected with the crowd immediately and the Villa Marina seemed really full. Can honestly say I've never seen a crowd reaction like it in all my time going to concerts. Should get these lads back, bloody masterstroke. All the rest were very mediocre in comparison. The highlight of the weekend for me

[Lawnmower]

In the early nineties there was nothing put on either. But crowds began to gather outside Bushys - the pub. And bikers began to show off with burnouts and wheelies. At first the Police tried to get heavy and there were some sticky nights. Then Police policed with a lighter touch and let the spontaneity develop, with following great fun. They had to put barriers up eventually because of the huge crowds - up to 15,000 a night.

But the fun continued, bikers and locals joined in, fancy dress, daftness, a bit of nudity, some bike stunts, no problems.

 

Then a lad died when he fell from the Jubilee Clock - and about the same time the Tourist Board got involved and put on mini bikes and stunt bikes for years, and which eventually bored the crowd. Ending up with the very sanitised entertainment of the last few years, because Police and Tourist Board will not take any risks at all. Spontaneity disappeared. That's what the huge crowds turned up for.

 

So the answer is in the hands of the bikers. Do what you did in the nineties, gather in crowds, do your stunts, and let it develop.

[When Skies Are Grey]

Get the DTL on the departing boats and do an exit poll....

 

I seem to recall last year people moaning abot the crap fair and steve colley donning his lycra ONCE AGAIN....and now people are complaining that its not on.

 

So what is it that people (visitors and locals) would like to see....its a case of matching expectation with realism.

 

It is a biking event after all....the rest is just fluff.

[The Voice of Reason]

Get the DTL on the departing boats and do an exit poll....

 

I seem to recall last year people moaning abot the crap fair and steve colley donning his lycra ONCE AGAIN....and now people are complaining that its not on.

 

So what is it that people (visitors and locals) would like to see....its a case of matching expectation with realism.

 

It is a biking event after all....the rest is just fluff.

 

 

Well yes but as a local (a non motorcyclist) who looks forward to the "festival" it cerainly has not had the same atmosphere as previous years. It may be a biking event but people don't go the Munich Beer Festival purely to drink steins of lager (they can do that at home). They go to enjoy the atmosphere (even those that drink coke). (I've never been to the Munich Beer festival by the way so I'm talking out of my arse but you get the picture)

[Slim]

I seem to be alone, but I think the atmosphere is better. It reminds me more of the older TT's, before the moneygrabbing stuff appeared, when it was just about bikes and bikers. Lots of people wandering about looking at bikes on the prom, lots of full pubs, lots of bands and a busy grandstand. No tacky fair with associated chav wars.

 

I used to work at summerland for the superbike nights, and they were awful. Rip off entrance fee, some crappy band like dumpies rusty nuts, the same 4 metal songs on loop by a dj, a miss wet t shirt compo and tonnes of overpriced cans of beer. Crap! Pre-bushies tent the congregation used to be bottom of broadway around the traffic lights, with nothing laid on the highlight was a fluffed donut or a topless girl on the back of someones bike.

 

Shame the beach racing was cancelled last night, lots of things mucked around by the change in race schedules.

[victorian dad]

In the early nineties there was nothing put on either. But crowds began to gather outside Bushys - the pub. And bikers began to show off with burnouts and wheelies. At first the Police tried to get heavy and there were some sticky nights. Then Police policed with a lighter touch and let the spontaneity develop, with following great fun. They had to put barriers up eventually because of the huge crowds - up to 15,000 a night.

But the fun continued, bikers and locals joined in, fancy dress, daftness, a bit of nudity, some bike stunts, no problems.

 

Then a lad died when he fell from the Jubilee Clock - and about the same time the Tourist Board got involved and put on mini bikes and stunt bikes for years, and which eventually bored the crowd. Ending up with the very sanitised entertainment of the last few years, because Police and Tourist Board will not take any risks at all. Spontaneity disappeared. That's what the huge crowds turned up for.

 

So the answer is in the hands of the bikers. Do what you did in the nineties, gather in crowds, do your stunts, and let it develop.

 

I completely agree

[oogie boogie]

Dumpy's Rusty Nuts are bloody awful, I remember seeing them in the Venue. From memory they're a poor mans Motorhead.

[Slim]

Dumpy's Rusty Nuts are bloody awful, I remember seeing them in the Venue. From memory they're a poor mans Motorhead.

 

Oh yeah, they're absolutely shite, but great fun to watch live when you're pissed. They're like the real spinal tap, check this out:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gki7TnvEA8Q...feature=related

 

"This ones for Jesus". Brilliant!

 

They used to play on the sewage pipe cover thing at the bottom of broadway and that, miss wet tshirt at the Lido and honda day was your TT entertainment. Oh, they used to do indoor trials bikes at the Lido too on the ballroom floor, that was something to see.

 

I remember when it was all fields!

[ade]

In the early nineties there was nothing put on either. But crowds began to gather outside Bushys - the pub. And bikers began to show off with burnouts and wheelies. At first the Police tried to get heavy and there were some sticky nights. Then Police policed with a lighter touch and let the spontaneity develop, with following great fun. They had to put barriers up eventually because of the huge crowds - up to 15,000 a night.

But the fun continued, bikers and locals joined in, fancy dress, daftness, a bit of nudity, some bike stunts, no problems.

 

Then a lad died when he fell from the Jubilee Clock - and about the same time the Tourist Board got involved and put on mini bikes and stunt bikes for years, and which eventually bored the crowd. Ending up with the very sanitised entertainment of the last few years, because Police and Tourist Board will not take any risks at all. Spontaneity disappeared. That's what the huge crowds turned up for.

 

So the answer is in the hands of the bikers. Do what you did in the nineties, gather in crowds, do your stunts, and let it develop.

 

I think that's a great post, and I agree with your points.

 

However, I kind of agree with Slim about the atmosphere this year. I've kind of enjoyed it too. Over the past couple of years, I've kind of felt that the "stunt bikes/Steve Colley/Jet Quad/prom fair" every night has been too much and that maybe it should just return to the natural way of doing things, with spontaneity, rather than forcing entertainment - it all felt a bit fake, trying to emulate the fun that the prom used to be.

 

Could some feeling towards the lack of atmosphere in Douglas be down to the fact that there's a lot more apartments in Douglas now and less hotels? The numbers still seem to be up but people are staying further afield, they see that there's no structured entertainment provided, they decide to stay where they are and entertain themselves? The campsites all seem packed and ITV4 is showing loads of crowds still at the sides of roads watching the races (where allowed).

[oogie boogie]

Dumpy's Rusty Nuts are bloody awful, I remember seeing them in the Venue. From memory they're a poor mans Motorhead.

 

Oh yeah, they're absolutely shite, but great fun to watch live when you're pissed. They're like the real spinal tap, check this out:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gki7TnvEA8Q...feature=related

 

"This ones for Jesus". Brilliant!

 

They used to play on the sewage pipe cover thing at the bottom of broadway and that, miss wet tshirt at the Lido and honda day was your TT entertainment. Oh, they used to do indoor trials bikes at the Lido too on the ballroom floor, that was something to see.

 

I remember when it was all fields!

 

I wouldn't have put you down as being that old.

[enCrypt]

I used to work at summerland for the superbike nights, and they were awful. Rip off entrance fee, some crappy band like dumpies rusty nuts,

Hehe!

I remember supporting Dumpy's eons ago, one TT at Summerland (you were probably there Slim)

Yes they were cheesy, but we met Dumpy himself backstage and he was a great laugh!

 

I have been disappointed with the atmosphere outside Bushy's this year.

I was hoping for a return to TTs of old outside there myself, but I think a combination of the H&S brigade and the threat of Manx driving bans also applying across, has stemmed the 'fun' somewhat...

They've had some cracking bands on down there though!

[Planes]

A large part of this years problems has resulted from TT being a week later and many people simply not catching on.

Generally race week is packed on the island, but its wednesday now and it seems to still feel like wednesday of practise week. The second wave of vistors just doesnt seem to have happened.

We've spoke to many vistors who simply got caught out this year with race week being later, and had to leave at the weekend, not getting to see any racing at all.

 

Is there an argument to suggest the TT is in a general state of decline anyway? Im not sure either way, but I would like to hear peoples views.

Did the IOM miss a trick when we opted not to build a 'super bike' track up in Jurby after the the TT lost its status as a Championship point scoring course? The TT will always attract people who enjoy the history of the event. But just think how much it costs to get to the IOM from UK/mainland Europe and then stay here for a number of days. Is it that the newer generation of motor bike fans, who never got to see the likes of Dukes, Dunlop and other TT legends, would now choose to go see the likes Rossi and Co on the Super Bikes tour rather than come here?

Lets face it, the top Super Bike riders will never ride in the TT, as Guy Martin said in the Times this week those guys have been brought up on 'Health & Saftey'.

 

What do you guys think?

[Slim]

Ade: spot on. There's not so many hotels on the prom, with campsites and homestay the TT isn't concentrated on douglas. And that's a good thing, all the islands pubs are busy, rather than just the ones on the front. Means the cash is staying on island rather than going off in the gypsies pockets too.

 

I remember supporting Dumpy's eons ago, one TT at Summerland (you were probably there Slim)

 

Could be! I remember one year the crowd got very ugly by the shambles and piled all the tables in a sort of wall around the stage, and there was a can lobbing fight, scary as fook!

 

Yes they were cheesy, but we met Dumpy himself backstage and he was a great laugh!

 

He was king of the one liners, good fun, but compared to some of the acts we've had recently like Whitesnake and Robert Plant he's nowt.

 

Planes: I'd be great proper track here. If the world things the IOM is the motorcycle racing mekka, we should keep it that way by providing the facilities. Keep the full TT as a spectacle perhaps, one that will inevitably decline and also run proper championship racing on a new course. Bloody expensive, but if we really are dependant on motorcycle racing, we should secure it's future.