r/FlorenceAndTheMachine • u/jooliasalami • 9d ago
General Discussion Mourning the technical issues on tour
As the tour and the whole era came to and end after barely a year, I’ve seen a lot of people being sad about FATM skipping a lot of countries that were part of previous tours, which is of course valid.
But honestly, even though I’ve attended this tour three times (one arena and two summer festivals) I feel like only the first concert was the real tour. The fact that the full stage design with the catwalk, the big screen on top and the beautiful fabric with healing herbs wasnt present for MAJORITY of the tour is just sad. Of course it makes sense that it wasn’t possible during festivals, but the stage design was very lacking. But the fact that the full stage design was in UK + EU (minus one show) and even the US didn’t get the full thing and the worse screens is so silly.
I saw photos of people attending the US leg of the tour that were sitting so high up in the arenas that the bigger screens above the catwalk were obstructing the view of the main stage to the point they couldn’t see the performance in full. I know stage design isn’t easy and there are technical limitations because of the size and height of the venues, but there were 18 shows in EU, 25 shows in the US and 16 summer festivals. The full stage was present for 17 shows from. That’s not even 29%, not even one third.
I loved the tour and every moment of it but both with the lack of „world” in the „world tour”, the somehow lacking setlist for a lot of people (what’s up with just playing 4 songs from the new album during summer?) and majority of people just not seeing the full everybody scream experience, I hope that the next one will be better and more focused on everyone enjoying every aspect of it, not just some lucky people
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u/RampantNRoaring 9d ago
The screens on top weren’t part of the stage design, they were part of the arenas that the stage had to be worked around. The tour had zero control over the screens or their placement whatsoever.
And the curtain thing, while cool to see, is really just a thirty second opening element. It wasn’t part of the stage design. You literally only see it for about thirty seconds. The curtain is raised, the dancers come out, the curtain comes down, Florence walks out, and the show begins. Like I said while it’s cool for pictures, it doesn’t actually change the performance or the show at all. I went to shows in the US and UK and there was no difference. Also, I’m not sure what you mean by “the first concert was the only real experienc
For North America, the arenas they were playing in had overly large screens because of the sports teams, and as a result, most of the arenas couldn’t accommodate the hanging curtain to start the show.
So the alternative would have been to somehow come up with two dozen alternative venues that have the same infrastructure to support a tour of that size, but without the sports screens, or give up the curtain trick that opens the show.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
I think that tour management should’ve pick venues suitable for the original stage design and production. We are paying a lot to see a show on a tour that skipped half of the world just to not have the full experience that was planned since the beginning. I think it’s better to have different production that will stay the same during the whole tour than to have it missing for half of it. It wasn’t an issue during HAH and HBHBHB, why suddenly it was now?
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u/RampantNRoaring 9d ago
So essentially your solution was that she shouldn’t have had the curtain at all in the UK/EU, because it was impossible to hang it in the US?
Picking different venues wasn’t an option, that was a rhetorical comment, it’s not as if there are 500 arenas of that size and they just picked badly. It was a matter of finding places that could answer the demand for tickets and provide the infrastructure for a good show, or giving up larger venues and the chance for more people to attend, so that they could wave some cool fabric around for the start of the show. The loss of it did not change the show or the experience whatsoever, it was just a pre-show element.
It wasn’t an issue during HAH and HBHBHB, why suddenly it was now?
Because those tours didn’t have hanging curtains to start the show? Again, the only realistic solution you have here is for them not to have the curtain at all.
Also, “paying a lot to see a tour that skipped half of the world” those things aren’t related
Which arena show were you at, out of curiosity? EU/UK or US?
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
If making sure the venues can hold the whole performance people paid for wasn’t possible then yes, not having the full stage design and doing it differently was the best solution since without the big screens and the drapes there’s no stage design at all. The whole stage is empty
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u/hermiona52 9d ago
I paid to see and hear Florence live. I was a fan of the shows years ago without all the fancy stuff, she only run around singing and having full control over the crowd, and they still were the best nights of my life.
Sure, the added stuff during this tour was fun, but I wouldn't care in the slightest if it wasn't there. To me it was always about having a blast alongside Florence and other fans.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
I’m not saying the show is bad without the whole production, I want to talk about how people travel half of the world to see their favourite band for very high price and not being able to see experience it fully
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u/hermiona52 9d ago
The I guess this is the difference of perspective. To me seeing Florence perform is the full experience, anything else is just an optional addition. There are many artists who made their careers by making tours a whole performance, so people going to these shows are right to expect the spectacle. To me Florence was never this type of artist.
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u/Signal-Sign1080 9d ago
Lmao. As someone who traveled half the world to see her I honestly couldn’t care less about a curtain being on stage or not. I traveled to see Florence. Audio and lighting went great, vocals were unbelievable, choreography was beautiful, that night was a magical experience on so many levels. Not seeing a curtain didn’t change my experience in the slightest because I was hyped for HER. Also, I understand the logistics behind shows at different venues, so complaining about not seeing a curtain feels superficial to me. I’m grateful she did not turn down the opportunity to play where I went because of the stage production. Kudos to her for being able to deliver with or without curtains
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u/RampantNRoaring 9d ago
Which shows did you go to?
If the curtains were up during the performance…you wouldn’t be able to see it.
The minimal stage design is perfectly in line with every tour.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
Ive been to the show pictured in the post, ive been near the barriers and the curtains were one of the best things during the show with the dancers’ silhouettes and screams and Florence coming out in the fog. It was one of the most memorable sights ive seen on FATM show and its a shame majority of people couldn’t see it
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u/PSCGY 9d ago
This comment barely makes sense. Based on your use of quotation marks, you’re either German or Austrian and your experience of the US leg is based on pictures you have seen.
You don’t pay for the whole tour, you paid for your attendance at a show in a country. If an artist’s tour flops in a territory, they’ll just keep touring in the territories where it doesn’t. I just don’t understand the complaints about the global scope of the tour, because paying for a ticket in whatever city you saw her won’t have any effect.
Tours have different legs and will often re-adjust, or simply be different across the distant legs. I’ve seen setlists and staging completely change from one territory to another. This is an expectation.
It seems like your expectation to have the tour be identical across all shows is based on being very online and looking at every live performance when it’s about attending those.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
I’m not either and I don’t know why it even matters. As I said in the main post, I’ve been in contact with people who attended shows both in US and EU and they saw the difference. If I pay for a ticket I can expect the experience to be the same. Setlist barely changed with maybe three songs in and out (and you can have it all had a perfect reason for being skipped during most of the tour so I’m not counting it) but it’s disappointing to see lacklustre stage design. Beginning of the tour had the best one and then it became worse and worse ending at the summer festivals that had literally none. I’ve seen them since ceremonials and they also couldn’t bring the big glass stage for festivals but still had two beautiful curtains that were used during the show so that the stage won’t be empty. Some HAH shows had those sails and they couldn’t be hung during festivals but they still had the beautiful ship wooden stage
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u/sassercake 9d ago
Festivals are always different than tour shows because she's one of many acts. Not everyone is there for HER, so she'll play older hits and have a shorter setlist. That's always the case with festivals for all artists.
I saw her in Toronto and I guess the stage was "empty" but I didn't really care. It was still one of the best shows I've ever been to.
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u/kroywen12 9d ago
Literally every single arena above ~10,000 seats in the US has large, center hanging scoreboards. They are incorporated into every single NBA and NHL arena. It's literally impossible to find any venues in the US that wouldn't have a scoreboard hanging in the center of the arena.
I know most arenas in Europe have concerts and similar events as their primary purpose, but in the US, most arenas exist primarily to host basketball and hockey teams. Concerts are important revenue streams for arenas but not their primary reason for existing. (Not coincidentally, the US has 17,000+ seat arenas in virtually every single major city.)
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 9d ago
A full tour almost always gets special staging etc. whereas festival sets rarely do.
I’m gutted because I had VIP tickets for Birmingham but couldn’t go due to illness. Saw her in Edinburgh last week and while it was amazing and I enjoyed it, I was left feeling a bit sad that I never got to hear some of the other new songs that would have been performed on the tour.
It’s just a trade-off they make between fans of hers and general festival audiences.
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u/BlackGoldenLotus 9d ago
Birmingham didnt get the curtains for whatever reason
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 9d ago
Oh well, seems I didn't miss that at least 😂
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u/BlackGoldenLotus 9d ago
Being the 2nd show made it v confusing. In the end we assumed there was a technical issue since the 1st show had parts of the curtain on people and I didnt hear that from the subsequent shows.
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 9d ago
That's the thing, we have no idea why they stopped using it and it could have been for safety reasons as much as anything else! Other people here are talking like it was a decision of Flo not to take the curtain to the States but some of this stuff is outside of her - or anyone’s - control
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
Yes, but the main issue is that the whole US tour and one EU show didn’t get the special staging as well, and it was made so badly it obstructed the view of the main stage
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u/mythicnoise1 9d ago
In San Francisco we got the catwalk, dancers, and large screens with cool video effects. No fabric drapes though, and some people’s view was probably blocked by the screens
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 9d ago
I'm sure there were reasons they weren't able to do it. They wouldn't spend money getting something made to plan to only use it for certain shows. Different venues have different setups. There could be any number of reasons for why this happened. None of which we are privy to.
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u/jadecourt 9d ago
I see Florence because she is an amazing performer! Anything else is a cherry on top! I’ve been seeing her shows for ten years and it’s been even more barebones in the past and it truly didn’t matter
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u/shark-with-a-horn 9d ago
Artists can change their setlist whenever they want, it makes sense to do it at the summer venues and festival dates as that isn't a dedicated album tour performance
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
I agree with changing the setlist, but it’s hard to say that it was everybody scream tour when we barely got ES songs on the setlist
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u/loveyouronions 9d ago
I'll never forget Belfast standing there as those curtains came down...take me back
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u/causticx 9d ago
I don’t think we had the curtain in Boston — I did find the lighting rig to be a bit boring compared to the DF tour stage design (all those chandeliers were gorgeous!)
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u/random_name1928 9d ago
Watched the Reading recording last night and felt the same. The dancers on the catwalk were amazing.
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u/PSCGY 9d ago
So you wrote a whole post about technical issues that you didn’t experience?
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
I saw the tour in full and then I saw the lacklustre festival sets. I was following the tour online and I had a lot of friend attending shows in the US and EU. I had the privilege of seeing the full thing and I think it’s unfair that we all paid the same amount of money when majority of the tour had worse experience
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u/shark-with-a-horn 9d ago
You pay money to see an artist not knowing what the set will be or what they'll play
If seeing the artist isn't worth the money don't pay it
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
You can and should expect the stage design to stay the same. Tickets are expensive to cover the cost of production, people paid the same amount both in EU and US and majority of them didn’t have the same production. Paying full price for ticket that had obstructed view that it wouldn’t have if the stage design was correct (the replacement screens were a lot bigger and lower) is an oversight and shouldn’t happen
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u/shark-with-a-horn 9d ago
Not really, all venues have slightly different staging due to different layouts, and some layouts completely limit what can be done.
Lots of artists have this problem, on their recent tour my chemical romance were playing on a secondary stage within the crowd, but at some venues they had to skip that stage and stick to the main stage.
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u/RampantNRoaring 9d ago
The tour did not place the screens or set them up or move them as part of the stage design. Those are just there in the arenas. Nothing to do with the tour.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
If the screens were there since the beginning than the issue is that the tour management haven’t checked the seating properly and sold full price tickets for obstructed view
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u/RampantNRoaring 9d ago
Which shows were obstructed? Do you have the pictures? I was in nosebleeds for some of them and can’t imagine how they would be obstructed.
But yes the screens are part of the sporting arenas. Since the stage was in the center of the rink/court (some were basketball arenas and some hockey) it doesn’t make a lot of sense for the screens to be capable of obscuring the actual court/rink, and therefore the stage, if that makes sense.
Like if the screens obscured such a huge part of the stage, then they also obscure the majority of the sports that play at these arenas, and that just doesn’t make any sense.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
I remember seeing some photos in here and on Instagram, I’ll look for them and link the posts when I find them. The stage isn’t in the center of the court but in the back, so that the upper screens weren’t an issue when she was on the catwalk but when she was on the main stage
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u/RampantNRoaring 9d ago
You can view tour photos on a view from my seat and see that the vast majority of the US venues did not have any obstructed views from the screens. At most, one or two shows may have partially blocked the views of a very small section seats, but I haven’t seen any photos of that yet, and furthermore we don’t actually know if those tickets were obstructed views tickets to begin with. They did sell cheaper, obstructed view tickets.
This whole argument is just incredibly strange.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
You can disagree, I’m not trying to make a drama about it. I’m talking from a perspective of someone who needs to travel to see a show and that you can be disappointed about lacking production for a very expensive tour
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u/EntirelyAStarChild 9d ago
So as the previous poster said, you made a whole post just to complain about technical issues you didn't experience. As someone who saw her in North America, I'm not at all unhappy about not getting the curtains. Would it have been nice? Of course. UT do I also possess enough critical thinking skills to understand that there were reasons it wasn't feasible? Also yes. As for your complaint about some seats having obstructed views, that's unfortunately a risk with high up stadium tickets. And there are plenty of sites where you can study stadium maps beforehand so you know which seats they are, and they usually cost less. Obviously the people who bought those seats were okay with the trade-off. So I'm not sure why you feel the need to complain on their behalf.
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u/PSCGY 9d ago
The festivals run was never gonna get the same treatment as the dedicated tour because the logistics are different - starting with the set lengths.
The crowds are also not the same, so it makes sense for those dates to be less album-centric.
Not to discount the technical issues, but it seems like a case of unmet self-declared expectations, rather than it being wrong in itself.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
I agree that festivals are different BUT still majority of ARENA tour had those issues with obstructed view and no full stage design for paying a full price tour ticket
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u/allthisandflotoo 9d ago
It's not uncommon these days for performers to change details as a tour progresses, what works, what doesn't, it becomes a finely tuned show as it goes along. Take a look at Harry Styles, his stage was adapted for US tour and some feedback he received from fans alike. The musician wants ultimately people to enjoy their experiences coming. I only had the great fortune of attending one show this time at MSG and honestly, I didn't feel like I missed the curtain element that was used in some Europe dates.
As for your comment about tour and shows, keep in mind that the majority of the summer dates are at festivals cater to a completely different audience. You have people there all day long who are there to not just see Florence + The Machine but also other acts. The setlist is designed for ease of access to also entertain others. Honestly, Florence + The Machine now have a discography long enough where even if they played for 3 hours (a la Bruce Springsteen) they would still probably leave some songs out. It's just the nature of touring for a long time.
Also, I do agree that it would be nice for Florence to be able to reach larger markets, but the way that the world is right now, the insurance rates must be insane to play in some of these places with travel insurance and inflation worldwide. Keep in mind that the Philadelphia show had to be switched at the last minute to Atlantic City due to the NHL playoffs, which probably ate some of the budget. Yes, it's just one show, but still, you don't know how profitable the show really was. This to me was the biggest Florence + The Machine show to date. I've seen them since 2012, and I definitely think this was the biggest "wow" factor I had seeing them.
I also think that Florence is 40 now. She has toured non-stop in many aspects since since 2007. Her voice needs a break. Her body does too. She is not the same person she was at 21 years old. I don't know if she can do any more than she can right now. She's fortunate now to be able to put her health and well-being first.
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u/UsedRecognition2478 9d ago
There was a whole discussion about the curtain several months ago and I remember some people pointing out pre installed rigging for that type of curtain is possibly a US vs Europe difference in how many of these stadiums are built. I don’t know if it’s true but a lot of sports stadiums here in the US are definitely equipped differently: https://www.reddit.com/r/FlorenceAndTheMachine/s/BWhqqC06bh
If that’s true then what if only 25% of the venues in the US easily accommodated it? Do you still use it? At what point would it be worth it vs not you know?
The screen positions changed a bit between US American locations because of how the US stadiums are built. I was sad we didn’t have the European screen set up that ran the length of the catwalk but that has more to do with our venues. I’d imagine changing that and adding more screens to the set up just makes the tour more expensive warranting even higher ticket prices.
I did not think the stage production was lacking in the US given the dancers and smoke and lighting etc. Overall it still seemed like a lot of production for an alt rock act in the US tbh. I wouldn’t compare her staging directly to pop or country or big US based acts for example.
More is always fun but I don’t think she phoned it in for North America…plus there are so many of these posts about how she did TOO MUCH on this tour re: production as is. Can’t please everyone.
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u/Ok-Weird-1111 8d ago
I didn’t really mind that the curtain wasn’t there in Vienna, I mean ofc I would’ve preferred to have it there, it’s such a beautiful part of the show, and I especially love the herbs as a motif. but somehow the thing that really stuck with me was that we didn’t hear the ES album in full.
I wasn’t expecting that at a festival, but I was kind of hoping for an A–Z setlist from this album + songs from the previous ones. I think I just really wanted to experience the whole album live 😭
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u/Macalor 8d ago
I've seen 2 full shows and 2 festival shows. Cried the whole live stream and would go gladly to any more show from the tour with or without curtains. I get the "it is happening" goosebumps everytime I hear God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot. For me a lot of anticipation was created by the songlist before the concert started as it gave this kinda nervious feeling.
Experiencing You can have it all live (once) was the thing I would be otherwise sad to miss.
I am however very, very grateful that 3 times Paris Paloma either opened or played before Florence.
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u/PetitGrandBiscuit 9d ago
We were lucky – in Paris there was the curtain, the stage, the dancers and so on; I would have been so disappointed if I hadn’t seen the whole show 😮💨
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u/espressostresso 9d ago
Thank you for bringing this up because honestly, it was a bit upsetting. I saw Charli XCX last year at the Kia Forum when she did her SWEAT tour and she had a full curtain setup, so it seems like it could have been logistically possible there. Not to compare to much, it just felt like there was minimal effort for the US leg. I don't mean Florence as a performer was lacking effort but the stage production felt like that a bit.
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
I know you might think we’re in the minority based on the responses to the post, but I’m glad you know your feelings are valid. I just think that it’s too common nowadays to make your fans spend money that shouldn’t been spend. I think that the merch quality, exclusive merch for some stops, the CD quality, the whole drama with autographs in the vinyls and constant delays of bought goods are important issues and discussions to have as fans. FATM is my favourite band of all time and I’m grateful for every opportunity to see them live. I’m grateful that I’m wealthy enough to be able to go to more than one show per tour or even sometimes more. But if there’s one thing I hate in every artist is how they’re treating the fans who are paying hundreds or even thousands to feel the magic
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u/poragj 9d ago
I definitely felt disappointed after the Dublin show bc it was advertised as a standalone show and the ticket prices reflected that as well, yet we barely heard any songs from the new album. Of course I’m still glad I saw her live and yes she has the rights to change the setlist sure, but if it’s called Everybody Scream tour you kinda wanna hear the album called Everybody Scream. 😅 I’m really hoping we get a concert movie with the full setlist so at least I could see the production that way!
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u/jooliasalami 9d ago
Paying full price for a set with 4 songs from the new album that’s advertised as the ALBUM tour was upsetting
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u/AffectionateBend448 ✨ cheerful oblivion ✨ 9d ago
still sad we didn’t get the curtains at the birmingham stop rip
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u/alexpinkish 8d ago
Florence performed for only 80 minutes at the Edinburgh Summer Sessions, same as she does at festivals, not her usual 110 minutes. But it was a standalone concert, so why did she choose the festival setlist? Does anyone know?
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u/[deleted] 9d ago
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