Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy. Website – www.philevans.co.uk
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Unless you’ve been shipwrecked on a tropical island surrounded by sharks off the Cardigan coast, you’ll know that a red-haired troubadour named Edward Sheeran recently performed four sell-out concerts at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
I wasn’t one of the 240,000 fans who packed the stadium – and I also missed out on seeing The Rolling Stones and Beyonce.
Then again, none of ’em have ever turned up to see meperform.
And, let me tell you, if an audience gets too aggressive I can move like Jagger!
But things I’ve read in certain Welsh newspapers – notthis oneI hasten to add and it’s not easy to hasten when you’re down on your knees pleading to keep your job – made me wonder whether attending these huge concerts is more of a pain than a pleasure.
Apart from the cost of the tickets, if you live some distance from Cardiff, you’ll need to book a hotel, which have a habit of raising prices when demand for their rooms is high.
If you travel to the concert by car, not only will you have to park miles away, the cost of parking for several hours isn’t cheap.
Should you travel by train, if you live in Wales you’ll have to squeeze into those jam-packed, two-car ‘rattlers’ we have to put up with until the long-promised shiny new rolling stock arrives.
Anyone travelling from Paddington will have had a frustrating journey as The Severn Tunnel was (and might still be) closed.
Trains via Bristol Parkway and Newport were replaced by ‘Rail Replacment Services’ i.e. buses!
Not much fun when you’re carrying suitcases
If you want to catch a train homeaftera concert in the capital ends, there are so few late night trains out of Cardiff you’ve got more chance of winning the Lottery.
On reflection, spending three days in a muddy field in Glastonbury sounds much easier than attending a show at the Principality Stadium.
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Festivals everywhere:
Nobody loves a good party or festival more than the Welsh.
It’s as if we were born to perform and we have been holding these events long before the invention of radio, television, internet or newspapers.
Now that’s a long time!
It’s a form of ritual, a chance to show off and feel young and alive again, which is undoubtedly a good thing.
There is so much choice in Wales . . .
Food festivals, flower festivals, beer festivals, folk and jazz festivals . . . and, my favourite, comedy festivals.
The festival scene is booming and record numbers are being recorded up and down the country, especially during our most recent spell of amazingly good weather.
These events are so important for the local economy, while preserving traditions that our grandparents and great grandparents started generations before us.
If you don’t believe me, ask them.
I’m now well informed that many people met up with their future partners at such gatherings.
Unlike the internet dating sites of today, the festival scene was often the only way to mix with like-minded people, which made it easier to talk or chat up a future partner.
Some years back, a survey stated that the first thing men noticed about women was their eyes.
Following this survey, women observed that the men in this survey were a bunch of liars.
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You can follow Phil Evans on Twitter @philevanswales and www.philevans.co.uk
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