[vr46]

This happened to be an egregiously-bad example of these cheap, padded-out, pop-up shows that are everywhere.

Anything that isn't run by a major museum or gallery is highly suspect in my book. I recall a Tutankhamun show that I think had National Geographic's name slapped on it, somewhere in London Docklands, that was fairly lame, but nothing compared to the lameness of a Tutankhamun show going on in Hamburg right now which is mostly words printed on posters, with the main event being a large empty room with projections on all the walls. Barely amusing and mainly a good chance for a sit-down.

Similarly, there's a fake-o Body Worlds show going on, a bullshit Terracotta Army show on, and there's clearly money to be made.

The one experience I can remember that blew everything out of the water was the Millennium Dome in London, circa 2000, simply amazing and mind-blowing. I went twice. Truly amazing experiences like these cost a fortune and take a age, and require top-tier talent to put on. Just like a West End theatre production.

[creshal]

Apparently in Europe there's also a fake LotR/Harry Potter concert tour going on that stops mid-song half the time, because they haven't actually licensed the songs and are trying to muddle through with "fair use" (however that's even support to work here...)

[orwin]

If they are performing the songs live, they do not need a license in most european countries if it isn't recorded (not sure about UK though, i've heard its a bit weird up there for musicians). If they're just playing CDs, they might want to get a license, even with this "trick" that some bad DJs use.

BTW: good/known scenes have a license to play, not just perform, music live, so even that would be weird.

[urbandw311er]

What exactly was the exhibition at London’s millennium dome that you remember being so good? Or are you simply talking about the millennium dome itself, which ultimately became a bit of a national joke here in the UK, as nobody really knew what to do with it for a few years after the millennium. In the end, it got rebranded as the O2 Arena, and now it does fairly well for itself as a place to host, concerts and live shows etc.

[vr46]

It wasn't an exhibition, but a whole series of zones that you could freely wander around in, each one a show in itself. I recall going through the learning zone, and seeing the huge doors where you could hear the headmaster yelling behind them, to remind you what it felt like to be at school, and then as we were moving through to the end of that space, the lighting all changed, the music shifted and the walls fell away to reveal a forest full of trees to everyone's delight. Extraordinary.

The musical acts that surprised us as we were walking between zones, the huge scale of the artworks and sculptures that we actually had to walk through, it was an absolute delight from start to finish. I had been given two tickets as a gift from a friend, and I took a mate who I didn't know super well, we had zero expectations and that day definitely helped turn us into very close friends - I was his best man a few years later. I then bought tickets and took my girlfriend, who was left speechless by it all (she was a trained actor) who then bought her own tickets and took her entire family there.

The dome suffered from the worst PR ever, and it was a national joke but only for people who hadn't read the book, so to say, people queuing up to criticise something in copycat fashion, but the joke was on them, it was amazing.

The budget for the show was there for a year and I'm sure it underperformed but I'm also sure it provided a seed for the success of things like the 2012 Olympics, which was simply amazing. It was empty for a while, and Crisis used it as a homeless shelter in 2003 I think, I was volunteering as a chef and we were in an annex outside the main building, catering for people with dependency problems, while my then-girlfriend was cooking at the main kitchen inside the actual dome. I took my skates and skated around the whole empty-ish structure, was very cool.

[detritus]

I seem to remember that Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 (Millennium Dome still, back then?) being alright? The one back in '07-'08? I'm not sure they had the main golden casket, but the artefacts they found in the tomb were fascinating.

I know I was astounded by some of the techniques they used and the expertise and craft with which they were made all the way back when.

[vr46]

You are largely right, but they had advertised it visually very differently - on what people could expect to see - and for the price it really wasn’t better value than a special exhibition at the BM. I’m clearly still sore about it almost twenty years later!