Author Topic: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?  (Read 21821 times)

God, Part II

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #15 on: May 12, 2009, 01:23:14 PM »
Norman, OK here...first time to see them live since Popmart in Kansas City, 1997.  I have to choke down vomit every time I think of enduring the Black Eyed Peas as an opening act, though...

Z000

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #16 on: June 01, 2009, 12:38:14 AM »
So where do we rec(k)on the best seats are?

.Tash.

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U2 tours
« Reply #17 on: June 14, 2009, 12:34:38 AM »
hey guys my name's tash and im from england but i now live in new zealand. im 14 years old but i absolutely adore U2! they're the best band ever in my opinion... I have all of their albums including no line on the horizon which is one of my favorite! one of my life ambitions is to see U2 in concert, it would be my dream come true and when i found out they were touring world wide i was ecstatic, but then after researching it i found out they were'nt coming down here to new zealand or even australia! my friend is going all the way over to spain with his family to see them and he cant take me with him unfortunately...  ;) if anyone knows more about U2's 2009 tours and if their coming my way please let me know!! distant-child@hotmail.com ...please help!

FAYF

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #18 on: July 07, 2009, 06:12:03 PM »
Nice GA
Berlin GA
Amsterdam 1 GA
Dublin 1 GA
Dublin 2 Seats

Z000

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #19 on: August 01, 2009, 06:32:48 PM »
Bought my ticket on thursday. Giants Stadium, September 24. U2 & Muse!! Rock on.
If there's still one available when my next paycheck comes in, I'm planning to get a VIP to Gillette Stadium as well.

U2maxi

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #20 on: August 02, 2009, 08:41:17 AM »
Amsterdam 1 GA
Amsterdam 2 GA
Dublin 3 Seats
London 1 GA

slaneman

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #21 on: August 24, 2009, 07:33:53 PM »
I know it'll never happen but I'm waiting for Aaron's stories about the GIGS.

Maybe he washed up when hurricane Bill went by the Scotias... :D
« Last Edit: August 24, 2009, 07:42:35 PM by slaneman »

Aaron

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #22 on: August 29, 2009, 06:30:42 PM »
haha. i'm working on the stories of the gigs. :-)  i've got barca one written up.

Opening night. I was hoping to go in with no expectations, but the evening before had seen us listening to the entire setlist from outside the stadium, as the dress rehearsal took place. We'd even sneaked a peek at the 'claw' on a cable car across the city the day prior as it stuck out the roof of the stadium. So I expected surprises to be few.

Nothing prepared me for what was to come.

We got to the line up around 7am in the morning, to be numbered 1005. Yup. 1000 people in front of us at 7am. The line is a mess. Shoved together, people obviously butting in and out. Two different numbering systems. It's hot. Way too hot. Oh wait? There's another line up?! Shorter? Switching lines back and forth. Finally we end up in the original as the line starts to move. The chaos of the crowd moving forth is insane. People handing out Aung San Suu Kyi masks as you enter? People! We're running here. Don't stop us to hand us a mask!

And as we make it through the stadium suddenly you see it. And you stop. No picture, no video, nothing could prepare you for the stage. I must have stood there for a couple of minutes just looking at the thing. It's huge. Bigger than anything I've ever seen before. Just massive. And seeing it for the first time just bowled me over. Off to secure our stamps for the day - a '360' in a box to get back and forth to the floor and a '4 bar' stamp to enter in and out of the inner circle. The reflective flooring is making the inner circle an oven. It's unbearable. Screw this, we all headed for the cheap seats, shade, and some beer. :-)

Ended up going down in front for Snow Patrol. Up close for a couple of songs, and then back to watch things from the cheap seats some more. It's too nice a day to deal with the crowds, the heat, and everything else. Snow Patrol put on a really decent show. They make use of the claw screens, and even manage to get up a little "Snow Patrol 'hearts' Barcelona" on the screens.

As the sun lowers, we head for the floor, it's packed inside the inner circle, and we decide to stay outside, to watch the show from the back as it gets started. To follow the boys on stage. As the 'claw' starts pumping out smoke, we hear David Bowie's "Space Oddity" fill the speakers. This must be it. Soon we hear something unexpected - a new U2 song - "Kingdom" that just sounds beautiful. And before long we see the band walk right in front of us. Screaming erupts. The place is going mad, as the band walks 2 feet in front of me to take the stage. Seeing them in person again? It's already worth the money spent on this trip.

We start off at a 90o angle from the stage. It's not the greatest viewing angle. And when the bridges start to rotate above us, our view becomes blocked. I'm not real impressed, and the bad view compared with the angle we're viewing things at makes me want a new spot. Living up to my name "wanderer" we manage to move in a bit to have a more full on view. The people around us in this new spot are a bit rowdy, and don't want us there, so we move in a bit more, to find a great open spot, with some fun younger fans behind us, who are a little unsure at first, but when they realize we're there for a good time join us in our energetic jumping and singing. Ahhhh. A much better spot. And now I can enjoy the show. :-)

Maybe it's because of all of the moving around and trying to find space, and get settled, but the first four songs, the four new ones, really fail to make an impression. I can remember actually being a bit disappointed by Magnificent...I'd been waiting to hear that one live and expected more of a punch...But the show really starts to pick up for me with "I Still Haven't Found" - hearing the crowd, 90,000 strong singing the lyrics? Goosebumps.

The Micheal Jackson snippets were expected, his death being so recent and on everyone's mind at the moment. It was nice to hear Bono touch on "Man in the Mirror" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". Sad to lose an entertainer, even if his life was often in controversy. Several of my friends had tickets to see him at the upcoming tour, and he was popping up in conversation a lot in Spain.

"In a Little While" was fun. Not my favorite but nice to hear it again. But when the band go live to the International Space Station after the song, I'm left with chills again. I'm a geek. Growing up I couldn't get enough of the space program, and followed the shuttle launches like crazy. I even made my own space shuttle out of wood with help from my grandfather. And seeing the six astronauts on the ISS holding up cards that said "The Future Needs a Big Kiss"? Well it just spoke to the geek in me. And made me realize just how big tonight's production was. It slowed down the concert a bit, but for me was an incredible highlight in the show, one that I'm always going to treasure.

"Unknown Caller" is a powerful song live, and the karaoke video to get people to sing along works. I think I'm going to really enjoy the song as the tour progresses. But it's hearing the opening to "The Unforgettable Fire" that leaves me with chills. I've wanted to hear that song live for 25 years now. The screens light up with beautiful colours, and separate to become a focal point for visuals. I watch the colours swirl, and hear the song climb under my skin. So beautiful. So happy to hear this. And it works for me on so many levels.

"City of Blinding Lights" gets us going. Dancing. Singing. Full of energy. "Vertigo" is just insane as the Spanish fans go nuts. And then it's time for "I'll Go Crazy" which is being performed live as it was remixed by Redanka. You can tell the crowd isn't sure what's going on. I've heard it in rehearsal, and I heard the remixes before. But I wasn't prepared to be so blown away. Singing faces zooming in and zooming out on the screen. All four members of U2 in different spots. Larry Mullen walking around the circle with his tom toms. Not knowing where to look. If "Unforgettable Fire" provided a beautiful moment of peace in the midst of a rock show, then "Crazy" is the chaos. I left that night sure that it had been the high point of the show for me.

As I heard the opening to "Walk On" I couldn't stay separated from our friends we'd left at the start of the show any longer. Karen and I have always made that our song, and there was no way I wasn't going to be beside her for it knowing we were in the same stadium. It was a bit of a fight to get back out but we managed, and we had a great time dancing to "Walk On". We used the break between that and Streets to get our little group all in one spot for the end of the show, and if we were filled with energy before, it only got worse putting us all back together. "Streets" was mad. Everyone around us seemed touched by insanity. The crowd went wild. As the lights came up you could see the entire stadium going mad. That song blows my mind every night. But for Barcelona 1 it just seemed to take on a whole new life.

"Ultra Violet" opened the encore. And it was very much the performance piece of the show. Smoke blowing everywhere. Bono coming on stage in a suit of lights. A microphone hanging from the ceiling on which he could hang and twirl around the stage on. I was unable to look away yet again. The sights and sounds melding together to make me forget there are 90,000 people around me. For a while, in my head, it's just me and the band.

"Moment of Surrender" left me cold. It's a quiet ending to a huge spectacle. It's a bit of a downer. I want something happy. Something uplifting. Something a little more poppy. Instead I feel dragged down. And I welcome hearing Elton John over the PA after to bring my mood back up somewhat.

I've seen a lot of U2 shows. I've seen three different tours now. And this first initial show had me saying it was going to be amazing. Seeing U2 on stage, seeing them having fun, seeing the story unfold. I knew right from the very first show that I was loving this tour. And was very happy I'd lots more to come...

slaneman

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #23 on: August 30, 2009, 06:06:48 PM »
Great story! Looking forward to more.

Z000

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #24 on: September 25, 2009, 06:44:54 PM »
Giants Stadium, Thursday 24 September.

I sat in the second-to-last row of Lower Level Section 130. That means I was to the left side (stage-right) and just barely more forward than the claw's legs. The last few rows of the Lower Level were under the shelter of the Mezzanine seating too. It was, I believe, better than my seats at Boston Garden when I last saw U2 in 2005 (which was also my first U2 concert). Still not close enough to take good pictures, but close enough that watching them on stage was more appealing than watching them on the screen, which was fortunate because the "ceiling" created by the Mezzanine actually cut off my view of the top of the claw, including some of the screen.

Muse opened. From the first note of their first song (Knights of Cydonia), I felt the rush I'd come to expect from Boston. You immediately recognize an awesome song, you feel like you're more a part of it than just listening to it at home, and yet you still want to be more a part of the performance. That was one of the two things about seeing the Vertigo tour that left me feeling like my life had been changed. The other was the way Bono infused the concert with all his philanthropy, from Miss Sarajevo's petitioning for humanity to Sunday Bloody Sunday's rallying cry.

They opened with Breathe. When I read they'd switched up the second Boston show to open with Magnificent (and removed Breathe altogether) I was practically praying they didn't do that when I went. Breathe is possibly my favorite track on No Line, and I never really got caught up in the excitement over Magnificent. I could recognize by the way Larry opened them up that they were doing Breathe, I was psyched, and yet when the guitars joined in and the song arrived I was underwhelmed. It didn't have the same power that City of Blinding Lights did back in 2005. Perhaps because "the claw" wasn't as visually diverse as the strings of lights back in Vertigo. Perhaps because acoustics in a stadium are different.

Next was Get On Your Boots, and I still felt unimpressed. It's a hard-rocking way to start the set, but I still felt uninspired. Had the power of Vertigo for me been mostly in the novelty of it? It was certainly the biggest band I'd seen in concert, and the biggest concert. Disappointment began to sink in.

Then it hit. Mysterious Ways had that same effect as Knights of Cydonia -- from the first note I was immersed in something awesome. I could feel it in the whole crowd, as though they'd been waiting for it to take off as much as I had. Maybe it's just that the new album doesn't stand up against the classics, these legendary songs that've become bigger than the band itself.

Beautiful Day was next, and it was awesome. They added a verse of The Beatles' Blackbird at the end, which worked well with the song. I remember them playing a few Beatles numbers in Boston in 2005, and Blackbird was among them then too. No Line On the Horizon kept the feeling going. I noticed here that it's tough to really engage yourself in singing along when the chorus takes the pitch and volume down a notch from the verses.

Magnificent. Like I said, never been a particularly big fan. I used at least half of this song as an opportunity to erase photos and video from my phone that didn't come out well so that I'd have enough free memory to take more. I really wanted to record Your Blue Room if they were going to play it, so I'd been taping at every transition so far in order to catch it from start to finish. They never did play it, which was disappointing but I got over it before the night was over.

I don't remember when, but it was probably before this point that Bono had included his first monologue, and I literally couldn't hear a single word of it. Stadium acoustics? Poorly set levels? Obnoxiously loud fans in my section? I don't know, but it bothered me. I wanted to hear what he had to say.

Elevation again had me in a lull. I go back and forth about whether I like the song. Unlike Mysterious Ways, which somehow never gets old, this one felt like "more of the same." I remember thinking, "Yeah, I've heard it a million times," which is ridiculous because that's true of their best songs and I don't get tired of them. I eventually got into it but was kind of waiting for the next number.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was good, and has always been one of their best in my opinion. I noticed between the first two verses that Bono had stopped holding the mic to his face, even stopped singing, but the crowd was carrying it amazingly. It's like when someone starts a prayer and slowly everyone else who knows it joins in -- we worship this song. (Later in the concert, Bono sang Amazing Grace and it had the same effect. I got all caught up in that even though I don't know the words to it). The audience even kept the last "But I still haven't found..." repeating long after Bono had stopped. It didn't die out completely until Bono started singing "Stand By Me" to Edge's fading guitar rhythm. That was a nice treat, and I wondered if choosing that one had to do with Playing for Change's performance of it in the first volume of (RED)Wire.

Unknown Caller was kind of a journey for me. I wasn't really interested at the start of it -- I knew they were probably going to play it and there it was. There's perhaps an irony in the way using metaphors to technology shows the band members' age(s). They definitely sound like guys in their 50s trying to sound hip because they're familiar with the new tech, but ultimately revealing a kind of elementary understanding of it. For the first time in this concert, I sat down. I didn't do that at all at Vertigo. I wondered again if the new songs were weak, if I'd expected too much from the experience. But then that state turned beautiful, because I read the words of the chorus scrolling across the screen while everyone else sang along, and the spiritual message hit me deeply. It was a very emotional moment, and it didn't even last the entire song, but it was powerful. In 2005 I had a much stronger moment like that at the height of Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, and a smaller one during One when they used the video collage effect to use thousands of smaller videos to make up a bigger image of Bono singing.

Until the End of the World was the "surprise" Achtung Baby number thrown into their second encore in 2005, and I found it less exciting this time when I knew it was a possibility because they'd been playing it at half the shows. I think it also suffered a little acoustically. My attention was snapped back when I had a strange feeling of deja vu when Bono started running laps at the end of it, even though I don't remember him doing that last time. I stood up again so I could watch him, and then he collapsed. Someone near me, who I figure had been there the night before, made a collapsing motion with their hand the same time he did.

Stay (Faraway, So Close!) is one of my all-time favorites, and even though I knew it had been played lately it took me by surprise as he started it from the floor where the last song had left him. This was one they didn't do at Vertigo, and I loved it. It was weird the way this concert would start to lose my interest and then immediately bring in a song that I went fanatic about.

This was one of my favorite songs of the night, despite the fact Bono seriously messed it up. I noticed from the start that he was singing the second verse first, and then the "And if you..." part was from the third verse. Trying to move on, he got a few words in before realizing this was the same verse he just sang, and he took an entire verse to figure out how to fix it. You could see in his face (on the screen -- I doubt many people could see the expression on his face even from the floor) that he was genuinely mixed up and thinking his way through it, and I couldn't help but laugh. I explained it to the girl next to me, who I'd made a little idle conversation with before the show since I was in attendance alone, and this revealed to her just how huge a fan I am. When the chance came around again, Bono started it off right, did the second verse at the right part, and carried it to the finish. I was surprised he didn't throw "New Jersey," "New York," or "Giants Stadium" into the list after "You can go anywhere." Instead he said, "London, Belfast..." and then threw the mic in the air for the crowd to finish the line. I don't know how he expected a stadium full of people to unanimously agree on a location-specific lyric in a slightly less known song. All he got was crowd noise.

The Unforgettable Fire was another that I knew was coming but was still awesome because I hadn't seen/heard it live before. This was also when the claw did its most exciting trick, breaking apart the screen and stretching it down to the stage. That was really cool. I think the whole show could've benefitted from more visual stuff like that, though maybe there was stuff happening at the top of the claw that I couldn't see. The girl next to me hadn't heard of the song before, or the album. I think I get a little personal joy in not only recognizing obscure references snuck into the show, but having someone there to explain it to. I don't typically like to show off anything, but maybe that's just because things like encyclopedic knowledge of U2 is rarely impressive. Bono did something weird with the words in this one, like he had a new version of all the "Stay..." parts. I couldn't hear what he was saying, only that it wasn't the original version. I don't think I've heard any live versions of the song before, so for all I know he's always done those parts differently.

That was the start of a steady period of really good songs. City of Blinding Lights was fantastic, especially (you can watch the video on U2.com) when Bono pulled a kid from the floor up onto one of the moving walkways and then ran a lap around the stage with him. That had to be the best moment of that kid's life. But even beyond that bit, it was a great song, definitely a highlight.

Vertigo was good too, playing the two back to back was smart, and almost as incredible as when they opened the Vertigo show with the same combination. At the end of the song, after the "Yeah yeah yeah yeah"s, he threw in a couple lines of It's Only Rock 'n' Roll by The Rolling Stones, and then more "Yeah yeah yeah yeah"s.

Against my expectations, the live "remix" of I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight was awesome. The original version sounds musically like leftovers from How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb to me, though the lyrics are more in line with the new album. It always sounded to me like it was made for the radio and the concerts, trying to cram a single down our throats. Then it sounded like a weird idea to do a remix version live, though I suppose it's hardly different from when they did the Perfecto Mix of Lemon in the Pop Mart shows, with the exception being they actually played and sung this one instead of broadcasting it while changing for the next act. But anyway, I really dug this. It was like going to a dance club, and not having to care that I wasn't dancing. I liked the way they used their faces, purple like on the single artwork, bopping and clapping on the screen. And it was clever that Bono interjected the "oo-oo-oo" chorus of The Rolling Stones' Miss You, they worked well with the remix's style.

Sunday Bloody Sunday never gets old. It stood out in this set, there wasn't really another song like it. I think it was during this one that he added the chorus from Rock the Casbah by The Clash.

Then MLK, which was one I didn't see in 2005. The girl next to me didn't know it, and asked me if I thought they'd play One. I said, "Yeah, it's later in the set," and, "They pretty much have to." Then again, I sort of thought Pride (In the Name of Love) was a song they pretty much have to play and I didn't realize until I was on my way home that they hadn't done that one.

Walk On, though new to my live experience, was another one that felt like nothing new. There was pretty much no pattern to this fickle boredom and elation. The Aung San Suu Kyi message is a good one, but one I'm incredibly familiar with already, so it wasn't like back in Vertigo when Bono went on extensive talks about aid opportunities worldwide as well as the progress being made there in Massachusetts. I wonder if this was him succumbing to people who wish he'd get off his pulpit already. Like I said before, that's one of the things about a U2 concert that make it life-changing for me.

When they had their little One Campaign promo video, I knew that was their lead-in to One. I was less struck by it this time than 2005. I was sitting down again at this point.

When it moved on to Where the Streets Have No Name, it felt cool, but I wasn't particularly excited. It's a great song, but I've heard it so many times. I figured this was a good opportunity to see what merchandise was left and bought a t-shirt that I later realized would've been cheaper online with my 25% off coupon from back when I subscribed. Financially, this whole venture was a bust, but that's another story.

Got back in time for the second encore, because I'd been waiting all night for Ultraviolet (Light My Way). It's a fantastic song and under-appreciated. Bono's lit-up jacket was cool, as was the suspended, lit-up microphone, though it seemed like Bono only had a couple ideas how to play with it. At least it was another worthwhile visual effect.

With or Without You was good. By now we were all a little tired, and I knew it was just this one and Moment of Surrender left, so I think it cheapened them a little bit.

Bono seemed to start Moment of Surrender a little out of key, but I guess that's understandable given the soft music and shouting vocals. It was alright as a closer, though really I wished they'd surprise us all and do "40" at the last minute.

It was four years in between my last U2 concert and this one. Between my come-and-go malaise, the long drive there and back, and the unforeseen expenditures on parking ($25), food and drink in the stadium (generally everything was $4.50 apiece), and both expected and unexpected tolls (totalling $11.75), I can definitely wait at least four years before doing it again. I'm so glad I didn't spring for the VIP package in Gillette Stadium in addition to this ticket. It hardly would've been worth the "exclusive" goodie bag, no matter what was in it.

slaneman

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #25 on: September 27, 2009, 02:04:30 AM »
Excellent Z000---thanks for writing all that. Tolstoy got nothing on you.  :)


Aaron

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #26 on: January 19, 2010, 10:41:42 PM »
i promise.  another review soon.  but till then - where's everyone going in 2010?  anyone have any plans?  :)

me? 

Anaheim California (x2), Denver Colorado, Edmonton Alberta, Miami Florida, East Lansing Michigan, Toronto Ontario, Montreal Quebec, East Rutherford New Jersey, Horsens Denmark (x2), Helsinki Finland (x2), Istanbul Turkey, Athens Greece, Paris France, Brussels Belgium (x2), Rome Italy.

That's where the planning is at the moment.  Moscow may bump out the Scandinavian shows yet...we'll see...

Carl

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Re: U2 on Tour: Where will you go?
« Reply #27 on: January 20, 2010, 02:03:51 PM »
Oakland and Seattle.

Kind of debating montreal (always wanted to check out the city/area) or LA (I can meet up with friends/family down there) but I don't really feel the need to do a bunch of shows per leg. :p