The scene was pretty bleak, lots of middle aged moms and families and middle age dudes with docker shorts pulled too high. Then this realization:
$8.00 Bud Lights?!! Ouch. It was like a Giants game. I tried to start the wave. We got our seats and this band "Muse" was playing. Supposedly the #1 band in like 25 countries or something. I never heard of them:
We went rogue and moved up to seats pretty much as close as you can get other than general admission. Me and my man J-Dub:
The stage was like a crazy alien Transformer robot like 120 feet tall, it was bananas. Here is an attempt to get a picture:
So between the $8.00 beers and the Suburban housemom crowd vibe going, it was pretty wack. But when U2 came out it was pretty good. The thing that really struck me is that these dudes are A BAND that has played together for years... this was not the Madonna "Spiritualized" Tour or Brittany Spears or some shit where everything is choreographed dancers and lip syncing. For all the spectacle these guys are playing real music at the heart of it.
The spectacle was intense though. Here is a pretty good picture about how bugged out it got. If you click it big you can see the bassist (?) at the bottom to give you some perspective on size. It was crazy.
Bono can be a bit heavy handed at times - there was a giantic 50 foot head of Reverend Tutu talking about Africa, and a whole montage about president of Burma at times - but he is a bad ass and a really amazing singer. Heart felt.
And that concludes my U2 blog post. OUT
dc
4 comments:
i'm with on U2 show. a few years ago marleen bought tickets for her boss, but then her boss got better seats, so we went instead. i haven't listened to a U2 album since the nineties, and i hadn't gone to an arena rock show (besides the pixies reunion, but that's not really the same kind of thing) for a long while, so we went.
it was a pretty good show, and i was blown away by the "spectacle" of it. they had a million of these ropes hanging from the ceiling with balls on them, kind of like the chains you use to pull the light on in the bathroom (or wherever), but way bigger. each ball acted as a pixel, and together they effectively became a giant wavy video screen. it was crazy. i had forgotten how much these mega-bands spend on their road shows. i saw the rolling stones on their steel wheels tour in 1989. that was my first mega show, and this was way more intense.
anyway, i could have done without bono telling me to text for world peace or some shit, but they sounded good, they played many songs that i wanted to hear, and it was visually stimulating. i wouldn't buy tickets on my own, but if a chum asked me to accompany him, i would certainly do it again.
as a side note, how do you guys feel about the edge? i dig him. i think he has a distinct style, and he uses effects well. i know a lot of people who hate him, and even go as far as saying that he sucks.
I feel the Edge, he has his own distinctive style and he has been writing certified hits for 25 years. Did anyone see "This Might Get Loud"?
I forgot that Bono turned a coda to a song into a soft mellow version of "Don't Stop To You Get Enough" as an homage to MJ, and he dedicated it to Quincey Jones who was there, apparently, and then someone released doves into the air. That was the gayest part of the night.
The President of Burma?? Hahaha, DC your knowledge of Asia is only trumped by your mastery of esoteric records from bygone eras. You must mean Aung San Suu Kyi, the imnprisoned dissident leader and enemy of the Burmese Junta. Anyway, I'm messing with you. I'm kind of on the fence about how much Bono uses his platfom to talk about global issues. On the one hand, he really has definitely done some good shining a light on important issues and its admirable that he devotes himself to worthy causes. On the other hand, you sometimes want him to shut up and just play the hits and some feel (not sure if I do) that his whole philanthrophy thing is just self-serving (anyone seen that episode of South Park with Bono and the world's biggest turd?).
I'm feeling you on the band thing, and the stadium thing too, not my venue of choice these days, but when I rarely do something like that it takes me back.
In terms of the Edge, sure, I like him, but I saw this comedian who was making fun of him and actually playing the guitar and showed how his use of effects, which may be distinct, but it masks a really simnplistic style (not that that is definitely bad).
was that a U2 show, or a Survival Research Labs stunt?! those set pieces look zany
i think the edge is alright. hes def hot his own "style" down, even if he relies on the same type of shit too much. I dont like U2 that much but I definitely respect them as a band. And they dont make many classic rock'n'roll frontmen like Bono anymore
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