U2

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Pandemonium
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Re: U2

#26 Post by Pandemonium » Wed May 27, 2015 10:32 am

I caught night 1 at the LA Forum last night from the floor.

For a typical U2 opening night of a big multi-date stand, tonight had a few decent surprises. Usually they concentrate on just pulling off a standard set and getting through opening night jitters but they took a few minor chances this night with the set.

The first four songs of the show really pack a punch together and was the best part of the night for me. I was very happy to get an excellent version of Electric Co in the rotating 2nd song slot and even "I Will Follow" didn't sound like the burned out tune it's become the last few tours. I also MUCH prefer the live arrangements for all the SOI tunes over the album versions. I was not expecting "California" at the beginning of the acoustic set but when I saw Edge strap on a Fender Telecaster after Mysterious Ways, I knew it wasn't going to be Desire, AOH or WLCTT. Probably one of the highlights was the "Hollywood U2" coverband singer who looked like ZooTV era Bono getting pulled onstage for Sweetest Thing and basically first trading verses with Bono and then singing the last 3rd solo with Bono on piano - that was a lot of fun to see. I'm sure their next few months worth of club shows will had a big bump in attendance.

Moving around in GA on the floor is a piece of cake if you don't want to sit squashed against the rail all night on either side of the ramp or directly in front of the main stage. Honestly, the best place to see the show is at half court right behind the Red Zone barrier on either side of the floor to get the full effect of the production yet still be close enough to the band. I found Adam's side a bit looser and easier to move from close to the B Stage and back vs the Edge side, mostly due to the fact there is a VIP area on Edge's side at half court that holds maybe 40 people on a riser that takes up a bit of floor space.

As for the sound.... it is fucking LOUD. The quality varied depending on where I stood, the back around the B Stage is a little muddier and a bit boomy but pretty much anywhere on the floor the high end just cuts into your hearing like nobody's business and when you're dead center on the floor, it becomes fatiguing by the last 3rd of the show. I've seen everyone from Van Halen, AC/DC to Motorhead and Ministry going back to the late 70's and I can say this was one of the louder arena shows in recent memory. I will definitely bring earplugs on Night 4 this weekend.

Regarding the pacing of the set, etc... some things work, some major things don't and it's surprising the band hasn't addressed those issues yet. The first four opening songs work great and really had the audience locked in. The three SOI tunes in a row however seemed to quickly lose the audience and even Bono caught it, mentioning something like "there's two more new ones" after Iris. The current arrangement of Sunday Bloody Sunday sucks. It appeared that the band kind of made it a bit more "electric" compared to the first few performances but Larry banging on a single drum while the rest of the band play it fairly straightforward (if at a slower pace) just doesn't cut it compared to ANY version on past tours (even Edge's solo take on the few Popmart shows in '97). The 5 minute break with the Wanderer/Johnny Cash video is actually a bit welcome in the middle of the show although I could tell a fair number of people were a bit baffled if it was a real bathroom/beer break or merely another extended intro to another song. As for the big video screen/catwalk that is suspended over the long ramp between the two stages that Bono and the band can walk inside and "become" part of the video playing on it basically dissecting the arena floor, I don't think the band quite have grasped how to effectively use it in most songs, the only two it's really effectively utilized is during the three song SOI set w/Iris, Cederwood Road, Song For Someone and especially Until The End Of The World. During "Invisible," members of the band have to turn one way or the other leaving their backs to half the arena at any given time.

Invisible, a song I originally loathed comes off a lot better live and overall despite some strange and clunky transitions between some songs, the second half of the show is much more entertaining and cohesive.

Although there is virtually no long, epic buildup to Streets this tour and it's prefaced by Bono plugging Red.org AIDS cause and a short version of Paul Simon's "Mother And Child Reunion," the song is still magnificent live. It just needs to be sandwiched between something better than City Of Blinding Lights and One and a whole lotta speechin n' Paul Simon dribble.

Lastly, the Forum audience... this was really an obvious example of how a band and it's audience can either push each other to epicness or merely ebb and flow to an uninspired conclusion. Honestly, I put most of the blame on the lackluster crowd. I've seen some truly amazing, loud U2 crowds in LA, Joshua Tree shows and post 9/11 Elevation shows were incredible audiences. Not so, tonight. Maybe everyone's preoccupation with their cell phones is the culprit.

Sadly as a postscript to the show, it appears long time tour manager Dennis Sheehan died overnight in his hotel room which will likely be a tremendous blow to the band.

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Artemis
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Re: U2

#27 Post by Artemis » Wed May 27, 2015 11:53 am

Thanks for the great review, Panda! :thumb:

I'n thinking I might catch one of the shows here in July. Last time I saw U2 was the Pop Mart in 1997, I think.

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Larry B.
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Re: U2

#28 Post by Larry B. » Wed May 27, 2015 2:32 pm

If me and my girlfriend go to the UK later this year, we'll try to catch U2 in London.

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Matz
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Re: U2

#29 Post by Matz » Wed May 27, 2015 4:34 pm

I thought everything sold out in a second, but cool if I'm wrong and you two get to go.....

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Artemis
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Re: U2

#30 Post by Artemis » Wed May 27, 2015 4:40 pm

Matz wrote:I thought everything sold out in a second, but cool if I'm wrong and you two get to go.....
Right now both dates in Toronto are sold out, but sometimes tickets become available. I will keep checking.

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Pandemonium
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Re: U2

#31 Post by Pandemonium » Wed May 27, 2015 6:06 pm

Artemis wrote:
Matz wrote:I thought everything sold out in a second, but cool if I'm wrong and you two get to go.....
Right now both dates in Toronto are sold out, but sometimes tickets become available. I will keep checking.
So far for all the US shows, decent ticket drops have been happening the day of each show. For tonights' show, GA floors dropped around 4:30 this afternoon and there's still a few dozen of the very best reserved seats available that used to be $800 - $1500+ VIP packages that are being sold for a mere $300.

BTW, there's a pretty cool phenomenon going on with hardcore fans of this tour. A lot of people are using an app for their cell phones called Periscope which allows people to watch whatever video feed live from the person's cell phone and feeds often drop out. You can find users doing feeds on Twitter, using typical hash tags like U2live, etc. The audio/video quality is often kinda funky but each show has averaged about 6 - 10+ feeds so you can bounce around to different views within the arena and once in a while someone has a really great spot and good smartphone camera.

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Re: U2

#32 Post by creep » Wed May 27, 2015 6:33 pm

Artemis wrote:Thanks for the great review, Panda! :thumb:

I'n thinking I might catch one of the shows here in July. Last time I saw U2 was the Pop Mart in 1997, I think.
the only time i saw u2 was in 1985. i have a picture of my friends in line smoking cloves.


Image

i think i only went to 1 u2 show. can these pics that i took be from the same show??? did he change outfits?

Image

Image

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Pandemonium
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Re: U2

#33 Post by Pandemonium » Wed May 27, 2015 8:27 pm

Pandemonium wrote:BTW, there's a pretty cool phenomenon going on with hardcore fans of this tour. A lot of people are using an app for their cell phones called Periscope which allows people to watch whatever video feed live from the person's cell phone and feeds often drop out. You can find users doing feeds on Twitter, using typical hash tags like U2live, etc. The audio/video quality is often kinda funky but each show has averaged about 6 - 10+ feeds so you can bounce around to different views within the arena and once in a while someone has a really great spot and good smartphone camera.
Wow, I don't know how that paragraph got so munged up.

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Re: U2

#34 Post by Pandemonium » Thu May 28, 2015 10:30 pm

U2 played a free club show at the Roxy in Hollywood tonight to make up for the KROQ Christmas show they missed last Dec due to Bono's faceplant. It was a very different set compared to what they've been playing so far this tour and even though it was a relatively Jane's sized 12 songs, it sure sounded on a great quality live stream like it was by a long stretch the best show they've played so far this tour. No songs from their two best selling albums (Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby). Near the end of the show, Bono even jumped off the stage and crowed surfed.

The Ocean (tour debut)
11 O'Clock Tick Tock (tour debut)
I Will Follow
The Electric Co
Beautiful Day
Elevation (tour debut)
Stuck In A Moment (tour debut)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (electric version)
Out Of Control
*encore*
Vertigo
Song For Someone
California

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Pandemonium
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Re: U2

#35 Post by Pandemonium » Fri May 29, 2015 6:16 pm

From last night's Roxy show:


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Larry B.
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Re: U2

#36 Post by Larry B. » Sat May 30, 2015 6:05 am

Jane's play all their songs toned down, U2 plays them slowed down.

Nitpicking aside, good to see The Electric Co. One of my favorite songs.

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Tyler Durden
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Re: U2

#37 Post by Tyler Durden » Sat May 30, 2015 8:40 am

I've watched plenty of YouTube videos from this tour, including The Roxy show. Awesome.

"Electric Co." definitely has one of The Edge's best guitar solos, imo.

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Re: U2

#38 Post by Pandemonium » Tue Jun 02, 2015 11:14 am

I caught my second show of the LA stand on Sunday. It wasn't necessarily better than the first night, just slightly different, and not just because of the few different songs between the two nights. Although I was a bit bummed I was getting Electric Co both shows I was seeing this leg of the tour (that's why I chose odd/even shows!) l was otherwise cool with the few song changes between night 1 and night 4.

Performance-wise, the band was a bit more "on" the first show than LA#4 although Bono's voice was a bit stronger this show. The death of their tour manager last week seems to have a strong effect on the band and Bono in particular. A little tense the first half of the show but things did seem to change for the better once Bono pulled a girl onstage during Mysterious Ways during the second half of the show.

I thought the crowd was much more into the show most of the night vs LA#1, although people started leaving in droves even before Streets was done. I pretty much moved wherever I wanted on the floor. Spent the 1st set on The Edge's side, moved to the E Stage 'til Bullet, moved to Adam's side for the next few songs and moved back over near my original spot for AIWIY and the rest of the show.

Generally, I thought both shows I caught this tour have been good but not great. "Great" was the opening month's worth of shows on the Vertigo tour in '05 or the 5 show run they did in LA for the first leg of the 1987 Joshua Tree tour (the 5th and final show of that stand is my all-time favorite U2 show). The set just needs some real work (rearranging and a few different songs) to flow better and the horrible version of SBS they're playing needs to go. Here's some video I shot of several songs through the show, forgive the shaky blur-o-cam....









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Re: U2

#39 Post by Larry B. » Tue Jun 02, 2015 2:24 pm

That rendition of 40 was beautiful! I was expecting far less. The bass sounds great.

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Re: U2

#40 Post by Artemis » Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:40 am

Bono mentiones Perry Farrell at the end of the vid.

U2 invited a cover/tribute band to perform Desire. This is from the Toronto show on July 6



Part of the review from National Post:

" Bono, no stranger to pulling people up on stage, brought all of Toronto U2 cover band Acrobat on stage and let them perform Desire with minimal assistance. Acrobat was a little too cool with what was happening for it to be completely spontaneous (edit: a Twitter user who seems to know them suggests it was). But that didn’t take away from what an amazing feat it was for a bunch of bar band guys to come up and knock it out of the park. Nor watching genuine amusement on the faces of The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. as they slunk into the background. And it was certainly a delight for Bono, afterwards, to compare the singer to Perry Farrell, but also to forget who Perry Farrell was. (The Edge refreshed his memory.) I’ll never see anything like that again. "


Setlist (via setlist.fm):

The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
Out of Control
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Iris (Hold Me Close)
Cedarwood Road
Song for Someone
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Raised by Wolves
Until the End of the World
The Wanderer
Invisible
Even Better Than the Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
Elevation
Desire
Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
Every Breaking Wave
Bullet the Blue Sky
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Beautiful Day
Bad
With or Without You

Encore:
City of Blinding Lights
Where the Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Stand by Me

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Tyler Durden
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Re: U2

#41 Post by Tyler Durden » Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:45 am

Bono: "Hey Edge, who's the guy...?"

:lol:

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Re: U2

#42 Post by Artemis » Wed Jul 08, 2015 11:02 am

:lol:


I rewatched that bit three times in a row and laughed each time.

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Re: U2

#43 Post by Matz » Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:00 pm

:lol: pretty cool moment for Perry....he really needs something like that if he's stopped by this site

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Re: U2

#44 Post by Tyler Durden » Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:14 pm


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Pandemonium
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Re: U2

#45 Post by Pandemonium » Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:18 pm

Artemis wrote:

Part of the review from National Post:

" And it was certainly a delight for Bono, afterwards, to compare the singer to Perry Farrell, but also to forget who Perry Farrell was. (The Edge refreshed his memory.) I’ll never see anything like that again. "
Too funny. "He's one of our favorites" .... LOL!

BTW, that's was a great version of Desire even though they banged it out on acoustic guitar(s). More energy than U2 themselves puts into the song.

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Re: U2

#46 Post by Artemis » Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:33 pm

The Tuesday night show they invited "Stephanie" up on stage to play. Bono misread her sign and thought she wanted to dance on stage with them. :lol:

A friend of mine who was at this show said this one of the highlights of the concert.

Lucky girl, got to do 2 songs! :cool: :rockon:


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Re: U2

#47 Post by Pandemonium » Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:28 pm

They finally brought back Two Hearts Beat As One" after 3 decades (they stopped playing it in '85 and only played it once in '89):



Last night's show, Lady Gaga guested for a song:


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Re: U2

#48 Post by Pandemonium » Fri Jul 31, 2015 9:03 am

Edge and Adam guested with a U2 cover band yesterday.


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Re: U2

#49 Post by Artemis » Sat Oct 17, 2015 6:04 am

Looks like Javier Bardem had a few too many cocktails. :lol:


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Re: U2

#50 Post by Larry B. » Sat Oct 17, 2015 12:03 pm

Pandemonium wrote:Edge and Adam guested with a U2 cover band yesterday.

That's so fucking cool.

We'll be going to Glasgow for the show on Nov 7. It'll be my wife's first U2 show, and probably our last. Should be great, despite the setlist.

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