Here are some thoughts, first about the people around us. We sat next to a couple from St. Louis. She had 6 beers, he had 10. They missed parts of the concert because they were in the bathroom. They were quite amused to learn that I am a Baptist pastor. I don't think they expected to see a pastor at a U2 concert. Then there was the drunk guy on my other side who kept bumping into me while he was dancing. The only thing I minded about that was his sweaty flesh touching mine. Gross. Maybe I was most annoyed with the two guys behind us who talked through large chucks of the concert. And it was not always about U2. And ... someone in our section was smoking. So, the people were interesting.
The show was amazing. The light show was awesome. The band started by walking around the ellipses with big spotlights, shining on the crowd. It's about "you too." The stage had really cool lights built in and large light screens would descend at various points in the concert. It was well done. A side note - lighters have been replaced by cell phones as the crowd illuminaries of choice for concerts.
The music was fantastic. They are all wonderful performers. It was a nice mix of old and new stuff, as I expected from playlists I had read. There was way more music and way less talking. Even when Bono did talk, however, he was tough to understand. The common U2 themes of peace, love, and God were prevalent throughout, and it was all well done.
The first encore was great, with songs from Auchtung Baby. The second encore was even better - It's All Because of You, Yahweh, and 40. During 40, the band left one by one, leaving just Larry on the drums to end the show. But even after they left, the crowd kept singing "How long must we sing this song?" Wonderful. There is something amazing and powerful to stop and consider that in a few short hours, U2 got an arena full of mostly drunk pagans to sing and contemplate a Bible verse in an emotionally uplifting and intellectually engaging way. (How often does that happen in church?) It was worshipful.
Here's a picture from U2.com of Bono's final act of the show - putting a rosary from Pope John Paul on the mic and shining the spotlight toward heaven - God is in the audience as well.
2 comments:
Absolutely fantastic show. We had far less annoying people around us, although Jaye T. did have a close stander next to her. I had an aisle seat so it was a great view to the stage.
I was very happy with the seats from the perspective of seeing the stage and lighting from above. I think people on the floor missed some of the impact of these theatrics. However, I would have liked being a little closer so as to see the actual band members better.
Overall, simply a wonderful night. Hard Rock cafe for dinner was the perfect place to eat, but we could have probably taken more time. We would have had a harder time getting to the UC and finding parking if we had taken longer to eat. But, no sense second guessing, it all worked out fine even if we did have to sit through the Kings of Leon, who shouldn't be the kings of anything since they suck.
I am soooo looking forward til my turn - Oslo July 27th! I just love how U2 share the love of God so gracefully! God bless those guys! :o)
Reidun Carol, Norway
Ps. Where do you get the playlists from the concerts? I only have the one from the opening concert in CA. - since it was printed in our newspaper over here.
(I need to be totally prepared for the concert! LOL)
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