14th September Toronto - Air Canada Centre

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Toronto 2 review. Mod, please move to right folder?

All right folks, time I gave back to the forum.

Just got back from the show to an empty house and I'm still buzzed up, so I'll post my review for the nighthawks.

I quickly scanned the setlist party but had to get out of there. Too much complaining. It's real easy to sit at home and complain about a set list, but when you are at a show, it's a whole differrent experience.

First. The GA Line.

I got there after 5pm and it wasn't even to the end of the ACC on Bay street. The security guy said that on Monday's show it was twice the length by that time. So goodie for me!

Nobody I was with got scanned into the centre, but I ended up about 5 people deep right at the tip of the egg. A nice place to be!

Second. Dashboard Confessional.

Tortured soul lyrics with a pop-punk arrangment. Good for a couple of songs. OK for a couple of more. Grating by the end of the set. I'm sure the younger folk will like it, but this old fool doesn't buy it. It seems fake. I wanted to take the lead singer aside and say "Buck up little cowboy, things aren't so bad". He spent all his time trying to pick up girls from the stage. I'm sure he uses his "sensitive" lyrics to get laid. Anyways. OK for an opening band I guess.

Now... U2.

Only my second U2 show ever and I think it was much better than the Elevation tour. The dropdown LEDs give an epic feel to a lot of songs. I thought the band was smoking tonight and Bono was in great voice.

Weenies sitting at home can bitch all they want about the setlist, I thought it rocked in person. Great opening to the show, then they got most of the newer stuff out of the way. Then that flowed into the "political" part of the show which led to a great grand finale. Maybe they didn't play as many songs as other shows, but it didn't feel like we were ripped off at all.

The crowd was really, really into it all night long. This was one of the more enthused audiences I've seen in Toronto. From the GA area right in front of the egg, all was peaceful, with no pushing and shoving, everyone was singing along and bouncing around as one.

I'll make a note about the end of the show. Bono at one point walked around the egg looking for "the girl who dressed up" but he didn't find her, so he gave up. He was going to dance with her on another song.

Finally, he did find her, and during Bad he brought her up on stage. Now, this girl was awesome! She didn't lose it when she was pulled up, she belly danced for Bono about half way around the egg then he hugged her and slow danced for a bit.

Now at this point, Bad is turning into epic length. But it's not over yet. Bono goes backstage for a sec and pulls out Daniel Lanois. He grabs a guitar and starts jamming. He's really good! He could fill in for the Edge on a few songs. Then things start to meld into 40. Bad was probably 12 minutes anyways. A great ending to the show.

Anyways. To conclude. If you were there, I'm pretty sure you will feel like it was a great show. If you weren't there, you should't really complain.

Hola!
 
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The girl who dressed up was ME!!!!! :D :dancing:


Thank you so much for the compliment!!!! I will post more on this soon when I can get my jumbled thoughts together....
 
Mrs. Edge! Congratulations!

I meant what I said. Everytime I see a rock star pull a fan on stage they go nuts and start crying and grabbing and whatnot. You integrated yourself into the show. Great stuff!

I was hoping they were going to improvise into mysterious ways but it wasn't to be....

What a night for you!
 
Ditto the first poster who said it was amazing. This was my third time seeing them live. I was one of the lucky ones who got into the cirlce and I was beyond excited. I think the set list was great...yes Mysterious Ways with that lucky lucky lucky (can you tell I am jealous!) girl would have been super awesome, but still very cool.

Note to anyone who takes a child that is not too tall, they seem to let anyone with a kid go into the circle. There were about three or four 10 yr olds in there with us and I talked to one of the Dad's and he said they did not even scan his ticket on the computer, just sent them through to the circle, so BRING A KID!

ALso....I dont' know how everyone else faired at the t-shirt booths, but we waited to buy ours till after the show...kinda dissapointing, they seemed to be selling out(is that even possible with two more nights..?) of some of them and the lines were brutal. I wish I had known that they were running low, I would have bought one before teh show.

This will do down as one of the coolest moments for me. I hope everyone had as much fun too !
 
I saw U2 in Toronto at Exhibition Stadium (60,000) for their Joshua Tree tour with my first wife Nancy. We were roughly 8.5 miles away from the stage. Watching insects perform on stage wasn't too much fun.

Last night my wife and I were just outside the inner circle ramp, so we could see the stage perfectly. Also, during their performance Bono would use the ramp quite a lot and so at various times he was basically standing right in front of us. At other times the other members of U2 (Micky, Peter and Davy) were also right up close.

We didn't bring a digital camera, as on the tickets it states NO CAMERAS but every other person was taking pictures...so that was a big mistake.

Opening act Dashboard Confessionals were very good but after a couple of songs all their songs sounded the same and it's your typical "hurting so bad" drivel.

On to U2.............

Here is what they played last night:

Vertigo
Electric Co.
Elevation
Beautiful Day
Still Haven’t Found
City of Blinding Lights
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
Love and Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Miss Sarajevo
Pride
Where the Streets have no name
One

The Fly
With or Without You

All Because of You
Yahweh
Bad

They were unbelievable. Bono was standing right in front of us while singing "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" and there is a point where he goes for this note "here me when I SING.............." and he more than nailed it.....it was ten times better than the studio version (which is great to begin with)

It was hotter than hell at the Air Canada Centre (no air conditioning) and I noticed Adam wiping away the sweat during the very first song.

The crowd was REALLY into it. My wife loved the concert too.

U2 have soul.
 
I had a feeling that by coming to Interference today I would read all sorts of negative comments about last night's show and the set-list especially... :rolleyes: The amount of bitching by people not at the show has reached a total frenzy on this site, and it is very unfortunate IMO.

Anyways, here is my opinion of the show, as well as some little details because I know all you hard-cores like details;) I had GA but didn't beep, and I was a few people deep to the right of center outside the ellipse.

This was my 17th U2 show, and my 6th from the Vertigo tour. I would say that the show was very good, but not great by U2 standards. I would probably rank it 5th or 6th out of the 6 Vertigo shows I saw. STILL, it was a good show and I enjoyed myself completely from start to finish.

1. Vertigo: good as always, although I prefer COBL as a opener. Also different from the first leg is that the lights are turned off DURING Wake Up, and there was no "Everyone". Then the band comes on stage, waves and then jumps into Vertigo right at the end of Wake Up.
2. The Electric Co.: awesome as always. No "I can see for miles" snippet, Bono sang something like "See me, Hear me, Touch me" instead and it was great.
3. Elevation
4. Beautiful Day: a pretty long snippet that I didn't recognize at the end ( I don't know if it's new, haven't heard any bootlegs since the first leg). Anyways it was very nice.
5. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For: I was really happy to hear that song, I absolutely love it and it's the best sing-along of the night. I teared up because it means so much to me ...
6. City Of Blinding Lights: better as an opening song than in that spot.
7. Miracle Drug: much better than during the first leg. Bono did not dedicate it to nurses and doctors, instead he told a funny (but strange) story about Edge coming from the future and a different planet and coming out of a spaceship in Dublin...
8. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own: beautiful as always. Bono was right in front of me during the "SIIIIING) part, and he held the note FOREVER.
9. Love And Peace Or Else: regular lyrics, no reference to Americans.
10. Sunday Bloody Sunday: Bono changed some of the lyrics but I couldn't make out what he was singing
11. Bullet The Blue Sky: I'm realy tired of hearing that song live must say. I can't believe they've been playing it live for so long. During the part where Bono is blinf-folded, he could not find his microphone for real! A roadie had to come and bring him to his microphone:giggle: It was funny but kind of killed the moment.
12. Miss Sarajevo: Gorgeous. I never thought I would get to hear that song live one day, and it was so beautiful, especially with the piano and Bono singing the opera part.
13. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
14. Where The Streets Have No Name: awesome, best version I have heard of it in a long time.
15. One/Old Man River: great as always, Bono did the "Hear me coming Lord" part at the end instead of the "oh ohs" of the first leg. Then him and Edge did a part of Old Man River, and it was STUNNING. Absolutely mind-blowing vocals by Bono IMO. It'd be worth it to get the bootleg of that show just for that.
16. The Fly
17. With Or Without You: at the end of the song, Bono (who was on the main stage) said "Where is the girl who dressed up" (Mrs. Edge!) and ran to the front of the ellipse looking for her. Strangely though, although I think he saw her (he said "You look so pretty, sorry we didn't play your song", he did not bring her onstage and just finished the song there. It was a bit awkward because at this point everyone was expecting him to bring a girl on stage and it was weird when he didn't.
18. All Because Of You: before the "I like the sound of my own voice"verse, Bono had to cough and get some water, and nearly fucked up the song because of it. Bono looked at Edge like" Look at me! I'm not ready to sing yet!"
19. Yahweh: whole band at the tip in of the ellipse. Larry and Adam were right in front of me, and at the end of the song Larry looked down and winked to someone in the front row, which was really awesome because he had this look on his face saying "Listen guys, I know I always look serious and like I don't give a shit, but really you mean a lot to me." Then Adam took some time to look at the crowd and even gave his pick to someone ! It was so awesome...
20. Bad / 40: I heard someone saying this was a crap version but I TOTALLY disagree. In fact, this might have been the best version I've ever heard live, and a killer way to end the show. Bono went back to look for the girl who dressed up, saying "Where is my
belly-dancing friend" and then "It's not really the right song but we can try" Then she went on stage (Yay Mrs. Edge!) and danced a bit for him. It was not the best song to belly-dance
to, I would have loved for them to play Mysterious Ways and see what she could do, but she was great anyways and it was really cool of Bono to bring her on stage. Towards the end of the song, Bono went to get Daniel Lanois from backstage and gave him a guitar! I was so excited, I love him so much, and I hoped they were going to play another full song with him. But it looked very unprepared and Lanois just sort of improvised some guitar while Bono was ending Bad. He did a snippet of "The Maker" (awesome song from Daniel Lanois), and then ended up with the "40" chant.

All in all like I said, it was not a killer show but nowhere near as bad as some people have suggested. I thought the end was umbelievable and really intense.

About Bono's voice: although it sounded a bit rusty at the beginning (often does), it became stronger and stronger, especially in the high notes. He sang Pride and Bad like it was the
1980s... Loud, clear, unrestrained.

Generally speaking, Bono was not really tight, forgetting a lot of lyrics, and his speeches between songs were often going nowhere. I felt that he was not 100% back in the groove yet, and that he didn't seem confident about what to say or do on several occasions. But nothing to worry about, just maybe not his best day.He looked like he was in a good mood, just maybe a bit insecure.

And although the show was short (20 songs), it did not feel this way. I only knew it was shorter than usual because I know the set-lists. I feel that they might have been planning to add new songs (like Discotheque) but in the end decided not to do it.

Anyways, I had an awesome time, and everyone around me looked like they had too. I can't wait for Friday and Saturday!:hyper:
 
Great reviews everyone! Sounds like it was an awesome show. Congrats to Mrs.Edge, too. What a great memory to carry with you in the future!
 
I'm glad to read a good review--I was getting kind of worried. Bono, Edge, Larry, Adam--please hang in there for us in Atlanta! I'm counting the days.
 
Mrs. Edge. Right after the show my Girlfriend looked at me and stated she was very jealous of you... however, here is the question...

"Where the fook were you during With Or Without You?"
 
ok here is something you guys would have not seen, at Yahweh, (i hope i have the right song) anyway larry and adam were on the elipse where I was taking pics. larry was on this tiny piano and was looking quite stiff and uncomfortable (or so i thought) then he turns and looks at the audience and winks at us. (awesome). after the song is over he winks again and heads back. Adam on the other hand is like one total party animal, he gave the guy with an Ireland flag in front of me a pick. And he was smiling at the girls. all in all an awesome show. about 2 songs shorter than normal but i still loved it.


Congrats mrs. edge. Bono was looking for you during with or with out you. he was on our side looking into the audience asking where is the girl who is all dressed up. he said that twice then he walked to your side but i guess he must have missed you. then he came back and went back to the stage

the edge is a master to watch on the guitar not the technique but the tones programmed.

i need to go for one more concert to study him.

did anyone see the roadie use a measuring tape to measure the hieght of the lead singers mike. :) first time i saw that.

i think the heat at the ACC got to the band as i saw both bono and larry drink water a lot.

did the ac's fail.

on yeah and i met an awesome u2 fan who sourced my ticket. thanks for that ;)

can the lady who i met who went for 70 shows please get back in touch with me. :)

i still am on a cloud.
 
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some of the interesting lighting effects.

1 - Beautiful day - And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out - at this point the light changes and the entire audience is washed in rainbow colours.

2 - vertigo - the led lights have the album colours.

3 - with or without you - the lamps start rotating like mirror balls and cast a very romatic atmospehere on the whole audience.

4 - after miss saraevjo - the bill of human rights is flashed across on the big screen.

5 - bullet - the lights come down during edge's solo and a fighter plane is flying as edge plays the solo. i did miss the light the bono holds when he does slapping down the dollar bills, but guess what he did not do slapping down the dollar bills at all.

6 - i forget which song had all the flags in rotation my mind is still foggy.
 
One review on U2tours commented that New Year's Day was played last night and that the crowd really got into it at this point. First time I have seen that NYD may have been played...any confirmation?
 
Hey kathy h that was me with my 10 year old son.

All I can say is that everyone helped make this a great night for my son & I. I will post a complete review in a few days when we come back from planet Edge.
 
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This was my very first U2 show and I have to say that it was the best concert that I have ever been to! Even though I've only been a fan since the ATYCLB era, I have since bought every U2 album and know all their songs, so it was great to hear classics such as Electric Co. (wich rocked the house...it's obvious Edge really likes this song...its also one of my favs). The major highlights for me were Beautiful Day, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Amazing!), City Of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug (Bono seemed really moved after this performance), The Political sequence, Streets, Bad.....man the whole concert was amazing! When they started to play Streets the spirit was definetly in the house! Bad was extra special for me. I was dissapointed that we didnt get I Will Follow or Out Of Control...but once I heard the beginning of Bad I soon forgave the band for ommitting the two boy tunes.


Bottom line, this was an amazing show and a very spiritual experience...U2 is without a doubt the best band on the planet!
 
gmplace0401 said:
One review on U2tours commented that New Year's Day was played last night and that the crowd really got into it at this point. First time I have seen that NYD may have been played...any confirmation?
Click to expand...

Not true
 
If I compare this concert to any other show I've seen this summer in Toronto (Coldplay, Live8, ...), it tops them all, but when I compare it to previous U2 experiences on Elevation and PopMart, the experience left me somewhat muted, craving something more, as if I had been denied that spine-tingling sensation I used to feel. Part of the problem, I think, was the mediocrity of Elevation. I felt like the crowd was carrying the vocals half the time instead of Bono, and at times felt sympathy for him, hoping he would make those high notes. Maybe it's just me, but the songs seemed to flow together more harmoniously on the Elevation tour. Wednesday night, it just seemed a littled disjointed. I think a rockstar can achieve a wonderful effect with a subtle mid-concert moment about human rights, but when that message is repeated, particularly with a video infomercial, the bliss starts to wane ... the whole 'believe in people, not ideas' seemed almost casual rather than raw ... and for a band that has shaped the mentalities of a generation, founded in that punk energy, something just seemed to be lacking. I'll be seeing them in Buffalo, so hopefully it only gets better! They're still my fav band ... I just feel a bit let down from the expectations of all these years since the last tour. In summary, the concert felt more like a sing-a-long than the tight, professional, shock-the-senses-with-beautiful-sounds experience I had hoped for ... highlights were I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for, Bad, the dancer (wow!) and seeing Daniel Lanois (awesome!).
 
In another thread, angelordevil mentioned that Bono talked about an African phrase during the show. I had told Bono a phrase in Swahili on Sunday that translated to "drop by drop, you can fill up a river." I was wondering if that's the phrase that he spoke about.

Does anyone know? If it's true, that would be unbelievably touching.
 
My friends and I travelled all the way from Brazil to attend the first two concerts in Toronto. We were five Brazilian U2 fans, seeing U2 live for first time since Popmart in 1998. I got a great, great spot outside the ellipse, along with two of my friends. We were front row, on Adam´s side. The other two got access to the elipse. They stood both front row as well, on Edge´s side. So, all in all, we can´t complain, we couldn´t get any better than this.

What can I say about the whole experience? Amazing, completely amazing. The concert seemed to be shorter than the previous one, but something deep inside me was saying I would get my song played, and that song is Bad. My friend there inside the elipse felt the same. Before that, during Streets, Adam left the main stage and came by, in our direction. He kept there playing his beloved bass right in front of us. I had put our big Brazilian flag over the rail, so he spotted it and surely recognized it, he knew where we have come from and got us a blink and that unique smile of him. Our hearts were beating so fast we thought we would explode. We kept there smiling and smiling, so nice feeling...

Than I heard those first notes, that was it, Bad, and started crying and sobbing, and I got choked, and my dear friend, she hugged me so tight so that I wouldn´t pass out or something. I definitely, completely couldn´t believe that I was finally listening to Bad live. I said to my friends I have waited for twenty years for this moment, and it was all worth it. I know Jessica, the belly dancer, did a great job, I had seen her dancing during the after-show party on Monday, and I said congrats, you dance very graciously. Me and my friends said so actually. I´m glad to know she got pulled up on stage, she made that very performance of my alltime fave U2 song something I will never forget. Maybe it was written in the stars that I would be there that night, along with my friends, since we started planning this crazy adventure last December 2004. We definitely couldn´t get any better than this. It was like dreaming awake. But I was not sleeping. I was wide awake. And I was there.

MT
 
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I know it seems strange my posting in this thread so long after the fact, but I just came back to it the first time since that show, and I just wanted to thank everyone in here for writing such kind and flattering comments about the small part I played in it.

Follower, hearing how much the song Bad means to you, and that you thought I added something to it means more to me than I can say. :hug:

I remember your singing in the Atomic Jam...you were WONDERFUL! :up: I would never have the nerve to sing U2 in front of a U2 audience (I wouldn't have the nerve to sing in my own shower!), so kudos to you!

:)

I
 
Thank you Jess...obrigada :) Everybody there in TO was very nice to my friends an me, and I´m glad to know you liked my singing. So Cruel is my 2nd alltime fave U2 song. I´ve tried to convince myself that I didn´t butcher the song that night, LOL. Anyways it was all fun :)

:hug:
MT
 
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