dsmith2904
ONE love, blood, life
Please post your reviews of the April 28th show here.
April 28, General Motors Place in Vancouver
- Thread starter dsmith2904
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let me be the first to say that it was an amazing show
so many things just clicked, between the band, and the crowd, and everyone
highlights included ONE, when Bono called out Paul Martin to make good on the .7% of the GDP for foreign aid set by Lester Pearson, and the ONE campaign T-Shirts, that I swear brought a tear to the B Man's eye, and he brought a bunch of kids on the stage that were wearing the T-Shirts, and put one on himself..
it was an amazing moment
I'm too tired and overly emotional to recall any more right now... but I'll try and write some more later
so many things just clicked, between the band, and the crowd, and everyone
highlights included ONE, when Bono called out Paul Martin to make good on the .7% of the GDP for foreign aid set by Lester Pearson, and the ONE campaign T-Shirts, that I swear brought a tear to the B Man's eye, and he brought a bunch of kids on the stage that were wearing the T-Shirts, and put one on himself..
it was an amazing moment
I'm too tired and overly emotional to recall any more right now... but I'll try and write some more later
packer_edge
The Fly
Show was unbelievable. Started out great, the band was tight, Bono had a lot of energy. But once they hit "Bad", the whole show just jumped to another level, beyond anything I've experienced at a U2 show before. When they got to the end of "Bad" Bono was trying to get a girl up on stage. The wrong girl got pulled up, and meanwhile the band is winding the song down. Bono insitis on getting the right girl on stage so while he's doing it the band, who can tell this is going to take a while yet, loops back into the solo section and cranks it out. Song must have gone 8 or 9 minutes. Same thing happened during "One" and "Mysterious Ways". Bono was so focussed on getting certain people on stage (about 5 people for "One", all wearing white T-shirts that said "One" on them, and another girl for Mysterious ways) that those songs also went about 2 or 3 minutes longer than the normal tour arrangement they've been using so far. They were some very spontaneous, charged up moments. By the time "One" was finished I was exausted. Because of those songs being extended as they were, along with an slightly longer speach before "One", directed at prime Minister Paul Martin, the concert pushed closer to 2 hours and 15 minutes. I've seen some great U2 shows, but something special happened in the last half of tonights show. Glad I was there to experience it. Looking forward to tommorows show.
fah
Blue Crack Addict
The highlights:
The crowd was up for the entire show - we were really excited
Vertigo is so great live
A balloon floating on stage during Gloria ? and Bono saying 'you wouldn't want me to burst your balloon...' and then he popped it
Adam and Larry on the catwalk....did I mention Adam
Larry singing - who knew
Samurai Bono playing the drums
The Achtung Baby encore
Bono giving us Paul Martin's number - I wrote it down and I'm going to call to remind him about the One Campaign and foreign aid debt.
Bono dedicating 'Original of the Species' to the founders of Greenpeace who were in the audience.
Girl #2 who danced with Bono during 'Mysterious Ways'
40
HANK CHINASKI
Babyface
I just got in from the show which i might review shortly. i will give you the setlist which i am presently holding in my hand.
CITY OF BLINDING LIGHTS
BEAUTIFUL DAY
VERTIGO WITH STORIES FOR BOYS
ELEVATION
GLORIA
THE OCEAN/NEW YEARS DAY
MIRACLE DRUG
SOMETIMES
LOVE AND PEACE OR ELSE
SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY
BULLET THE BLUE SKY
RUNNING TO STAND STILL
BAD
PRIDE
STREETS
ONE
ZOO STATION
THE FLY
MYSTERIOUS WAYS
ALL BECAUSE OF YOU
ORIGINALS
40
Dallas gave me Edges setlist for the night, as well as one of his signature guitar picks! i will scan them sometime in the near future. A little treasure indeed!
the show had a few bumps in the road, but the sound was amazing!!!!
I was actually shocked at GLORIA because it isn't one of my favoueite songs but it was by far the best song of the night.
I will post a review later.
i have to get a good rest for the show tomorrow!
Hank
CITY OF BLINDING LIGHTS
BEAUTIFUL DAY
VERTIGO WITH STORIES FOR BOYS
ELEVATION
GLORIA
THE OCEAN/NEW YEARS DAY
MIRACLE DRUG
SOMETIMES
LOVE AND PEACE OR ELSE
SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY
BULLET THE BLUE SKY
RUNNING TO STAND STILL
BAD
PRIDE
STREETS
ONE
ZOO STATION
THE FLY
MYSTERIOUS WAYS
ALL BECAUSE OF YOU
ORIGINALS
40
Dallas gave me Edges setlist for the night, as well as one of his signature guitar picks! i will scan them sometime in the near future. A little treasure indeed!
the show had a few bumps in the road, but the sound was amazing!!!!
I was actually shocked at GLORIA because it isn't one of my favoueite songs but it was by far the best song of the night.
I will post a review later.
i have to get a good rest for the show tomorrow!
Hank
isabelle_guns
Refugee
kellyahern
Blue Crack Supplier
fah said:
The highlights:
The crowd was up for the entire show - we were really excited
Vertigo is so great live
A balloon floating on stage during Gloria ? and Bono saying 'you wouldn't want me to burst your balloon...' and then he popped it
Adam and Larry on the catwalk....did I mention Adam
Larry singing - who knew
Samurai Bono playing the drums
The Achtung Baby encore
Bono giving us Paul Martin's number - I wrote it down and I'm going to call to remind him about the One Campaign and foreign aid debt.
Bono dedicating 'Original of the Species' to the founders of Greenpeace who were in the audience.
Girl #2 who danced with Bono during 'Mysterious Ways'
40
Hi fah! Glad you had a great time
raphatrind
The Fly
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2004
- Messages
- 148
hey man, i´m just curious to know that!!!! tell us please!!!
ladywithspinninghead
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
There`s also a great review in today`s Globe & Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050429.wbono0429/BNStory/National/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050429.wbono0429/BNStory/National/
Judah
War Child
Amazing show...in the top three that i've ever seen of U2's shows.
I thought the mixing in the first three songs was not the best, with Edge's guitars completely overwhelming Bono's voice.
Bono's voice seemed to get stronger as the night went on. One of the best Bad's ever. Gloria was cosmic. Fly rocked. Bullet is still amazing, though I prefer Edge's older versions of the solo. All of Atom Bomb's songs were amazing, with Miracle Drug (my favorite on the album) coming off the weakest live. I was surprised how well OOTS sounded, though I miss the guitars on it.
On a personal level, I could do without Elevation or Pride, though the songs fit the current setlist really well.
Anyone notice they got the phone number to Paul Martin wrong the first time? The area code said 615 (should've been 613)...they got it right when they scrolled it again at the end of the show.
Can't wait for tonite's show.
I thought the mixing in the first three songs was not the best, with Edge's guitars completely overwhelming Bono's voice.
Bono's voice seemed to get stronger as the night went on. One of the best Bad's ever. Gloria was cosmic. Fly rocked. Bullet is still amazing, though I prefer Edge's older versions of the solo. All of Atom Bomb's songs were amazing, with Miracle Drug (my favorite on the album) coming off the weakest live. I was surprised how well OOTS sounded, though I miss the guitars on it.
On a personal level, I could do without Elevation or Pride, though the songs fit the current setlist really well.
Anyone notice they got the phone number to Paul Martin wrong the first time? The area code said 615 (should've been 613)...they got it right when they scrolled it again at the end of the show.
Can't wait for tonite's show.
oceane
Refugee
Wow. What a show. It was my first Vertigo show, so I can’t compare it to the other ones, but I can tell you this was U2 at their best. I had amazing seats, so that helped. I was fourth row on Edge’s side close to the end of the ellipse. Pretty much the best spot in the arena.
This show definately lives up to the best Elevation shows I saw (Montreal and Toronto). But it is NOT “Elevation 2”. This show has a whole different feel to it. Slightly less emotional, but totally rocking. I have never seen U2 ROCK so much, in fact. The band was tight and having fun, Bono’s voice was *fantabulous* from start to finish. This was my 12th U2 show, and I’ve never heard him sing like that. He sang Bad like it was 1988. Unfortunately, the sound mix is very guitar heavy, as always, so I couldn’t enjoy his singing as much as I wanted too.
This was an imperfect but very spontaneous show. Imperfect because it started late because of a technical problem (Rocco even came out to explain us what was going on before the show, which is very unusual), there was a few musical mistakes (like during The Fly), and some ‘awkward’ moments with people on stage. I say imperfect in a GOOD sense. It was real, intense, spontaneous, fun.
The crowd was amazing, the whole arena stood up for the ENTIRE show (well, as far as I could tell). In my section, I didn’t see anyone sit down, not even for one song. Even during the less famous songs (Gloria, The Ocean, Zoo Station), people were rocking out. That confirms my theory that Canadian crowds are much better than American ones… Sorry my fellow Americans, but I have seen shows both sides of the border and there is no comparison…
Bono brought so many people on stage, it was almost getting out of control! We got extended versions of Bad, One and Mysterious Ways because of that, and it was just awesome. The first one was a girl from the front of the stage inside the ellipse during Bad. Bono got her up about midway through the song, and started walking with her around the ellipse. Then she said something to him, he gave her a big hug, and they walked back towards the stage, and he told her to sit next to Larry while he went back to the front to sing the rest of the song. Then at the end he went back to get her, kissed her and led her back to her spot. The song was supposed to end at that point, and it was a bit confusing, but then the band got back into the song again and Bono was jumping up and down and the crowd was going WILD. Oh my God that was so intense…
Then during One, Bono talked about Paul Martin (who was booed by the crowd…), and instead of doing the text messaging thing, Paul Martin’s phone number was on the screen, and Bono was telling us to call our Prime Minister to ask that Canada raises levels of foreign aid to 0.7%. The only thing is that the number was wrong! Wrong area code… but later in the show they put the number back on the screen with the right area code. That was funny… Then the people with the One shirts in the ellipse were showing their shirts to Bono. He got sort of distracted from the song, because he wanted to understand what they were trying to show him. When he realized what this was for, he made signs to get a t-shirt. Someone threw a t-shirt at him, but then he was telling people in the crowd with the t-shirts to get on stage with him! First a boy came up, and then 3 or 4 girls, and then another guy. They were all there on stage with their One t-shirts around Bono (who was also wearing one), during a very extended Edge solo at the end, and Bono was going off: “This audience, this generation has had enough! Enough of the despair! Tell Paul Martin!” and everyone was cheering. Wow. That was so umbelievable. I was SO happy for the people who organized this One T-shirt thing. This was probably beyond their wildest dreams.
Then during Zoo Station, someone outside the ellipse had a HUGE sign that said “I just ditched my weelchair, will you dance with me?” Bono read it carefully, and kept on going with the song. Toward the end of Mysterious Ways, him and Adam were on the ellipse at the front, dancing and playing with each other (which was awesome). Then Bono looked for the sign, and was asking the crowd who was the person who wanted to dance with him. There was a bit of confusion, and a girl got on stage. I can’t say for sure whether it was the right person, but I guess it was. She looked kind of freaked out and didn’t move much. Bono huged her, and put her clothes back on (it was sort of falling off…) and they were sort of slow dancing. Then Bono moved away and was like, “So, do you want to dance or what?”, and the girl was shaking her head, she looked kind of shy and freaked out. So she got back to her spot, then a SECOND girl got on stage, and seemed much more willing to dance. She started dancing with Bono, and was having a good time. Then Bono took her hand and they started running around the ellipse together. That was great! Then he kissed her, they huged and she went back to her spot. Once again a VERY long ending for Mysterious Ways. All that happened during the Edge’s solo at the end, so he had to extend it for several minutes. Man, this was like Live Aid all over again!
They played Original instead of Yawheh in the end, and although it was a very good performance of the song, I just don’t think it works live, as much as I like it on the album. I have a feeling it won’t last for very long. Then they ended with 40 of course, and the crowd was really good, and kept singing along until the lights went up after they had all left the stage.
Ok, my review is getting long, but it was awesome. My friend who was with me and who had never seen U2 before said it was the best show he ever saw in his whole life… Of course!
If anyone wants more details about specific songs, feel free to ask. I can’t wait for tonight! We’ll see if they can top last night…
This show definately lives up to the best Elevation shows I saw (Montreal and Toronto). But it is NOT “Elevation 2”. This show has a whole different feel to it. Slightly less emotional, but totally rocking. I have never seen U2 ROCK so much, in fact. The band was tight and having fun, Bono’s voice was *fantabulous* from start to finish. This was my 12th U2 show, and I’ve never heard him sing like that. He sang Bad like it was 1988. Unfortunately, the sound mix is very guitar heavy, as always, so I couldn’t enjoy his singing as much as I wanted too.
This was an imperfect but very spontaneous show. Imperfect because it started late because of a technical problem (Rocco even came out to explain us what was going on before the show, which is very unusual), there was a few musical mistakes (like during The Fly), and some ‘awkward’ moments with people on stage. I say imperfect in a GOOD sense. It was real, intense, spontaneous, fun.
The crowd was amazing, the whole arena stood up for the ENTIRE show (well, as far as I could tell). In my section, I didn’t see anyone sit down, not even for one song. Even during the less famous songs (Gloria, The Ocean, Zoo Station), people were rocking out. That confirms my theory that Canadian crowds are much better than American ones… Sorry my fellow Americans, but I have seen shows both sides of the border and there is no comparison…
Bono brought so many people on stage, it was almost getting out of control! We got extended versions of Bad, One and Mysterious Ways because of that, and it was just awesome. The first one was a girl from the front of the stage inside the ellipse during Bad. Bono got her up about midway through the song, and started walking with her around the ellipse. Then she said something to him, he gave her a big hug, and they walked back towards the stage, and he told her to sit next to Larry while he went back to the front to sing the rest of the song. Then at the end he went back to get her, kissed her and led her back to her spot. The song was supposed to end at that point, and it was a bit confusing, but then the band got back into the song again and Bono was jumping up and down and the crowd was going WILD. Oh my God that was so intense…
Then during One, Bono talked about Paul Martin (who was booed by the crowd…), and instead of doing the text messaging thing, Paul Martin’s phone number was on the screen, and Bono was telling us to call our Prime Minister to ask that Canada raises levels of foreign aid to 0.7%. The only thing is that the number was wrong! Wrong area code… but later in the show they put the number back on the screen with the right area code. That was funny… Then the people with the One shirts in the ellipse were showing their shirts to Bono. He got sort of distracted from the song, because he wanted to understand what they were trying to show him. When he realized what this was for, he made signs to get a t-shirt. Someone threw a t-shirt at him, but then he was telling people in the crowd with the t-shirts to get on stage with him! First a boy came up, and then 3 or 4 girls, and then another guy. They were all there on stage with their One t-shirts around Bono (who was also wearing one), during a very extended Edge solo at the end, and Bono was going off: “This audience, this generation has had enough! Enough of the despair! Tell Paul Martin!” and everyone was cheering. Wow. That was so umbelievable. I was SO happy for the people who organized this One T-shirt thing. This was probably beyond their wildest dreams.
Then during Zoo Station, someone outside the ellipse had a HUGE sign that said “I just ditched my weelchair, will you dance with me?” Bono read it carefully, and kept on going with the song. Toward the end of Mysterious Ways, him and Adam were on the ellipse at the front, dancing and playing with each other (which was awesome). Then Bono looked for the sign, and was asking the crowd who was the person who wanted to dance with him. There was a bit of confusion, and a girl got on stage. I can’t say for sure whether it was the right person, but I guess it was. She looked kind of freaked out and didn’t move much. Bono huged her, and put her clothes back on (it was sort of falling off…) and they were sort of slow dancing. Then Bono moved away and was like, “So, do you want to dance or what?”, and the girl was shaking her head, she looked kind of shy and freaked out. So she got back to her spot, then a SECOND girl got on stage, and seemed much more willing to dance. She started dancing with Bono, and was having a good time. Then Bono took her hand and they started running around the ellipse together. That was great! Then he kissed her, they huged and she went back to her spot. Once again a VERY long ending for Mysterious Ways. All that happened during the Edge’s solo at the end, so he had to extend it for several minutes. Man, this was like Live Aid all over again!
They played Original instead of Yawheh in the end, and although it was a very good performance of the song, I just don’t think it works live, as much as I like it on the album. I have a feeling it won’t last for very long. Then they ended with 40 of course, and the crowd was really good, and kept singing along until the lights went up after they had all left the stage.
Ok, my review is getting long, but it was awesome. My friend who was with me and who had never seen U2 before said it was the best show he ever saw in his whole life… Of course!
If anyone wants more details about specific songs, feel free to ask. I can’t wait for tonight! We’ll see if they can top last night…
slip slide away
The Fly
WOW.
Before going in to the show, I thought that there was no way it could live up to my expectations/hopes. The buzz around Van has been all U2, everywhere you go. Filmed the video; rumors about the DVD. How do they possibly live up to the hype, I asked myself.
Then they come out and absolutely KILL City of Blinding Lights. From then on, it was one big lovefest btw the boys and an amazing Vancouver audience. As Bono likes to say, the spirit was definitely in the house. So was his voice; never heard it that good live before (even in 87' 92/93).
The Edge. Words cannot describe this man's talent. On fire last night, having to play, as people have already mentioned, while Bono did his various PR things. 10 minute BAD, with an absolutely nailed vocal. I almost cried. 10 minute ONE. 10 minute Mysterious Ways, with Edge breaking it off for the last 5 minutes...it was unreal. I can't disagree more with the people who don't like the new Bullet; that solo was unreal, and soooo clean and bluesy. I loved it. Ditto for the Fly, with most of the words remembered by B-Man.
My highlights:
COBL - absolutely nailed it; maybe they didn't like the footage from the video, and used Van 1 to give it another go.
BD/Vertigo - great, vibe building.
Gloria - wait till you hear the boot of this.
Elevation - WAY better now, belongs in the set (but would have traded it for electric co!
Pride/Streets transition - thought this would be a downgrade from previous tour, but the crowd carried the transition, with full volume "oh, owo oh's" into the opening
OOTS - have to disagree with the poster who didn't like it. Bono nailed the vocal, again. I held my breath at points thinking "he's not going to try and hit that note is he?" Well, yes he is, and yes he did.
I want to digest for another week or so, but this show was rivaled only by the Zoo TV show I saw in '92. Could be the best I've ever seen.
All in all, an amazing trip from start to finish. Would be going to Van 2, but sadly I have a 100% final tomorrow in Corporate Securities Law
BTW - in regards to that pot smoking thread...when the lights went down, the joints lit up, almost instantly. And many, many of them. They were being passed around the floor!! I'm sure Bono and the boys could smell it, and they might have had a buzz, the place was fucking hotboxed!!
Before going in to the show, I thought that there was no way it could live up to my expectations/hopes. The buzz around Van has been all U2, everywhere you go. Filmed the video; rumors about the DVD. How do they possibly live up to the hype, I asked myself.
Then they come out and absolutely KILL City of Blinding Lights. From then on, it was one big lovefest btw the boys and an amazing Vancouver audience. As Bono likes to say, the spirit was definitely in the house. So was his voice; never heard it that good live before (even in 87' 92/93).
The Edge. Words cannot describe this man's talent. On fire last night, having to play, as people have already mentioned, while Bono did his various PR things. 10 minute BAD, with an absolutely nailed vocal. I almost cried. 10 minute ONE. 10 minute Mysterious Ways, with Edge breaking it off for the last 5 minutes...it was unreal. I can't disagree more with the people who don't like the new Bullet; that solo was unreal, and soooo clean and bluesy. I loved it. Ditto for the Fly, with most of the words remembered by B-Man.
My highlights:
COBL - absolutely nailed it; maybe they didn't like the footage from the video, and used Van 1 to give it another go.
BD/Vertigo - great, vibe building.
Gloria - wait till you hear the boot of this.
Elevation - WAY better now, belongs in the set (but would have traded it for electric co!
Pride/Streets transition - thought this would be a downgrade from previous tour, but the crowd carried the transition, with full volume "oh, owo oh's" into the opening
OOTS - have to disagree with the poster who didn't like it. Bono nailed the vocal, again. I held my breath at points thinking "he's not going to try and hit that note is he?" Well, yes he is, and yes he did.
I want to digest for another week or so, but this show was rivaled only by the Zoo TV show I saw in '92. Could be the best I've ever seen.
All in all, an amazing trip from start to finish. Would be going to Van 2, but sadly I have a 100% final tomorrow in Corporate Securities Law
BTW - in regards to that pot smoking thread...when the lights went down, the joints lit up, almost instantly. And many, many of them. They were being passed around the floor!! I'm sure Bono and the boys could smell it, and they might have had a buzz, the place was fucking hotboxed!!
aman2402
Babyface
omg man i agree. i was at the show...best rock show ive ever seen 
bono=genius
The Fly
WOW!!! i can still hear the crowd singing "40" ....last night was beautiful, amazin, speechless, and magical.....
im sooooooooo happy they played "bad" beautiful performance...and the crowd was pumped and on their feet and singin along from start to finish!!!
im sooooooooo happy they played "bad" beautiful performance...and the crowd was pumped and on their feet and singin along from start to finish!!!
Ninja Bunny
Babyface
WOW!
This was my very first U2 concert and it was absolutely fantastic. I went to the Prince concert last year and he was amazing but U2 made Prince look like William Hung. As already mentioned upthread, the concert was ON - the band, the crowd, the lighting & sound - everything was intense and just clicked right into place. I was concerned about Bono's voice after hearing him at the Grammys and other live settings where he sounded worn but in BC his voice was as strong and clear and resonant as ever. This was hands down the greatest show had been to. The Perfect Concert.
They switched up the setlist as they were doing more filming for the video for "Blinding Lights" so they started with that instead of "Love and Peace or Else" but I think it actually worked better that way - I can't think of a better opening than to hear "Oh, you look so beautiful tonight!" What a great hello to the crowd!
They tore right through Beautiful Day, Vertigo, and Elevation with such fire the entire crowd was up on its feet and singing every word right along. Forget the concept of "band" and "audience," it was Bono & the boys with 18,000 back-up singers wailing at the top of their lungs, radiating loooooove, and having the time of their lives.
This was a killer! After a brief chat and making a balloon meet an unfortunate demise, they shocked me happy by kicking this one out and continuing the flying start the concert set off on. It's one of my favorites and I didn't expect to hear it at all.
Love And Peace Or Else - Bono really got into this one - he set aside the slo-mo posing stuff and just let his body rock out. He made a wise choice in putting on a leather jacket with white crosshatches on the sleeves, it made it a lot easier to see his arms flying when he took over the drum from Larry. Add in the bandana and he reminded me of one of those Japanese taiko drummers dramatically banging away. On the last beat one of drumsticks flew up and landed in the audience.
Sunday Bloody Sunday/Bullet/Johnny - This was cool. Bono pulled the bandana over his eyes while the jumbotron did a close-up. He points to the religious symbols written on along with some lettering I couldn't quite figure out. He points them and demands "READ! MY! HEAD!" and after doing a spoken interlude about it, he blindly stumbles back to the mic (possibly with some guidance from someone speaking in his ear monitors) and keeps singing still blindfolded. To paraphrase the description in the concert program, think of it as the character The Fly having become a demented preacher. Good, good stuff.
Paul Martin's phone number - "I told Paul I was going to be a pain in the arse." Heh heh heh! Being a foreigner I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the Canadian PM's switchboard number but for giggles I called anyway. I managed to get an assistant PM's voicemail box and left a friendly message (no, that's not sarcastic, I was sincere and nice). Heh, why not?
Mysterious Ways - After the second girl got up and they danced, they held hands and skipped around the ellipse like schoolkids. Cute! Meanwhile Edge was clowning around doing the "white man's shuffle" and scooching back and forth across the stage. Snerk.
I expect they'll swap it out as the audience energy level did drop some, but, being a vocal geek, I thought it was just fine. Bono gets credit for being a great bellower but OOTS demonstrated what a terrific singer he is. It allowed him to show how sensitive his voice is and how nuanced his phrasing can be in ways a lot of the other U2 songs don't allow. I loved it and preferred it to "Yahweh."
No kidding! Larry has a sturdy set of pipes in his own right. Sing more, Larry!
When Bono quit singing he picked up a white spotlight and slowly swept it around the entire 300 level, it was a lovely gesture to us in the nosebleeds. When Larry finally left and the last light went out, the crowd kept singing in the dark until the house lights came up some minutes later. It was a wonderful ending.
This was my very first U2 concert and it was absolutely fantastic. I went to the Prince concert last year and he was amazing but U2 made Prince look like William Hung. As already mentioned upthread, the concert was ON - the band, the crowd, the lighting & sound - everything was intense and just clicked right into place. I was concerned about Bono's voice after hearing him at the Grammys and other live settings where he sounded worn but in BC his voice was as strong and clear and resonant as ever. This was hands down the greatest show had been to. The Perfect Concert.
They switched up the setlist as they were doing more filming for the video for "Blinding Lights" so they started with that instead of "Love and Peace or Else" but I think it actually worked better that way - I can't think of a better opening than to hear "Oh, you look so beautiful tonight!" What a great hello to the crowd!
They tore right through Beautiful Day, Vertigo, and Elevation with such fire the entire crowd was up on its feet and singing every word right along. Forget the concept of "band" and "audience," it was Bono & the boys with 18,000 back-up singers wailing at the top of their lungs, radiating loooooove, and having the time of their lives.
This was a killer! After a brief chat and making a balloon meet an unfortunate demise, they shocked me happy by kicking this one out and continuing the flying start the concert set off on. It's one of my favorites and I didn't expect to hear it at all.
Love And Peace Or Else - Bono really got into this one - he set aside the slo-mo posing stuff and just let his body rock out. He made a wise choice in putting on a leather jacket with white crosshatches on the sleeves, it made it a lot easier to see his arms flying when he took over the drum from Larry. Add in the bandana and he reminded me of one of those Japanese taiko drummers dramatically banging away. On the last beat one of drumsticks flew up and landed in the audience.
Sunday Bloody Sunday/Bullet/Johnny - This was cool. Bono pulled the bandana over his eyes while the jumbotron did a close-up. He points to the religious symbols written on along with some lettering I couldn't quite figure out. He points them and demands "READ! MY! HEAD!" and after doing a spoken interlude about it, he blindly stumbles back to the mic (possibly with some guidance from someone speaking in his ear monitors) and keeps singing still blindfolded. To paraphrase the description in the concert program, think of it as the character The Fly having become a demented preacher. Good, good stuff.
Paul Martin's phone number - "I told Paul I was going to be a pain in the arse." Heh heh heh! Being a foreigner I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the Canadian PM's switchboard number but for giggles I called anyway. I managed to get an assistant PM's voicemail box and left a friendly message (no, that's not sarcastic, I was sincere and nice). Heh, why not?
Mysterious Ways - After the second girl got up and they danced, they held hands and skipped around the ellipse like schoolkids. Cute! Meanwhile Edge was clowning around doing the "white man's shuffle" and scooching back and forth across the stage. Snerk.
I expect they'll swap it out as the audience energy level did drop some, but, being a vocal geek, I thought it was just fine. Bono gets credit for being a great bellower but OOTS demonstrated what a terrific singer he is. It allowed him to show how sensitive his voice is and how nuanced his phrasing can be in ways a lot of the other U2 songs don't allow. I loved it and preferred it to "Yahweh."
No kidding! Larry has a sturdy set of pipes in his own right. Sing more, Larry!
When Bono quit singing he picked up a white spotlight and slowly swept it around the entire 300 level, it was a lovely gesture to us in the nosebleeds. When Larry finally left and the last light went out, the crowd kept singing in the dark until the house lights came up some minutes later. It was a wonderful ending.
Last edited:
trevster2k
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2001
- Messages
- 4,330
My original plan for this concert was to not stand in line but go in later during the day. I went to the stadium at 9am to go pickup my ticket for Friday's show and saw the GA line and gave in, I ended up joining the line. After I picked up my ticket, I had to go meet Michael Griffiths, ( you all remember him, he is in Mexico right now w/o regular Internet access which is why he is not posting anymore) to give him his tickets. Afterwards we both went down to the stadium where I spent the next 4 hours.
I left around 430 to go get shirts and souvenirs and spent over $300 bucks on stuff ( not just for me) I had a ticket to the ETS party at Skybar too so I ran over there for a quick beer and watched about 5 songs by Elevation, the tribute band. They were excellent and played Unforgettable Fire, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kill Me, Kiss Me and SYCMIOYO. Many people there were radio contest winners but some had purchased travel packages from another tour company besides ETS. One couple told me they paid $4000 for their package, they showed me their tickets and they were only ok IMO. I ran back to the line after this quick detour.
I met IsabelleGuns, korzckyp and a couple of writers for another U2 fansite. Many of the others around me were from Washington. I found an ellipse buddy to double my chances but we were separated when they split the lines. I had to find another buddy just before we entered the building. The line was organized by a fan named Andrea who did an excellent job. The odd person tried to not follow the order but I think it ran pretty good. When the doors were about to open, the crowd shouted one jerk out of the line when he tried to jump in. Some media were taking pictures of people in the front of the line and I found myself in the background of a picture the next day of a small local paper.
Unfortunately, neither my ellipse buddy, John nor myself got to enter the elliipse. Even if I won, I still hate the whole lottery system. That jerk I mentioned earlier ended up getting in the ellipse.
I found myself about 3-4 people just to the left of the tip of ellipse, kind of in between Edge and Bono. It was great that I was around people I had chatted with in line but it was not so great when the tallest security guy ever stood in front of us when the security appeared. Dumbass management, why put your tallest guy in the front?
My personal highligts:
City of Blinding Lights- What an awesome opener! From my vantage point, the lights were blinding while the band played the growling introduction and then suddenly Bono was right in front of us. Way cool! The crowd was alive right from the start, the oooh,ooohs into the "Oh you look so beautiful tonight" were explosive. I think this is an excellent opening song after seeing it live.
Elevation- I saw Larry and Adam's faces on the screens as the crowd carried the woooohs throughout the arena over and over again. Since I couldn't see the stage much of the time, I had to watch the screens. Both men had huge grins as the Vancouver faithful performed acapella. Excellent twist on a song many have grown to dislike to keep it fresh.
Gloria- I'm fourteen again in my bedroom listening to my Under a Blood Red Sky record. This was one of the best surprises of the night. Bono sounded great during this song.
Miracle Drug- I enjoyed this song especially when Larry and Bono started singing to each other. I liked it better than the cd version.
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own- This was the song I was waiting to hear. I especially love the "Can you hear me when I sing you, you're the reason I sing, you're the reason the opera is in me" verse. Well, lucky me. Bono makes his way to wear I am standing, leans into the crowd and sings that part. What a memorable personal moment for me! Bono works hard to get that verse out and it shows on his face, it was very very cool.
Running to Standstill- I have sang this song so many times while driving in my car and to hear it live was a gift. Thanks guys.
Bad- This song cemented this whole concert for me as being complete. That was great when Bono pulled the young girl on stage and she sat next to Larry for the rest of the song. I love when he does stuff likes that. It lets us feel even more connected to the band then we already do.
One- Bono had some wonderful words for the audience. Acknowledging the One shirts by having the young girls on stage along with that guy was a special moment. I talked to the first young girl with the baseball hat in the hotel lobby that morning asking her where she got her shirt.
Zoo Station- I had a personal moment here with Bono. After he and Edge are singing the Zoo Station chorus to each other, Bono faces the crowd and bends his neck to the right and starts jumping up and down like a marionette. Well, just as he is about to turn his neck, he sees me pumping my hand in the air and as he tilts his head , I pretended to shoot him and he started laughing for a second as he kept jumping across the stage.
Original of the Species- I was really hoping they would play this as it is one of my favorite songs on the CD. It was an excellent performance for a song they are still learning to perform live.
40- The crowd participation was remarkable during this song as we sang until the lights came on. Perfect ending to a perfect night.
I thought this was the better of the two Vancouver shows. There were more spontaneous moments plus they played Bad. Plus Bono was in front of me during some of my favorite moments. The crowd participation was unreal as everyone in the building was standing, clapping, singing and waving their arms. Night 2 did not have the same level of excitement especially when comparing 40, sheesh, everyone stopped singing after Larry left the stage. Although, I had a great seat for night 2, right next to Edge's piano behind the stage. Plus it was cool to see a different perspective of the show especially the teleprompter set up for Bono in case he forgets the lyrics.
I had planned to return to the Skybar to see Elevation perform after the concert. But after not eating nor drinking for over 6 hours, plus the grueling crush of the GA experience, I found myself to be exhausted and my legs were in pain. I went and bought some water and a sub sandwich. When I returned to my hotel room, I promptly passed out without evening eating my food. Ah well, it was worth it.
I left around 430 to go get shirts and souvenirs and spent over $300 bucks on stuff ( not just for me) I had a ticket to the ETS party at Skybar too so I ran over there for a quick beer and watched about 5 songs by Elevation, the tribute band. They were excellent and played Unforgettable Fire, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kill Me, Kiss Me and SYCMIOYO. Many people there were radio contest winners but some had purchased travel packages from another tour company besides ETS. One couple told me they paid $4000 for their package, they showed me their tickets and they were only ok IMO. I ran back to the line after this quick detour.
I met IsabelleGuns, korzckyp and a couple of writers for another U2 fansite. Many of the others around me were from Washington. I found an ellipse buddy to double my chances but we were separated when they split the lines. I had to find another buddy just before we entered the building. The line was organized by a fan named Andrea who did an excellent job. The odd person tried to not follow the order but I think it ran pretty good. When the doors were about to open, the crowd shouted one jerk out of the line when he tried to jump in. Some media were taking pictures of people in the front of the line and I found myself in the background of a picture the next day of a small local paper.
Unfortunately, neither my ellipse buddy, John nor myself got to enter the elliipse. Even if I won, I still hate the whole lottery system. That jerk I mentioned earlier ended up getting in the ellipse.
I found myself about 3-4 people just to the left of the tip of ellipse, kind of in between Edge and Bono. It was great that I was around people I had chatted with in line but it was not so great when the tallest security guy ever stood in front of us when the security appeared. Dumbass management, why put your tallest guy in the front?
My personal highligts:
City of Blinding Lights- What an awesome opener! From my vantage point, the lights were blinding while the band played the growling introduction and then suddenly Bono was right in front of us. Way cool! The crowd was alive right from the start, the oooh,ooohs into the "Oh you look so beautiful tonight" were explosive. I think this is an excellent opening song after seeing it live.
Elevation- I saw Larry and Adam's faces on the screens as the crowd carried the woooohs throughout the arena over and over again. Since I couldn't see the stage much of the time, I had to watch the screens. Both men had huge grins as the Vancouver faithful performed acapella. Excellent twist on a song many have grown to dislike to keep it fresh.
Gloria- I'm fourteen again in my bedroom listening to my Under a Blood Red Sky record. This was one of the best surprises of the night. Bono sounded great during this song.
Miracle Drug- I enjoyed this song especially when Larry and Bono started singing to each other. I liked it better than the cd version.
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own- This was the song I was waiting to hear. I especially love the "Can you hear me when I sing you, you're the reason I sing, you're the reason the opera is in me" verse. Well, lucky me. Bono makes his way to wear I am standing, leans into the crowd and sings that part. What a memorable personal moment for me! Bono works hard to get that verse out and it shows on his face, it was very very cool.
Running to Standstill- I have sang this song so many times while driving in my car and to hear it live was a gift. Thanks guys.
Bad- This song cemented this whole concert for me as being complete. That was great when Bono pulled the young girl on stage and she sat next to Larry for the rest of the song. I love when he does stuff likes that. It lets us feel even more connected to the band then we already do.
One- Bono had some wonderful words for the audience. Acknowledging the One shirts by having the young girls on stage along with that guy was a special moment. I talked to the first young girl with the baseball hat in the hotel lobby that morning asking her where she got her shirt.
Zoo Station- I had a personal moment here with Bono. After he and Edge are singing the Zoo Station chorus to each other, Bono faces the crowd and bends his neck to the right and starts jumping up and down like a marionette. Well, just as he is about to turn his neck, he sees me pumping my hand in the air and as he tilts his head , I pretended to shoot him and he started laughing for a second as he kept jumping across the stage.
Original of the Species- I was really hoping they would play this as it is one of my favorite songs on the CD. It was an excellent performance for a song they are still learning to perform live.
40- The crowd participation was remarkable during this song as we sang until the lights came on. Perfect ending to a perfect night.
I thought this was the better of the two Vancouver shows. There were more spontaneous moments plus they played Bad. Plus Bono was in front of me during some of my favorite moments. The crowd participation was unreal as everyone in the building was standing, clapping, singing and waving their arms. Night 2 did not have the same level of excitement especially when comparing 40, sheesh, everyone stopped singing after Larry left the stage. Although, I had a great seat for night 2, right next to Edge's piano behind the stage. Plus it was cool to see a different perspective of the show especially the teleprompter set up for Bono in case he forgets the lyrics.
I had planned to return to the Skybar to see Elevation perform after the concert. But after not eating nor drinking for over 6 hours, plus the grueling crush of the GA experience, I found myself to be exhausted and my legs were in pain. I went and bought some water and a sub sandwich. When I returned to my hotel room, I promptly passed out without evening eating my food. Ah well, it was worth it.
fah
Blue Crack Addict
I agree that show #1 was better but I loved 'Miami my Mammy' on the 2nd night.
this is taken from my one giant post in the fan experiences forum, but since they're basically reviews, and they took my over 3 hours to write, thought I'd give 'em life in here too...
beware, it's a loooong read!
I left at about 9am, but got stuck in the passport office for about an hour or so. So I didn't get to the GA line until about 12pm. Got my hand numbered, it was 251, I believe. On my way back up the stairs, out of nowhere came trevster2k who recognized my from my pic in the picture post. I also met Theresa and Thassoula from the @U2 blog, as well as isabelleguns, who had quite an elaborate MacPhisto costume done up. I figured since my friend wasn't going to show up for a while, I'd hang out with them, despite being out of numerical order.
The GA line wasn't nearly as boring as I thought it'd be. Also the scalpers were going at it in full force. It was impossible to go down to the front of the arena without being hounded by a pack of the vultures. To make things worse, and just sickening, at the box office, scalpers occupied basically half of the lineup, buying tickets, selling them off to other scalpers, then lining up again to buy more tickets with their new cash, repeating the process. Sickening, just sickening. Although, to be fair, some true fans scored some pretty awesome seats for the next day of the show, including some sweet second row side stage seats.
At about 4pm, they finally decided to split up the U2.com and General Sale lines. Which turned into a HUGE mess. The U2.com line ended up being MUCH bigger, and the 200's in the General Line were at about the same point as the 100's in the U2.com line. To add to the confusion, numbers ended up being all mixed up because of all the people there by then, and everyone became bunched, leaving no room to sit. To top it all off, GM Place didn't make any effort to communicate with the fans to honour the number system, go bureaucracy!
At about that time, my friend finally showed up, and we went back to our spot in the line, at least there was some room to sit down back there. I ended up reading the paper and before I knew it, it was time to go in.
Slowly, we made our way to our gate, and to the laptops. Reaching the laptops, I quietly chanted "come on baby!" a few times, but alas, the blue screen of death "PROCEED TO FLOOR" my friends ticket got scanned, same thing. Oh well, we still had a good spot, and it was bound to be a great show. We set up shop about 3 people away from the very tip of the Ellipse, where Bono came out during the COBL entrances the night before. I ran to the can for a quick pee-break, and luckily when I got back, I could still squeeze back into my old spot.
Before long, the Kings of Leon came on. Personally, I like the band, especially the Bucket, which is such a hilarious song. Caleb has such a hilarious and unique way of singing, plus the drummer looks like John Lennon.
After KOL, it was about 45 minutes until U2 was supposed to come out. However, 9pm hit, and nothing. Out comes Rocko again, who informs us all that they're continuing COBL filming, which got a mass of cheers. He also said that there was a bit of a delay, with one of the projectors going out, and it had to be fixed. After a few minutes, it was, and The Arcade Fire's Wake Up came on!
This made me start to get all excited in anticipation. Near the end of the song.... "EVERYONE... everyone... everyONE... EVERYone... EVERYONE!" I swear it was Macphisto saying those everyone's too ... then the lights go out... and the familiar COBL opening comes on. The confetti drifts down, and Bono climbs out, right in front of us! Despite how amazing this song was in the shoot the day before, it was twice as good with the whole crowd being so into it! So much energy suddenly lit up the building.
Again, it was just so exciting, and I just wanted to take everything in and enjoy the moment, but so many things were going on, remembering is just tough. So i'll focus on some of the better moments.
Beautiful Day was fantastic, during the breakdown, Bono gave Vancouver some love with "See Vancouver, right in front of you"
Vertigo, again, with the energy of the whole arena, was that much better this night. Including a great french count-in before the familiar spanish. Although I do think he actually said 1, 2, 3, 4 in french, and not 14, although I might have heard wrong, he did it rather quietly. Near the end of the song, during stories for boys, Bono stepped into and reached for the crowd just a little to the side of me, but I he was just out of my reach. But it's crazy how excited people get whever he walked by our part of the ellipse, Adam too, for that matter.
Elevation While it's not my favourite song of their catalogue, far from it, actually. This song is just so electric live. The chorus, with Bono gesturing for the crowd to sing the "E-LE-VA-TION" line was a great moment. It's a very fun song. Then of course the whoo-ooo... whoo-oo-hoo's ... yet another reason why this song is actually quite great live.
Gloria/The Ocean Right from the opening "2,3,4!" I was so into this song, and I'm ecstatic to see it back in the setlists. How could anyone not like this song performed, so magical and spiritual, and powerful. Although, I must say, I was a little disappointed that Adam picked his bass solo instead of slapping it. The Ocean was great. A lot of ad-libbing by Bono about how great Vancouver is.
The War and Peace Trilogy This continued the incredicle energy buildup of the show. Love and Peace, phenomenal. So much raw, muddy power in that song, and was one of my highlights of the show. Larry was drumming directly in front of me, and he gets so fired up and focused during his drumming, while still managing to exude just this great amount of joy. Near the end, Samurai Bono made his appearance with his headband and took over for Larry, banging that tom like there's no tommorow. That was incredibly cool to see up close. Bono had so much energy and shomanship banging that thing, almost like those crazy japanese taiko drummers. Sunday continued that great energy, with the crowd singing "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" on the top of their lungs.
It also featured something I've wanted to experience more than anything during Sunday, Bloody Sunday, and was incredibly excited when it happened. "NO MORE!, sing, No MORE!" "NO MORE!" "NO MORE!" "I'M SO SICK OF IT!" That's always been my favourite part of SBS live, and was so overjoyed to be a part of it.
The transition into Bullet was also excellent, with that great chord strike while Larry's still drumming SBS, then instanteanously switching to the Bullet beat. Such a phenomenal song live, and it's so neat how it's re-invented for every tour. Vertigo is no exception. With the amazing breakdown. Bono blindfolding himself with the headband. (Although the blindfold was a little crooked, so his pointing didn't match up with the location of the symbols on his head ) ... but it was powerful nonetheless "Jesus, Jew, Muhammad, It's true... Jesus, Jew, Muhammad, it's true" followed by some chanting of "Abraham, father Abraham" or something to that effect. Such a great and powerful message.
After Bullet, Bono went right into Running To Stand Still. I didn't like, however, how he played his guitar during the song. He really played only like 3 or 4 notes, since The Edge was playing the keyboard for the whole song. It's still phenomenal though, with the hallelujas, followed by the smoke, leading up to the Decleration of Human Rights.
After Human Rights, came the biggest surprise of the show for me, which elevated the show to a completely different level.
Bad: The second that backing track intro started playing, I was already starting to scream at the top of my lungs from excitement. The very next thing I thought of, was George Strombolopulous, who metioned on The Hour last week that he would love to be at the show, and for his viewers to shed a tear for him if they play Bad, which is his favourite U2 song. The performance was outstanding. It lasted something like 10 minutes+ with bono bringing up people on stage and everything, it was magical.
Pride was similarly magical, with Bono quoting Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. I never really liked this song live, because it always seemed so, ordinary. Well, not that night, it really was magical, with the "oh oh oh-oh oh's" leading right into yet another goosebump-inducing transition into Streets, with Bono dedicating the song to Africa in such a poetic way, it was great: "From the shores of the river Nile, to the peaks of Mt. Kilamanjaro, AFRICA! AFRICA! AFRICA" there was more, but that's all I can really remember. Such a great song. When the lights all flash on, that's such a definitive moment, amazing.
Right after Streets, One was THE most amazing moment of the show. The song lasted forever, and Bono was so emotional. Starting with flashing Paul Martin's phone number on the screens, and calling him out on Canada's foreign aid. He did also say that he was a good man, and the right man to lead the country. He also pleaded to Canadians and Martin, saying that if we tell him what we we want, and what the world needs, he will listen. Then the song started, and really turned into something else when Bono noticed the sea of ONE/makepoveryhistory T-Shirts in the ellipse. He grabbed one, put one on himself, and brought up to the stage 5 or 6 10-15 year old kids from the crowd also wearing the shirts. Bono just seemed so alive at that moment, again claiming how great and passionate we Canadians are. One of the greatest moments I've ever heard of or witnessed at a U2 concert.
After a great encore, and a great Mysterious Ways, with Bono dancing with a couple of girls, the show closed with 40, which was an amazing end to the whole thing, and everyone singing "HOW LONG, TO SING THIS SONG" well into after the band already left the stage.
Such an amazing show, such an experience, such an amazing band. So powerful. Such a humbling experience.
With all the greatness of night 1, little did I know that night 2, despite not being as powerful and emotional of a show as night 1, would end up just being one of the single most absurdly amazing experiences of my life, and one I could only dream of from watching all of the DVD's from Elevation.
beware, it's a loooong read!
I left at about 9am, but got stuck in the passport office for about an hour or so. So I didn't get to the GA line until about 12pm. Got my hand numbered, it was 251, I believe. On my way back up the stairs, out of nowhere came trevster2k who recognized my from my pic in the picture post. I also met Theresa and Thassoula from the @U2 blog, as well as isabelleguns, who had quite an elaborate MacPhisto costume done up. I figured since my friend wasn't going to show up for a while, I'd hang out with them, despite being out of numerical order.
The GA line wasn't nearly as boring as I thought it'd be. Also the scalpers were going at it in full force. It was impossible to go down to the front of the arena without being hounded by a pack of the vultures. To make things worse, and just sickening, at the box office, scalpers occupied basically half of the lineup, buying tickets, selling them off to other scalpers, then lining up again to buy more tickets with their new cash, repeating the process. Sickening, just sickening. Although, to be fair, some true fans scored some pretty awesome seats for the next day of the show, including some sweet second row side stage seats.
At about 4pm, they finally decided to split up the U2.com and General Sale lines. Which turned into a HUGE mess. The U2.com line ended up being MUCH bigger, and the 200's in the General Line were at about the same point as the 100's in the U2.com line. To add to the confusion, numbers ended up being all mixed up because of all the people there by then, and everyone became bunched, leaving no room to sit. To top it all off, GM Place didn't make any effort to communicate with the fans to honour the number system, go bureaucracy!
At about that time, my friend finally showed up, and we went back to our spot in the line, at least there was some room to sit down back there. I ended up reading the paper and before I knew it, it was time to go in.
Slowly, we made our way to our gate, and to the laptops. Reaching the laptops, I quietly chanted "come on baby!" a few times, but alas, the blue screen of death "PROCEED TO FLOOR" my friends ticket got scanned, same thing. Oh well, we still had a good spot, and it was bound to be a great show. We set up shop about 3 people away from the very tip of the Ellipse, where Bono came out during the COBL entrances the night before. I ran to the can for a quick pee-break, and luckily when I got back, I could still squeeze back into my old spot.
Before long, the Kings of Leon came on. Personally, I like the band, especially the Bucket, which is such a hilarious song. Caleb has such a hilarious and unique way of singing, plus the drummer looks like John Lennon.
After KOL, it was about 45 minutes until U2 was supposed to come out. However, 9pm hit, and nothing. Out comes Rocko again, who informs us all that they're continuing COBL filming, which got a mass of cheers. He also said that there was a bit of a delay, with one of the projectors going out, and it had to be fixed. After a few minutes, it was, and The Arcade Fire's Wake Up came on!
This made me start to get all excited in anticipation. Near the end of the song.... "EVERYONE... everyone... everyONE... EVERYone... EVERYONE!" I swear it was Macphisto saying those everyone's too ... then the lights go out... and the familiar COBL opening comes on. The confetti drifts down, and Bono climbs out, right in front of us! Despite how amazing this song was in the shoot the day before, it was twice as good with the whole crowd being so into it! So much energy suddenly lit up the building.
Again, it was just so exciting, and I just wanted to take everything in and enjoy the moment, but so many things were going on, remembering is just tough. So i'll focus on some of the better moments.
Beautiful Day was fantastic, during the breakdown, Bono gave Vancouver some love with "See Vancouver, right in front of you"
Vertigo, again, with the energy of the whole arena, was that much better this night. Including a great french count-in before the familiar spanish. Although I do think he actually said 1, 2, 3, 4 in french, and not 14, although I might have heard wrong, he did it rather quietly. Near the end of the song, during stories for boys, Bono stepped into and reached for the crowd just a little to the side of me, but I he was just out of my reach. But it's crazy how excited people get whever he walked by our part of the ellipse, Adam too, for that matter.
Elevation While it's not my favourite song of their catalogue, far from it, actually. This song is just so electric live. The chorus, with Bono gesturing for the crowd to sing the "E-LE-VA-TION" line was a great moment. It's a very fun song. Then of course the whoo-ooo... whoo-oo-hoo's ... yet another reason why this song is actually quite great live.
Gloria/The Ocean Right from the opening "2,3,4!" I was so into this song, and I'm ecstatic to see it back in the setlists. How could anyone not like this song performed, so magical and spiritual, and powerful. Although, I must say, I was a little disappointed that Adam picked his bass solo instead of slapping it. The Ocean was great. A lot of ad-libbing by Bono about how great Vancouver is.
The War and Peace Trilogy This continued the incredicle energy buildup of the show. Love and Peace, phenomenal. So much raw, muddy power in that song, and was one of my highlights of the show. Larry was drumming directly in front of me, and he gets so fired up and focused during his drumming, while still managing to exude just this great amount of joy. Near the end, Samurai Bono made his appearance with his headband and took over for Larry, banging that tom like there's no tommorow. That was incredibly cool to see up close. Bono had so much energy and shomanship banging that thing, almost like those crazy japanese taiko drummers. Sunday continued that great energy, with the crowd singing "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" on the top of their lungs.
It also featured something I've wanted to experience more than anything during Sunday, Bloody Sunday, and was incredibly excited when it happened. "NO MORE!, sing, No MORE!" "NO MORE!" "NO MORE!" "I'M SO SICK OF IT!" That's always been my favourite part of SBS live, and was so overjoyed to be a part of it.
The transition into Bullet was also excellent, with that great chord strike while Larry's still drumming SBS, then instanteanously switching to the Bullet beat. Such a phenomenal song live, and it's so neat how it's re-invented for every tour. Vertigo is no exception. With the amazing breakdown. Bono blindfolding himself with the headband. (Although the blindfold was a little crooked, so his pointing didn't match up with the location of the symbols on his head ) ... but it was powerful nonetheless "Jesus, Jew, Muhammad, It's true... Jesus, Jew, Muhammad, it's true" followed by some chanting of "Abraham, father Abraham" or something to that effect. Such a great and powerful message.
After Bullet, Bono went right into Running To Stand Still. I didn't like, however, how he played his guitar during the song. He really played only like 3 or 4 notes, since The Edge was playing the keyboard for the whole song. It's still phenomenal though, with the hallelujas, followed by the smoke, leading up to the Decleration of Human Rights.
After Human Rights, came the biggest surprise of the show for me, which elevated the show to a completely different level.
Bad: The second that backing track intro started playing, I was already starting to scream at the top of my lungs from excitement. The very next thing I thought of, was George Strombolopulous, who metioned on The Hour last week that he would love to be at the show, and for his viewers to shed a tear for him if they play Bad, which is his favourite U2 song. The performance was outstanding. It lasted something like 10 minutes+ with bono bringing up people on stage and everything, it was magical.
Pride was similarly magical, with Bono quoting Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. I never really liked this song live, because it always seemed so, ordinary. Well, not that night, it really was magical, with the "oh oh oh-oh oh's" leading right into yet another goosebump-inducing transition into Streets, with Bono dedicating the song to Africa in such a poetic way, it was great: "From the shores of the river Nile, to the peaks of Mt. Kilamanjaro, AFRICA! AFRICA! AFRICA" there was more, but that's all I can really remember. Such a great song. When the lights all flash on, that's such a definitive moment, amazing.
Right after Streets, One was THE most amazing moment of the show. The song lasted forever, and Bono was so emotional. Starting with flashing Paul Martin's phone number on the screens, and calling him out on Canada's foreign aid. He did also say that he was a good man, and the right man to lead the country. He also pleaded to Canadians and Martin, saying that if we tell him what we we want, and what the world needs, he will listen. Then the song started, and really turned into something else when Bono noticed the sea of ONE/makepoveryhistory T-Shirts in the ellipse. He grabbed one, put one on himself, and brought up to the stage 5 or 6 10-15 year old kids from the crowd also wearing the shirts. Bono just seemed so alive at that moment, again claiming how great and passionate we Canadians are. One of the greatest moments I've ever heard of or witnessed at a U2 concert.
After a great encore, and a great Mysterious Ways, with Bono dancing with a couple of girls, the show closed with 40, which was an amazing end to the whole thing, and everyone singing "HOW LONG, TO SING THIS SONG" well into after the band already left the stage.
Such an amazing show, such an experience, such an amazing band. So powerful. Such a humbling experience.
With all the greatness of night 1, little did I know that night 2, despite not being as powerful and emotional of a show as night 1, would end up just being one of the single most absurdly amazing experiences of my life, and one I could only dream of from watching all of the DVD's from Elevation.
trevster2k said:My original plan for this concert was to not stand in line but go in later during the day. I went to the stadium at 9am to go pickup my ticket for Friday's show and saw the GA line and gave in, I ended up joining the line. After I picked up my ticket, I had to go meet Michael Griffiths, ( you all remember him, he is in Mexico right now w/o regular Internet access which is why he is not posting anymore) to give him his tickets. Afterwards we both went down to the stadium where I spent the next 4 hours.
I left around 430 to go get shirts and souvenirs and spent over $300 bucks on stuff ( not just for me) I had a ticket to the ETS party at Skybar too so I ran over there for a quick beer and watched about 5 songs by Elevation, the tribute band. They were excellent and played Unforgettable Fire, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kill Me, Kiss Me and SYCMIOYO. Many people there were radio contest winners but some had purchased travel packages from another tour company besides ETS. One couple told me they paid $4000 for their package, they showed me their tickets and they were only ok IMO. I ran back to the line after this quick detour.
I met IsabelleGuns, korzckyp and a couple of writers for another U2 fansite. Many of the others around me were from Washington. I found an ellipse buddy to double my chances but we were separated when they split the lines. I had to find another buddy just before we entered the building. The line was organized by a fan named Andrea who did an excellent job. The odd person tried to not follow the order but I think it ran pretty good. When the doors were about to open, the crowd shouted one jerk out of the line when he tried to jump in. Some media were taking pictures of people in the front of the line and I found myself in the background of a picture the next day of a small local paper.
Unfortunately, neither my ellipse buddy, John nor myself got to enter the elliipse. Even if I won, I still hate the whole lottery system. That jerk I mentioned earlier ended up getting in the ellipse.
I found myself about 3-4 people just to the left of the tip of ellipse, kind of in between Edge and Bono. It was great that I was around people I had chatted with in line but it was not so great when the tallest security guy ever stood in front of us when the security appeared. Dumbass management, why put your tallest guy in the front?
My personal highligts:
City of Blinding Lights- What an awesome opener! From my vantage point, the lights were blinding while the band played the growling introduction and then suddenly Bono was right in front of us. Way cool! The crowd was alive right from the start, the oooh,ooohs into the "Oh you look so beautiful tonight" were explosive. I think this is an excellent opening song after seeing it live.
Elevation- I saw Larry and Adam's faces on the screens as the crowd carried the woooohs throughout the arena over and over again. Since I couldn't see the stage much of the time, I had to watch the screens. Both men had huge grins as the Vancouver faithful performed acapella. Excellent twist on a song many have grown to dislike to keep it fresh.
Gloria- I'm fourteen again in my bedroom listening to my Under a Blood Red Sky record. This was one of the best surprises of the night. Bono sounded great during this song.
Miracle Drug- I enjoyed this song especially when Larry and Bono started singing to each other. I liked it better than the cd version.
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own- This was the song I was waiting to hear. I especially love the "Can you hear me when I sing you, you're the reason I sing, you're the reason the opera is in me" verse. Well, lucky me. Bono makes his way to wear I am standing, leans into the crowd and sings that part. What a memorable personal moment for me! Bono works hard to get that verse out and it shows on his face, it was very very cool.
Running to Standstill- I have sang this song so many times while driving in my car and to hear it live was a gift. Thanks guys.
Bad- This song cemented this whole concert for me as being complete. That was great when Bono pulled the young girl on stage and she sat next to Larry for the rest of the song. I love when he does stuff likes that. It lets us feel even more connected to the band then we already do.
One- Bono had some wonderful words for the audience. Acknowledging the One shirts by having the young girls on stage along with that guy was a special moment. I talked to the first young girl with the baseball hat in the hotel lobby that morning asking her where she got her shirt.
Zoo Station- I had a personal moment here with Bono. After he and Edge are singing the Zoo Station chorus to each other, Bono faces the crowd and bends his neck to the right and starts jumping up and down like a marionette. Well, just as he is about to turn his neck, he sees me pumping my hand in the air and as he tilts his head , I pretended to shoot him and he started laughing for a second as he kept jumping across the stage.
Original of the Species- I was really hoping they would play this as it is one of my favorite songs on the CD. It was an excellent performance for a song they are still learning to perform live.
40- The crowd participation was remarkable during this song as we sang until the lights came on. Perfect ending to a perfect night.
I thought this was the better of the two Vancouver shows. There were more spontaneous moments plus they played Bad. Plus Bono was in front of me during some of my favorite moments. The crowd participation was unreal as everyone in the building was standing, clapping, singing and waving their arms. Night 2 did not have the same level of excitement especially when comparing 40, sheesh, everyone stopped singing after Larry left the stage. Although, I had a great seat for night 2, right next to Edge's piano behind the stage. Plus it was cool to see a different perspective of the show especially the teleprompter set up for Bono in case he forgets the lyrics.
I had planned to return to the Skybar to see Elevation perform after the concert. But after not eating nor drinking for over 6 hours, plus the grueling crush of the GA experience, I found myself to be exhausted and my legs were in pain. I went and bought some water and a sub sandwich. When I returned to my hotel room, I promptly passed out without evening eating my food. Ah well, it was worth it.
nice!
can't help but agree on pretty much your whole review
have you posted any of your pictures yet?
Ninja Bunny
Babyface
Thanks for your reviews, guys! You're way better at writing this stuff up than I am!
Bad really was magical. It was the song that made me fall in love with the band way back when so it was a real treat to hear it live. Bono pulling that girl on stage was one of the best moments of the show - when she hugged him, clutching on to his shoulder for dear life, I burst into tears and the way Bono hugged her back without even a hint of condescension or indication he was just tolerating it for the sake of the show - it was warm and genuine and one human caring for another - it made me cry even harder. For that moment she was me or any one of us and Bono was holding on to "us" just as much as "we" were holding on to him. Aw!
It was. After "READ MY HEAD!" he points around the bandana, sings a morph of the "Abraham's sons" line from LPOE and it sounded like he declared "It's all the same!" before the "J/J/M...it's true!" chant. The message I got out of it was "Quit fighting. At the end of the day it all shakes out the same anyway." I'm secular (HI ADAM!) but I loved it. Good message, great moment.
I think he made it to 3 in french, "um..." got stuck for a second and then counted off in spanish.
Brilliant. I can't say it any better than that.
Bad really was magical. It was the song that made me fall in love with the band way back when so it was a real treat to hear it live. Bono pulling that girl on stage was one of the best moments of the show - when she hugged him, clutching on to his shoulder for dear life, I burst into tears and the way Bono hugged her back without even a hint of condescension or indication he was just tolerating it for the sake of the show - it was warm and genuine and one human caring for another - it made me cry even harder. For that moment she was me or any one of us and Bono was holding on to "us" just as much as "we" were holding on to him. Aw!
It was. After "READ MY HEAD!" he points around the bandana, sings a morph of the "Abraham's sons" line from LPOE and it sounded like he declared "It's all the same!" before the "J/J/M...it's true!" chant. The message I got out of it was "Quit fighting. At the end of the day it all shakes out the same anyway." I'm secular (HI ADAM!) but I loved it. Good message, great moment.
I think he made it to 3 in french, "um..." got stuck for a second and then counted off in spanish.
Brilliant. I can't say it any better than that.
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greety
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
funny, I just listened to the beginning of vertigo, and yes he counts in french but the firtst "un" sounds wrong, so he goes ohn, deux, trois...un ...uno, dos , tres etc...
I've heard him count in german also on other gigs, guess he's practicing for europe eh
I've heard him count in german also on other gigs, guess he's practicing for europe eh
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