Drugs at U2 shows?

[elviscostrummer]

This might be sort of a taboo question for the forum but I'm surprised it's never been discussed before. Has anyone on this board ever attended a U2 show under the influence of drugs, and if so how would you compare it to seeing them sober? On my 20th birthday I saw my first of 6 Elevation shows on acid and I must say that while it was a fun state to be in while at a U2 show my memory of that particular concert is a little blurry. I have drank at shows before as well which can also be fun but just makes the show feel like it's over in 10 minutes. I've personally come to find that I can take in the show best while being sober. My take on it is that for a fan as big as myself, seeing U2 is a drug on it's own and doing anything else just distracts from the taking in the whole concert. I am not in any way condoning the use of drugs, just merely sharing my experience and asking what you guys think. -Adam

 

[ramblin rose]

Save the acid for The Dead.

 

[one4u2]

 

[corianderstem]

It's been discussed a couple of times, at least once with bickering results.

 

[ruffian]

i can say that i really hate standing near drunk fans at shows. they spill beer and seem more focused on getting wasted than on enjoying the show. a guy smoking weed behind me in san diego at the opener caught my hair on fire.

 

[elviscostrummer]

I hate The Dead

 

[ramblin rose]

I hate The Dead

Have you tried them on acid.

 

[one4u2]

Have you tried them on acid.

 

[elviscostrummer]

When I was 13 a friend of my sister's took my to see the Grateful Dead and it was one of the worst concerts I've ever seen, not like when my sister took me to see Zoo TV when I was 11, that ruled!

 

[HelloAngel]

This thread doesn't need to be closed at present - it isn't breaking forum rules that I know of.

As for me, no, I haven't seen U2 while on drugs. I don't get messed up at concerts - they're too expensive to not enjoy sober! (And plus, I never know what my reactions will be while in an altered state.)

 

[financeguy]

Pretty rude actually.

 

[nurse chrissi]

As for me, no, I haven't seen U2 while on drugs. I don't get messed up at concerts - they're too expensive to not enjoy sober! (And plus, I never know what my reactions will be while in an altered state.)

although I was next to a couple at the Coldplay show that smoked weed throughout the show and the wind was blowing my direction- the lights seemed really amazing after a while

 

[ramblin rose]

although I was next to a couple at the Coldplay show that smoked weed throughout the show and the wind was blowing my direction- the lights seemed really amazing after a while

I sat next to a guy in Barcelona that smoked more than 10 joints during the show. I had to run to a restaurant after the show.

 

[Gen. Chat]

I have a one-beer rule for any show. It’s enough to get a little feel good buzz at the beginning without getting sloppy, incoherent, and it keeps me out of the bathroom during the show. What’s the point of flying half way round the country and spending a fortune to not remember a show or spend most of your time in the bathroom or on a beer run? Besides drugs (mostly) are yucky.

 

[kellyahern]

i can say that i really hate standing near drunk fans at shows. they spill beer and seem more focused on getting wasted than on enjoying the show. a guy smoking weed behind me in san diego at the opener caught my hair on fire.

A drunk lady almost spilled beer on my brand new Fossil purse. If she had, I would not have been amused

Instead she decided to hug the usher who told her to get out of the aisle and back to her seat. The usher was not amused.

 

[rock888nwo]

Boston III this tour I was drunk...i had a fun time that night, but really regret it as the concert seemed to go by so fast and i cant remember it that much...i wont do it again and really wouldnt recommend it...U2 are too damn awesome

 

[Chizip]

i cant believe nobody has made a miracle drug or pitnol joke yet. i would, but its just too obvious.

 

[elviscostrummer]

Rock concerts are generally not a very a wholesome affair,it can argued that if there is ever an appropriate time to cut loose and party it's at a rock show. I don't regret my experience of seeing U2 in an altered state, if anything it added a new perspective to seeing them sober, which is really why I brought it up in the first place, to compare and contrast. I also don't think it's fair to lump all people who get inibriated at shows in with the idiots who get drunk and obnoxious, there are idiots at every large public event, even the Democratic Nation Convention had people getting sloshed on beer on making fools of themselves. Again I stress that I don't condone or recommend using drugs, I just think it's interesting because drugs have both positive and negative effects on the world we live in, it's important to keep in mind that it is widely known that members of U2 have indulged in smoking pot, this might have effected the music that they made. -Adam

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

I don't understand how someone can watch a show on acid. I mean what's the point of paying for an expensive ticket, go to the show and then don't remember most of the things that happened? It doesn't really make sense for me.

I have watched a few shows completely drunk and I can't remember a thing of what happened and it felt like it was over just as it started. It was really fun actually but I did that in the shows where I got in for free and didn't care for whoever was playing.

 

[HelloAngel]

Rock concerts are generally not a very a wholesome affair,it can argued that if there is ever an appropriate time to cut loose and party it's at a rock show.

Perhaps - but that is more festival/pop/hiphop/Motley Crue-ish concert behavior. The "wholesomeness" at a show is a show-by-show assessment. Too many people go to rock shows, assume they're supposed to drink too much beer, and then assume just b/c a harder-edged song comes on, they have to mosh.

Now, I love to slam, and I certainly put on my knee-high steel toe boots on occassion, but each concert is circumstantial. U2 is a celebratory event no matter what, and so I celebrate in a joyful way, and not a dudes!!! way.

I cut loose, dance and party my ass off at shows, I just chose not to do it while messed up - I reserve that sort of thing for when I go club-hopping or play poker. But we all know our own limits of intake, so there's no wrong answer here.

 

[one4u2]

Pretty rude actually.

I really think you take things way tooo seriously

 

[one4u2]

I sat next to a guy in Barcelona that smoked more than 10 joints during the show. I had to run to a restaurant after the show.

 

[corianderstem]

I don't drink before or during a show because my teeny bladder would punish me by making me make a bathroom run every 10 minutes.

I don't smoke pot before or during a concert because I never know what my reaction will be to it. I might get all giggly, but I might get all freaked out.

I'd rather be in the moment and experience the concert just as I am. But that's just me.

 

[RademR]

confession: i smoked weed at my first u2 concert. i was offered it by the group in front of us and i said "what the hell?" didn't effect my concert experience but I wouldnt do it again.

I drank at every u2 show this year but I never got hammered, what's the use of "paying out your hard earned cash on a rock show" if you don't remember it the next morning?

 

[ruffian]

I sat next to a guy in Barcelona that smoked more than 10 joints during the show. I had to run to a restaurant after the show.

*falls off chair laughing*

 

[redkat]

I say it's a bad idea for any band you really love. A beer would be fine but acid to spend all that money then feel "removed" from the show depending on your trip seems like a huge waste to me.

 

[u2wedge]

i bet the light curtains are pretty trippy under the right conditions...

But seriously, I find it pretty interesting that the crowds have been pretty 'straight edge' with the exception of the random beer drinker. I like to think it's because the fans are generally older, etc. I'm all for a couple beers at a show, but to be honest, my best experience ever was GA just bouncing off the walls with the rest of my fellow ellipsers. No need for mind altering substances down there...

 

[Chuckver]

At the second Detroit show the couple next to us smoked pot and were drinking. The lady got sick three different time. We were first row second level, the third time she vomited over the glass partition on to the crowd below!!! They left not even half way through the concert. Why pay all that money and not even rember the show??

 

[Westport]

Before a couple of the Zoo TV and Elevation shows I was with friends and we got pretty stoned in the car before the show. For me, music on pot can be a good thing. I find myself listening on a whole different level...really focusing on Edge's guitar or Adam's bass lines or the light show. Whoa dude.

 

[HelloAngel]

I'd smoke pot before a U2 show, most definitely. I just never have the hookup