I think I wrote my original post from 2 months ago in a tongue-in-cheek vein regarding my concern that the Vegas GA crowd would be filled with poseurs who paid $900 for their tickets. In no way was it a criticism of the fine, classy residents of your beloved town.
Sorry you took it the wrong way. I don't post things here to make anyone "feel bad", please. I'll leave that to others.
My point about casino concert crowds remains valid. Because of the high number of comp tickets, casino crowds tend to be more passive than crowds elsewhere. Is this still debated?
I lived in Las Vegas for awhile and attended many different shows there at nearly all the different casinos (I did manage to somehow miss the Celine Dion extravaganza at Caesar's, however, pity that).
Vegas II was great despite the audience. Great setlist, great guests, tiny venue, good sound, band in a great mood. The audience around us were pathetic, however. At least 30 people in our section alone left after 4-5 songs. The rest of them sat most of the time, only getting up during SBS and Streets.
If this show occurred in Montreal or Atlanta or Boston, with their passionate crowds, this competion for 'Best Show' would be over by now.
Why was the crowd around us so passive? Turns out most of the people sitting in our section closest to Adam (ie. great seats) were employees of some bank that does business with the MGM. The ones I spoke with were all comps - nice people, but none of them had much of a clue about U2.
None of them were from Las Vegas, either, so please don't misinterpret this again as an insult to your fellow cohabitants. Local Las Vegans are great partiers, maybe the most fun in the world, and they make great concert goers, as evinced by the excellent crowds one finds at smaller venues like The Joint.
However, due to the nature of the casino business (I used to work in the finance dept of the MGM), rock concerts are not events in and of themselves, but rather they are looked at as means to other ends. Handing out free tickets to favored clients who may or may not be very interested in the show is a common practice which everyone in Vegas knows about.
In addition, big shows in Vegas tend to be filled with out-of-towners looking to spend a night away from the tables, not with fans of the particular acts themselves. I remember the look on Bono's face when he peered out into the quiet, unresponsive crowd during the first PopMart show in '97 at Sam Boyd Stadium... he looked like he was going to cry.
So, please, bonosgirl84, I respect your vigorous defense of your city against perceived slights, but understand that in no way was I criticizing the people of Las Vegas, but rather the system by which casinos hoard many of their best tickets for favored clients.
We had a great time in your town during those three memorable days, and I feel very fortunate to have attended the best US U2 show of the year.
By the way, Vegas 1 was a good show, too.
Let him be a jerk and point out peoples post counts. He's petty and he's continued to show that.
