2 October, 2010 Estadio Cidade Coimbra PT

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I was in the pit for the first time on this leg for this show, at Adam's side, sorta below where the bridge sits at the start. Must say, it's a terrible place to be for the concert.

Firstly, the sound is horrible. Instead of being repeatedly pulverised by a very tasty, chunky bass-drum thud going "DOOF DOOF DOOF" during the show and hearing the bass melodies clearly, as at other parts of the stadium, at the side of the pit the bass and drums are merged into a continuous, indistinct blobby rumble, sorta like tumbling down a mountain in a blancmange avalanche. Edge's melodies were slightly more discernible but not completely, although Bono's vocals were very clear.

Secondly, the view is crap. It's almost an Adam-only show. Bono's head and shoulders could be seen from behind when he was out front centre, Edge occasionally popped past, Larry was only to be seen at the end of his little djemba amble during Crazy Tonight. However, you are very close to Adam, close enough to get personal nods and smiles, and Bono came out east occasionally to be up close. And you can't see the screen unless you strain your neck to look almost vertically upwards. So Bono's miming of the "All of this, all of this can be yours" part of Vertigo is completely missed, and then he sings "HURT!" out of the blue, which just seems weird. Finally, I'd met the girl who was brought onstage a few times in Seville and Coimbra, but I couldn't see her on the stage cos she was on the other bridge, nor on the screen cos of the space station footage, which was bloody annoying.

So crap sound and not too much to look at. And the atmosphere in that part of the pit was fairly flat unless a band member was nearby.

So why did I enjoy the show so much? Partly because I did like the Adam and Bono factor. Partly because the atmosphere in the stadium was excellent. But mostly because I was with a couple of mates who decided to try for that spot and it was good to have space and people to bop with.

North Star was a highlight for me. The Seville show was the first one where I thought I finally "clicked" with the song. At Coimbra 1 there was another solid performance, but this time to a beautiful, spontaneous backdrop of most the stadium using these little white LED lights that a radio station had been doling out during the day. Bono called for Willie to turn out the stage lights and it was very nice to have the Milky Way effect to a song about stars.

Other random observations:

- a lot of the crowd also held up signs saying 1 during One. I guess it was organised by the U2Portugal.com fans

- I don't really like the Berlin trabant video footage (crane that neck!) that is now being used during One. It detracts from the power of the song I reckon, and trivialises it.

- I do like the Joshua Tree desert video footage during Streets though, weird eh?

- it was funny to see the laughter of some of the stage crew to the band members' responses to Bono's question about what uni courses they would have done before ISHFWILF

- I'm sure I saw a sign which said "Adam rape me" which must get credit for being one of THE most inappropriate, offensive signs ever

- Interpol are not a great support act for a stadium gig. I've seen them four or five times now, and I really like some of their songs. But their anti-clap songs managed to defeat an up-for-it, Saturday night Portuguese crowd. The crowd wanted to clap and cheer, and they tried many times, but the songs eventually wore down their enthusiasm.
 
I was about to write the same thing :lol:

Anyway. I was there, In the middle of the pitch. I couldn't see the stage unless I jumped, which... welll, I did a LOT. Apart from that it was an incredible show.

The sound seemed to be too DAMN HIGH during the first 3 songs. And, I swear, I thought Larry made a lot of mistakes...

Edge really was on-fire, and more than ever I realized how special he is. What an incredible talent he has.
Bono was his usual self like Adam.

When Streets started, I almost cried because I thought "Unbelievable. Trully remarkable.. Maybe they can't make punk rock from Venus but they surely came from outerspace..."

I am incredibly honoured to be "touched" by them. They trully are on of a kind

After that, there's nothing more to say because the show was unbelievable. The crowd, which impelled them to make a fantastic performance, was amazing. Never saw portuguese people going nuts like that.

My girlfriend, which by the way is not a fan like I am, sang and jumped a lot more than I... Weird, ein?

At the end of the show everyone around me seemed in peace and fullfilled, like a true moment of beauty and happiness.

One final note to the organizers, because it was my first concert where I didn't had troubles finding a place to park my car and the traffic was perfect given the circunstances.

Thank U2, for the best night of my life :up:
 
After Wembley 1 last year, Zurich 1 and 2, I must admit that Coimbra was the hottest of all 4! Great crowd, best voice in a long time, great setlist as well. Anyway, I was on Adam's side for the 3rd time in a row (yes I like that spot). Just right under the bridge when Bono goes nuts at the end of UTEOTW, I love it.
I won't tell much about the concert itself, but more about a very unexpected meeting.... In fact, we stayed in a Bed & Breakfast place around 30 minutes from Coimbra and the next morning after breakfast, a quite old couple arrived and started discussing with my girlfriend. I was playing pool with my brother in law next door when I heard the lady said "yes we meet Bono and U2 in 1 hour for lunch"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I totally ran to the door and asked her to repeat what she just said....thing that she confirmed right away. Holy s... yes I felt like I had Bono in front of me:lol:
After a few minutes I finally manage to ask her diplomatically for which reason she could eat with U2 in 50 minutes.... She told me that her late brother was Aung San Suu Kyi 's husband and that's how she was related to Bono, that Bono and U2 were very nice guys that she has known for years and that she was excited about the concert (her first U2 concert). She also told us that she and her husband will be on stage during Walk on and that they were freaking out:D
Such a nice irish couple. I could ask her 400 question a minute but was quite paralysed. I don't even know where they had dinner:reject:
It was such a great morning, felt a bit in the U2 world at that very moment...
 
5062164549_0a1fc0598e_b.jpg

This won't be the last time I sneak my camera into a gig :D
 
I was there! It was my first U2 concert! :love:

I was the first one arriving to the venue, 3 days earlier (yeah, call me crazy :hyper:) and it was amazing! All the staff and security guys messing with me 'cause of that!
I organized one of the queues so I met a lot of great people! People from all over the world, some of them are following U2 since Rattle and Hum! It was like a little family in those days and I still talk with some of them!
I’ve photographed the Claw, from the inside of the stadium, 2 days before THE night! I’ve seen the lights check and heard the sound check too!
As for the show, I was in the inner circle, 2nd row, between Bono and Adam (Adam even smiled for me, once :cute: )…

Well, I can only tell you one thing: Best Night of My Life! :heart:
It really is a life-changing experience!
 
Hi

This is my first post, and my goal with this message is show a photo taken by me during the Concert at Coimbra from a aircraft.

I showed the image to my friends that saw the tour and they said that is nice to show to the people that was on Estadio Cidade de Coimbra.

1883542.jpg

Click here to see at 1024px.

regds
João Toste
 
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