July 11, 2009 Stade De France, Paris, France

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Sicy

Sizzlin' Sicilian
Staff member
Joined
Jan 15, 2001
Messages
71,089
Location
Bay Area, CA
Please post your pics, reviews and experiences about this show here!
 
I was lucky enough to see this show while on holidays in Europe. I went to the show with a friend, Mark, from Australia who is also a big U2 fan. Both of us had only seen them once before in Adelaide on the Vertigo tour.

We got to the stadium about 4pm, had a few beers outside and U2 were doing a soundcheck at the time. Heard them play Electrical Storm and Elevation, and strangely neither of them were played in the concert.

We lined up and entered soon after they opened the gates, and we managed to get into the "inner sanctum" or whatever you want to call it. However, after walking around the back of the stage so we could get right in front of it, we found that it was already jam packed so we decided to go back out into the general area in front of the stage, but the security wouldn't let us back out of the area? So we just hung back in the empty areas behind the stage.

The Kaiser Chiefs came on and played a great set, they went down well and seemed to have fun with the stage and crowd. They were allowed to use the video screen too.

U2 came on about 9pmish and as I already knew the general setlist it was no surprise to hear Breath first. The first 3 or 4 songs were a bit of a blur for me as my friend and I were constantly running back and forth from right under the video screen to the back of the stadium (for some reason it was quite empty on the floor behind the stage, but packed everywhere else).

We were taking so many photos and videos and I didn't really take in much of the music to start with. But the new songs sounded great, I liked the live version of No Line on the Horizon. Get on your Boots got the crowd going early too.

My personal favourites of the night were Crazy Tonight, Unforgettable Fire, Ultra Violet and probably No Line on the Horizon. I'm more of a fan of the 90's U2 and experimental stuff (love the new album too), so I was hoping they would play something off Pop or at least Electrical Storm. The dance version of Crazy tonight was an absolute highlight, didn't expect it to sound so good, and it really got the crowd going.

Thought Moment of Surrender was pretty good too and it worked ok as the closer, however Breath seems out of place as the opener. I think it would work better once they've warmed up a little, it just seemed a little flat and I think Bono was a little out of time with his lyrics.

Oh yeah, I forgot, I loved Unknown Caller too, just about my favourite off the new album.

The stage was awesome, and it was amazing when the video screen extended downwards.

Hopefully U2 come to Australia down the track, and I think by that stage they will have added a few different songs, perhaps Stand Up Comedy or new material.
 
really reaaly bad experience. The worst security ever, of course no English!! Bad organization ... the worst I have ever experienced
No one speaks english even if you ask it very friendly. U2 was great. I was again in golden Circle. A idiot Frenchman in front of me .. I had to kick him to get more space.
I remember i was disappointed in the setlist due to everything that happened that day before the gates opened.
 
What an experience - I made our whole group LATE to the show by taking the train to the stadium in the wrong direction.
Even worse, I bought tickets twice for this show - once in advance at the first online sale and another pair later which never arrived. After going back and forth with Ticketnet.fr for a few months, they only decide the day of the show that I can get reprints at the stadium. this was the one day I was without a computer and did Paris sight-seeing instead of wasting another $90 on the phone with non helpful customer service.
I was refused a refund as well. I ended up getting tickets on the rear side which were surprisingly good from the MUCH MORE RELIABLE Francebillet.com. They let you order online and then print out at the nearby record stores in Paris.
I have used Ticketnet.fr since 2004 and they usually only take a week to mail to the USA. This time, I'll never use them again.
Here are some great pics from that rainy night:
MadTrip2009320.jpg


MadTrip2009317.jpg


Trying to catch Bono with a really slow camera:

MadTrip2009329.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom