May 15th, 2015 Vancouver, BC, Rogers Arena

[Sicy]

Please post your pictures, experiences and stories about this show here.

 

[GopherMacPhisto]

Thoughts on Round 2, starting with the minor things:

-Bullet/Hands/Pride is way to jarring of a transition. RTSS would be great to get the tone back up to where it needs to be for Pride. Furthermore, the Paul Simon/AIDS transition into Streets isn't working either. Crowd not nearly as ballistic for Streets as I've seen at other shows.

-The things I miss when I don't have data: Didn't see the spoiler on U2s FB page about the Lovetown sequence being streamed. This explains why we were late going in and late starting.

And the good:

-Now THIS is the band we all know and love. Tentative replaced with aggressive. Tonight's second set is why Thursday's second set stunk. They were slow rolling the release.

-Sound was 1000 times better tonight than last night. Joe earned his paycheck tonight.

-Having the growing-up narrative helps the new material flow together very well. And have I mentioned yet how awesome the new stuff sounds?

-Word gets around fast. The show basically makes lining up irrelevant. Reportedly, when the GAv line was brought up to Door 3, it didn't get to the bottom of the stairs.

-Moving back to the benches/penalty boxes was an excellent decision. In addition to being able to move around at one's convenience, you're able to soak in all the visuals on the screen.

-No comments on here yet about the re-shot/CGId footage of Joshua trees?

-I can't speak for the other end of the arena, but everyone around the E stage was rocking out to and belting out AoH and Love Comes To Town. Awesome doesn't begin to describe the Lovetown sequence.

-Bad. Unbelievable. Like Lovetown, everyone around me completely lost it when the sequencer started. Texting with a friend that lives in eastern Canada and was following along on the various live streams, we simultaneously sent texts consisting of an indecipherable string of letters.

-The New arrangement of One was actually worth listening to.

-Very classy of Bono to specifically thank the many fans who had traveled great distances to be with the band at the last two shows.

-Shameless plug for the YWCA Hotel. Basic, but clean, well kept, and unbeatable on price and location.

A great time here in Vancouver.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[mr_perfect]

much better show than night 1. setlist changes were better and the crowd energy was unreal which in turn i think made the band more comfortable.

heres video from the upperbowl of cedarwood road and song for someone:

http://youtu.be/EVaRnA84vMA

 

[corianderstem]

-Bullet/Hands/Pride is way to jarring of a transition. RTSS would be great to get the tone back up to where it needs to be for Pride. Furthermore, the Paul Simon/AIDS transition into Streets isn't working either. Crowd not nearly as ballistic for Streets as I've seen at other shows.

Totally disagree on all these points.

That show was effing FUN. If this is the last U2 concert I ever see, I went out on a great one.

 

[2Shotz]

U2 played for pretty much two hours exactly. The new material translated live with high marks -lots of energy and crowd pops -particularly with RBW, CWR, and Miracle. High marks for an amazing and eye bending video presentation -so much for a minimalistic approach.

Angel of Harlem, Love Comes to Town -incredible- crowd and band were dialled in and there was lift off. Bad -amazing but a bit condensed in terms of arrangement and running time. WOWY sounded great- Bono even managed to make himself sound interested in singing it again.

Edge was on top of the night musically, showing no ill effect from his stage drop the previous night. Adam had a fat bass tone that was rattling my sternum and Larry was playing with lots of fire. Bono ever the ring leader guided the crowd and band with a steady, confident hand. Most important -the band played like they meant it -a few musical mishaps (botched endings -after all these years U2 still can't end their own songs? Lol. A few flubbed notes, tempo fluctuation, and Bono not always making his range) -BUT this is a good thing as the result felt genuine and there was a sincere musical energy. They managed to not sound stale. They threw the songs out there, sometimes in a curious musical counterpart to the intensely slick accompanying video.

Overall -got to give this show an A. No doubt they'll hit an A+ after a few more runs. The show was full of energy and the crowd and the band, after all of these years, still demonstrated the desire to make that connection. Only been to maybe seven U2 shows since '97, but this might be the best -certainly the band sounds more inspired than the two shows I attended during the 360 tour.

 

[littleheartsuitcase]

Thanks for all your reactions guys! Love reading them! I sure hope they keep the Lovetown bit in for a while longer!

 

[birdman]

Bad -amazing but a bit condensed in terms of arrangement and running time.

This is 2015; Bad was great.

 

[2Shotz]

This is 2015; Bad was great.

Agreed. Just wanted more!

 

[^^Prop^^]

Still working on processing the rest of my photos now that I'm home... here's a video that just finished uploading in the meantime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjAZV-Fw2zE

 

[nightninja56]

Gonna try to up my poorly shot vids soon. Was pretty high up but managed a couple solid shots.

Due to ticketmaster being spawned from MacPhisto himself, we ended up in 315 last night. Literally directly in line with the huge screen so didn't see it once. The screen on that side meant for those of us in the shit seats flickered and/or went out for at least 40% of the show. Very irritating, as the seats were bad enough as it is

That said, still an amazing show and being able to see the E stage clearly was the biggest upside. Audio was a delight as well.

Overall very happy with it, and will definitely fight tooth and nail for GA if they come to Seattle or Portland next year. Was GA for 360 in Dallas and it was unbelievable--I want to see this show like that too!


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[Roland of Gilead]

I posted some pics up on my twitter @SirEdwardGrey today. These shows are a total #railkiller and the pics prove it. I was in at 7pm 1st night and 7:20ish 2nd night. If anything, I was a little early. I was a Northside GAer both nights. I stayed at RZ entrance for 1st half, then moved towards the centre ice faceoff circle for the 2nd half. I was so impressed by my location that I repeated it both nights.
The new songs were great live. I expected them to be, but they were even better than
I imagined. While the 2nd night was better in all accounts (sound and setlist), Troubles (extended solo!!!) and OOC (my 1st time witnessing!) were gems from the opener that I'll never forget. Make sure you can watch the screen during UTEOTW. It was the absolute best use of it. What a mindfuck to see Godsized Bono licking and spitting on little Edge.
-The Lovetown set was masterfully done. And the screen glitches were better corrected for this part.
-Bad with MOS snippet made my entire 2 night experience. I lost it. No tears or anything like that, but I was like a fish out of water. Swaying, arms raised, jumping at parts, and singing most of it. Old schooler U2 junkie gone to heaven for 5 1/2 minutes. Literally.
-I have no setlist complaints. I just wanted more of the new material. Reach and Crystal Ballroom were two that I was hoping for, but rehearsal night setlists checking made it clear to me that it wasn't on the cards. Maybe for another leg. Cedarwood Road grew the most for me in terms of appreciation. That visual/audio experience has bumped it up for me and now I'm really into the studio take. The same thing happened with Breathe for me on the last tour.
-The merch didn't impress me much, but I tend to have no willpower for buying tour crap once I'm within 20 feet of a merch stand. The plan was to get the program and possibly a cap with the tattoo logo on it. That was supposed to be it. Well, I got those two items. Plus, a shirt once I saw that it was edun cotton and touched it. Sooo soft! Then I grabbed the black water bottle for no reason at all other than seeing the yellow ie on shiny black. I don't even use these damn things!

I'm dying to know what is in the plans for 2016. I have to get back to this.

 

[corianderstem]

If anyone is interested, here's the review I wrote for the Seattle publication I write for. A little more balanced than the kind of review I'd post here (i.e., less squeeing), but wanted to share.

U2 – Innocence + Experience in Vancouver - SMI (Seattle Music Insider)

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Thanks for the link! Well done.

I should add: I was always going to see both shows no matter what, but I'm glad that One and City were relegated to a single night showings. I'm still shocked that they did that, but good for them to ensure that SOI got plenty of rep. Also, I was equally shocked that Elevation was entirely dropped. And it wasn't replaced with Volcano either. I would of thought either of those would of made an appearance on one night at least. Not being a big fan of either, I was fine with that choice.

 

[Jeannieco]

If anyone is interested, here's the review I wrote for the Seattle publication I write for. A little more balanced than the kind of review I'd post here (i.e., less squeeing), but wanted to share.

U2 – Innocence + Experience in Vancouver - SMI (Seattle Music Insider)

Great review Alicia! Enjoyed it. You are a good writer!

 

[corianderstem]

Thanks, guys.

 

[innominata8]

great concert review...i really enjoyed it! btw - i'm pretty sure I had the same K-tel record as a kid; was 'king of pain' by the police on it?

 

[Hallucination]

Thoughts on Round 2, starting with the minor things:

-Bullet/Hands/Pride is way to jarring of a transition. RTSS would be great to get the tone back up to where it needs to be for Pride. Furthermore, the Paul Simon/AIDS transition into Streets isn't working either. Crowd not nearly as ballistic for Streets as I've seen at other shows.

I disagree completely about the transition from BUllet/Hands to Pride. In fact I think it should be even more jaring and Pride should come in quicker and more crisp.

I do agree with the whole set up to Streets. I really don't like the speech before Streets. It loses the magic. I know and understand why Bono is doing it but pick a different song to talk before. The intro to Streets is magical and should not be preceeded by a speech about anything. It should transition seemlessly from the song before it.

And the good:

-Now THIS is the band we all know and love. Tentative replaced with aggressive. Tonight's second set is why Thursday's second set stunk. They were slow rolling the release.

I honestly don't know what you mean about the second set stinking on the Thursday. It was anything but a stinkfest. Friday night's was better but that doesn't mean Thursday night's sucked. It wold be like saying because Thursday nights opening was better that Friday nights opening stunk. Not the case at all

-Sound was 1000 times better tonight than last night. Joe earned his paycheck tonight.

Yup. As good as the sound was Thursday night Friday's was even better. This is easily the best sounding arena show I have ever been to.

-Having the growing-up narrative helps the new material flow together very well. And have I mentioned yet how awesome the new stuff sounds?

Agreed. The set up is perfect and allows those unfamiliar with the songs to appreciate them more. Someone said in another thread that Iris doesn't need the set up or explanation as to what it's about. They could not be more wrong. THAT is a perfect time in the show for Bono to first address the crowd and give some insight to the next song. And YES the new songs sound incredible live.

-Word gets around fast. The show basically makes lining up irrelevant. Reportedly, when the GAv line was brought up to Door 3, it didn't get to the bottom of the stairs.

I was shocked by this. I could not believe how small the GA line was on Friday compared to Thursday. Lke you said obviously word travels fast.

-Moving back to the benches/penalty boxes was an excellent decision. In addition to being able to move around at one's convenience, you're able to soak in all the visuals on the screen./QUOTE]
I'm torn between doing this or trying to gain a rail spot in Montreal. After the two shows in vancouver I'm starting to think the more enjoyable way to enjoy the show would be to show up when the doors open, chill out and just do like you say. hang out by the benches/penaty boxes. There really is NO bad spot on the floor.

-No comments on here yet about the re-shot/CGId footage of Joshua trees?

It's kinda taken the place fo the Achtung baby. The crowd reacts positively to the image of the Joshua Tree. It's kinda cool.

-I can't speak for the other end of the arena, but everyone around the E stage was rocking out to and belting out AoH and Love Comes To Town. Awesome doesn't begin to describe the Lovetown sequence.

I was in section 117 and the entire section was loving it. It was the best part of the show by far in my opinion. Pure energy and the entire building seemed to love it.

-Bad. Unbelievable. Like Lovetown, everyone around me completely lost it when the sequencer started. Texting with a friend that lives in eastern Canada and was following along on the various live streams, we simultaneously sent texts consisting of an indecipherable string of letters.

haha yeah it was amazing for sure. Unlike you though I didn't go to my phone.

-The New arrangement of One was actually worth listening to.

And it's a much better closing song than ISHFWILF from the night before.

-Very classy of Bono to specifically thank the many fans who had traveled great distances to be with the band at the last two shows.

I felt as though he was thanking me personally haha

My only "complaint" with night 2 in Vancouver was that I didn't feel California fit very well in the set. It just seemed out of place between Vertigo and I Will Follow. It would work better later on somewhere. Maybe after With or Without You or something.

 

[Hallucination]

I didn't take pictures at all on night 2 but I took this one on night 1. The video screen is amazing. I was zoomed out as far as I could to try and fit it all in. This was durring Pride I think.