5/17 – Santa Clara, CA – Levi’s Stadium

[Sicy]

Please post your experiences, reviews and pictures here.

 

[stargazer9999]

Santa Clara: GA Entry Time?

Sorry if somebody's already covered this. Is entry time for GA tickets the same as for Reserved seating?

 

[Sicy]

Had a great time at the show! We got in line around 3:30 or so for GA. Everything went very smoothly and was very organized. Once we got in there was plenty of space on the floor and even some rail space in the front to the right. Tree was pretty full. We opted to hang out close to the soundboard. The view from there is excellent. Bono sounded great - with the exception of a mess up at the beginning of WOWY

Pics and I'll upload a couple of videos later.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10156095275329692.1073741883.593664691&type=1&l=8666275ae8

 

[Numb1075]

Pics looked great !! June 28th can't get here fast enough for my show.

 

[RoKKeR]

Had a great time at the show! We got in line around 3:30 or so for GA. Everything went very smoothly and was very organized. Once we got in there was plenty of space on the floor and even some rail space in the front to the right. Tree was pretty full. We opted to hang out close to the soundboard. The view from there is excellent. Bono sounded great - with the exception of a mess up at the beginning of WOWY

Pics and I'll upload a couple of videos later.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10156095275329692.1073741883.593664691&type=1&l=8666275ae8

Nice! Can't wait to see them on Saturday. So the tree fills up pretty quickly? I feel like the best place to watch this show in GA is on the right-ish side of the Tree stage... great view for both sets.

 

[Sicy]

 

[Sicy]

 

[TinKnight]

Most of my problems stems from Red Zone.

Awful energy. I'm not the most lively concert goer, and me singing along was more enthusiasm than most people. The views to the b-stage were pathetic, many obscured by the camera arm. When it wasn't, you only got to see the butts of the band members.

The show itself was good. The screen was amazing. On paper the setlist looks fine, but in real life it comes across a lot more disjointed. Elevation is a fucking blast. I enjoyed the new song, but wish they closed with something more upbeat.

 

[birdman]

The most notable aspect of my gig experience this time around, was that I queued with the guy who carried Bono during Bad in Washington 1992.

I asked him some questions about it, and he showed me some stills that he managed to acquire while he was working at (Tower records?), so they may have been from exclusive footage, but I am not sure; I couldn't pour over the details with him as he was socialising with his wife and friends.

I have been traveling from Sydney to North America, for the Santa Clara and a Chicago gig and I have to say that frankly I'm a little disappointed.

When the band say that they are going to put on a Joshua Tree revised production, yet blatantly ignore the B-sides it makes me frustrated. The screen wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be and although Levi's Stadium is nice to look at from the outside, the interior is ordinary regardless of it being a U2 show.

I can understand why they wouldn't consider setting this up as a full-scale world tour, there just isn't enough substance to it.

But that maybe because I haven't clued in to the intention, this time it's not as obvious as when they are supporting a new album.

All in all, it was an OK concert if the purpose was only to present the band as being the album that made them famous in the 80's. But the significance of it isn't given to you on a silver platter, and the audience is largely left to their own interpretations, opposing their reputation of being an ideas band.

U2 are currently following the modern trend, of making impressions through underselling.


Something else I will mention, is that the mixing was blunt. Adam's bass guitar was too loud, at times. And the negative about re-visiting old songs, is that some of the frequencies and the written arrangements are outdated.

 

[RoKKeR]

Most of my problems stems from Red Zone.

Awful energy. I'm not the most lively concert goer, and me singing along was more enthusiasm than most people. The views to the b-stage were pathetic, many obscured by the camera arm. When it wasn't, you only got to see the butts of the band members.

The show itself was good. The screen was amazing. On paper the setlist looks fine, but in real life it comes across a lot more disjointed. Elevation is a fucking blast. I enjoyed the new song, but wish they closed with something more upbeat.

Hmm, shoot. Have Red Zone for Paris. What's the best possible place to stand in there do you think?

 

[Northside]

Had a great time at the show! We got in line around 3:30 or so for GA. Everything went very smoothly and was very organized. Once we got in there was plenty of space on the floor and even some rail space in the front to the right. Tree was pretty full. We opted to hang out close to the soundboard. The view from there is excellent. Bono sounded great - with the exception of a mess up at the beginning of WOWY

Pics and I'll upload a couple of videos later.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10156095275329692.1073741883.593664691&type=1&l=8666275ae8

I've been toying with hanging out by the soundboard for Chicago 1. Glad to hear it was a good experience! I imagine that's a much less "competitive" area in terms of finding a spot, coming and going, etc.

 

[prbiker15]

I've also been considering standing near the soundboard. Not too far, not too close. Glad you had a great time, Sicy!

 

[RoKKeR]

Near the soundboard is secretly one of the best places to watch a concert from. The sound is incredibly dialed in there and you are usually able to get a good (albeit distant) perspective on the entire spectacle.

 

[birdman]

I'm come through with a WOWY vid, that'll blow your noggins' off shortly.
Watch this space.

 

[brooklynmike]

My wife's view for main stage portion:

 

[birdman]

I've been toying with hanging out by the soundboard for Chicago 1. Glad to hear it was a good experience! I imagine that's a much less "competitive" area in terms of finding a spot, coming and going, etc.

No kidding, I lined up at 8am for non-rail.
I also got to learn the differences between American and Australian humour. For example, American's tend to mistake a fact for the straight man to correct it and add more information, whereas Australian's will state something that's obviously wrong, so that everyone is on the same side as the joke.

 

[birdman]

The one thing I don't see people mentioning, is that it is freakin' painful standing for all that time, on the concrete. So whenever you see tiny shakes that seem silly, its people shifting their foot stance on that hard surface.

 

[TinKnight]

The one thing I don't see people mentioning, is that it is freakin' painful standing for all that time, on the concrete. So whenever you see tiny shakes that seem silly, its people shifting their foot stance on that hard surface.

Absolutely. Especially if you're like 1-2 people behind the rail where there's a lip. My legs and hips still hurt from getting comfortable on that thing.

 

[DeVaul]

My wife's view for main stage portion: View attachment 11233

Oof.

 

[BlackKnight]

Wanted to post my thoughts from the show the other night in Santa Clara.

To preface: Joshua Tree is my favorite U2 album. I've seen them on every tour starting with Popmart (wasn't old enough to go to any of the tours before), and since then have always gotten GA tix, queued up early, and been on the rail for all the shows. Needles to say, I'm a big fan and pretty committed (or as committed as someone with a full time job, a family, and limited funds can be).

The line up: I posted about this on the show specific thread so I won't belabor the point. Got there around 6am, was #250 in line. The self appointed line police actually did a good job, official wristbands were handed out, and the fans were really awesome. Probably the nicest people I've been around, and everyone was very respectful of place in line and taking care of each other.

Once inside: I was on the front rail, right in front of The Edge, and the big ass camera boom. Decent view of the main stage despite it being super tall and relatively far away.

The Show Itself: I feel like I'm gonna get a ton of backlash on this, but the only good thing about the concert was the outstanding visuals and how well choreographed the videos were to the music, or at least for most songs. The one word that comes to mind is 'lazy' (or rushed). The entire thing. The boys looked tired and dazed, had very little stage presence and energy. The Edge still has some pep in his step, but the rest of the band were just not in it to win it. The visuals on some songs were incredible, and with others, it was almost as if the video crew didn't get to finish preparing the bedazzling materials and threw something up just to make use of the screen. For a concert with such an incredible lighting rig, they definitely were not used to their capacity (this coming from a guy who used to do concert lighting and knows what those bad boys can do). A song like Exit deserved majorly badass lighting, and it just fell short (and wtf was with the eenie meenie miney mo thing??) The arrangement on some of the JT songs was not good. They even happened to destroy Ultraviolet, one of my absolute favorite songs, with their terrible arrangement. I'm compassionate to the fact that mistakes happen, but messing up a song like WOWY after 30 years of performing it was really shocking. I get the cool factor of playing the album all the way through, but some songs like MOTD are just not meant to be played live.

I've never seen so many people looking bored enough to actively browse FB/Twitter as I saw at this show...in the front row! There has been a lot of talk on the setlist thread too. I think the show could've used some help. Miss Sarajevo is so lame. I would've rather heard Ordinary Love with videos of random fans singing in the shower.

I hate to admit it, I just think that the stadium thing is too big for U2. The ONLY time I saw the band come alive was when they played the new song, Little Things. That song is incredible. It felt like old U2 and the band was really into it.

I think it's time to go back to basics. The boys should do another arena tour, simple stage, focus on the music, get back to the raw emotion in the songs.

(Putting on my flame retardant suit now. Be nice guys.)

 

[TinKnight]

Wanted to post my thoughts from the show the other night in Santa Clara.

To preface: Joshua Tree is my favorite U2 album. I've seen them on every tour starting with Popmart (wasn't old enough to go to any of the tours before), and since then have always gotten GA tix, queued up early, and been on the rail for all the shows. Needles to say, I'm a big fan and pretty committed (or as committed as someone with a full time job, a family, and limited funds can be).

The line up: I posted about this on the show specific thread so I won't belabor the point. Got there around 6am, was #250 in line. The self appointed line police actually did a good job, official wristbands were handed out, and the fans were really awesome. Probably the nicest people I've been around, and everyone was very respectful of place in line and taking care of each other.

Once inside: I was on the front rail, right in front of The Edge, and the big ass camera boom. Decent view of the main stage despite it being super tall and relatively far away.

The Show Itself: I feel like I'm gonna get a ton of backlash on this, but the only good thing about the concert was the outstanding visuals and how well choreographed the videos were to the music, or at least for most songs. The one word that comes to mind is 'lazy' (or rushed). The entire thing. The boys looked tired and dazed, had very little stage presence and energy. The Edge still has some pep in his step, but the rest of the band were just not in it to win it. The visuals on some songs were incredible, and with others, it was almost as if the video crew didn't get to finish preparing the bedazzling materials and threw something up just to make use of the screen. For a concert with such an incredible lighting rig, they definitely were not used to their capacity (this coming from a guy who used to do concert lighting and knows what those bad boys can do). A song like Exit deserved majorly badass lighting, and it just fell short (and wtf was with the eenie meenie miney mo thing??) The arrangement on some of the JT songs was not good. They even happened to destroy Ultraviolet, one of my absolute favorite songs, with their terrible arrangement. I'm compassionate to the fact that mistakes happen, but messing up a song like WOWY after 30 years of performing it was really shocking. I get the cool factor of playing the album all the way through, but some songs like MOTD are just not meant to be played live.

I've never seen so many people looking bored enough to actively browse FB/Twitter as I saw at this show...in the front row! There has been a lot of talk on the setlist thread too. I think the show could've used some help. Miss Sarajevo is so lame. I would've rather heard Ordinary Love with videos of random fans singing in the shower.

I hate to admit it, I just think that the stadium thing is too big for U2. The ONLY time I saw the band come alive was when they played the new song, Little Things. That song is incredible. It felt like old U2 and the band was really into it.

I think it's time to go back to basics. The boys should do another arena tour, simple stage, focus on the music, get back to the raw emotion in the songs.

(Putting on my flame retardant suit now. Be nice guys.)

I'm not as negative as you are, but I definitely agree with the stadium thing. I was telling my girlfriend that I&E was a completely different experience. It was electric, this felt very sterile.

 

[Sicy]

I've been toying with hanging out by the soundboard for Chicago 1. Glad to hear it was a good experience! I imagine that's a much less "competitive" area in terms of finding a spot, coming and going, etc.

There was plenty of room to dance and just chill. It was perfect.

 

[Sicy]

I agree about stadiums. People around me also looked bored. I much prefer the intimacy of an arena.

 

[birdman]

Here, you can see the teleprompter tracking the song One.
And the smudge to the left, is not my finger thankfully but the brim of a hat.

 

[Edgette]

My wife's view for main stage portion: View attachment 11233

Ugh. I'm very short. This is why I line up early enough to get a spot (hopefully) on the rail.

 

[corianderstem]

That's the nice thing about hanging in back - someone tall in your line of sight? Easy to move and find a new window.

 

[brooklynmike]

Heh. I'm 6'2 and this guy was a full head taller than me.

 

[birdman]

It's the little noises that make my camera audio, give away more like.