April 6, Staples Center in Los Angeles

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Just got home from the Staples center - it was just incredibly awesome. U2 let everyone bring in camera - so it was a major photo fest. I had a GA ticket and by getting there at about 4:15 was #176 in line.

The Edge is the man - he just railed on the music tonight - just incredible.... LA crowd was great - including the portion where Bono asked them us to light up the night with our cell phones. He did a nice tribute to Pope John Paul II - and shared the story about the time he met JPII, gave him a pair of shades, and then the Pope gave him a rosary - which he still carries and pulled out on stage. It was a very touching and fitting tribute to one of the greatest leaders of our time.

Don't miss U2 on this tour - they are better than ever!
 
Also - here's the setlist they played....

City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Elevation
Cry / Electric Co.
The Ocean
New Year’s Day
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own
Love and Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running to Standstill
Zoo Station
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Pride in the name of love
Where the Streets Have No Name
One
All Because of You
Yahweh
‘40’

Based on the other reviews of concerts so far - it looks like they are really starting to hit their groove on the set lists....a great mix of the old and the new, and they've removed some of the songs that didn't work well in the first few shows.
 
Just got home, and am still buzzing. This was a "Whew!" show for me because I went to San Diego 1 and Anaheim 1 and was only midly impressed with San Diego and downright disappointed with Anaheim. Frankly, I was wondering if U2 had slipped. Oops! Tonight was one I'll never forget. Just energy from start to finish. Bono was so playful, so confident, so happy to be there.

Interesting note: During "Kings Of Leon's" set, the front guy mentioned to the crowd: "Don't mind us tonight. We're having a great time. The sound sucked last night, and tonight it's just perfect." I had a revelation: maybe it's better to go on second nights. Whatever sound glitches go on in a new arena are cleaned up and things are a go on night two. I think I'll try this in the future. Night two's only for me. Whatever the case, U2 sounded amazing, the band was nailing every song (especially Miracle Drug/SYCMIOYO) and they seemed to really feed off the crowd's energy tonight.

What a night! U2 on a night like this show they are pure magic.
 
gabeac said:
Just got home, and am still buzzing. This was a "Whew!" show for me because I went to San Diego 1 and Anaheim 1 and was only midly impressed with San Diego and downright disappointed with Anaheim. Frankly, I was wondering if U2 had slipped. Oops! Tonight was one I'll never forget. Just energy from start to finish. Bono was so playful, so confident, so happy to be there.

Interesting note: During "Kings Of Leon's" set, the front guy mentioned to the crowd: "Don't mind us tonight. We're having a great time. The sound sucked last night, and tonight it's just perfect." I had a revelation: maybe it's better to go on second nights. Whatever sound glitches go on in a new arena are cleaned up and things are a go on night two. I think I'll try this in the future. Night two's only for me. Whatever the case, U2 sounded amazing, the band was nailing every song (especially Miracle Drug/SYCMIOYO) and they seemed to really feed off the crowd's energy tonight.

What a night! U2 on a night like this show they are pure magic.

So the consensus seems to be that the most lackluster show was Anaheim 1, The only one I could get tickets for. Damn. Also the only show where NONE of Boy was performed. Coincidence?
 
I went to Staples 4/5 and tonight, and IMO, tonight blew 4/5 away. Especially the sound--last night on most of the newer songs, Bono vocals were drowned out by the band-tonight was much better and the vocal mixing was more balanced. I still wish they would play Bad, and the Running version is terrible--it doesn't really build to a climax the way it used to--it just kind of fizzles out. The Ocean was cool but really put the crowd to sleep IMO. I thought the show was very good, but still not great. ABOY does not work at the end of the show--better to play it towards the beginning of the show and have WOWY or Walk ON in its place before Yahweh and 40. IMO, the show really misses UTEOTW and really desperately misses Bad. The setlist still doesn't work for me, but it was a very good show tonight, and far better than 4/5.
 
Holy shit. What a great show. Easily the best of the 3 shows I've seen so far and I'd bet that tonight was the best of the 6 so far played.

First off, I must be the luckiest guy on the planet as I again got my GA ticket scanned to get into the Ellipse. This makes it 2 out of 3 shows I got into the Ellipse.

As I went alone tonight, the chick manning the laptop was asking me "who is with you?" and I just kinda looked around and these two women behind me in line were saying "take her, she's our sister and this is her first concert" and this young girl in the early 20's was completely blown away when I asked them to stick a pit wristband on her. her face was just priceless and it took a minute for it to sink in that she'd be seeing the show from basically right in front of the stage. She followed me down to get in the Ellipse and the first thing she sees is John Cusack(sp?) cruise by her to exit the Ellipse area. It was funny watching her get all star struck and pretty much through the entire show she was just elated nearly to the point of tears to be about 10 feet from the band.

High points included just a really strong performance from the band on every song, significantly up a notch from the other shows I've seen so far. By the end of a blistering version of "Out of Control" and the first performance of the rather mellow tune "The Ocean" off the "Boy" album in probably 23 years, you could see in their expressions that they knew they were really in the pocket tonight.

They opened with "City of Blinding Lights" again and it worked better than the other times it's been the opening tune. The only time the show kind of lost some momentum was during the Miracle Drug / Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own duo, mostly because I could see scores of people in the loge seats making beer runs at that point. Otherwise, it's notable that the Staples audience was really into the show far more than at least The Pond audience was on 4/2.

I very much prefer the trio of "dark" songs in a row, "Love and Peace or Else," "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" instead of them being broken up when LaPoE opens the show.

One really funny moment occurred during "Mysterious Ways" when Bono first brought up a young Vietnamese woman who he kind of hugged while singing the tune from the catwalk and than another girl who looked like a stripper complete with giant fake tits somehow got up on stage and did a whole act as if she was trying to seduce Bono away from the other woman. As the band was watching and playing the song from the main stage, they were just busting up as the stripper chick was literally crawling on her hands and knees towards Bono who you could hear saying "you're BAD!" who actually ran halfway around the back of the catwalk to get away from her.

There were a couple minor flubs, Larry screwing up the outro to Sunday Bloody Sunday (he was laughing really hard about it) and Bono blowing the beginning of Yaweh. But what's a U2 show without a few gaffs. The point is, the band looked like they were having a really good time being onstage tonight and they *knew* they were playing well.

My only complaint is that I was really hoping to hear "Gloria" tonight and if I did, it probably would have made this top 2 or 3 of any of the nearly 20 U2 shows I've seen since 1981. Hearing them play and nail "The Ocean" even though it could almost be considered a near-instrumental filler tune on the album it's from was a decent substitute though.

It's getting clear that they are starting to lock down a somewhat rigid set and unfortunately, only a couple spots seem to exist for swapping in and out songs on multi-night stands. I imagine the long stands such as those in Boston and Chicago will see some major surprises but the pattern for two night stands has been set this week.

After the last two shows, I'm kinda spoiled seeing the band in the Ellipse right on the rail in front of the stage. For the 3rd leg, i have great seast off the side of the stage so no more pit for me.

At any rate, what a great bunch of shows.

T.B.
 
LA 4/6 Uber-Review

Holy shit. What a great show. Easily the best of the 3 shows I've seen so far and I'd bet that tonight was the best of the 6 so far played.

First off, I must be the luckiest guy on the planet as I again got my GA ticket scanned to get into the Ellipse. This makes it 2 out of 3 shows I got into the Ellipse.

As I went alone tonight, the chick manning the laptop was asking me "who is with you?" and I just kinda looked around and these two women behind me in line were saying "take her, she's our sister and this is her first concert" and this young girl in the early 20's was completely blown away when I asked them to stick a pit wristband on her. her face was just priceless and it took a minute for it to sink in that she'd be seeing the show from basically right in front of the stage. She followed me down to get in the Ellipse and the first thing she sees is John Cusack(sp?) cruise by her to exit the Ellipse area. It was funny watching her get all star struck and pretty much through the entire show she was just elated nearly to the point of tears to be about 10 feet from the band.

High points included just a really strong performance from the band on every song, significantly up a notch from the other shows I've seen so far. By the end of a blistering version of "Out of Control" and the first performance of the rather mellow tune "The Ocean" off the "Boy" album in probably 23 years, you could see in their expressions that they knew they were really in the pocket tonight.

They opened with "City of Blinding Lights" again and it worked better than the other times it's been the opening tune. The only time the show kind of lost some momentum was during the Miracle Drug / Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own duo, mostly because I could see scores of people in the loge seats making beer runs at that point. Otherwise, it's notable that the Staples audience was really into the show far more than at least The Pond audience was on 4/2.

I very much prefer the trio of "dark" songs in a row, "Love and Peace or Else," "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bullet the Blue Sky" instead of them being broken up when LaPoE opens the show.

One really funny moment occurred during "Mysterious Ways" when Bono first brought up a young Vietnamese woman who he kind of hugged while singing the tune from the catwalk and than another girl who looked like a stripper complete with giant fake tits somehow got up on stage and did a whole act as if she was trying to seduce Bono away from the other woman. As the band was watching and playing the song from the main stage, they were just busting up as the stripper chick was literally crawling on her hands and knees towards Bono who you could hear saying "you're BAD!" who actually ran halfway around the back of the catwalk to get away from her.

Bono was kind of improvising through "One" near the end of the show occasionally directing Willy Williams at the desk to kill spotlights or all the houselighst and at the end of the song, Bono ad-libbed a bit of "Unchained Melody" like he used to do during the ZooTV tour.

Streets was amazing tonight and got a huge response from the crowd and Bono and Adam performed most of the song at the end of the ellipse.

There were a couple minor flubs, Larry screwing up the outro to Sunday Bloody Sunday (he was laughing really hard about it) and Bono blowing the beginning of Yaweh. But what's a U2 show without a few gaffs. The point is, the band looked like they were having a really good time being onstage tonight and they *knew* they were playing well.

My only complaint is that I was really hoping to hear "Gloria" tonight and if I did, it probably would have made this top 2 or 3 of any of the nearly 20 U2 shows I've seen since 1981. Hearing them play and nail "The Ocean" even though it could almost be considered a near-instrumental filler tune on the album it's from was a decent substitute though.

It's getting clear that they are starting to lock down a somewhat rigid set and unfortunately, only a couple spots seem to exist for swapping in and out songs on multi-night stands. I imagine the long stands such as those in Boston and Chicago will see some major surprises but the pattern for two night stands has been set this week.

After the last two shows, I'm kinda spoiled seeing the band in the Ellipse right on the rail in front of the stage on The Edge's side. For the 3rd leg, I have great seats off the side of the stage so no more pit-luck for me.

At any rate, what a great bunch of shows.

T.B.
 
Re: LA 4/6 Uber-Review

Partyslammer said:
One really funny moment occurred during "Mysterious Ways" when Bono first brought up a young Vietnamese woman who he kind of hugged while singing the tune from the catwalk and than another girl who looked like a stripper complete with giant fake tits somehow got up on stage and did a whole act as if she was trying to seduce Bono away from the other woman. As the band was watching and playing the song from the main stage, they were just busting up as the stripper chick was literally crawling on her hands and knees towards Bono who you could hear saying "you're BAD!" who actually ran halfway around the back of the catwalk to get away from her.

What in the hell? :lol: Holy crap... Poor Bono!

Thanks for the review, btw! Sounds like it was a great show :up:
 
Great review ... though I think you mean The Electric Co. rather than Out Of Control!
 
drhark said:


So the consensus seems to be that the most lackluster show was Anaheim 1, The only one I could get tickets for. Damn. Also the only show where NONE of Boy was performed. Coincidence?

You could be at U2's worst show ever but it could still the best concert you have ever seen.
 
Partyslammer said:
Holy shit. What a great show. Easily the best of the 3 shows I've seen so far and I'd bet that tonight was the best of the 6 so far played.


Yes!! This was by far the best of the 3 shows I have seen so far. I still haven't come down...it took me until 4:00 a.m. to fully fall asleep!

The engergy in the house last night was so totally different from Anaheim 1, it was just amazing. We took 2 people who are fans but had never seen U2 live and they were blown away! They thanked us all the way home to Orange County for choosing that show as their first :wink:

If it gets any better than this, I think I might need medical attention after the next show I go to!
 
I have been fortunate to see 5 of the first 6 shows. Last night was another steady, awesome performance! I missed anaheim 2, but i think the two staples shows have been the best thus far. I think 4/5 and 4/6 are both very good. I personally enjoyed 4/5 better because I was GA and stood 7 feet away from Bono. Anyway, great execution and energy on the songs. I think the sound is much better at staples than other venues, esp. SD sports arena. Agree -- would have liked to hear Gloria again or perhaps some of the joshua fan favorites (with or without you--SD2, still haven't found--Anaheim1). Unchained melody was a nice touch. I'm depressed b/c no more concerts until the fall. peace out.
 
Axver said:
Great review ... though I think you mean The Electric Co. rather than Out Of Control!

You're right. I was pretty fried last night but I couldn't settle down and just kept writing out this long-ass review of the show.

T.B.
 
What! They let people walk in with cameras. That really sucks. They didn't let nobody in w/ cameras 4/5. That really sucks! CAn someone confirm that....... please.
 
Zooropa man said:
What! They let people walk in with cameras. That really sucks. They didn't let nobody in w/ cameras 4/5. That really sucks! CAn someone confirm that....... please.


No problem. I just walked right in. I will post some photos later today.
 
That really bums me out. I had perfect seating and a clear view from were I could have taken some nice pictures. It's problably because there were some celebreties that night(4/5).... This blows. Thanks for sharing your pic's Mthom....
 
kellyahern said:


:yes:

They kind of spoil you for other artists' concerts in a way. It's just never the same as a U2 show :).

They really do. When I was a teenager in the 1990s, I used to go see lots of shows. I've always loved live music in general. Then in 1997 I saw U2 (PopMart) and since then, I have reduced the amount of shows I go to because I always think all other artists pale in comparison to U2... I know it's weird...

The only other show that I've seen since and that had the same level of energy and emotion (and hence I came out entirely satisfied) was Bruce Springsteen.
 
Amazing show! The setlist was great. The band was tight! I was just a few feet from Bono. I loved City of Blinding lights as the intro, then right into Vertigo. Dude, the Ellipse was going off! I think I've got so photos posted. I also have another album with some pics in it.U2 Photos

Anyways, my highlight was All Because of You, mainly because I have fond memories of it during the Orange Bowl. I also loved Mysterious Ways. I met the first girl after the show, she was still shaking. I did notice that Adam seemed to be having the greatest time, smiling the entire show. That dude is just cool. Of course it was great to see the band laughing at the stripper.

The crowd was great, especially for LA. I loved that they kept singing at the end of "40", even after Larry left.

In a word Brilliant.
 
You thought the crowd was really into?
I was right up the top, at the back row, so I probably couldnt really tell....but I thought The crowd was a bit flat....same with opening night (I wasnt up in the clouds for that one)

Prehaps Bono refferd to the crowd in Streets...."I wanna Tear Down The Walls, That Hold You Back Tonight" something along those lines....He did something simalar at LA 1.

Though that doesnt matter, it was a pretty cool show.
My 6 are over....Can't Wait for Australia '06!

Oh yes and I should Mention I got Edges Autograph Yesterday :combust:
 
Funny

Originally posted by ght.


One really funny moment occurred during "Mysterious Ways" when Bono first brought up a young Vietnamese woman who he kind of hugged while singing the tune from the catwalk and than another girl who looked like a stripper complete with giant fake tits somehow got up on stage and did a whole act as if she was trying to seduce Bono away from the other woman. As the band was watching and playing the song from the main stage, they were just busting up as the stripper chick was literally crawling on her hands and knees towards Bono who you could hear saying "you're BAD!" who actually ran halfway around the back of the catwalk to get away from her.




T.B. [/B]


Anbody notice that the first girl looked like she was literally thrown on the stage by the stagehand? She landed on her ass. It was pretty funny.

By the way, how did you know she was Vietnamese?
 
Partyslammer said:

As I went alone tonight, the chick manning the laptop was asking me "who is with you?" and I just kinda looked around and these two women behind me in line were saying "take her, she's our sister and this is her first concert" and this young girl in the early 20's was completely blown away when I asked them to stick a pit wristband on her. her face was just priceless and it took a minute for it to sink in that she'd be seeing the show from basically right in front of the stage.
T.B.

In two sentences you just summed up why I love this band and U2 fans -- very cool.

And nice review as well.
 
trojanchick99 said:
Amazing show! The setlist was great. The band was tight! I was just a few feet from Bono. I loved City of Blinding lights as the intro, then right into Vertigo. Dude, the Ellipse was going off! I think I've got so photos posted. I also have another album with some pics in it.U2 Photos

Anyways, my highlight was All Because of You, mainly because I have fond memories of it during the Orange Bowl. I also loved Mysterious Ways. I met the first girl after the show, she was still shaking. I did notice that Adam seemed to be having the greatest time, smiling the entire show. That dude is just cool. Of course it was great to see the band laughing at the stripper.

The crowd was great, especially for LA. I loved that they kept singing at the end of "40", even after Larry left.

In a word Brilliant.

Those are some really great photos :bow:
 
Eliv8 said:


You could be at U2's worst show ever but it could still the best concert you have ever seen.

That's true. But I'm spoiled, having seen them 15 or so times
 
mikal said:
did you get the girl's phone number or what?

I'm married.

To add the postscript to last night, *if* I somehow fell into temptation and got some bangatude with the girl I got into the Ellipse or ever better, had a multi-sister trifecta, she pointed out to me that they had seats for the pair of shows when they return to play Staples arena in November and their seats are about 5 rows directly behind the pair of seats I have for both nights at the same shows that I'm taking my wife to. Picture this:

Girl: "Hey hi! remember me, I was the girl you got into the pit for the April U2 show and than banged me and my sister in our car after the show! Oh, who's this?........."

Mrs TB: "Oh hi, I'm this shlub's mother of his son, wife for 10 years, basically the only person that'll put up with that spikey-haired boob's nonsense day in and day out. Oh, and I'm also the psychbitch that's gonna cut off his balls and put them in a pickle jar after this lovely concert."

TB: "Eee-heheheheh, enjoy the show and my dick n' balls say it was nice seeing you again."

Girls leave, Mrs TB looks at me and says: "Pussy. Money. House."

TB: "D'uhhh, what are you talking about?"

Mrs TB: "Three things you can say goodbye to."

TB: "D'oh!"

T.B.
 
bono_man2002 said:
You thought the crowd was really into?
I was right up the top, at the back row, so I probably couldnt really tell....but I thought The crowd was a bit flat....same with opening night (I wasnt up in the clouds for that one)

Staples arena is a huge cavern compared to most arenas I've been to and even when a full house crowd is really into a show or game there, the acoustics of the place can really dampen the sound up in the rafters.

Without a doubt though, the crowd was much more vocal than the Pond show (which is a pretty big arena itself) in Anaheim was on Saturday.

T.B.
 

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