Glastonbury TV Coverage

[paulrg]

I have no doubt Bono felt sick with nerves - he has said this before about regular U2 tour appearances - let alone playing to a mixed audience - but I seriously doubt it has much to do with the 30 misguided souls with a balloon protest - and had much more to do with playing in shitty conditions on an ice-rink of a stage a big distance away from a large audience that was far from the usual "preaching to the converted". Bono has compared his job before to that of a travelling salesman selling songs and this was undoubtedly one of his toughest sales presentations!

Edge looked serious during the performance (I guess concentrating on not messing up and often looking at Bono with an expression that looked like "what is he going to do next?") and Adam was not his usual happy self (not helped by the fact there was no-one nearby for him to interact with - he is great at audience interaction) - I guess it was tough and scary for them all. The one who looked most comfortable to me was Larry.

All in I give them top marks for putting themselves through a lot of unnecessary hassle. I respect them for not taking the easy decision. I must say though it has not sold me on the "Glastonbury experience" - that mixture of inches deep mud and being held back a long way from the stage means I would choose a regular show anytime.

 

[Utoo]

I forget who pointed it out (cori? lila?), but Edge gives Bono a look at the end of OOC, somewhere around 5:07, that captures the feeling: "Oh, shit! We did it! Thank god!"

 

[mad1]

I think Im finding it all a bit bizarre why at a Glastonbury concert there was negativity surrounding the event.

I mean, I know pple back then were fuked off about Jay Z headlining, but he went down really well, and now Beyonce, perhaps the whole term of 'Rock' is no longer valid, so we might have the likes of Rihanna headlining in 2013, and she could win over the crowd.

strange, perhaps back right up to noughties starting, as example of the Brit Pop era and all helped Glastonbury succeed with the likes of Oasis or Pulp or The Verve headlining back then. I dont think they were as judged as what seems wrong for U2 to be done so.

I dunno, I just dont quite get it. Perhaps the new generation of kids arent big into certain older bands, but yet I reckon if it was Alice Cooper or whatnot it would be classed a 'success'

I dunno.

and this about the sound being shite, was the sound great with every other band who played???

perhaps U2 were nervous because of the year wait, they prob thought a lot was expected from them.
it was like they, or others had or have to seek approval, which is odd for a festival, is it not?


yea I think Larry was unhappy about the crowd being far away, as he stated in interview.

 

[Galeongirl]

I forget who pointed it out (cori? lila?), but Edge gives Bono a look at the end of OOC, somewhere around 5:07, that captures the feeling: "Oh, shit! We did it! Thank god!"

Glasto-gifs

Something like this?

 

[Utoo]

Something like this?

Close. I think it's the moment when Edge takes off his guitar and looks over at Bono. There's definitely a look that's a mix of joy and relief.

 

[SBU2]

Bono & Edge Interview 4 minutes after coming of Glastonbury Stage

BBC iPlayer - Jo Whiley: 27/06/2011

Skip to around the 20minute mark for the interview

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Bono & Edge Interview 4 minutes after coming of Glastonbury Stage

BBC iPlayer - Jo Whiley: 27/06/2011

Skip to around the 20minute mark for the interview

"Where are you going now" Edge:"Gonna go and get a bevvy"

 

[doctorwho]

Am I watching the wrong show? I saw the YouTube clips of U2 at Glastonbury and I closely look for but did not see any evidence of:

1. Bono looking down for lyrics - he looked down at his hand while playing guitar, but not for lyrics.
2. Nervousness. I don't doubt they were nervous - it's not "their" crowd and it's not their stage. But I saw a pretty animated U2 for a festival show.
3. Given the poor stage design and the rain, I still saw Bono and Edge walking around a lot.
4. The crowd, at least from the YouTube clips, seemed to very into the songs. They sang to many songs, including taking over "I Still Haven't Found..." just like fans do at a real U2 concert.
5. U2 chose some of their best songs from various albums. Slow moments were powerful, but for the most part, energy was high. It was a great setlist, and I enjoyed it.
6. The clips I saw didn't even show any protesters or fighting.

Overall, I was impressed.

 

[corianderstem]

There weren't any protestors in the crowd - from all reports, the tax protesting people were forcibly shut down before (or while) the band went on. So there wasn't anything to see there.

I can totally understand that while what we saw and heard, the crowd was completely into it. But it's not that hard to believe that not EVERYONE was into it, that we weren't seeing the whole thing.

I saw Larry's teleprompter during MOS. He needs a teleprompter for, like, the 5 lines he sings in the whole show? And we give BONO a hard time?

 

[Slapnutz]

The protest was quite literally 'deflated' during The Fly.

YouTube - ‪Protest at U2 Glastonbury debut‬‏

The BBC were instructed not to point their cameras at the protesters by Michael Eavis, hence the interesting camera angles at the beginning of the show.

Yeah, Bono frequently glanced at a teleprompter to get his bearings. But that's OK. He's getting on.

 

[rjhbonovox]

Also he used the teleprompter as he changed lyrics on Streets and Bad as well. The Bad lyrics for the 3rd verse were from Jerusalem, I think.

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

And did those feet in ancient time - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Yeah he also used the prompter for some other songs probably cos of nerves. The one bit that shows his nervousness is his very edgy acapello version of Jerusalem. He almost stops as he can't get the words out fast enough.

 

[rileybug]

I guess Glastonbury is a big deal in England, but where I live, it doesn't make the news, ever. The only time I ever read about it was when I would go to Barnes and Noble to read Q. Just another concert to me. The UK press has hated them for a while, and it seems they will always hate them, I'm over it.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

The BBC were instructed not to point their cameras at the protesters by Michael Eavis, hence the interesting camera angles at the beginning of the show.

I knew the BBC would avoid it - but this only just clicked now. I was wondering why they never went for the big wide shot showing all the screens flickering. It looked amazing.

 

[Galeongirl]

I think it's hillarious that the only Glasto coverage the newspaper here had was Beyonce. No word on U2 or Coldplay or Glasto in general. Just some talk on how Beyonce was at Glasto.

 

[standrums]

I hear U2 are playing Glastonbury...anyone know when it's on?

Will it be on TV?

 

[Galeongirl]

Is that supposed to be funny?

 

[rjhbonovox]

I hear U2 are playing Glastonbury...anyone know when it's on?

Will it be on TV?

No they pulled out, Bono did his back in!

Now back in the real world......

 

[Dragonfave]

Music Week - Music Week - Music business magazine - BBC reports record viewing figures for Glastonbury

BBC Two’s coverage made up the lion’s share of viewers, reaching 15.7m people, up 3.6m on last year. All headline performers on the channel had an average audience of more than 1.5m, with peaks of 2.6m viewers for Beyoncé, 2.2m for Coldplay and 2.1m for U2.

Arts channel BBC Four pulled in 4.3m viewers, up by 1.9m on last year. U2's performance had the highest average audience on BBC Four, with 1.2m people watching.

 

[Galeongirl]

Doesn't surprise me that BBC4's viewers are so much lower. We can get 2 here, but not 4.