Letterman's audience - filled with paid "fans"?

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chlorinedream

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This is just a suspicion on my part. But after watching the Beautiful Day performance I find it hard to believe that every single person in Letterman's audience would be on their feet and clapping (and instantly rise up when Bono tells them to). Of course, U2 has a vested interest in this week-long stint appearing successful. I wonder if they would stoop to filling the audience with paid shills ala Michael Jackson? Something seems fishy to me.
 
Nah U2 are just that good :hyper::hyper:.

Trust me if they need to pay audience members they should do it when acts like Lil Wayne or Fall Out Boy are on. You get mediocre applause at best. U2 just go the extra mile to really turn a performance into something more.
 
UH, I don't thinks so, as far a Bono telling the people to stand, he always does that. This week though I don't think that Letterman had to pay people, you couldn't get in to those shows at all.
 
i was there on tuesday. no fans were paid. in fact we were told to sit down by lettermans people during the performance. so actually, if you tried to be more wrong, you couldnt!:wink:
 
Actually, the producers coach the audience beforehand how to react at these kinds of shows. They usually cue the audience on when to applause and when to applause even louder. It's not exactly fakery, but the audience does need encouragement sometimes, because not everyone there is a fan of the band but perhaps a fan of a guest or just the show in general. I've been in the audience of a few talk shows and late night shows myself and that's always been the norm for me.
 
GibsonExplorer said:
Actually, the producers coach the audience beforehand how to react at these kinds of shows. They usually cue the audience on when to applause and when to applause even louder. It's not exactly fakery, but the audience does need encouragement sometimes, because not everyone there is a fan of the band but perhaps a fan of a guest or just the show in general. I've been in the audience of a few talk shows and late night shows myself and that's always been the norm for me.
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they told us that dave is funny no matter what, be enthusiastic for dave, etc. etc. but had no mention of how to act during U2's performance and they made fans sit down for it. at least on Tuesday. i know i complained when i was leaving, as did some other fans, and i wouldnt be surprised if U2 complained too given that Bono was instructing the crowd to stand up at multiple points this week.
 
there's no way.. .. .. "Beautiful Day" I think won song of the year didnt it? It's a universally loved anthem, everywhere I go in the world people know it by heart.
 
popacrobat said:
they told us that dave is funny no matter what, be enthusiastic for dave, etc. etc. but had no mention of how to act during U2's performance and they made fans sit down for it. at least on Tuesday. i know i complained when i was leaving, as did some other fans, and i wouldnt be surprised if U2 complained too given that Bono was instructing the crowd to stand up at multiple points this week.
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who cares about that, how much did they pay you???!!
 
popacrobat said:
they told us that dave is funny no matter what, be enthusiastic for dave, etc. etc. but had no mention of how to act during U2's performance and they made fans sit down for it. at least on Tuesday. i know i complained when i was leaving, as did some other fans, and i wouldnt be surprised if U2 complained too given that Bono was instructing the crowd to stand up at multiple points this week.
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I'm talking about how these talk shows operate in general terms. In any case, the producers instruct the audience to do things as a whole, among them is to stay seated. Perhaps the applause was sufficient and the audience you were in may have been too rowdy. They don't want people going crazy and rushing the stage, I suppose.
 
Anybody who thinks the fans were coached for what they normally do at concerts needs to get some evidence otherwise they look cynical.
 
Come on people, this is the hottest show in town right now, there are tones of U2 fans out on the streets trying for Letterman, no matter what U2 play's I guarantee you the audience will go crazy as it's full of die-hard fans. U2 was all over the city earlier this week doing promotions, this is U2 week in NYC and everyone knows it!!!!
 
I'd like to think that if you're getting to see the worlds biggest band in a small setting like the Ed Sullivan theater you'd be SOMEWHAT excited.
 
i was there thursday and unfortunately i didnt get paycheck

the letterman people hype you up before and during the show and tell you to laugh and clap as much as possible. their house band plays songs during every commercial break and you are supposed to clap to the beat, and they have a couple stage hands leading the way. thus, by the time U2 gets on stage everybody is already conditioned to clap through entire songs, and of course everyone stands up when Bono tells you to.

so no u2 didnt pay anybody to be in the audience, its the letterman people who hype you up to be as excited and as enthusiastic as possible through the entire show.
 
Chizip said:
i was there thursday and unfortunately i didnt get paycheck

the letterman people hype you up before and during the show and tell you to laugh and clap as much as possible. their house band plays songs during every commercial break and you are supposed to clap to the beat, and they have a couple stage hands leading the way. thus, by the time U2 gets on stage everybody is already conditioned to clap through entire songs, and of course everyone stands up when Bono tells you to.

so no u2 didnt pay anybody to be in the audience, its the letterman people who hype you up to be as excited and as enthusiastic as possible through the entire show.
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thank you, chizip, for confirming what i've said and others doubted. they obviously have never been in the audience of a talk show and we have.
 
chlorinedream said:
This is just a suspicion on my part. But after watching the Beautiful Day performance I find it hard to believe that every single person in Letterman's audience would be on their feet and clapping (and instantly rise up when Bono tells them to). Of course, U2 has a vested interest in this week-long stint appearing successful. I wonder if they would stoop to filling the audience with paid shills ala Michael Jackson? Something seems fishy to me.
Click to expand...

You've never seen U2 live, have you? :)
 
chlorinedream said:
This is just a suspicion on my part. But after watching the Beautiful Day performance I find it hard to believe that every single person in Letterman's audience would be on their feet and clapping (and instantly rise up when Bono tells them to). Of course, U2 has a vested interest in this week-long stint appearing successful. I wonder if they would stoop to filling the audience with paid shills ala Michael Jackson? Something seems fishy to me.
Click to expand...

Sound like you are just upset that they turned you down at the door because you refused to take off your tin foil hat.

The truth is there were stories that certain stand by folks were turned down because they only wanted to see U2 and not Dave Letterman.

But nice try.
 
GibsonExplorer said:
thank you, chizip, for confirming what i've said and others doubted. they obviously have never been in the audience of a talk show and we have.
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who was doubting you? we all know how talk shows work. it's not like you've just informed us of a great discovery.
 
My husband and I were there on Monday, and we certainly weren't paid. Heck, I would've gladly paid someone to get a ticket to the show if we hadn't gotten the call from the show the week prior. Kudos to my hubby for answering the question correctly as I would have froze up!! :applaud:

Also, in regards to standing up, I was thrilled when Bono exhorted us to stand up in the middle of "Breathe" as it was against the explicit directions you're given prior to the show. In fact, I had to encourage the hubby to stand as he thought we were going to get kicked out! I had a feeling that Letterman staffers knew fans would be excited when some pretty large security guys in suits took the place of the cheerleading Letterman staffers near the stage. That certainly didn't happen the last time we attended Letterman several years ago when George Clooney was a guest. Bono loves adulation and encourages it at every moment possible--just watch this morning's GMA show (or any show he's done since he was about 18 for that matter).
 
This thread is kind of funny! I was there on Wednesday. I clapped and smiled so much that my hands and face hurt after the show. I loved being there to see U2, so didn't have to fake it too much. But, the couple next to me were warned that they had a high profile and needed to smile more often or they would be moved to the back. I liked my second row seats and wanna to make sure I stayed there!
 
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