Vertigo [Philly I]: The Death of Streets

[GG_The_Fly]

I just came back from Phila I, the first show of the year for me and my first since Slane in 2001 - U2 show #30 something for me, and the show was a:

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT


Bono sounded good, but the band seemed to be somewhere else the entire night - Edge rarely ventured onto the ellipse, Bono barely spoke to anybody and I found the that the crowd mirrored the lifeless band.

I found that Streets was the perfect metaphor for tonight. The lead in is weak and short, they have lame flags in the background instead of the simple red and they don't use the house lights for full effect until like 2/3 through the song - this is the song that I most look forward to and although I was having a very good time up until that point, U2's abysmal effort on Streets basically ruined the show for me.

Am I a lone dissenter on this or was this a weak show??

 

[MrBrau1]

Prepare to be destroyed.

 

[ImOuttaControl]

Was in Chicago for U2 this last week and I agree about streets. While the flags aren't that bad , not having the "blinding light" at the beginning of the intro just sucks and hurts the way the song is presented IMO.

 

[Chizip]

i agree that streets isnt what it used to be

but i still enjoy the show overall

 

[sortofhomecoming]

I just came back from Phila I, the first show of the year for me and my first since Slane in 2001 - U2 show #30 something for me, and the show was a:

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT


Bono sounded good, but the band seemed to be somewhere else the entire night - Edge rarely ventured onto the ellipse, Bono barely spoke to anybody and I found the that the crowd mirrored the lifeless band.

I found that Streets was the perfect metaphor for tonight. The lead in is weak and short, they have lame flags in the background instead of the simple red and they don't use the house lights for full effect until like 2/3 through the song - this is the song that I most look forward to and although I was having a very good time up until that point, U2's abysmal effort on Streets basically ruined the show for me.

Am I a lone dissenter on this or was this a weak show??

I thought the Edge played great tonight!! I was never a big fan of Streets - I think it is because I have seen it so many times live.

I agree that the Edge did not go out to the Ellipse that much, but I do not think he did that much out there the whole tour. Pretty tough when your constantly changing guitars. I thought the show was a great one - I thought they all were energized like the first time I saw them 20 years ago.

 

[mkdominatr]

i dont know what show you went to ??????? awesome show!!!!

 

[U2Bono269]

I thought it was GREAT. I thought the Edge was on. Streets was ok, it was better on the Elevation tour, but i still loved it.

I think it was thebest of the 3 i'veseen

 

[GG_The_Fly]

Re: Re: Vertigo [Philly I]: The Death of Streets

Don't get me wrong - technically the band was great - I just didn't sense a connection between the crowd and the band and I would gladly trade 2 guitar changes for a little more Edge.

 

[mkdominatr]

he walked about the same as the last show i saw. streets isnt the same without the lights, they make that much of a difference. but compared to the denver show i was at the fans were much better, cheering wise, plus everyone stood up the whole time unlike my other show when everyone was seated....except me of course. i bet the GA next show for me will make a huge difference...

 

[scottyT]

i think early on, some of the songs don't lend themselves to that.

when he has to play Cat Dubh, there's no interaction cause the song basically brings the show to a dead halt....

but electric co, he went off, right down the side of the bombshelter. he was out of his mind at times tonight.

 

[greenslimer]

hey, i mean its U2. whether or not its as good as ZooTV or PopMart or Elevation... or just having a bad couple of weeks... it doesnt matter. its still U2 and is a blessing. i mean, if bono just went up on stage jumping around dressed as a fish, and the rest of the band singing commercial jingles for 5 minutes.. i'd still go and see it and love it. its not everyday that one is in the presence of these guys.. and hey, anything they do is great in my eyes. also, give them a break.... they've been touring for.. 20 something years and have the right to have some off-nights, or even weeks. they still seem to do an excellent job and arent giving some shitty, 'i dont give a shit' performance. they still put their passion into it. so, if its not AS perfect as ZooTV was.. or the previous tours...thats fine. i think what happens is.. people have literally seen "perfection" with this bands live stuff, and even stepping down a few notches... they are still fucking amazing. to someone who's seen a bunch of shows in previous tours.. which were, what one may think could not even get any better, it was so good.. that seeing something now might look like crap compared to it, whereas someone who'd never seen them live would think it was the best thing ever.

give the guys a break.

 

[knox]

Streets sucked during Chicago 1 and 2, but was better during 3 and 4, I thought.

 

[livehead]

I agree

I agree. Bring back the long, drawn out intro with the video screens and stage bathed in red light. They didn't even light up the crowd with the house lights when the band kicked in. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. I personally think these beads of lights hanging down were lame and over-used. Hate to say it but I am not impressed at all with Vertigo's production. Those beads of lights are a one-trick pony.

 

[knox]

The curtain of lights is amazing...

COBL, looks like you're standing in the middle of a metropolis
Vertigo, swirling red
Bullet, with that awesome plane flyby scene
Streets...yeah, I'll give you this one, the background sucks, but...
ZOO STATION and THE FLY


And that's all I have to say about that...

 

[GG_The_Fly]

Prepare to be destroyed.

Are we a little too excited about Star Wars III -


Who are you, Darth Vader?

 

[GG_The_Fly]

The curtain of lights is amazing...

COBL, looks like you're standing in the middle of a metropolis
Vertigo, swirling red
Bullet, with that awesome plane flyby scene
Streets...yeah, I'll give you this one, the background sucks, but...
ZOO STATION and THE FLY


And that's all I have to say about that...

I think the stage is kickass - great effects - HOWEVER, I think the curtain is overused and basically just ruins the view from the people behind the stage.

I am just so sad about Streets. I feel like my dog died or something - I take that song too seriously, I guess.

 

[cleazer]

I like the flags during Streets.

But I'll admit that the "lighting up the crowd" bit is the best gimmick ever.

Is the 2005 version of Streets the best ever? No. But there's nothing wrong with changing things up.



And yes, the Chicago 4 Streets did seem vastly improved, either because I was more used to it, or more likely because they seemed to hit the crowd with the lights for a longer time at the end of the song.

 

[BonoFan78]

funny, i had GA's and was about 4 rows deep and the crowd was really into in from what i could see. (People in the lower sections, the rest of GA, and behind the stage)

 

[cmb737]

How many times have we seen the set list from tonight connected with comments about the band lacking a connection with the crowd? It always seems to be this set list.

ITS THE SET LIST JIM. I'M JUST A DOCTOR.

 

[jammin909]

I just got back and thought the show was awesome. You saying it sucks is sort of like you winning a ford and complaining it wasnt a porche.

 

[cmb737]

I just got back and thought the show was awesome. You saying it sucks is sort of like you winning a ford and complaining it wasnt a porche.

Or an attempt to make an observation on a message board dedicated exactly to the types of discussion that has been started. And who wouldn't complain about a ford?

 

[u2girlcj]

I can't speak for their effort tonight, but I have to say I found myself crazy-into Streets at both Seattle shows but not so much in Vancouver where the crowd (around me, at least) was pretty sedate. I think it works better with the "other" set list for whatever reason and I do like the flags.

 

[MTEdge]

Musically, the show was awesome. I agree the show grinds to a halt when U2 goes into the "Boy" songs. I also think we've been spoiled by the Chicago4 setlist...

I feel the light curtains are used well, and, in fact, should be used more. As noted by some ppl before, however, I miss the "lighting up the crowd" part when the band kicks into Streets. I am okay with the flags, but they should turn up the lights as they always did before.

As to The Edge not venturing around the ellipse, there is one simple explanation--he is "plugged in" on at least 12 songs. In other words, he is NOT on a wireless connection. As a result, the best he can do (during those songs that he is "plugged in" on) is drop into "Bono's catwalk" in front of the stage.

I have a bit of video--about four minutes worth since the battery died (I bought the camera before driving down to Philly, and never charged it)--that I will review tomorrow, and may post if there's anything worth showing.

 

[RademR]

Re: Re: Re: Vertigo [Philly I]: The Death of Streets

Don't get me wrong - technically the band was great - I just didn't sense a connection between the crowd

I went to Chicago 5/9 and 5/10, and this was BY FAR the worst show of the three. You are right about the crowd, absolutely HORRIBLE!!!!

I had a perfect view in the 200 section right in front of the stage, and often looked at the crowd and the GAers, totally lifeless.

The show was great itself, but I felt Bono was more in "chill mode" then the other two shows I saw.

Wasn't really dissapointed in the performance, that isnt the right word. The crowd just took some emotion away.

 

[briarrose]

I loved the show. This was my first U2 show ever. I ended up getting into the ellipse and was in the second row. Bono didn't seem to interact with the crowd like I thought he would. Adam seemed to do most of that. For the most part, I really enjoyed it.

 

[barlowdog]

Really liked the show tonight, especially the songs from Boy. The crowd did seem to be up and down tonight, but they were fully on by the end of the show. Met a couple of first timers in line who I'm sure enjoyed the show. Plan to see them again next sunday.

 

[jammin909]

Just uploaded pics from tonight......

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=531902220106&page=1&sort_order=0

 

[clip51]

Totally unimpressed...

First off, you can't start with a low key song. You need something upbeat to start and COBL isn't it... Whats with the infomorial before One? Totally lost the crowd after that...After Running to Stand Still, they set up Bad perfectly and didn't play it.

I love this band, always will... I guess I just expect too much from them. Hopefully Tuesday will be better

 

[elevateandy]

Crowd was what? I can't remember a more "singing along" crowd than this one. They kept singing "40" way after the lights came on.

Bono was very interactive with the crowd. Him pulling those two little girls up on stage with him in the beginning was absolutely great!

 

[popacrobat]

I just got back from the show, it's 5 AM.

I thought it completely kicked ass, not too sure what you're talking about here. The entire arena was completely into Streets when it came on, everybody was jumping up and down...just because they had the African Flags and not the red doesn't mean the song is dead...it's the same exact song, just different visuals. They mix up the visuals, I would think thats a good thing.

As for the One pre speach, i thought it was pretty cool, especially when he had everyone take out their cell phones and have the cell phones light the place up.

bono pulled up 2 little girls during into the heart and a lady during mysterious ways. he was crawling around during an cat dubh and had one of the longer sunday bloody sunday speeches/rants of the tour so far.

additionally, the entire place was 100% into elevation, hearing everybody woo-wooing was quite awesome.

edge screwed up once in sometimes you can't make it on your own when the little slide part starts. it happens, no big deal.

i thought the show was extraordinary, completely worth the roadtrip to philly and i'd rank it near the top of all the u2 shows ive been to. (this is seven now.)