Best/Worst crowds

[4U2Play]

Holy shit, that video is amazing quality!

Thanks, bro.

I wish the Japanese U2 fans were all polite and quiet, like that other dude claimed... I could've filmed the whole show from the front row with a steady hand, the security guards didn't mind.

As it was, I was just glad to get out there with my camera and skull in one piece!

 

[subnet]

my brother in law didnt like GA in Toronto for Vertigo Tour, he said there was not enough time to get to the beer tap and back and back to the urinal

or maybe he just said that cuz he's clostraphobic

if you like GA, you gotta forgo the urinal and mind the bumping and grinding

 

[Earl-Of-IMDb]

I say we texas fans can get rowdy..

 

[4U2Play]

my brother in law didnt like GA in Toronto for Vertigo Tour, he said there was not enough time to get to the beer tap and back and back to the urinal

or maybe he just said that cuz he's clostraphobic

if you like GA, you gotta forgo the urinal and mind the bumping and grinding

I bring sippy cups

 

[VintagePunk]

Thanks, bro.

I wish the Japanese U2 fans were all polite and quiet, like that other dude claimed... I could've filmed the whole show from the front row with a steady hand, the security guards didn't mind.

As it was, I was just glad to get out there with my camera and skull in one piece!

I wish you were able to, also!

Btw, I'm really more of a "sis."

my brother in law didnt like GA in Toronto for Vertigo Tour, he said there was not enough time to get to the beer tap and back and back to the urinal

or maybe he just said that cuz he's clostraphobic

if you like GA, you gotta forgo the urinal and mind the bumping and grinding

I did GA in Toronto for that tour, but I lined up early and got outside rail spots for all but the last show. That one, I decided to get some sleep in a bed as opposed to the pavement, so I stood back by the soundboard. Rail spots = breathing space. I also trained my bladder into realizing that there would be no bathroom trips from approx. 6 pm till 11 pm on show nights!

 

[4U2Play]

I also trained my bladder into realizing that there would be no bathroom trips from approx. 6 pm till 11 pm on show nights!

oops, sorry 'sis'!

Yeah, not enough attention is given to bladder training.

Doing situps to strengthen your back and trying not to pee for 12 hours are important excercises all U2 GA fans should start immediately

Me, I just use sippy cups, then hope no one mistakes them for apple juice (unless they're holding up signs in front of me all night)

 

[Sicy]

You pee in sippy cups??

 

[VintagePunk]

So, like anyone who's in the middle of a huge GA crowd shouldn't look down?

I used to have a whole fluid intake schedule for myself. I think I used to cut myself off at around 3 pm. Only U2 fans would go to such lengths...

 

[Sicy]

So like, how were you able to tape all that? I tried to tape like 2 minutes of a song with my digital camera and security totally yelled at me.

 

[subnet]

was there a catheter that lead to the cup on the floor?

I gotta find a way to convince my wife that GA is best

 

[Sicy]

There was a great crowd in San Jose for Vertigo first leg. I was on the front rail with another member here and we had plenty of room, in fact the ellipse was pretty empty. (and Sean Penn was standing like 10 feet to my left ) I was easily able to leave and go to the bathroom and what not and then get right back in my place.

 

[subnet]

well, with wristband GA at least you stood a chance of getting back to a good spot with limited fans in that area

can't really do that with general GA location unless you want to come back and stand by the soundbooth

 

[subnet]

.....getting back to the topic, i feel a lot of tunes from NLOTH will bring out a lot of fans that prefer to smoke pot than drink beer

...well look at that, a celebration of my 420th post

 

[4U2Play]

So like, how were you able to tape all that? I tried to tape like 2 minutes of a song with my digital camera and security totally yelled at me.

Yeah, the Tokyo Saitama Arena security left us foreigners alone, we could do whatever we wanted. I brought in a full backpack with cans of beer, a proper videocamera, etc. Parked it over the rail, in front of Bono. Very trippy concert environment over there, highly recommended if U2 goes back in 2010. Not for the faint of heart if you're in GA, though...

As for the sippy cups, I was just kidding about that.

I use regular empty water bottles with a wide mouth

 

[U2FanPeter]

One interesting variable is U2 having GA in US stadiums for the first time.

It's only happened a couple times in the past: TibetFest 97, Amnesty 86 and a couple dates in 1987 like Vancouver. Honourable mention to Mexico & Hawaii 06.

 

[4U2Play]

One interesting variable is U2 having GA in US stadiums for the first time.

It's only happened a couple times in the past: TibetFest 97, Amnesty 86 and a couple dates in 1987 like Vancouver. Honourable mention to Mexico & Hawaii 06.

Mexico ain't the US, and they've always had GA stadium shows in Mexico City, but I get your point. Not sure it's such a big deal here, most American music fans I know have seen a GA stadium show for one band or another.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Mexico ain't the US, and they've always had GA stadium shows in Mexico City, but I get your point. Not sure it's such a big deal here, most American music fans I know have seen a GA stadium show for one band or another.

Canada, USA and Mexico are all "North America". Hawaii is one of the 51 states. Mexico City was included in U2 1997 and 1992 North American tours. in 2006 it was part of the Latin Amercan tour.

But you knew that.

Metallica is the only group I can think of that has done a GA stadium tour of North America. Things like Radiohead and Ozzfest are part seated Amphiteaters. Warped doesn't draws respectable crowd but doesn't have MAJOR headliners.

Also I've this setup seems to have a circular crowd barrier and a barrier across midfield. Never seen that used int he US.

 

[4U2Play]

Canada, USA and Mexico are all "North America". Hawaii is one of the 51 states. Mexico City was included in U2 1997 and 1992 North American tours. in 2006 it was part of the Latin Amercan tour.

But you knew that

The US has 50 states, not 51.

But, you knew that.

I seem to recall a massive show in San Francisco in 2007 with Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy, Wu Tang, Cypress Hill, etc. with about 50,000 crazy, drunken kids... all GA.

Coachella, Bonaroo, all the big festivals in the US are GA.

Green Day's stadium gigs were all GA. Metallica only does GA for their stadium shows.

Outdoor GA shows in the US are not that big a deal, honestly. It's just that hardly anyone does stadium tours nowadays in the US to begin with, GA or not. I guess it's not financially worthwhile, unless you can charge $400 for good floor seats like the Stones, Madonna and The Police did.

 

[dougal55]

Best U2 crowd I've experienced was Edinburgh in August 1987 at Murrayfield.

Every single person there wore a U2 shirt of some sort, all the opening acts were booed (except for the Pogues), and then the entire crowd sang along to every word without pushing and shoving up front.

I was at that show! oh man, that was unforgettable... I still get goose pimples just thinking about it... In my mind, out of all the U2 gigs Ive seen (17 of them and still counting...) since 1987, that gig was the best..from the start to the finish, it was a great gig though I didnt get the first 2 songs they played as I was so excited (it was covers of Stand By Me and C'mon Everybody) before they played I Will Follow which caused the whole place to erupt and jump at the same freaking time! It was unreal and chaotic.. I slipped and for a second, I thought Im gonna get trampled and injured under many people only to be picked up by a strong stranger quickly (thats U2 fans for ya, always on the lookout for everyone) which Im so thankful for to this day.. the rest of the gig was sheer happiness of seeing U2 live (it was only my 2nd gig). The highlights of that gig for me was Bad and NYD... thats when they absolutely encapsulated the atmosphere of that glorious summer's day (beautifully warm) into two great songs... great and loud crowd, nice warm day, everyone singing "how long....?" long after the gig had finished and still heard on the streets afterwards...

One word to describe that day, magical...just magical!

Ah memories....

 

[4U2Play]

I was at that show! oh man, that was unforgettable... I still get goose pimples just thinking about it... In my mind, out of all the U2 gigs Ive seen (17 of them and still counting...) since 1987, that gig was the best..from the start to the finish, it was a great gig though I didnt get the first 2 songs they played as I was so excited (it was covers of Stand By Me and C'mon Everybody) before they played I Will Follow which caused the whole place to erupt and jump at the same freaking time! It was unreal and chaotic.. I slipped and for a second, I thought Im gonna get trampled and injured under many people only to be picked up by a strong stranger quickly (thats U2 fans for ya, always on the lookout for everyone) which Im so thankful for to this day.. the rest of the gig was sheer happiness of seeing U2 live (it was only my 2nd gig). The highlights of that gig for me was Bad and NYD... thats when they absolutely encapsulated the atmosphere of that glorious summer's day (beautifully warm) into two great songs... great and loud crowd, nice warm day, everyone singing "how long....?" long after the gig had finished and still heard on the streets afterwards...

One word to describe that day, magical...just magical!

Ah memories....

Cool! I have loads of memories from that show, too, including sneaking onto the pitch with my shitty second tier ticket and getting all the way to the stage in front of Edge, booing The Mission, and wondering what the fuck U2 were doing when they started off with those two crappy cover songs!

Let me ask you, did they or did they not play "Party Girl" at the end, with Bono spraying champagne on us?? All the video and audio bootlegs don't show them playing it, so maybe I'm confusing it with another gig.

I just remember the lads being in a fantastic mood, and the whole crowd singing every damned word, I was amazed. I think I was the only Yank there, everyone was surprised that I travelled "all the way to Edinburgh" to see U2. -- Fucking glad I did.

 

[U2FanPeter]

The US has 50 states, not 51.

But, you knew that.

I seem to recall a massive show in San Francisco in 2007 with Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy, Wu Tang, Cypress Hill, etc. with about 50,000 crazy, drunken kids... all GA.

Coachella, Bonaroo, all the big festivals in the US are GA.

Green Day's stadium gigs were all GA. Metallica only does GA for their stadium shows.

Outdoor GA shows in the US are not that big a deal, honestly. It's just that hardly anyone does stadium tours nowadays in the US to begin with, GA or not. I guess it's not financially worthwhile, unless you can charge $400 for good floor seats like the Stones, Madonna and The Police did.

If Obama is to be believed, there's 58 states

Metallica does GA in their arena shows. Usually "in the round".

I thought Stadium shows didn't do GA because insurance and some cities having an outright ban until several years ago(Salt Lake City, Cincinnati) Plus Woodstock 1999.

How come u2 didn't go all GA for US stadium shows in 87/92/97 when they did in Europe?

 

[dougal55]

Let me ask you, did they or did they not play "Party Girl" at the end, with Bono spraying champagne on us?? All the video and audio bootlegs don't show them playing it, so maybe I'm confusing it with another gig.

Aye, they did play Party girl that night.. I still have the audio bootleg tape of that show... sheesh, I havent got round to converting it to MP3 file or something like that though I dont know how! just shows how far behind I am in terms of techie things..heh heh!

 

[carling]

Worst by far: First night City Of Manchester Stadium, Vertigo
Best by Far: Camp Nou Barcelona, Vertigo

 

[Chino]

that was the weirdest thing. I mean ya, they got screwed a little, but they were still in the heart. we were all thinking how silly it was to ruin the whole event for themselves. I was just thrilled to be in the heart (especially after all day on that black pavement)

Tryan101,
The silly thing about it is that U2 probably had NOTHING to do with it and it was more of the DVD production guys that wanted to have cute people in the front row or whatever happened. Still, those fans took it against Bono, Larry, Edge, and Adam.

Get there at around 8am, and run like hell when you get in the stadium, and you're fine ;D

GodpartIII,
Hahahaha! Well, I will need to have a ticket first.

i saw the vertigo opening shows in san diego, and those crowds had mad energy. they got amped for just about every song, not just the hits, but also the rarer stuff like 'an cat dubh' and even some of the crappier songs off of htdaab. i chalk it up to all those mexicans there

I was one of those Mexicans! . Also, when I went to Mexico to see them in Aztec Stadium (around 100,000 fit in there) it was awesome to hear not only the crowd roar but people actually singing ALL their songs. I could hear people singing Vertigo word by word not only "Helloooo Helloooo" but the whole "The night is full of holes. As bullets rip the sky of ink with gold..."

The Latin influence in San Diego could have played a part

And let's not forget that people from different parts of Mexico (Tijuana, Mexicali, Ensenada, interior, etc.) usually go to the San Diego shows because of its proximity to the Mexican border. Aaaaaaand, let's not forget all the latins in California plus hardcore fans around the world that went to the first Vertigo show to start the tour.

4U2Play,
It's nice to hear that . I have heard some bootlegs from past tours (LoveTown, Zoo Tv, Popmart) where Muldfeld would probably be more comfortable since you can hear people clapping at the end of a song. Check out any PopMart boot and listen to the crowd during PopMuzik. There's another Zoo TV boot out there where you can hear two fans screaming their lungs out, its funny. I'll say that during Streets people got a bit more wild in that boot. Maybe things have changed . Other bands like KISS, Metallica, Guns and Roses, etc. Have said before that Japanese crowds can be challenging since they tend to be more reserved compared to western crowds. I'll have to watch the video at home tonight because they block certain sites here in the office . I've went to some Japanese band shows in Shibuyah Kohkaido and Ibaraki, Mito, etc. I felt those crowds were a bit more wild BACK THEN but hey, things can change so its good to hear that you enjoyed the show with a crowd that got wild.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

There was a great crowd in San Jose for Vertigo first leg. I was on the front rail with another member here and we had plenty of room, in fact the ellipse was pretty empty. (and Sean Penn was standing like 10 feet to my left ) I was easily able to leave and go to the bathroom and what not and then get right back in my place.

That easy access to the bathrooms was the best.

<---- "other member"

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

You pee in sippy cups??

So, like anyone who's in the middle of a huge GA crowd shouldn't look down?

I used to have a whole fluid intake schedule for myself. I think I used to cut myself off at around 3 pm. Only U2 fans would go to such lengths...

was there a catheter that lead to the cup on the floor?

I gotta find a way to convince my wife that GA is best

EWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
This is precisely why I am always hesitant about buying a GA ticket.

I do not like using the toilet when I am at a concert. I will avoid drinks at least 1.5 hrs before a show.

 

[Chino]

You pee in sippy cups?

I was tempted to do that when I went to the Metallica private rehearsal in San Francisco. I was right at the rail and I was tempted to just take a cup and pee on it when they turned the lights off or something but naaaaaah, I just hold it, phew!

I went to a Vertigo show in Las Vegas and people made way for me to get out from the rail in the front and people made way when I came back and made it straight back to my spot .

 

[lov12113]

I was at an L.A. show on the fall leg of the Vertigo tour. The crowd was really layed back and didn't seem too enthusiastic. Some of the people weren't even there when U2 took the stage. SoCal attitude: just relax and chill and don't get too excited. Plus, the band seemed a bit tired as well, and had a slightly shorter set that night (it was the last Vertigo L.A. show).

 

[vivalapopedge]

great idea
i've only seen on show, buffalo 12/9/05, but seriously, U2 fans are the best!

i was in the second row on the outside rail of the ellipse, so there was a guy directly in front of me, which was fine, i knew this would probably happen
then a quarter through the show, he turned around just as bono was coming down the ramp and said "take my spot, i know you can't see at all!" which was so true, but still, so incredibly generous!!!
everyone outside the ellipse with us were so great, they were at the same level of die-hardness as me, which was fantastic
and U2 hadn't been to bufffalo in 25 years, so the whole city was going insane

U2 fans

 

[kafrun]

I've seen U2 seven times in the following cities: Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver(3), New York and Portland.

The best crowd by far was the New York crowd, followed by the Edmonton crowd. Vancouver and Portland were probably about the same and Calgary was without a doubt the worst crowd.

I've heard that Montreal is the best crowd in the world for a U2 concert.

They played Calgary? I had no idea.

Montreal was definitely the best in my experience.

Yep. I remember my brother yelling, "Pick her!" , Bono pointing me out to security and me trying to get up fron to get up there. I was maybe 2 rows back from the front. Then the girl who was on the rail pulled me by the back of my shirt! WTF??

GA drama

just a sea of is your idea of a good concert I take it?

That's certainly what I prefer. If Bono wants to tell us to sing along or get loud, he can GFH.

the one you're at.

QFT.

well, with wristband GA at least you stood a chance of getting back to a good spot with limited fans in that area

can't really do that with general GA location unless you want to come back and stand by the soundbooth

It's actually a good spot back by the soundbooth if you don't get into the ellipse or way up front. Fewer people, no squishing, easier to see, etc. That's what we did for the Montreal show and we had a blast.