Best/Worst crowds

[Chino]

Hey there! I was thinking about this the other day.

What crowds would you consider the best/worst in your U2 experiences?

I'll say that one of my best experiences when it comes to crowds in a U2 show would be Las Vegas, at least where I was (floor). I was surrounded by more than 50 people who knew songs word by word, not just the typical crowd that only knows "With or Without You" or whatever they play on the radio. Also, I'll say Aztec Stadium (Mexico City). Not only was that the biggest crowd I have been with in a U2 concert (around 100,000) but people knew word by word. You could hear the crowd roar singing the songs even if they didn't understand what they were singing hahaha! When Bono started singing "Cielito Lindo" and letting the 100,000 fans continue singing, oh man! It was great.

 

[God Part III]

Two stand out.

Dublin, 24th June 2005.
Milan, 21st of July 2005.

The second one is on film. They're so energetic, the Italian crowd. If I could, I'd be going to Milan again. And Dublin needs no explanation.

 

[vaz02]

From what ive heard from bootlegs the Italian's and South American's seem the most energetic. American's across the board seem by far the worse.

 

[Boozyuzi]

Don't forget the Glasgow shows - the atmosphere can be pretty special with lots of Irish fans over + there's a lot of Celtic fans there....

 

[Chino]

GodPartIII,
Saying that Dublin needs no explanation just makes me more excited about my trip to Ireland coming end of July! And yes, I remember hearing that the Italian crowds are awesome for their shows.

Vaz02,
Hahahaha! American crowds seem the worse? I'll say that nobody beats Japan when it comes to crowds being the worst. I mean, sure, Japanese crowds want to see U2, like their music, etc. There's a reason why U2 sells out multiple dates in Japan. But its their culture that somehow doesn't help much when it comes to them getting wild for U2 or any other international band/singer that goes to Japan. I am not saying they are lesser fans but if you are looking for a show where the crowds will be roaring and singing word by word then I am not sure if Japan would be a good place for that.

Yes, latin crowds seem to get into the shows quite a lot.

Boozyuzi,
If the place is full of Irish, I can imagine.

I remember during the Vertigo Tour I felt like I was the only one singing The Ocean, An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart, Electric Co., Gloria, etc.

 

[pepokiss]

WE are the best

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

oh, I can see where this is going...

 

[Liesje]

Last tour I met a girl from Chile who came to the US to see U2 b/c she said the south American crowds are so intense it's too much for her and dangerous, lol. So maybe that makes our crowds the "worse" but that's fine with me!

 

[Chino]

Last tour I met a girl from Chile who came to the US to see U2 b/c she said the south American crowds are so intense it's too much for her and dangerous, lol. So maybe that makes our crowds the "worse" but that's fine with me!

In that case I would recommend her a show in Japan. Crowds pretty much clap at the end of a song as if they were watching a play. No pushing or getting rowdy. I remember hearing that Axl Rose slammed his mic on the floor on one show and left the stage because he didn't feel that the crowd was into it. He came back later on.

 

[God Part III]

The most awesome U2 setting is by far Dublin seeing that Italians come there too, Chileans, Americans, Danes like myself, the bomb shelter from the last Dublin concert was filled with people from all over the world. Congratulations on your trip to Ireland.
It was my first U2 concert and the most memorable concert experience of my life.

 

[pepokiss]

Last tour I met a girl from Chile who came to the US to see U2 b/c she said the south American crowds are so intense it's too much for her and dangerous, lol. So maybe that makes our crowds the "worse" but that's fine with me!

:
What's her name... I might know her

 

[HyperU2]

In that case I would recommend her a show in Japan. Crowds pretty much clap at the end of a song as if they were watching a play. No pushing or getting rowdy. I remember hearing that Axl Rose slammed his mic on the floor on one show and left the stage because he didn't feel that the crowd was into it. He came back later on.

I've got a great bootleg of Bono stopping a show in Japan because of a fight. Must have been a foreigner there.

 

[kafrun]

Montreal was nuts. Just really, really loud. Hawaii had great energy because it was a special trip/night.

 

[Chino]

HyperU2,
If I remember correctly, it was during the LoveTown Tour, right? At Yokohama Arena. I think it was a guy who was making a fuzz because people were trying to get closer to the stage where he was sitting.

GoodPartIII,
Oh man! Can't wait! You even made it to the bomb shelter. What an experience. Not sure if my luck will get me all the way inside the circle but just seeing them in Dublin, Ireland, is all I am asking for so I'll make the trip this year.

 

[zuropa_fit]

Like I said in another thread - Phoenix crowds are notoriously lame.

 

[chikite]

I agree. I saw both Montreal shows during the first leg of Elevation and the crowd was nuts. The first night they were so loud it was deafening, wall of noise kind of thing.

 

[kafrun]

I agree. I saw both Montreal shows during the first leg of Elevation and the crowd was nuts. The first night they were so loud it was deafening, wall of noise kind of thing.

My ears were ringing for days from the crowd noise alone

 

[ZooMacPhisto800]

Montreal... no comparison.

 

[Bonogirl777]

What about crowds in Boston? How are they?

 

[HyperU2]

HyperU2,
If I remember correctly, it was during the LoveTown Tour, right? At Yokohama Arena. I think it was a guy who was making a fuzz because people were trying to get closer to the stage where he was sitting.

Yeah it was that one.

 

[DontExpect]

What about crowds in Boston? How are they?

I was impressed with the crowds in Boston during the Vertigo tour. Most people seem to know all their songs, but the crowd wasn't particularly young + jumpy like Montreal sounded. Great thing about Boston though, if some people don't know the songs they've been drinking enough to enjoy it all tremendously

I'm a little wary of the crowds at the D.C. shows this fall though...

 

[Chino]

Yeah it was that one.

HyperU2,
You owe me a cookie then .

Oh yeah, forgot about the Boston crowd too. But I also remember how some fans got upset because some people were selected to go inside the heart first when the DVD was recorded. So in protest, they sat on the back (inside the heart). You can see some fans sitting down on the DVD.

 

[pepokiss]

YouTube - U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name - Live Popmart Santiago

0:55
4:08

 

[hcbiggs2002]

My best crowd experience was at the Helsinki Olympic stadium in 1997 and the last time U2 played live here! The crowd on the stands, myself included, where doing 'waves' 10 minutes before U2 even came on stage!! And the atmosphere just intensified when U2 came on stage!! It was like one huge party from beginning to end!!

 

[daygloeyes2]

I was impressed with the crowds in Boston during the Vertigo tour. Most people seem to know all their songs, but the crowd wasn't particularly young + jumpy like Montreal sounded. Great thing about Boston though, if some people don't know the songs they've been drinking enough to enjoy it all tremendously

I'm a little wary of the crowds at the D.C. shows this fall though...

I was in the ellipse at the 12/4 show in Boston. All of the people around me were diehards and it was a great atmosphere! Except for the girl who pulled me back when Bono pointed at me to come up on stage during One.

 

[Hallucination]

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.

 

[Purplereign]

I was in the ellipse at the 12/4 show in Boston. All of the people around me were diehards and it was a great atmosphere! Except for the girl who pulled me back when Bono pointed at me to come up on stage during One.

. . . she pulled you back? that is crazy . . . that stuff does my head in completely!

I find it really hard to compare audiences - to be honest I don't pay a lot of attention to crowd, just kind of get lost in my own little U2 induced state of bliss , but zootv was pretty exciting (my poor ole hubby - then boyfriend - had a sore neck for about a week from propping me up for most of the show ) and the final sydney vertigo show was fricking awesome

 

[alison0313]

During Vertigo tour I think Boston may have suffered from having 10 shows. Especially the October 05 shows. 12/5/05 was probably the best atmosphere of the 3 shows in Boston I saw. The noise at the end of Streets was mind blowing

 

[beau99]

In that case I would recommend her a show in Japan. Crowds pretty much clap at the end of a song as if they were watching a play. No pushing or getting rowdy. I remember hearing that Axl Rose slammed his mic on the floor on one show and left the stage because he didn't feel that the crowd was into it. He came back later on.

I've heard stories of Americans going to various concerts in Japan and nearly dying because the crowds were so intense.

 

[daygloeyes2]

. . . she pulled you back? that is crazy . . . that stuff does my head in completely!

I find it really hard to compare audiences - to be honest I don't pay a lot of attention to crowd, just kind of get lost in my own little U2 induced state of bliss , but zootv was pretty exciting (my poor ole hubby - then boyfriend - had a sore neck for about a week from propping me up for most of the show ) and the final sydney vertigo show was fricking awesome

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??

I got her back though. My brother pretty much shoved me up front so I could steal her place. She was saying, "Can I have her spot?", and we both yelled, "NO!" So during the encores, I was right up front.


Note: I never would have done this had she not pulled me back. When one of the people who was onstage during One came back down and was struggling to get her place back in the front, I was squishing off to the side to try and make room for her and yelling to people she had been there first.