breathe
Refugee
I was wondering does U2 always rehearse a few hours before the show? I might get into the stadium very early in miami. So i was wondering if i would see the soundcheck.
Question about rehearsals
- Thread starter breathe
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breathe
Refugee
ok so they do soundcheck, my family knows one of the top dogs of the stadium, so he is going to get up in at around 2 or 3
trojanchick99
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
They don't soundcheck every time though. For example there was no full band soundcheck in Oakland.
Sometimes the crew soundcheck, sometimes U2 do. Since Miami is in the middle of a run of single-night cities and the band should be well rehearsed by that point of the leg, I'd suggest the crew are more likely to soundcheck than U2. But you never know, if U2 have something they feel like they need to work on, then they'll take the opportunity.
hand0lotion
War Child
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2010
- Messages
- 777
Hey Axver, how do people know whether it's tha band or the crew soundchecking? I was in the Salt Lake GA line, and everyone was really calm about the soundcheck cos they knew it was "fake U2" 
breathe, it's great you have connections so you can sneak in. You could also suss out which spot in the GA you wanna stand at for the show too!
breathe, it's great you have connections so you can sneak in. You could also suss out which spot in the GA you wanna stand at for the show too!
sharebear
The Fly
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- Dec 1, 2005
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- 202
Well the crew will always do a check...usually early like from 12-2:30. Then things go quiet for a while. If it fires back up, its probably the band. Besides basic mic checks, etc.
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
Hey Axver, how do people know whether it's tha band or the crew soundchecking? I was in the Salt Lake GA line, and everyone was really calm about the soundcheck cos they knew it was "fake U2"
breathe, it's great you have connections so you can sneak in. You could also suss out which spot in the GA you wanna stand at for the show too!
Easiest distinction is lack of vocals. But mostly it's audible by the pieces being played. Are you hearing Gloria or Mofo on drums? That's Sam. He usually soundchecks with those drum rolls. Are you hearing random pieces of guitar music, could be U2 songs or even "Sweet Home Alabama"? That's Dallas soundchecking the guitars. I'm still sad nobody taped that in Brussels. He actually played Sweet Home Alabama a couple of times.
Usually the crew sound checks are instrument by instrument. If it's a U2 soundcheck it's all instruments at once(or just guitar if it's only Edge rehearsing). And you can sometimes hear them communicate over the PA as well.
sharebear
The Fly
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- Dec 1, 2005
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- 202
There have been multiple times where they will do a full band check...but you're right, usually without vocals. Although I have seen/heard them do crew checks using playback vocals.
superblue
The Fly
You were in Dublin as well.....one of the days, I think second show, they did Electrical Storm in the soundcheck.
I was almost certain it was the band. Thoughts?
I was almost certain it was the band. Thoughts?
Easiest distinction is lack of vocals. But mostly it's audible by the pieces being played. Are you hearing Gloria or Mofo on drums? That's Sam. He usually soundchecks with those drum rolls. Are you hearing random pieces of guitar music, could be U2 songs or even "Sweet Home Alabama"? That's Dallas soundchecking the guitars. I'm still sad nobody taped that in Brussels. He actually played Sweet Home Alabama a couple of times.
Usually the crew sound checks are instrument by instrument. If it's a U2 soundcheck it's all instruments at once(or just guitar if it's only Edge rehearsing). And you can sometimes hear them communicate over the PA as well.
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
That was the band. 100%. Drowning man too. Edge varied the guitar parts a bit, and vocals were added. They also played I Will Follow a couple of times.
superblue
The Fly
Oh I remember I Will Follow extremely well and it sounded so good both times. I was almost certain that had to be the Edge....but you never know. A good tech can emulate really well, and there never was an effects pedal that the Edge didn't fall in love with
yeah, exactly. in auckland i could hear bono talking to the rest of the band when they played one bit of boy falls from the sky for like an hour.If it's a U2 soundcheck it's all instruments at once(or just guitar if it's only Edge rehearsing). And you can sometimes hear them communicate over the PA as well.
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
Dallas usually plays a riff and then something else. This was different. The riff kept being played and other parts of the song too, then bass and drums kicked in. THat's definitely the whole band there.Oh I remember I Will Follow extremely well and it sounded so good both times. I was almost certain that had to be the Edge....but you never know. A good tech can emulate really well, and there never was an effects pedal that the Edge didn't fall in love with
Usually Bono does the talking yeah.
Man loves to talk. On rare occasions I've heard Edge ask Joe to turn things up a bit, can't recall what soundcheck that was.
coolian2
Blue Crack Supplier
i hope the irony of mofo being used to soundcheck the drums isn't lost upon larry.
vjacqb
New Yorker
If you hear Zooropa blending into COBL, that's the crew. Same with Space Oddity to Even Better than the Real Thing.
You should be able to hear Bono's voice. If they soundcheck, they normally soundcheck around 4pm or later. That soundcheck of The Fly in Seattle was
I was singing along and jumping around like mad. That was Dublin III. Full band Drowning Man, I Will Follow, New Year's Day, and Electrical Storm. Vocals were very, very obviously live, especially when Bono decided to stop ES!
Like others have said, it's generally very easy to tell when it's the band. The only time it can be hard to tell is when Edge decides to do a soundcheck by himself, but even then, if you're familiar with his style relative to Dallas's, you can pick it. One clue is that Dallas will hop from song to song to test different guitars and effects; if Edge is rehearsing by himself, it is because he wants to work on specific things and the soundcheck will be more focused.
When the crew use pre-taped vocals, it's pretty obvious. Partly through sounding too polished, partly because you say "hey that's the album/ZooTV Sydney/something else I own!" There was an Elevation soundcheck where the band were checking Mysterious Ways with taped vocals from ZooTV Sydney; Bono comes in someway through and sings along with it.
Actually, your own site says that was Vertigo, Mr. Setlist King.
U2 Anaheim, 2005-04-01, Arrowhead Pond, Vertigo Tour - U2 on tour
Actually, your own site says that was Vertigo, Mr. Setlist King.
U2 Anaheim, 2005-04-01, Arrowhead Pond, Vertigo Tour - U2 on tour
In my defence, check the timestamp: Today, 07:07 AM
Axvers do not function before about 11am.
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
coolian2
Blue Crack Supplier
how do you even know that??Actually, your own site says that was Vertigo, Mr. Setlist King.
U2 Anaheim, 2005-04-01, Arrowhead Pond, Vertigo Tour - U2 on tour
I'm sorry, but I operate on Jesus Daylight Time, ie, America Time. That's the proper time zone by which to evaluate things. It was 4:07pm. Deal with it.
I remembered reading it on U2Gigs, and I remembered that it was early Vertigo, so I just went through the first few Vertigo setlists until I found it.
I'm sorry, but I operate on Jesus Daylight Time, ie, America Time. That's the proper time zone by which to evaluate things. It was 4:07pm. Deal with it.
You're living in the past. Quit living in the past.
HBK-79
War Child
When I was waiting in the GA line in Oakland, the crew kept using the Claw's PA system to sing Happy Birthday to one another.
It got so annoying.
It got so annoying.
They soundchecked the rehearsal the night before the concert in Denver, full blown concert, I just stood outside the stadium, walked up to the gates and watched. More than likely they'll soundcheck later at night, usually 9/10/11... and during the day, their techs will soundcheck songs about 4-5 hours before the band takes the stage.
EdgeFest
Refugee
When I was waiting in the GA line in Oakland, the crew kept using the Claw's PA system to sing Happy Birthday to one another.
It got so annoying.
Wasn't as annoying as my day at work...
hand0lotion
War Child
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2010
- Messages
- 777
^well, I think it would have been adorable if it were DALLAS or Sam Sullivan (ADAM's tech) Tsktsk, Jake Berry, where were you? 
I felt so cheated at Denver. Anyone knows the Denver 2011 (leg opener) soundcheck story?
I was there early on show day. I swear I remember some soundchecking (even with Bono's vocals) at 2-3pm ish. Was Bono's vocals pre-recorded while the crew soundchecked? Or was the whole thing pre-recorded?
A U2 staffer told me the band probably wouldn't be there at all, and I thought he was lying to me to get me to scoot off like a good audience member
I felt so cheated at Denver. Anyone knows the Denver 2011 (leg opener) soundcheck story?
I was there early on show day. I swear I remember some soundchecking (even with Bono's vocals) at 2-3pm ish. Was Bono's vocals pre-recorded while the crew soundchecked? Or was the whole thing pre-recorded?
A U2 staffer told me the band probably wouldn't be there at all, and I thought he was lying to me to get me to scoot off like a good audience member
trojanchick99
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Denver was the exception because it was the first show of the leg. Instead of a soundcheck, they did a full dress rehearsal the night before. Most of the time, if they do a soundcheck, it will be between 3:30 and 5. Crew will check before that.
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