U2 after Glastonbury thoughts and chats

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I just got home after a 9 hour treck from Glastonbury. I've just seen a bit of the U2 footage on the TV but at the event it was not great (this is from somebody who has travelled across the world to see U2). the sound was HORRENDOUS to the point that I moved away from the Pyramid Stage before the end of the show - I couldn't watch any more. I was gutted for them - I sensed that they were really going for it but from where I was and moving around the field the did not resonate with the crowd anywhere near as much as say Elbow did in the sun on Saturday and many other bands.

OK need sleep :)
 
Sounded great on the TV. Watched it a few times and undoubtedly the band was very nervous and Bono especially has now confimed this. But my 21yr old neice was there and she has never seen U2 live. She phoned during the concert and told her mum "watching U2 at the moment and they are awesome". Her very own words. I thought they were great too despite the numerous mistakes.
 
I know this of topic but does anyone know where i could download the Two Door Cinema Club performance?



U2 was amazing at Glasto i just wish they would have played a few different songs than 360. at least they played Bad and Out of control
 
Here's someone posting over atu2.com

Just returned home after 5 days at the festival-I have attended all of them since 1979 and felt I had to register on the site to say that U2 put in a stunning performance on friday night.Every major act in the world had played the festival except U2,the stones and led zeppelin in the 40 odd years of its history.I had seen them before in London right at the start of their career at live aid and live 8 but nothing could have prepared me for an astonishing show.The stage is very limited in terms of what any artist can achieve on a visual effects level but U2 managed to combine an incredible performance with a visual spectacular.The bbc coverage of the event is limited nowadays by the sheer number of flags in the sight line from the mixing desk so they are unable to capture the visual elements we actually saw out in the field.The level of poor weather would also have killed most acts in terms of response-there were approximately 120,000 watching on a sloping hill up from the stage but they certainly connected with everyone i spoke with after the gig had finished.
Earlier in the thread some comments were made about the lack of passion and movement in the crowd-this is a working farm so the ground had turned to ankle deep cloying mud by lunchtime on friday and for most acts this would have reduced the attendance considerably and would have seen large numbers leave to get shelter at any of the other 80 stages when the rain really started to come down in the middle of the gig-this simply didnt happen.The setlist was perfect for the event as the number of hardcore U2 fans was miniscule-there are over 1500 different artists performing over the course of the festival so to draw a crowd of this size was also a major achievement.Unlike springsteen a couple of years ago who gave us a disappointing mixture of old and new U2 gave the glastonbury crowd exactly what we were all hoping for and to finish with out of control took me right back to that sparsely attended concert in london in 1979
There is no festival next year due to the olympics in london but im sure that in 2013 an awful lot of people will be hoping for a triumphant return by U2.
 
So is the weather like this every year? Cos I've been to a festival with shitty weather and try as you might to not let it get to you it does dampen (ha) your spirits a bit.

And how big was this gap between the stage and the crowd? And why was it so big?
 
I just watched the performance and listened to the bootleg and to me it sounds like Bono and Edge were a lot more nervous than Larry and Adam. Edge flubs something in almost every song up until, like, Sunday Bloody Sunday. Bono relies on the chemistry between him and Edge on stage a lot and I think Edge's nervousness affected him as well.

Meanwhile, Adam and Larry just zone out and rock on like it's nothing but one show - which eventually turned out to be an amazing one.
 
They must of done something right to get all the good reviews from the british press? And to also see such a huge boost in sales, i dont know and this might sound silly but maybe U2 fans themselves arent the best people yo review this gig?
 
cobl04 said:
So is the weather like this every year? Cos I've been to a festival with shitty weather and try as you might to not let it get to you it does dampen (ha) your spirits a bit.

And how big was this gap between the stage and the crowd? And why was it so big?
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The weather has to play a huge part i mean of course people would be more up for the sunday shows, just simply because they wouldnt be soaked right through after relentless rain
 
KUEFC09U2 said:
i dont know and this might sound silly but maybe U2 fans themselves arent the best people yo review this gig?
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Oh, they are. Most U2 fans also know how good they can be live when they're on their own (compared to a festival). It's just that some people don't seem to see (or accept) the difference between very good and ZOMG THEY NAILED IT BEST SHOW EVAH!!!11!!111!
 
Popmartijn said:
Oh, they are. Most U2 fans also know how good they can be live when they're on their own (compared to a festival). It's just that some people don't seem to see (or accept) the difference between very good and ZOMG THEY NAILED IT BEST SHOW EVAH!!!11!!111!
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But are they? am not saying about it being the best show ever etc, but i mean can a die hard U2 fan, really go and find U2 playing just the hits to be amazing? i mean come on we see the moaning here in the setlist threads, even if it wasnt the best thing U2 have ever done the fact that some people who didnt even like them are now turning around and saying "you know there pretty damn good", shows they have done a good job.
 
He was up against both Coldplay and the Chemical Brothers - tough competition - but he still managed to pull a massive crowd, and everyone was going nuts. I'd watched most of Janelle Monae before him - another highlight, she's fantastic - then ducked over to catch the opening few songs of Coldplay to see how they stacked up against U2, and then back over to Big Boi a couple of songs into his set. That stage was the one to be at on Saturday night. Big, big party. If what you see in Sept is even a quarter of that, it will be fantastic.
 
:up::up: thanks for posting man! So happy to read. Chemical Bros have a stellar live show (and they're mighty huge in the UK no?) so I'm so glad it was the place to be.

Are you gonna be in Oz when Splendour is on? I wish I could go, it'd be worth it for Kanye alone.
 
Yeah, Chemical Brothers were huge. I cut past their stage to get from Coldplay to Big Boi, it was packed too, probably 40-50K? So I'm guessing Big Boi was about, maybe, 10-15K? But that's more than healthy. Chemical Brothers are an institution here, and they do put on one hell of a show (I've seen them a few times) and Coldplay pulled a monster crowd too, much larger than U2 apparently. So 10-15K for Big Boi was quite an achievement.

No to Splendour - home for Christmas, but not in between.
 
Wu Tang were good, but they were up against it. Their 'heavy' hip-hop in the middle of a truly miserable afternoon, crammed in between Two Door Cinema Club and BB King - they (and the crowd) didn't seem to hit their stride until right at the end of their set, while the rawkus party set from Big Boi, at the end of a glorious day, and after a number of other 'party' acts as perfect warm up, just exploded from the get go. I just noticed in another thread that you are avoiding Big Boi setlists, so no spoilers, but I got there about 5 mins in and... it was all firing on all cylinders right from the start.
 
U2 looked extremely uncomfortable on fridaynight. Someone mentioned the 2 year comfortzone they had plus the fact that hey haven't played a festival in ages and the fact that they are 50+ men. Add millions of liters of rain, a crowd that averages 20 and you get a 8 out of 10 for ma band whch gave me 19 times a 10 and 1 time and 9. Still I thought their performance was better than Coldplays(and this is comming from someone who thinks that Viva la vida kicks NLOTH ass HARD)
:wink:

U2 will forever be my favorite band but you can not deny that that (extra) spark of the 80's / beginning of the 90's isnt there anymore which is no surprise after 30 years at the top. Are they still a great band? Yes. did bono try hard and struggled because of the rain and poor sound? Yes,but still: when I rank the 3 headliners in this order based on what I saw Beyonce >U2> Coldplay than I know things will never be the same again. This would have never be the case when the boys were in their late 20's begin 30's.

Beyonce ruling glastonbury. I thought I had seen it all... :wink:
 
Someone posted yesterday how just past the mixing desk people where sitting on deck chairs, so surely the coldplay crowd wasnt THAT much bigger than U2's?
 
Got back late last night from Glastonbury - wow what an experience; incredible as always. I was disappointed not to get chance to meet up on Thursday with some of the people from here - in my rush to pack and make sure I had everything on Tuesday evening I forgot to input Gareth's number to my phone :doh:

Anyway here are my thoughts on U2's performance. I was down the centre-front about 10 heads back (in the 'pit' as it were), and to my eyes the boys smashed it, they fully deserve all the praise the British media seem to be reluctantly affording them, and much more. Perhaps more than any other band over the weekend they seemed to literally be playing for their very lives.

However, it was very obvious just how nervous they were, Bono in particular didn't seem comfortable at all until about half way through. I mean, for fucks sake, if he needs a telepromptor to help him with lyrics of Streets and I Will Follow then that just illustrates the level of anxiety he was obviously feeling. I watched the performance back last night and it further translated just how pumped he was. Its a real pity the conditions prevented him from further interaction with the crowd and some more movement; he was understandably concerned about stacking it on the stage. Would have been great if he'd been able to get out to the sides of the stage or even down to the crowd barrier, but over 10metres of sludge I guess that was never going to happen.

The setlist was (mostly) perfect I thought. I think Earnie put his finger on it here earlier - where I was certainly Boots and Moment of Surrender were noticeable lulls. In my opinion they should have stuck Streets further back in the set and ended with All I Want Is You instead of MOS. Other than that, the opening Achtung salvo was electrifying, Stay was heart-wrenching, Beautiful Day was fantastic, as was Bad. They should have found space for New Year's Day and Bullet perhaps but of course its hard to play everything.

Whilst it was one of the most surreal and mind-blowing live music experiences I've been to, I found it a very odd experience overall. I don't think I've ever been so nervous for the band, my heart was in my mouth the whole time trying to gauge the audience's reaction behind me and praying they didn't screw it up. Therefore I think I wasn't able to totally lose myself in the music in the same euphoric way I managed the first time I saw them at Croke Park 09, for example. It wasn't a celebration, there was too much at stake. Which is precisely why the hopes for a Slane-style performance were misguided - they are so relaxed and loving that performance at Slane, in a way that could never be replicated on such a big stage.

Another major thing that really saddened me over the course of the weekend was the level of negativity towards U2. It seemed to be pervasive everywhere - from the protests (which sadly seems to have overshadowed the performance somewhat), to just general bitchiness (I went into one of the cabaret tents late Saturday night and, to the hilarity of my friends, stormed out when some moron comedian came on with an opening rally of anti-Bono 'jokes' which the crowd lapped up). Having said that, the general attitude on the Saturday morning seemed nothing but positive towards their performance; I think a lot of people were really impressed and the consensus was nothing other than - they pulled it off. Whether it goes down as one of the 'classic Glastonbury sets', I think time will tell but it was certainly one of the most strange, surreal and mesmerising gigs I've witnessed.
 
KUEFC09U2 said:
They must of done something right to get all the good reviews from the british press? And to also see such a huge boost in sales, i dont know and this might sound silly but maybe U2 fans themselves arent the best people yo review this gig?
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Sometimes I think the fans expected too much out of this gig.

BTW who in the band was off with EBTTRT and Streets start ?
 
Edge. On both songs. On EBTTRT I still can't put my finger on exactly what was wrong, I think effect related, but on Streets he started on wrong timing with the organ intro. Could've been malfunctioning IEMs, or pure nerves.
 
With the foul ups, I think they must have been having IEM issues. They were having a lot more problems up there than the broadcast gives away. They were doing those between song band huddles a lot - often when the BBC was showing wider shots and whatnot - but they weren't 'go team' huddles, but rather they seemed to be really quite panicked, and throughout the whole thing there was a lot of shouting at each other, Edge shouting at Dallas, Adam sticking closer to Larry than usual, Bono and Edge keeping eye contact. They also very, very nearly didn't make it back on stage in time for the start of WOWY. Everyone was quite clearly caught out by that. So multiple timing and communication issues? Sounds like the earpieces were on the fritz. I said before, you also heard the countdown for Streets coming clearly over the PA, which would be another sign of the issues.

The start of Streets was all off actually. It started very suddenly, with Edge out of place, and the red screens just popped straight on at that moment. No organ, no fade up of the screens/lighting. Surely it wasn't planned that way and was meant to fade up during Jerusalem. The reason we got that IEM feed over the PA might simply have been because some pre-programmed organ/lighting/screen thing wasn't working, so someone quickly switched it to the IEM and just flicked 'on' for the red screens? Better to have the slightly embarrassing countdown than ruin the moment all together? Don't know.

There were so many of those errors - I'd love to read an honest Willie diary entry for this. I imagine back in the mixing tent the expletives were flying all night.
 
I guess new tricks are hard to learn for old dogs.

I remember at the first Brisbane gig Streets' intro was cut noticeably short. And it really takes away from the song. It's all about that build up.
 
Earnie Shavers said:
With the foul ups, I think they must have been having IEM issues. They were having a lot more problems up there than the broadcast gives away. They were doing those between song band huddles a lot - often when the BBC was showing wider shots and whatnot - but they weren't 'go team' huddles, but rather they seemed to be really quite panicked, and throughout the whole thing there was a lot of shouting at each other, Edge shouting at Dallas, Adam sticking closer to Larry than usual, Bono and Edge keeping eye contact. They also very, very nearly didn't make it back on stage in time for the start of WOWY. Everyone was quite clearly caught out by that. So multiple timing and communication issues? Sounds like the earpieces were on the fritz. I said before, you also heard the countdown for Streets coming clearly over the PA, which would be another sign of the issues.

The start of Streets was all off actually. It started very suddenly, with Edge out of place, and the red screens just popped straight on at that moment. No organ, no fade up of the screens/lighting. Surely it wasn't planned that way and was meant to fade up during Jerusalem. The reason we got that IEM feed over the PA might simply have been because some pre-programmed organ/lighting/screen thing wasn't working, so someone quickly switched it to the IEM and just flicked 'on' for the red screens? Better to have the slightly embarrassing countdown than ruin the moment all together? Don't know.

There were so many of those errors - I'd love to read an honest Willie diary entry for this. I imagine back in the mixing tent the expletives were flying all night.
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Thanks for the elaboration. It did seem strange on tv but I didn't notice due to the excitement, but listening back to the bootleg it really sounds off, since we're so used to the organ segueing into the song Bono's doing at the moment. I guess they weren't sure where he was going to end or so.

Can IEM's take heavy rain? Or could that have been part of the problem? :hmm: Or some transmission problem because there were so many artists on stage nearby?
 
I have now watched the whole broadcast, and I can understand why so many people here – especially those who haven’t watched many (any?) Glastonbury headlining sets before – thought they nailed it. It paints a very rosy picture! Which is good, because far, far, far more people were watching it on the BBC than were actually in the field. But I can assure you, from the field, they came within an inch of crashing that into the wall. As Mikey said above, it was nerve wracking to watch.

I have actually been surprised to read a lot of the great reviews. From punters there it seemed to be mixed - very mixed. But as I was walking away from it, I actually thought the whole thing was very exciting from a fan perspective – you never, ever see U2 so raw and real, so terrified and panicked, running on pure nerves and adrenalin – but that from a casual perspective, I thought that they had probably tanked it.
So it’s nice to read and hear that so many think they didn’t, although weather + gremlins + poor setlist (Moment of Surrender – what the fuck were they thinking?) really did hold it back. They never really got the massive lift off everyone expects from a Glastonbury headline set. It all peaked with the Achtung run. If they’d been on one night later (with the better weather, sound and field conditions Coldplay enjoyed), and if that was all that was holding Bono back from really working with the crowd (and if it was the weather that seemed to weaken his voice significantly song after song), then that plus just a two song different encore could have really knocked them over the top. Real shame.

But yes, this U2 fan right here thought that ‘realness’ was fantastic. The Fly was my standout. They were super nervous, super edgy. Even Better failed to take off with the whole band looking like a deer in headlights, possibly rattled by such a shonky start, and perhaps the realisation that this is going to be fucking tough. But then they seem to throw all of the adrenalin, fear, frustration into the next song and ripped into The Fly. Again, this was certainly not technically the greatest version. I don't think Bono got *any* of the chords right (and they actually had him turned up quite high) plus Edge flubbed it in a few spots - but - the raw energy to it was just unreal. Again, something not picked up on the BBC, but at the very end, when the camera is focused on Bono facing Larry, I remember thinking at the time that people 'here' watching this online must be loving this moment, but the BBC didn't catch it - the three of them were huddled around Larry as they did in Anaheim for the finish, but properly banging it this time, like a much, much younger band. It was fucking great. Edge is hitting the wrong notes, Bono is just hitting whatever chord, but they're absolutely going for it. All of this, and I'm there in the pit and I'm looking up at seven big screens flashing the rapid-fire words and slogans. Where am I? When is this? Fuck nostalgia complaints, for five minutes there I was at ZooTV. This absolutely wins my All Time U2 Live Highlight Award. I was a pig in mud, in every way, as it was.

But yes, sadly, for several reasons - some their own fault, some not - as I said before, they competently landed this gig, which in itself was amazing given the truly awful conditions, and it was very special and unique for U2 fans, but it failed to get lift off, failed to be something bigger. It will probably end up settling as being one of the better/best of the weekend, but definitely not an all time great. Their inexperience with gigs and crowds and events like this, and the truly awful conditions, proved to be too much.
 
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