U2 after Glastonbury thoughts and chats

[Earnie Shavers]

I'm glad you mentioned that, because I kept forgetting to ask - did anyone think he was trying to bring someone up on stage during WOWY?

It looked like he was leaning and gesturing, but from the camera's perspective, all I could see where a couple of inflatable animals, so maybe he was trying to get the blow-up dolphin to dance with.

During WOWY he was getting the UK and Irish flags off peeps in the front row, that was right in front of me. If he had actually grabbed a girl for a dance, that would have attracted 'Live Aid!' criticism, but going off stage and out to and onto the barrier happens quite a bit, yet somehow never gets old. Even Beyonce did it on Sunday.

 

[corianderstem]

Ah, okay. Thanks!

 

[Earnie Shavers]

He was having difficulty because the girls in the front row had the same initial reading of the situation as you. Such a huge high and let down all in about 5 seconds! For a split second they saw a flash of the whole future THAT WILL HAPPEN! all beginning with 'The Dance' at Glastonbury... but then... he just wants your boyfriends fucking tri-colour... and your boyfriend isn't even Irish... why the fuck does he have it? Destiny does not begin tonight... but it WILL happen... the boyfriend though, is DONE.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Dont lie Earnie you wanted to get up and dance with him

 

[Anji]

he just wants your boyfriends fucking tri-colour... and your boyfriend isn't even Irish... why the fuck does he have it? Destiny does not begin tonight... but it WILL happen... the boyfriend though, is DONE.

Eh? What are you on about??? The flag Bono took DID belong to an irish man. I know his girlfreind, who lurks, and posts quite rarely

 

[mama cass]

It looked like he was leaning and gesturing, but from the camera's perspective, all I could see where a couple of inflatable animals, so maybe he was trying to get the blow-up dolphin to dance with.

me too!! i was watching that thinking W.T.F?!

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Eh? What are you on about??? The flag Bono took DID belong to an irish man. I know his girlfreind, who lurks, and posts quite rarely

Err, that wasn't meant to be a true story, or come across that way.

 

[KEVIN051269]

Did I read somewhere (on here?) that he put the Irish flag back to front? That wasn't very clever

 

[KUEFC09U2]

I actually didnt notice but would be funny if he did

 

[MikeyJB]

Haha I thought he was bringing up a girl as well. I was like - please don't be bringing up some soaking wet anorak-wearing girl now Bono. Also, I was so close to catching that water bottle Bono threw at the end of Out of Control; sadly it flew straight into some guy's waiting hand. Gutted

Earnie - is that really how you've lip-read Bono at the end??? If so, that's pretty funny but also quite depressing that he would think that so soon.

Also, I hope they don't ever play Glastonbury again. It should remain as a one-off. Unless of course they return with a killer album that gets everyone renewed in their affection for U2.

 

[anjarw]

Well he was fucking pointing to me!! And I had a tiny heart attack and then realised he wanted the my man's tricolour, which by the way was STILL ATTACHED to the flag pole The Crew ripped that thing appart like it was nothing. And we didn't get the flag back either, Phil said Bono wanted to keep it if that's ok. It had been hanging on my way for 4 years, and now it's somewhere in Bono's luggage

 

[corianderstem]

Ha haaaa - awesome!

 

[anjarw]

Eh? What are you on about??? The flag Bono took DID belong to an irish man. I know his girlfreind, who lurks, and posts quite rarely

Aww thanks

 

[corianderstem]

You should try and go to another show, and have a banner that says "BONO, I WANT MY FUCKING FLAG BACK!"

 

[4U2Play]

.

 

[cathalmc]

Coming to this very late as I've been offline since last week, and have only read the last four pages.

Can someone post links to any reviews from British newspapers please? Where were the negative reviews? I've only seen the Guardian's review which was pretty positive.

Are there any links to anecdotal vox-pops from people at Glasto about U2's set? Positive and negative. I'm gonna spend a day or two poring through all the news and comments.

FWIW U2 @ Glastonbury was miles, light years, aeons beyond any 360 show for me - but this is not based on an objective comparison

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Earnie - is that really how you've lip-read Bono at the end??? If so, that's pretty funny but also quite depressing that he would think that so soon.

No, no - I was joking about literally lip reading. Watching the broadcast, a lot of the looks they're giving each other are pretty funny though. They look like they're well aware that they were on a tightrope for most of it - there are a few looks from Bono early on that look like they're saying "Sheeeiiit, this is a bit hairy!" - and with the weather, a lot of cock ups, possibly stuff going wrong technology-wise, I think at the end the overwhelming feeling probably was one of huge relief (and happiness) that they managed to not fall off that tightrope. Like you were saying, it was obvious and nerve-wracking from the crowd, imagine what it was like for them!

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Can someone post links to any reviews from British newspapers please? Where were the negative reviews? I've only seen the Guardian's review which was pretty positive.

Are there any links to anecdotal vox-pops from people at Glasto about U2's set? Positive and negative. I'm gonna spend a day or two poring through all the news and comments.

The Independent probably had the most negative of the reviews, Guardian most positive, Telegraph the most weird (Headline was something like "Is it time we learned to treasure U2?" which sounds perfect, the whole point really, but then the article itself is barely complimentary.) It seems most of the reviews of U2's set in isolation are positive, but in reviews of the festival as a whole, the U2 component is either 'whatever' or negative about it. Actually less negative, more brushing over. Beyonce won the headliner battle, Beyonce was amazing, Pulp, Janelle Monae etc etc, and Coldplay and U2 just did what they do satisfactorily, that sort of thing.

FWIW U2 @ Glastonbury was miles, light years, aeons beyond any 360 show for me - but this is not based on an objective comparison

Yeah, my previous posts in here may come off negative about it - but that is absolutely not the case at all. I'm definitely disappointed about a few aspects - most filed in the end under 'weather', but also the setlist length and flow, ie the things I thought held them back from really knocking it into the stratosphere - but it absolutely slots in at #1 U2 gig for me, for sure. You're never going to see that again. You're probably never going to see U2 pushing something so raw and real again. And when was the last time? It was absolutely electrifying.

 

[Anji]

Aww thanks

You are welcome

 

[zwervers2]

So the question is do we think they will do it again?

I think the question should be, will they be ask again? Let's face it, they are not getting any younger, they ARE expensive, the next Glastonbury is in 2013 and when they are not touring by then(which is almost certain after such a long tour) I do not see them playing a standalone festivalseason..then it would be 2014.They would have to have an incredible record out by then which sells a lot of copies and they would have to have one or two BIG hits.(otherwise they won't be asked. There are new bands out there by then also). If those conditions are there, then maybe yes, otherwise I see them coming back in ten years when they are in their 60's (God I am getting old) as the oldies act(P Simon, N Diamond etc). Say goodbye to the world so that Edge can finally use " his" boat for good use more often. Still can not get over the fact that he didnt pay it all by himself. I mean WTF

 

[Galeongirl]

You should try and go to another show, and have a banner that says "BONO, I WANT MY FUCKING FLAG BACK!"

That would be awesome!

 

[cobl04]

Why is there no Glastonbury next year?

 

[Earnie Shavers]

They take a year off every few years - I think 2006 was the last year off? It's a working dairy farm that gets ruined once a year by 200,000 drunk people - it needs a break every few years. It also keeps the festival a bit fresh, nice to have everyone 'miss' it every few years.

 

[Galeongirl]

Olympic games in London.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Not enough pots to piss in, (i mean seriously, they are saying there wont be enough portable toilets with the olympics being on)

 

[hedge]

Coming to this very late as I've been offline since last week, and have only read the last four pages.

Can someone post links to any reviews from British newspapers please? Where were the negative reviews? I've only seen the Guardian's review which was pretty positive.

Are there any links to anecdotal vox-pops from people at Glasto about U2's set? Positive and negative. I'm gonna spend a day or two poring through all the news and comments.

FWIW U2 @ Glastonbury was miles, light years, aeons beyond any 360 show for me - but this is not based on an objective comparison

so, Cathal, what, ahem, happened??? got your laptop back? spill the beans old boy!

 

[Dragonfave]

Music Week - Music Week - Music business magazine - BBC reports record viewing figures for Glastonbury

BBC Two’s coverage made up the lion’s share of viewers, reaching 15.7m people, up 3.6m on last year. All headline performers on the channel had an average audience of more than 1.5m, with peaks of 2.6m viewers for Beyoncé, 2.2m for Coldplay and 2.1m for U2.

Arts channel BBC Four pulled in 4.3m viewers, up by 1.9m on last year. U2's performance had the highest average audience on BBC Four, with 1.2m people watching.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

U2 pulling 2.1m on a Friday night, when most people are out, is pretty darn good when the uber popular, 'main attraction' Beyonce, on a Sunday, when most people are in, is pulling 'only' 2.6m in comparision.

Obviously the BBC4 'win' is due to the forced switchover. It would be interesting to see how steep the drop off was on BBC2, ie, how many people who didn't jump over to 4, came 'back' to U2 at 11pm. I'm guessing it would have remained at around that 1.2m, ie the peak would have been the start, then they lost half the audience through the forced channel jumping. And then half again when Boots was played?

 

[domo-kun]

Saw all 3 of the headlinsers, for me U2 = Beyoncé > Coldplay

Beyonce was rocking her shit out , so was U2, Sound at U2 was great up front ,
great at the broadcast, but obviously like many people where saying , becuase of the weather not so great at the back. That sucks.

 

[nickoslo]

http://www.u2startcontent.com/photos/1-33367-size3.jpg

just random observation