September 20, 2009 - Gilette Stadium Foxboro - Massachusetts

[Sicy]

Please post your experiences, pics, and reviews for this show here.

 

[daygloeyes2]

Wow. Just......wow.

We lined up at 9 am and were somewhere in the 200's in line. I have to say thanks to digsy, UKTan, and a few others who worked with security to allow everyone to line up. The line was very relaxed, very chill. That is, until it was time to go in. Apparently, only male security guards could pat down males and female security guards females. When we were getting ready to go, it was a mad dash. I almost lost my shoe and was nearly pushed. We were shoved into the line with the male security guard. He refused to pat us down, so we had to jump over the barrier to the female line. Once we got past security, it was a mad dash. We secured one of the last outer rail spots on Adam's side. Absolutely perfect view. And to me, absolutely worth the time I put in and all the dramz.

The show was amazing. It feels like it went by far too fast. I absolutely loved the Crazy Tonight remix, especially since Adam, Edge, and Larry were in front of us a bit of the time. And the whole band came across the bridges quite frequently. When my brain isn't fried, I'll post a more detailed description lol.

 

[ReneeU2]

AMAZING show! truly. Got there a little before noon, was very upset at the mad surge to front around 1:30, stood in a claustrophobic herd of cattle for 4 hours, crazy pushing and shoving to get in (I feel so bad for my fellow Team Ops workers, glad I wasn't working..) but then got 2nd row from back of inner circle, towards Adam's side, perfect view. Completely worth it. No shoving, fans were great, not too squished, and U2 used the ramps a lot more than I expected. One of the bridges stopped 5 ft from me, and Bono sang "Magnificant" up there the whole time! Could see the beads of sweat on Bono's head, I was so close!

Concert itself was great- they played all my favorite songs, and performed them with such energy and dedication. I will try to post some photos later, but for now, time for some sleep!

BTW, I got dropped off and picked up, but I'm curious to know how long it took everyone to get there and leave?

 

[U2jer]

Awesome show, had reserved seats towards the front of 326- near the overhang so the view was perfect. Surprise songs- New Years Day and Mysterious Ways (full version- not the choppy one from early in the tour). Bono let the crowd take over a lot of singing tonight- more than full verse in ISHFWILF, and some other parts of songs. Band was tight tonight, Bono got Larry to laugh during the band introductions- Bono went on about Larry is not a human, 'he's Robocop 3'.. and Larry cracked up.

Snow Patrol were great as openers- Gary did a little audience participation during Shut Your Eyes and after the song ended the crowd kept singing the part to his amazement and amusement.

As a side note to anyone going tomorrow- getting into the parking lots is relatively easy, getting out was a mess (at least lot 11)- no direction and just a giant free for all- sat like 45 mins with little to no movement until some people noticed a side exit was open and snuck out through that.

Good merch selection- got a tshirt and the zip up hoodie

 

[MoodyJ]

I agree with everyone. The show was great, and I had a blast, even if I was freezing in my very high up Sec 334 seats. Even the cops standing behind us kept saying "Whoa. It's high up here".

We heard a little bit of an echo early during U2's set, but it didn't last long. I was a little envious of the people in inner circle because it looked like a lot of fun in there. My friends and I were the only ones dancing in our section until Elevation came on. The crowd participation during ISHFWILF was awesome. It was the only time everyone in my section got up, danced, and sang. I will never understand going to a rock concert and sitting firmly in your seat. Odd. Hopefully the crowd in the lower section will be better tomorrow.

Snow Patrol were great as openers- Gary did a little audience participation during Shut Your Eyes and after the song ended the crowd kept singing the part to his amazement and amusement.

That was a great moment. It was nice to see some love for the opening act. I admit that I was not looking forward to Snow Patrol and was very tempted to skip them completely, but I'm glad I didn't.

BTW, I got dropped off and picked up, but I'm curious to know how long it took everyone to get there and leave?

It took us about an hour to get out of the lot (P6) and onto Route 1, and then another 2½ hours to drive 4 up Route 1 to get to 95 which is about 4 miles. It was ridiculous. That God I don't have to do that drive after tomorrow's show.

 

[mrclutch34do]

Its just unreal what these guys do. They take everything to a new level with their music. The ability to lift so many spirits, involve so many people and do that for as long as they have truely amazes me. From the multitude of celebrities always at their shows to the people who probably would spend their last buck and wait overnight for them, everyone loves U2. Its nice to have something pleasent to come together for in such a hectic world isnt it? I had an absolutely amazing time, I just wish the stage was a little bit lower as I was on the Edges side and was basically stuck seeing the top of their heads until they came over that way, which they did enough so it was cool. Thats what the screens for, right Brian!? Had a nice conversation with one of the workers there. He said U2's management estimated 120,000 people there tonight. Wow. Bonos voice almost scares me. I think he went a little overboard (which I LOVE because he sounded awesome) but it scares me because I want to see this band many more times hopefully for many more years and he MUST damage his voice going all out like that every 2-3 nights for 5-6 months. I guess the fact that he let the crowd sing a lot was likely due to him realising he cant take it TOO far. I loved hearing "The Unforgettable Fire". I wish they would have done "Bad", "Out of Control" or "I will Follow" because I have been listening to those a lot lately and I have always wanted to hear "Until the End of the World" but Im not sure how often they do those anymore. You could tell the band really appreciated the participation as it got pretty cold after being hot most of the day. How anyone can stand in that line all day and go back for another is beyond me lol. The preshow line woes, as you guys mentioned were pretty bad. Actually, I probably would go tomorrow if I had another $40 to spend on parking but really dont. Too bad theres not a big U2 Tour Bus that picks uo fans and brings them to the concerts locally . That lot is a nightmare. After about 20 minutes we realized we werent going to move and went up to Davios. I was suprised more people didnt do the same? The bar was full but they had a near empty lounge and plenty of space. Maybe everyone went somewhere else?

Anyways, around 1:00 they had a random rush towards the front in which people way in the back were able to sneek their way up. I saw a good amount of people who were behind me. One thing that really hurt the line was the people at the very front who had wristbands or whatever from last night. There was one woman, who stood up (standing up is bad in itself because everyone from #15 or so in line and on had to stand and be squished for 4:45 while those people sat down/layed down) and yelled at A LOT of people. 2 guys were berated for, what seemed to me to be no reason. Some other people almost got themselves kicked out for bringing alchohol apparently. Except for this, and the Patriots game on as they lost it bigtime . The songs were very good and there were some funny/memorable moments as well. Do all of the concerts get filmed like they did tonight? I noticed a little camera being brought back and fourth filming the show. Just curious if when they put a DVD together they film every show and just use certain/the best versions? I would love to have a copy of this show if they ever make them available.

I havent been down to Gillette since they put in the new Patriots Place, and all the new things around there. What a great place. I hope they host more concerts. Maybe U2 will come back? or are they doing indoor shows next time around? Would LOVE to see them back at the Garden as its much closer to me and faster to get in/get out of. It looked like a lot of people tailgated, cooking some good food and just enjoying the very nice day we all had.

As far as Snow Patrol, I was very impressed. I felt really bad for the lead singer because he said that one show they did, no one sang along to any of their songs and that they felt really embarassed. After they said that everyone really got into it and he actually was so happy that the singing continued he started singing but walked away from the mic crying! But hey, it was tears of joy!

Ill post some pictures I took, including my ones with.....Bono. Hmm, , pics with Bono after the concert? We shall see...

 

[Bonogirl777]

I think I'll come back with a review later. I had an absolutely amazing time.

 

[mrclutch34do]

I cant even believe I took this first picture lol!

After the show:

And I cant get the Bono pic to load

 

[trinx]

Thanks for the pics and reviews!

We got an audio stream and we were pretty excited about TUF & NYD. It must have been an awesome night.

 

[an_cat]

What a show! I'm deathly ill and functioning on 1 hours sleep on a train back to NYC, but I'm still deliriously happy! They are simply incredible. How can you go wrong? I sort of lost it during The Unforgettable Fire. Did they even play that? Maybe I hallucinated, it's one of my favorites and I wasn't expecting it. My brother's favorite is New Years Day, so between the two of us we were happy ducks, haha

But anyways, there are better people than me to review the music. I had a great experience. I was in the Red Zone (#1) and it was such a smooth and stress free process. I wrote a bit about it in the Red Zone thread.

Here are the best of my pictures from last night. I'll be (most likely) putting more up throughout the day, so if you'd like to check back on my Flickr you'll see more.

 

[an_cat]

Some more...

Hope everyone had a great time! Here's the link to my flickr where I'll be putting pictures. I think these are the only ones that came out well, but I'll have to look better later after my 3 hour class then massive nap.

Flickr: Danielle Whalen's Photostream

 

[KristenCaNaDiAn]

Sounds like it was an awesome show!

 

[KristenCaNaDiAn]

I think I'll come back with a review later. I had an absolutely amazing time.

Oh yeah it was your first show...I want details hun

 

[awc2502]

Hi! I went last night and the show was AMAZING. . .as always! I get goosebumps just thinking about it. I'm totally biased. . .don't think I've ever seen a bad U2 show and I've been to a TON. Anyway, tonight is the first time I'm trying GA. I've always been too afraid to take the risk and I've always bought "good" seats. Then I see all the people down front jumping and thinking, "I want to be one of those people!" It's hard jumping and yelling your head off in a section, but I always do it, anyway. Well, my question is, where did everybody park? I'm leaving shortly to get in line, but the regular Gillette parking lots won't be open. I don't want to be towed or anything and I CERTAINLY do NOT want to sit in traffic for four hours again tonight. Any suggestions? I so DESPERATELY want to get down front and just jump and dance and sing the night away!

 

[trinx]

an_cat.
I LOVE the 7th one, Bono walking. Wow, great pics.

 

[an_cat]

Thanks, trinx! I was so excited to see I got some of Bono walking out of the smoke! Everytime I saw it I'd be too distracted screaming to snap a picture, until then.

I have no tips on parking, sadly. It was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever experienced. 40 bucks for what??? I have to say, unless U2 come back to Gillette, they're not getting my business ever again. Not that I'm much of a football fan, so it's not a loss.

 

[tinnitus photo]

very fun show last night...if there's one thing that U2 has been able to adapt to so well in their rise to be the biggest rock band in the world for the last ~20 or so years, it's that they can make the most cavernous stadium seem like your down-the-street rock club, in terms of bringing the audience into the performance.

i'll have my review and photos done late tonight after i shoot tonight's show, but here's a teaser

 

[Gilead12]

OK, I had heard some bootlegs and maybe it was just being there vs. bootleg but...

was Bono's voice not unreal last night?

It's a shame the unbelievably horrible traffic is there to bring you down from your show high afterward. What a mess.

 

[trinx]

Thanks, trinx! I was so excited to see I got some of Bono walking out of the smoke! Everytime I saw it I'd be too distracted screaming to snap a picture, until then.

If you have that one in a higher resolution, I'd be grateful. It would be perfect as a wallpaper.

 

[powerhour24]

OK, I had heard some bootlegs and maybe it was just being there vs. bootleg but...

was Bono's voice not unreal last night?

It's a shame the unbelievably horrible traffic is there to bring you down from your show high afterward. What a mess.

Agreed on both points!

 

[mirrorballman12]

What time did the show start at your show. Im going to a NY show and i am sure they will be similar in start time.

 

[alitali]

hello everyone, just one question: did the boys walk around?
I have two pairs of tickets: one for behind the stage and one for a lower level in the other side of the stadium. I was going to get the behind the stage for me and give the other ones to my friends. What do you think?
Also, any advices on parking?

I am SOOOO excited!
Thanks for any advices!

Alexandra

 

[U2Mama]

Last night was so much fun! I'm just so sad that's it's over...totally feeling my U2 blues today.

We got to the stadium around 3:30/4:00 and were able to park in the handicapped lot (breaking my foot wasn't so bad afterall...). We were parked right in front of where GA was lined up. Had a blast tailgating and listening to the sound check. Our seats were great (section 130) everyone was singing and dancing--there were some funny guys from Brazil not far from us; one had shaved U2 onto the back of his head. Only one a-hole stepped on my foot (I guess he was in a hurry to leave) The show was amazing--It just went by way too fast. I loved that they played a good mix of new and old--loved Unknown Caller and the Crazy remix.

The stadium itself and patriot place were really nice, all the people who worked there were very helpful. The only thing that sucked was the drive back to the hotel....a nightmare!

I took some great pictures--i'll try to post soon.

 

[redhotswami]

"Boston"
It's Foxboro, right?

 

[Scarletwine]

It was a great show and very on for first night. I couldn't see anyone in their seat after Space Oddity. We bought a seat on Rockbus and other than trying to find them at south station and freaking out we'd miss our ride it was good. I totally agree with the buzz (musical) buster getting out of there. It was crazy bad. Who the hell thought up the traffic plan. It was all worth it absolutely

I freaked and loved UF and Ultraviolet was sublime.

 

[joerags]

Wow. Just......wow.

We lined up at 9 am and were somewhere in the 200's in line. I have to say thanks to digsy, UKTan, and a few others who worked with security to allow everyone to line up. The line was very relaxed, very chill. That is, until it was time to go in. Apparently, only male security guards could pat down males and female security guards females. When we were getting ready to go, it was a mad dash. I almost lost my shoe and was nearly pushed. We were shoved into the line with the male security guard. He refused to pat us down, so we had to jump over the barrier to the female line. Once we got past security, it was a mad dash. We secured one of the last outer rail spots on Adam's side. Absolutely perfect view. And to me, absolutely worth the time I put in and all the dramz.

The show was amazing. It feels like it went by far too fast. I absolutely loved the Crazy Tonight remix, especially since Adam, Edge, and Larry were in front of us a bit of the time. And the whole band came across the bridges quite frequently. When my brain isn't fried, I'll post a more detailed description lol.

That is awesome...

Gawd, I can't wait till Thursday.

 

[joerags]

Amazing pics, an_cat.

 

[vjacqb]

I always forget the fan experiences has its own thread.
Here's my review that I posted in the "Gathering" thread.

 

[vjacqb]

Anyways, around 1:00 they had a random rush towards the front in which people way in the back were able to sneek their way up. I saw a good amount of people who were behind me. One thing that really hurt the line was the people at the very front who had wristbands or whatever from last night. There was one woman, who stood up (standing up is bad in itself because everyone from #15 or so in line and on had to stand and be squished for 4:45 while those people sat down/layed down) and yelled at A LOT of people. 2 guys were berated for, what seemed to me to be no reason. Some other people almost got themselves kicked out for bringing alchohol apparently.

I'm trying to understand what you meant here, because I certainly don't want to have a misunderstanding. Let me give you the account of what really happened because I was one of the people who was seated towards the front.

We had gotten our wristbands the night before and were lined up since 8 am. Throughout the time, we were always well-informed of what was going on. They told us from the very beginning, make yourselves comfortable, but all the gears (lawn chairs, blankets, umbrellas, etc) must be stowed by 2pm. And no one is allowed to loiter around after 2pm.

We returned our gears around 1.15pm. By 1.40pm, security reminded us that there should not be anything in the line that you're not going to take into the concert. This commotion apparently caused people to think that something is going on at 2pm. So everybody stood up and started tightening the line.

When security saw this, they approached us in the front and told us that NOTHING is happening until at least 5pm. That means we were not going to be moved anywhere until that time. So we yelled out for people to back up and just sit down because nothing is happening. What's the point of standing up for the next 3 hours when we know there's nothing going on?

My guess is this was when a group of people, without wristbands, who started out at the back of the line, managed to sneak their way in towards the front. Some people probably backed up, and therefore lost their place because people rushed forward. So then in the end, no one else wanted to back up. My GA buddies saw the group of people who cut the line, and are extremely irritated by the behavior. Even though we were still in front of these bunch of cheaters, we didn't think it was fair that they could cut the line like that.

So some people tried to get security to move them to the back of the line again. When security approached them, it turned out that they had opened and unopened cans of beers. Security was the one who told them to get rid of the beers. When they just nodded and made no move to get rid of their beers, the security guy basically emphasized, "The Heineken has to go NOW!" So no one from the front of the line asked them to be removed because of the beer. We asked them to be removed from the front of the line because they cut in line and therefore didn't belong there. They gave some bs about they're going to let people with wristbands ahead of them. They said no one behind them has a wristband. When we pointed out to them how many people behind them had wristbands, they refused to move. So they basically cut the line and lied. Period. Not a good thing to do to fellow U2 fans

When you're in GA, think about trying to make yourself as comfortable as possible because you're in it for the long haul. I felt that the Gillette/Patriot Place security did an outstanding job at explaining what was going to happen at what time so we could use the time to get the best comfort, such as announcing gears are allowed until a certain time, telling us to line up according to gender because of the pat down, and that the gate was not going to be opened until 5.30pm.

 

[circa1992]

What number were you? We had #120 - #123. I was also bummed when we finally got inside the stadium, we were told that we were not allowed to sit (at MSG, everyone sat on the floor until the opening band came out). My toes were killing me before U2 even came out, and they still hurt today! We were almost dead center on the pitch rail, and it was perfect for my short family! There is definitely something to be said for a totally unobstructed view!!!