martha said:
Ok, what I didn't like about the stadium show was the disconnect between the band and the audience. It was only partially about the physical distance between the band and us. Of course, this was almost 20 years ago, and I can probably assume they've gotten better at it, but I just don't like being that far from the band.
i agree with you completely. the positives for me, in europe this past summer were:
1) the visuals were great, and seeing the backdrop of the sky was very cool.
2) hearing 80,000 people singing the words was a powerful experience.
3) you can get there later and still get rail!
on the downside:
-- people are generally let in (in the GA) at around 4pm and there are a whole helluva lot more drunk people than in arenas, which is fine unless they fall on me or slosh beer on me...and inevitably, sadly, they do both.
--there never seemed to be enough security to prevent people from running, which was often down sets of stairs to get onto the field and really dangerous
--i was so utterly filthy after the shows that it was really shocking...i felt like pigpen from charlie brown
--it takes soooo long to get out stadiums compared to arenas. holy crap...but i think that is worse in cities where you have to rely on public transportation, which is jammed post-concert.
--and what martha said. definitely much more impersonal than arenas.