Anyone who was at the Barcelona shows: What's the sound like?

[hatrickpatrick]

Given how different the speaker set up is this time (inside the legs of the Claw instead of out on the stage facing the crowd): how's the sound quality? Can you hear what's going on, is it fuzzy, clear, etc?
I remember being utterly blown away by how good the sound quality was in Croke Park '05 - can we expect a similar treat this time?

 

[cdparky]

We were in the 2nd tier next to the stage, speakers were a little above us. Sound quality was crystal clear there (though expected given our location). Would be interesting to know how it worked in other parts of the stadium.

 

[redsox04]

Was on Edge's side both nights... sound was excellent

 

[trucdfou]

was ear-protection useful?

 

[telephone88]

From the tip of the elipse on the first night the drums and bass were all that I could credit. Bono sounded like a chimpmunk and Edge's guitar tones struggled to be heard. Snow Patrol had a better sound somehow.

Second night I was HIGH up on Edge's side and the audio lost a lot of clarity. Lack of thumping bass drum, muddled bass guitar, echoey Bono though Bono's vocal clarity drastocally improved when he switched to the swinging mic for the encore.

I'd definitely recommend positioning yourself frontal (or directly behind) the claw to benefit from the 12 stacks of speakers. Theres only half that on the sides.

Use ear protection if you have sensitive hearing just. Everyone else should be fine

 

[cathalmc]

I was on the fifth tier on Edge's side, about the halfway line on the pitch. Sound was very poor for the first few songs, Edge's guitar could barely be heard at all, and Adam's bass wasn't much better. It improved a bit a few songs in but it really wasn't great, wasn't loud enough, and the light breeze seemed to be able to blow a lot of the clarity away too.

One guy beside me managed to make a phone call during one of the songs! Granted, he did have to speak loud but I would have preferred it if he couldn't have made it at all as he couldn't have been heard.

I wondered if U2 put any official listeners at various points in the stadium to check for sound quality during the show and feedback to the sound desk for improvements.

But the Nou Camp is a vast stadium and it must be a massive engineering challenge to get the sound right all over.

 

[ramblin rose]

I was on Adams side both nights in seats behind the Red Zone (sections 109 & 110) and the sound was incredible both nights you could hear every instrument clearly and understand every word that Bono was singing and saying. I was very impressed, with Snow Patrol's sound also. Usually I have trouble hearing the opening band clearly.

 

[schnumi]

Well the real challenge is yet to come:

Making the sound work in the Amsterdam Arena........

If they can get a good sound there then it will work everywhere.

 

[hatrickpatrick]

^ Why, is Amsterdam a bad sound venue?

 

[schnumi]

Yep the Arena is known for it's bad acoustics.

So i hope they will get it right this time that would be a miracle.

 

[Karlonthe2nd]

Hampden was the same on the Vertigo tour. I couldn't make out a word Bono was saying and needed crowd hints to identify half the songs.

 

[Galeongirl]

^ Why, is Amsterdam a bad sound venue?

Worst venue ever regarding sound quality. REAL bad echo.