First of all, "your ass is going down in flames" was an expression. I'm a real colorful talker, much like U2, being Irish. Last time I checked, Bono was a fan of throwing about colorful expletives. Now, I'm not even trying to get up to his level. Oh, I did leave that word "prick" in there. My bad. I guess it qualifies as a more severe insult in some people's book. Well, so would "moron", but I don't take offense.
When you said "older and wiser" and you tag the word "immaturity" onto my statement of youth, it reminds me of a certain old man I know who thinks he's sooo smart, who thinks he's seen so much in his life, but whenever we meet he just uses me as ears that he can dump his stories on, because the fact is he never achieved anything. Now, I'm not saying you're as low as that man. First of all, you know how to use forums. I'm just saying that age does not equal wisdom and the way you use wit to strike off my comments as opposed to dealing with the issue of "fandom" just reminds me of him. Oh, and by the way, that man is a genuine prick.
I didn't think it was nice of you to hit on Poland, but I'm just letting you know that I'm going to skip your insults, next time, completely.
Fandom, I think, has to do with being in a place where you can at least hear the music of U2 and have it come into your heart and warm you from the inside. By the way, I'm not really from Florida, so I know really harsh, cold weather. Or, think about the Russians - I don't think it bothers them.
It's no secret that Pop scared off some "fans". All That You Can't Leave Behind brought those back. Would Elevation have filled stadia? Yes, with or without fans like you. If U2 had done the market research, they wouldn't have the problems of overbooking one tour and underbooking the next. Let's take the dissing of stadia on grounds of Pop's failure out of the picture. I like Pop, you didn't; it has nothing to do with the stadium. I'd say U2 are at the pinnacle of their career, right now. This should be their biggest tour. It is a shame they aren't stepping up to the challenge. It looks like you will have your way. But if they did play stadia, you should not complain too much, since you're such a great U2 fan, and you've been with them for so long. You'll see them until they inevitably slow down, one or two tours down the road, and become like David Bowie, go into those Van Morrison days. But, right now, you should let as many people as possible, young and old, get in on the fun of seeing a big U2 tour, and not being shut out like on Elevation. Later on, U2 will play arenas, perhaps even clubs. You won't have a problem with Bono just because he'll have only half a head of hair, left, will you? Then again, if U2 would do like the Stones, playing smaller venues when they feel like it, but not neglecting to rock the stadia of the world, on the same tour, we wouldn't even have this discussion. There's no denying that smaller venues with a band this big are an imbalanced equation. If you have the money, it should be no problem to see them on those "intimate" dates, but I'm guessing you have the money anyway, since you're a supporter of arena tours at a time like this. Scalpers would have a harder time making money if there were more tickets to go around.