September 13 - Chicago Soldier Field

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cathalmc said:
Twittered this last night:

"Searing, towering concert in Chicago tonight, much better sound, much better atmosphere and a setlist to cream your pants to. Lift off USA!"

An amazing concert. The atmosphere and volume from the crowd towards the end was deafening. Bono was really fired up for this gig, got the crowd going from before NLOTH with a little speech about having old songs, new songs, songs we haven't played before and asking "are you with us?"

There were a gazillion references to Chicago, how they could have opened in New York but chose Chicago, it's ok to kiss Chicago's ass etc ... All lapped up by the crowd.

The outer stage was used a lot more by all the band but especially Bono, he did a couple of sprints of the whole ring, collapsing exhausted at the end of UTEOTW, but still managing to sing Stay very passionately from his back. He brought a young boy onto the stage from the pit for a little jog around the stage during CoBL, what an experience for a young kid!

Your Blue Room was absolutely mesmerising, beautifully lulling the stadium into a quiet trance. There were no cheers or applause at the end of it, but not because it didn't work, probably because it had such a calming effect (and many probably didn't know it). It was followed by Unknown Caller and these two worked gorgeously well together.

Amazing Grace was beautiful, although Bono did bottle trying to hit the REALLY high note in the middle, and the segue into Streets was perfect. I didn't miss Pride.

I wasn't very impressed with Saturday's gig, thinking it was one of the worst I've seen on the tour. Last night's was one of the best. Lift off USA!
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Agree 100%; awesome, awesome show!!!
 
I just posted my GA experience from 9/12 which is more detailed since we got in line at 5am that day.

9/13 we had already decided to sleep in, do some touristy shit, grab lunch, and head down to do band stalking at the loading dock. We got to the dock like 3:30pm. Not many people there and then this dude said the band came in at 2:30pm and we were losers for standing there. Everyone left. We stayed b/c there were shade trees there and no shade in the GA line (which by then was about a gazillion miles long). I went back to the car to change and use the porta-john and heard them soundcheck Your Blue Room and UTEOTW. After we got bored of sitting in the shade telling people the band *was* in fact inside (you could hear Bobo singing), we walking to the main entrance to watch the GA people get roped off and herded like cattle. They were using the same procedure as the day before but were doing a much more organized job. However we didn't see the first group go in so I can't compare to our experience day 1, maybe they get more efficient as the day goes on. We waited until most of the line was in and hopped in the back. I don't know what time we got on the floor, maybe 5:45? Two of our friends went walking around and got ellipse wristbands but we all decided to hang back by the soundboard so we could eat, drink, and pee without causing a riot. Seems like you could still get in the ellipse (for the first time) around 6pm but we had no desire to be packed like sardines again.

We stayed at the soundboard, had plenty of space, screamed, danced, jumped. Sean (maycocksean) found us and hung out by us, cool dude he knows how to rock out to a show. It was a great view and much better sound than being in the ellipse.

Oh, I forgot to say this in my 9/12 post, but the one disappointing thing was not the show or the band or the setlist, but the people and the FUCKING CAMERAS!!!! I say this as someone who is a photographer and is not usually more than 10 feet from a camera if there isn't already one in my hand, but I went to these shows "blind" (no fucking cameras or phones....I walked in with my ticket, a stick of gum, and a $20 bill in my pocket, that's it). Why do people spend the entire show looking through their LCD screen taking shitty ass pictures with a craptastic little plastic camera? It's just not worth it people. The first night, the person right in front of us was so bad that we told him to his face to cut the shit (actually I believe it was "I'm going to take that fucking camera and shove it up your fucking ass"). He kept holding the camera away from his face so he could see but it blocked everyone else. If you are going to take pictures every 10 seconds then at least use your eye piece!
 
Liesje said:
Sean (maycocksean) found us and hung out by us, cool dude he knows how to rock out to a show.
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Thanks, Lies! :) It was really great to meet you and Phil!

It's funny, I had some reservations about bringing a camera myself, for the same reasons you described and I almost decided not to bring it as I thought I'd be worried about it getting damaged and that might interfere with the aforementioned rocking out :wink: But I brought it anyway :reject: and only took a few pictures and one video. Even then, though, I did find it did detract from my own experience (hopefully not from anyone elses though. . .). There's nothing to ruin the mood like pulling out the camera.

So, I don't know what I'll do in the future. I like having pics for the blog, but then again I can probably find better ones online anyway, and it would free me up to fully experience the show. . . But I dunno. :shrug:

Again, great to meet you guys and GREAT concert! I'll post my thoughts on the experience later.
 
Got Philk? said:
I heard them asking, "what song is this???"
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:lol: I was one of them! Beautiful song though. . .I'd only heard it once before, since I never had the Passengers album, so I didn't recognize right off. I now want to go buy it on Itunes and listen to it some more. I thought it really fit with the whole thematic atmosphere--the space video and everything. It really worked!

Nice meeting you last night, BTW! :D
 
Liesje said:
He kept saying "I bet Mike is here, I should go find him..."
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Ha, somehow I doubt that he was uttering that, but, I was indeed at both shows. Hope you both had a good time at the concerts, and in the city.

Our paths will cross again, I'm sure. If we can meet in Hawaii, we can bump into each other anywhere. :)

Would have been nice to meet Sean, I should add.
 
maycocksean said:
Thanks, Lies! :) It was really great to meet you and Phil!

It's funny, I had some reservations about bringing a camera myself, for the same reasons you described and I almost decided not to bring it as I thought I'd be worried about it getting damaged and that might interfere with the aforementioned rocking out :wink: But I brought it anyway :reject: and only took a few pictures and one video. Even then, though, I did find it did detract from my own experience (hopefully not from anyone elses though. . .). There's nothing to ruin the mood like pulling out the camera.

So, I don't know what I'll do in the future. I like having pics for the blog, but then again I can probably find better ones online anyway, and it would free me up to fully experience the show. . . But I dunno. :shrug:

Again, great to meet you guys and GREAT concert! I'll post my thoughts on the experience later.
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Sean you were NOTHING like the people in front of us the first night! He was taking pictures like ever 5 seconds and if he wasn't holding up his camera to take one, he was looking back at them or changing the settings. I'm glad you brought yours, you'll have to send me a copy of your pic of us. I did bring a little camera night 2 but my memory card didn't work (I didn't pay attention to what I was using and stuck in an SC card that is an adapter with a micro-SD card and apparently my mom's cheap camera doesn't understand that). I never attempted taking in my "real" camera, but I did take a few shots of the GA line and had it at the loading dock.
 
How come in Europe GA is packed on all sides where in Chicago there was plenty of room. Will it be like that for all US shows?
 
RedRocksU2 said:
Jules, we were cheering for you guys in the setlist party.
:)
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You should have seen me. I was going crazy and making a fool out of myself. LOL The two people that I was with got the setlist and Pride was supposed to be played.

Oh and Bono was super crazy last night. He was running around like a madman! At COBL, he was on the bridge and he lifted a kid from underneath it and ran around!! It was cute.
 
tpsreports2424 said:
Tonight was the best 2 hours of my life, let alone the best U2 concert.

I may have spent 12 hours in the beating 100 degree sun patiently, but I was 2nd row in front of bono.

What i didnt like though was the way they treated GA, waiting under the underpass was ridiculous. Also what i found ridiculous was that two guys snuck in the rope under GA and acted like they were with my friends. So not only do my friends and i look like major d-bags, i was afraid i would lose my spot when the guards got them.

What i found to be disappointing were some of the U2 fans. Of course I am not steryotyping but at least the people I met were real assholes in line. For instance, I went to go sit down and this woman yelled at me and made a scene because she thought i was trying to cut.

Who has the nerve to yell at a 16 year old for absolutely no reason? That was stupid and ridiculous.

Other then that I had a great time in the GA area when we got into the stadium, I met many people that were kind, most of them not even from the chicago area.

If anyone has pictures of bono in front of the stage, send them because I was 2nd row from him. thanks.
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That's pretty shitty that those guys did that. At one point, around our area people were moving forward so it left a big hole and the people that were roped off on the other side had to deal with people cutting. We were towards the restrooms and this older couple just entered the line. One guy was so mad that he started yelling at them. The woman was like whatever, rolled her eyes and didn't think it was a big deal. He tried to get security to kick them out but it didn't happen. At least afterwards they kept people from going in anymore.
 
Chicago 2 was a fantastic show! It seemed to me like the band-- and especially Bono-- felt like they had something to prove (Chicago 1 was a very good show, but there were a few technical problems that were pretty noticeable). At one point, I think right before UTEOTW, Bono said "We won't go down without a fight". His behavior during the show certainly echoed that sentiment, as he sprinted around the ellipse multiple times, did some crazy dance moves at the beginning of GOYB, and just generally seemed pumped up. It was so much fun-- best parts for me were hearing "amazing grace" and "Your blue room" (neither of which I'd ever heard), and just seeing bono so energetic. wonderful night! :applaud:

btw, did anyone notice that there were multiple guys with big videocameras filming the crowd throughout the entire show? it was kind of annoying, b/c the cameras had HUGE spotlights (which the camera guys didn't mind shining directly into one's face!). Anyone know what this footage might be used for?
 
I probably should post this later when I’m less fuzzy-headed. We drove straight back to Ohio after the concert and I went directly to work. Needless to say I’d be a complete zombie if not for the caffeine coursing through my system. (I don’t drink caffeine on a regular basis so I REALLY feel it!). Still, I’m too wiped out to think about working during my prep period, so I’ve decided to do this instead.

Sunday night was amazing! Saturday night blew my mind but Sunday was just fun! I had a GA ticket for this show, but after having been on the rail in Japan three years ago, I was content to hang out a little bit further back by the soundboard. Even from there, the view was great. I agree with those that have said there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. I think U2 has done a fantastic job with this stage-set up. They’ve worked hard to establish an intimate atmosphere in a stadium and I think they’ve succeeded quite well at it. I got the impression though that Bono at least felt like he kind of had to apologize for this “monstrosity” and I don’t think that was necessary. As a fan, I appreciate the efforts they’ve put into reaching everyone in the audience and providing a thrilling experience. I love that these guys don’t take anything for granted and are still working hard to earn the appreciation of their fans. That was one thing that really struck me on both nights—how hard the boys are working, when they could so easily lay back on their laurels, and trundle out a greatest hits-show with their eyes closed. I loved that they played seven of the songs from the new album, and really worked to get the audience into them.

Highlights:

Wow, there were so many. . .I enjoyed just about every song, but a few really impressed me. Get On Your Boots is probably one of my least favorite songs on the new album, and I wasn’t impressed at the first few times I heard it live on TV, but I can tell they’ve really worked at this song, and it was absolutely irresistible last night. I loved it!

Your Blue Room was a thrill—ironically, it actually was more exciting to me that I didn’t recognize it as first as I’m not that familiar with it. I liked being truly surprised.

Amazing Grace as the intro to Streets was a goose-bump moment, as was all 75,000 of us singing ISHFWILF.

Being able to really get into the spirit of the show was just so fun! Saturday night I was up in the stands surrounded by people who seemed to take the MOS phrase “We were barely conscious” too much to heart. It felt awkward to singing and dancing and generally having a good time when everyone around you is standing stock still. This time, on the floor everyone was far more into it and I didn’t feel I stood out (though the guys just to my right and behind me were pretty low-key—I was tempted to worry that my enthusiasm might bother them in some way, but then I thought, what the heck—if they can stand still at a U2 show, then fine, but don’t expect me to do the same!

Meeting some long-time familiar Interferencers was a great experience too. I’d all but given up on finding anyone from Interference in the vast crowd, so running into Phil and Liesje was like a little gift from God—you know one of those half prayer/half wishes you make—“Wow, it’d be nice to see SOME-one from Interference” and literally a moment later, there they were. It was a bit surreal to talk to people that you’ve debated and discussed and read the journal entries of for three years, and yet never met in “real life.” I’m glad to say they were every bit is nice in person as they are online!


Lowlights:

I’m not really much of a complainer. I just enjoy what the band puts out there and as mentioned before, even songs I don’t like as much like Boots and Vertigo, I can’t help getting caught up in the bands insistent enthusiasm.

I did wish for a three song first encore rather than just two.

I missed Bad the second night. That song was just transcendent Saturday night and I really wanted to hear it again.

The Crazy remix didn’t do much for me. I DID like the Pop-esque vibe—even though there were no Pop songs on the setlist, this song was a sort of homage to the album I thought. It didn’t do much for me personally—I found the melody hard to find and once found hard to follow, and I missed the buoyant Edge guitar in the original version—probably one of my favorite parts of the song. But I know a lot of other people really dug it and I think that’s great. To each their own.

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend, and I’m so glad I stayed for the second show (I almost decided to just leave on Sunday and skip the second show—long story, that—and I’m so glad I didn’t!
 
Liesje said:
Sean you were NOTHING like the people in front of us the first night! He was taking pictures like ever 5 seconds and if he wasn't holding up his camera to take one, he was looking back at them or changing the settings. I'm glad you brought yours, you'll have to send me a copy of your pic of us. I did bring a little camera night 2 but my memory card didn't work (I didn't pay attention to what I was using and stuck in an SC card that is an adapter with a micro-SD card and apparently my mom's cheap camera doesn't understand that). I never attempted taking in my "real" camera, but I did take a few shots of the GA line and had it at the loading dock.
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I'll e-mail it to you this week. I plan to be on the computer a lot this week--a lot of blogging to do, a lot of reliving of the concert too. But not tonight--tonight's its all about sleep. I still have to drive home from work this afternoon--another hour and a half on the road before I can collapse into bed. Pray I make it home safe!
 
Something I noticed.

I don't even remember trying to pay attention to the band, you know, trying to always see what they were doing. It didn't matter to me. To me, anywhere in the stadium was a good spot. The music was so raw and powerful. It captivated me and transformed me. I discovered live music in the best possible way!

Though watching Adam Clayton groove the shit out of Boots.....will never forget that. U2 was on fire!
 
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