U2 in Croke Remarks - Was it worth it?

penexpers

julep wrote:

of course your expectations were not met. you don't like the band. it's not about a stage show, it's about the music. and if you don't like the music then you are not going to like the gig.
again, why the **** bother going if you don't like them?

Actually with U2 it is about a stage show, given that they play mostly the same setlist and have almost everything timed to perfection in terms of running time etc..

Bri

Was ok satisified. :)

More photos of Friday here:
http://www.snowpatrol.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7404

SingingCherry

Was ok satisified. :)

I was at the show last night and it was awesome. I noticed nothing wrong with the sound (canal end, upper), and everyone we were around was in great spirits (which can make or break a show for me). We all danced, and clapped and sang along. Bono called The Edge "a rare thing of beauty", and brought a fan on stage to play with them. I'm still smiling.

MojoMaker

No With or Without You though, oddly...

Sauron

As far as I know, I'm in Canal end lower for tomorrow night... so from all the good reports about that area, sounds like it'll be great.. can't wait... anyone else any comments about that particular seating area?

whiskeyman

Was ok satisified. :)

Sauron wrote:

As far as I know, I'm in Canal end lower for tomorrow night... so from all the good reports about that area, sounds like it'll be great.. can't wait... anyone else any comments about that particular seating area?

Was on the pitch on Fri and it was brilliant!!
Mind you, myself and my mate went going on the attitude we were going to have a time of our lives. I didnt go to hear 100% perfect sound... and I wasnt expecting it to be great, but we, and the people around us, lapped it up and had a ball!!
From a brief glance around the stadium, there were people in all sections having just as much fun as we were.
Hope you have a fantastic time tomorrow! Just remember that there's thousands that would do anything to be there... count yourself lucky and have a blast!


(just to prove the fun I had... here's photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/77572387@N00/sets/500836/

Sauron

^^

those photos do look great alright... well, thanks for that.. I think that has to be one of the most upbeat and encouraging posts I've ever read..

whiskeyman wrote:

count yourself lucky and have a blast!

will do..

whiskeyman

Was ok satisified. :)

Sauron wrote:

^^

those photos do look great alright... well, thanks for that.. I think that has to be one of the most upbeat and encouraging posts I've ever read..



will do..

cheers.
I know a lot of complaints are coming about the sound (and probably rightly so it seems) and I do feel sorry for those who were disappointed.
But, try and enjoy these moment the best you can.
I was there..... I sang along..... I jumped up and down... we had brilliant craic!
I'll never forget it

I just hope all these posts about bad sound won't go into peoples minds going tomorrow and they'll be going with a negative attitude and will probably be disappointed regardless.

Enjoy yourselves!

samo

Sauron wrote:

^^

those photos do look great alright... well, thanks for that.. I think that has to be one of the most upbeat and encouraging posts I've ever read..

sounds like their will be a few happy souls after all in the canal end lower tomorrow night after all then!!

Terry

Was ok satisified. :)

penexpers wrote:

Actually with U2 it is about a stage show, given that they play mostly the same setlist and have almost everything timed to perfection in terms of running time etc..

it's the exact same with almost every band out there. they all have set lists and all have their sets timed to perfection.
there is no point in going to any gig if you don't like the music because, at the end of the day, that's what it all boils down to.
it sickens me when peoplle who are not fans of the music go to a gig and then bitch about it not being good enough.

DingChavez

Was ok satisified. :)

Well......U2 rule! :cool:

6ix

Was ok satisified. :)

spanner_head wrote:

What did the candians dude message say? That was amazing. He played really well too.

Not sure what the Canadian guy's sign said, cos all i could see was 'Party Girl' and a musical note symbol as he moved it around. I was about 10-15 feet from him, but around the same distance from the walkway. He really did well though.

As for you people wanting to get into the pit on Monday, I'd say I was lucky to just walk in at 5.45pm, just a fluke that they let some extra people in. You'd want to head down to the stadium early afternoon to guarantee it.

Well worth it, but having said that I only went in because it was handed on the proverbial plate.

penexpers

julep wrote:

it's the exact same with almost every band out there. they all have set lists and all have their sets timed to perfection.
there is no point in going to any gig if you don't like the music because, at the end of the day, that's what it all boils down to.
it sickens me when peoplle who are not fans of the music go to a gig and then bitch about it not being good enough.

Yes you have setlists but you vary them each night. I can only think of Radiohead in this respect. They have a setlist for each night, usually they use the same opening song, the same song before the end of the first part of the show (ie before the encores) and maybe the same song to end the set overall, and they used to have patterns of songs they'd play in a row. But that still doesn't stop them from playing other stuff during the gig. At the last Dublin gig in 2003, during the second encore, from nowhere Thom Yorke played a rare unreleased song. At the end of the gig in Oxford in 2001 they played Creep completely unexpectedly. During one of their gigs in Spain, they asked for requests from the audience, a few of them asked for rare, unreleased songs, and Thom had to stop the gig for a few minutes to remind the band how to play the songs he was trying to play. It was totally ridiculous but so amazing at the same time. The chances of something like that happening with U2 are somewhere between slim and none. Going to see U2 is like going to watch a play in the theatre. Half the fun of going to a concert is not knowing what they are going to play, but luckily enough U2 absolve you from all that fun.

moshpit77

hasn't it been in the news lately that u2 have a different setlist every night of the tour this time?

Bri

Was ok satisified. :)

penexpers wrote:

Yes you have setlists but you vary them each night. Going to see U2 is like going to watch a play in the theatre. Half the fun of going to a concert is not knowing what they are going to play, but luckily enough U2 absolve you from all that fun.

From what I've seen they've played Who's Gonna ride your wild horses (an excellent tune) 3 times in Europe, once in the States. Oh and once in the Friday sound check. http://www.u2setlists.com/vertigo.shtml

Lighten up or don't go.

grumpytrousers

No ... they are loosing their touch

Have to say I was very disappointed with the sound as well - as has been said already, upper tier of the Cusack Stand was terrible. Think the problem was that it was echo-ey; every time the snare drum was hit, you heard it again a split second later.

I spent the first 10 minutes thinking that the rhythm section was being staffed by work experience kids, the next 10 thinking it was a new fangled sound effect they had going, and it was only when i noticed the others in Roinn 711 expressing disdain that I knew we'd a lousy sound set-up.

moonboy

did anyone else here them do sgt peppers for their sound check on friday?
they played it very quiet but i was road crew so i was behind the stage and heard it (at the start)..
more bizzarly did those of you queing outside here them play jailbreak??
bonzo sang a line from it...
then i was shocked to see the edge struggle to figure out the 3/4 chords of the riff!!
if youre gona play one of the best known songs from a well loved irish band..you know..learn the chords like!

full forward

No ... they are loosing their touch

Sound was good in lower Cusack stand section 303. Had a great time. But I got the feeling at times that Bono was tired of singing the same old songs. Where the streets have no name is probably the best live song ever wtitten. The into to it sends a shiver down my spine every time I hear it. But Bono fcuked it up for me be talking over it. SHUT UP BONO.

Bri

Was ok satisified. :)

Agreed. Streets seems to give so many people the shivers it really is class.

Wibbs

moonboy wrote:

did anyone else here them do sgt peppers for their sound check on friday?
they played it very quiet but i was road crew so i was behind the stage and heard it (at the start)..

I see there's a rumour(which seems to have some truth to it) flying around that U2 are going to be Paul McCartney's backing band for the the opening song of the Live 8 gig this saturday. The story goes that they're gonna sing sgt peppers "it was 20 yrs ago today....", in reference to the first Live aid. It was reported in the Sunday times yesterday as well as on various websites, so maybe they're rehearsing.......(well they do a bloody good rendition of "Helter Skelter" so you never know).

If it's true, I'd say Bono et al will be well chuffed that they're temporary Beatles. That said, kudos to Macca gettin' U2 as his session band. Not bad for an old fart.

lukeUCD

hey i was at the friday nite gig, got a standing ticket and was bout more than halfway up the pitch, before the gig wasnt a massive u2 fan but i have to say they were brilliant could not fault them or the sound, they did a great job!

ianomccabe

Was ok satisified. :)

i'm just back from tonights show and i have to say it was well worth it. i thought it was unbelievable. no sound problems from what i could hear and the place was absolutely jumping!
i was sitting in the corporate box with free drink flowing just sitting back taking it all in. il never forget it

Rabies

No ... they are loosing their touch

I not too long back from the show. Left about 10:30 or so. Had to drive home to Tipperary. Only strolled in about 9:30, didn't even have a ticket.
Its great when you know the event organisers and do some work for them.

My ALL AREAS pass is still wraped around my wrist. Must cut it off and put it with all my other passes

The Vertigo stage is one of the best I have ever seen. Amazing stage and lighting.

Repli

Just back aswell meself, stayed til the end, that was a brilliant gig and a lovely night (so glad I didn't go Friday)
I was sitting in the upper hogan and the sound was brilliant too, could hear every word Bono was saying clearly..
Sunday bloody Sunday and Elevation/Vertigo were the highlights.. in my opinion..

segadreamcast

Was ok satisified. :)

zaph wrote:

Going on Monday and have a pitch ticket. From the sounds of things that's good news. Here's the set list from tonight, for anyone intrested:

I'm really disappointed that they're not ending the European concerts with "40" like they did the American ones. That being sung by 50-60,000 people is an abiding memory of the Croke Park gigs in 1985 and 1987.

and then the set list from Monday:

Vertigo
All Because of You
Gloria
Elevation
An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart
Beautiful Day
Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Original of the Species
Bad
City of Blinding Lights
Miracle Drug
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Love and Peace
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Pride In The Name of Love
Where The Streets Have No Name
One

Zoo Station
The Fly
With or Without You
Vertigo

Yahweh
'40'


Hope you enjoyed it man I know I did. Best set-list/performance of the three without a doubt.

Mixie

I was there tonight too, thought the atmosphere was amazing and like the other said there were absolutely no sound problems (lower cusack, beside stage).

Those two girls holding up the "u2 can can make poverty history" thing were up there an awful long time - in fact, I didnt see them getting down.... did get down themselves or were they ordered off at any point?

Standard Toaster

Was ok satisified. :)

just back myself.....amazing, just amazing!
Sound was spot on....I was in the pit. Great crowd tonite too.

I'll upload some pics later but here's a sampler:







Got loads of video footage too. About 2 gigs of pics & video.
Very happy Bad was played.

MisterAnarchy

I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!! :mad:

I would have had a nice bit of footage except for a crazed security official.
I barely had the camcorder out of the bag when he spotted me .
It wasnt even turned on.
I was in the pit and he was about 10 yds in front of me.
The lunatic start going insane ,shouting at me,I was unaware of him for about 10 secs as I was fiddling with the camcorder.
He wanted me to go up to him but I managed to tell him the crowd was too thick so I apologised and told him I'd put it away which I did.
It remained in the bag for the night.
About 5 mins later he called over another 2 security goons and was pointing down at me.
I was getting a bit fazed at this stage.
30 minutes later the same two goons appeared around me and they were scouting around for something/someone.
The nutter was staring over at me from time to time.
I cant see the problem as everyone around me had cameras and a few camcorders.
Someone flashed the security guy directly in the eyes as he was harassing them too.
What a f***ing nutcase.

ergo

Last night was a great show

the problem U2 have is that they've set the standard so high with previous tours etc it must be so hard to try to recapture that

I've seen them twice before Lansdowne in '97 and the first Slane in 2001, now that Slane gig for me is still the ultimate one

last night's gig was great but wasn't completely amazing, spine-tingling etc, well not as much as Slane

was in the pit, got there about 3pm , think some people were still strolling into the pit at 7pm I think, a friend of mine got in by scrawling a version of the hand stamp onto his arm! (but he did do a very impressive job art-wise)

thought the sound was OK mostly, not fantastic by any stretch, vocals maybe could have been a bit louder

was hoping for more than just 2 songs off the last album

and to play "Vertigo" twice, as many people have already said, is a bit much, no-one will be playing Vertigo in 20 years time, it's not that good (imho)

but Bad and With or Without You

after teasing us with it at the soundcheck (as we queued outside)

seeing U2 in Croke Park made me proud, and very conscious of, being Irish

and the sunny day helped too

SteM

Was ok satisified. :)

Great show last night, I really enjoyed it and it was great to hear Bad again Not seen them since The Point in 1989 and I've not been in Croker since it was redevloped so it was just great to be there.

Abel Tasman wrote:

was hoping for more than just 2 songs off the last album

They played 8 songs off the new album.