Monday nite U2 how was it for u?

wirelessdude

was in upper canal lookin right down the middle and thought that the gig was amazing...sound was a little iffy at times and the bass might have been a little overpoweing at times....have seen them on zoo station an elevation tours previously and last nite was up there with them

verdidnt

Yea I thought it was brilliant. Sound took a few songs to sort out and the volume was a bit low at the beginning. But hearing 'Bad', 'Gloria' and 'With or without you' was amazing. I thought the place went nuts for Sunday Bloody Sunday but then they played Pride and Where the Street Have No Name, and well I could hardly believe the scenes. Atmosphere was brilliant. Had to explain really.

Finishing with 40 and the crowd singing 'How long...' for a good 2 miutes after they left the stage. Class!

whiskeyman

one word........legend.

vigos

the atmosphere was brilliant, the suspense waiting for them to come on stage, the whole stadium doing the mexican wave... then U2 came on and rocked the place!!

el tel

A girl in the Hogan Stand, section 330, row CC in a pale blue top and jeans was fantastic. I don't remember much about the concert...

samo

vigos wrote:

the atmosphere was brilliant, the suspense waiting for them to come on stage, the whole stadium doing the mexican wave... then U2 came on and rocked the place!!

God its been years since I took part in a mexican wave at a concert...what more could you want!! Brilliant atmosphere alright and one of the best have experienced at a major concert like that in ireland.

The crowd singing the chorus to Elevation and then the music kicking back in time perfectly was just fantastic and Sunday bloody Sunday...well it was like a seething mass of people there on the pitch bouncing in time perfectly!

wirelessdude

was really got me going was hearing an cat dubh and into the heart...i've never heard these in a live setting before.....also the ending with the whole crowd singing how long was just class......did anyone else notice that bono seemed be quite pissed of/aggressive for the first few songs....might have been due to the delay in starting...fair play to them for playing until 11:45pm!!!

samo

Course I walked out at 11.10 due the fact had to get home for the babysitter

'feckin kids

bookiebasher

i was in croke park in 87,and all their concerts in ireland since and last night was the best by a mile

vigos

samo wrote:

Course I walked out at 11.10 due the fact had to get home for the babysitter

'feckin kids

Well you're not the only one alot of people were leaving and then they came back on to play Yahweh and 40...class!

samo

vigos wrote:

Well you're not the only one alot of people were leaving and then they came back on to play Yahweh and 40...class!

heard it starting up again as i walked outta Croke park and debated doing a legger back in but life wouldnt have been worth living if back any later....ah well!

considering they didnt come on until about 9.10pm or so was pretty good going to stay on till that time, some places will fine a band (dont know if in ireland though) for playing past thier curfew.

besty

jesus it was brilliant. they cracked out loads of the hits, it was amazing. Pity my camera broke halfway through so didnt get any good pictures in the dark. Best concert ive ever been to without a doubt. I thought the sounds was good to be honest. Loved the version of miracle drug too. Ash deserve a mention for merit but they were blown into obscurity by U2.

el tel A girl in the Hogan Stand, section 330, row CC in a pale blue top and jeans was fantastic. I don't remember much about the concert...

I was sitting pretty close to there. Section 330, row EE seats 26/27

wirelessdude

bono said that the guards had ok'd it(the late finish) due to the traffic situation earlier in the evening that had stopped people getting there on time

Mr Rivers

What were The Bravery like?

besty

missed them completly - i was getting my drink on

SteM

samo wrote:

The crowd singing the chorus to Elevation and then the music kicking back in time perfectly was just fantastic

I agree totally. Elevation was a big tease to get the crowd going You could tell the crowd wanted the music to kick in and jump around but the band kept us waiting and when they pulled the trigger the place went nuts. That, hearing Bad, With Or Without You & 40 were my highlights of the night.

I couldn't believe how many people were leaving during/just after the first encore but I suppose some people had to get their last bus/train/whatever.

besty

at one stage it seemed like they werent going to stop playing. The way they ended it with just Larry playing with the crowd was great too.

ianomccabe

i have to say i thought last night was unreal. i managed to get into a corporate box with free drink so i sat out on the balcony drinkin pint bottles of Bulmers takin in the concert it was pure heaven!

besty

im just dreading the wait til the next u2 concert. might try and get to see them somewhere in europe - it was that good.

samo

It seems as though the most positive feedback is about last nights concert...would be interested to hear if anyone here was able to go to all 3 and how Monday compared?

pinkyirl

amazing night....was v.worried beforehand cos i'd read all the reports of bad sound from the other gigs & our tickets were upper tier canal end, but it turned out we couldnt have chosen better seats. we were facing centre stage, amazing view of the stadium & crowds, fantastic atmosphere - good craic with the people sitting next to us, bopping & screaming all night - it was the best.

i reckon us monday-nighters deffo got the best night - weather was perfect, set-list was fantastic, sound was fine, atmosphere electric - couldnt have asked for a better night.

golfgirl

Defo lived up to my expectations ... the atmosphere was electric, before, during .. I didn't want the night to end ... Bono is a great performer ... (his rants aside)
... loved the set, would've liked Wild horses, but they've so may great songs, how could you fit them all in .. anyone notice Edge going into guitar rift of 'All I want is you' near the end of 40 ?? I havn't a great musical ear, but I thought I heard that. Larry teased us brilliantly at the end when he stepped up the drums only to leave us for the last time. Got the standing tickets (tip off from Boards last Monday!) ... and although we only headed up to the front at 8.30pm, we couldn't believe how close we got to the stage (about 6 rows back from the pit). No crushing or mad goings on, a bit of jumping up and down at appropriate stages. A night to remember. Thanks boys.

SteM

samo wrote:

It seems as though the most positive feedback is about last nights concert...would be interested to hear if anyone here was able to go to all 3 and how Monday compared?

A mate of mine was at all 3 sitting and standing on different nights. I was talking to him this morning and said that the crowd, sound and (in his opinion) the set list was best last night. He enjoyed last night them most he said - even though by that stage he would have heard 'Vertigo' live 6 times over 4 nights!

delly

besty wrote:

at one stage it seemed like they werent going to stop playing. The way they ended it with just Larry playing with the crowd was great too.

The very last bit when he sat there looking at the crowd and then lashed back into the drums was pure class.

Phibsboro

Hey,

Quick summary -

sound was all over the place for the first hour - to the point where I was rating it as the worst u2 gig i'd ever seen (worse than the Point for example) . It was so poor that for Bad the whole section of the pitch around me sang the wrong chorus and didn't realise that Bono had moved on to the correct one - only by looking at this mouth on the screen could you see that he wasn't singing what the crowd were singing.

The whole gig improved when the back display came on - really livened up the crowd and the band.

Set was a bit strange - with some very early songs thrown in (e.g. Gloria) and a lot of standards - Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet The Blue Sky, Still Haven't Found etc.

Highlight was unlikely - Running to Stand Still. Crowd just went mental and literally the whole place rocked - shivers down the back time.

A lot of standard U2 tricks were used - Sunday Bloody Sunday for example was almost the exact same as others I've seen. Other similar things included Bono holding a spotlight to shine on the crowd. Larry using a small kit out on the ramp. Kid (and later a woman) taken from the audience. Finishing with 40 (I think I was a teenager the first time I walked out of a venue singing "How long..." Little did I think I'd be doing it again all these years later All of these things kind of gave it a samey feeling.

Having said that though, the second highlight was the encore - straight into a Zoo type set with the back display really coming into its own. I felt that at this stage the band were finally getting into it and really giving it socks - I would imagine they could see the end in sight at that point and that gave them a lift out of the tiredness of 3 nights on a trot. By the end the place was heaving and they had the cheek (And the balls!) to finish with a reprise of Vertigo (which started the gig). It felt great to see such a recent song get such a huge reaction.

Overall, I enjoyed the gig and defo wanted another half hour at the end. I think the sound could have been better and the band were a bit tired - they maybe should have left it at 2 nights..

C

LegacyUser

I was lucky enough to see both Friday and Monday’s concerts, from different perspectives. Friday I was stewarding in Roinn 326, which is just over the tunnel in the corner of the lower Hogan and Canal stands, and I can see why some people would be a bit miffed regarding the sound. Musically is was fine, vocals etc sounded good IMO, but Bono’s between set speel was difficult to make out. I saw both support bands on Friday, and I have to say I though The Radiators were f**king terrible. I don’t know if it was they’re sound, or if they’re just crap, but they weren’t at the races as far as I was concerned. I’m not a fan so it’s just my humble opinion. On the contrary, I thought Snow Patrol were very good. Their sound was pretty loud, could possibly have been a little more ‘refined’ (hard to describe what I mean!), but they put on a good show. As far as I can remember U2 kicked off at 8.50pm, and went through to 11.07pm (correct me if I’m wrong). Here’s the set list from Friday:

Vertigo
I Will Follow
Electric Co.
Elevation
New Year's Day
Beautiful Day
Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Wild Horses
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

All Because of You
Yahweh
Vertigo

Last night I had tickets for the pitch standing. Was walking up to Croker through Summerhill at 2pm when my brother phoned to ask me had I taken two of the tickets to work that morning! I hadn’t, and it turned out they were sitting in my place on top of the bloddy CD rack! Cue jumping into a taxi, heading across town to Dublin 12 and back to Croker, (1 hour in a cab, €25 well spent!) and arrived about 10 minutes before they opened the gates. Straight into the pit and enjoyed the sun for a few hours. Was stading directly in from of the ego ramp on stage right, (house left). Saw The Bravery and Ash, both of who I thought were very good. Didn’t realise The Bravery were Yanks. I presumed U2 were going to kick off again around 8.45/8.50, but then at 9pm the roadie came out on stage with a wireless mic, and told the crowd that due to delays in some people arriving, the start would be delayed shortly. At this point the place was wedged, and we couldn’t figure out how anyone else could be let in. It then looked like that the band were the ones arriving late, they seemed to walk up from Jones Road between the end of thr Hogan Stand and Hill 16, and straight onto stage. That was around 9.07pm. The place went mental. Outstanding concert, and the best set list IMO. I thought it was excellent the way the intensity of the songs and atmosphere grew as the night went on. Coming towards the end, it was manic. Two encores, which I wasn’t expecting the second one as “the end” was displayed on the screen, but once the house lights didn’t go up you knew something was on the cards. Thought the ending was the best, where they all left one by one and left Larry onstage himself to take the final bow. It is his band after all!! What a weekend. Outstanding!! Wrapped up about 11.45pm. Set list from Monday night was:

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'

Here’s a few pics from where we were as well.

PS – Does anyone know what the entrance track was for the three gigs??

LegacyUser

few more pics...

LegacyUser

last five good ones!!!

SteM

bruachain wrote:

PS – Does anyone know what the entrance track was for the three gigs??

Nice review bruachain. The entrance track is Wake Up by The Arcade Fire. The album that it's taken from called Funeral is really worth checking out imho.

Nunu

samo wrote:

It seems as though the most positive feedback is about last nights concert...would be interested to hear if anyone here was able to go to all 3 and how Monday compared?

Mondays gig was unique. The setlist was absolutely perfect and ending the Irish leg with '40' was so appropriate. For all the diehard U2 fans Mondays gig would be the most appreciated, but for me Saturdays gig was unbeatable - the band were up for it, the crowd were chomping at the bit and the atmosphere was the best I've ever experienced. I was in the pit for all 3 and it was pandemonium on Saturday. It took me all of Sunday to take it all in at what an experience it was. Both nights were totally different and special in their own ways.
By the way Fridays gig was incredible too, but the other 2 just blew it away.
I'm going to really try and see them one more time on this tour, ideally in the autumn in America. The whole experience leaves a lasting magical impression and I'm thirsty for more!

Repli

wirelessdude wrote:

bono said that the guards had ok'd it(the late finish) due to the traffic situation earlier in the evening that had stopped people getting there on time

Mad stuff

digitalninja

it was ****e, i left after 3 songs.
stadium acts are ****e, never again.

SteM

digitalninja wrote:

it was ****e, i left after 3 songs.
stadium acts are ****e, never again.

Pity you didn't give it a bit of time. The sound and atmosphere got better as the show went on.

besty

digitalninja wrote:

it was ****e, i left after 3 songs.
stadium acts are ****e, never again.

your loss

MisterAnarchy

Had a good night last night.
Arrived at the ground around 5pm and had no probs getting into the pit.
The sound for the support acts was poor and the crowd didnt seem to know many of The Bravery's songs.
They were decent enough but are mostly a studio band .
Ash were pretty ok.
I was very surprised at how late most people arrived.
I'd say at 8pm the ground was only 40% full.
When I saw U2 in Manchester 2 weeks ago the venue was almost full at 6.30pm.
I guess Irish people are more interested in drinking.
I had an incident with a security official over a camcorder just before U2 came on and it fazed me a bit.
The security officials in the pit in Dublin were animals ,worst I have ever seen.
They were being bribed to let people onto the pitch (5 euro) and 50 euro into the pit.
Lovely chaps elsewhere in the stadia.
The pit itself wasnt full for the show.
It was too sparse for my liking.
I was just to the left of the right B stage.
Perfect vantage point and the sound was perfect;much better than Manchester.
Also alot of the people around me in the pit were like mannequins and didnt know many songs.
First hour of the show as in Manchester drags a bit and the song selection is off.
Too many poor songs like Gloria,An Cat Dubh.
The new version of Elevation is crap.
Original of the Species started the show for me.
From then on I enjoyed myself immensely,some songs being nirvana.
Streets,Zoo Station,The Fly,Yahweh,With or Without You.
I nearly had an epileptic fit during The Fly and seeing Bono in that jacket and cap is brilliant.
The ending to this tour is the best they have ever done with the last 7-8 songs each night being superb.
The first half of the show is about 5/10 for me and the second half is 10/10.
I'd never heard 40 live before but I liked it and esp the way the band left the stage one by one.
Bono's voice held up very well and it was an emotional night for him.
A very good night.
With some setlist changes it could have been a brilliant night .

Fandango

Absolutely brilliant gig!

Irishstabber

I just cant grasp WHY some people moan and b*tch about the concert...sure you can say some songs I didnt enjoy. But completely condemning it, its complete BS...
Your bloody lucky you got to F**king go so SHUT UP. I was all set to go to the Monday concert but I had to sell my ticket(long story). Now I missed, as most real U2 fan have said, the best show in years. Now the ONLY chance i'll prob get to see U2 Live will be the Munich concert if I can get tickets and a flight there. Who knows if they will be back to Dublin....Paul McGuinness says they will but wont be for a while I'd say.
So count yourself lucky...didn't like it? Shouldn't have bought a ticket.
Anyone know what happened to concert number 4 for Dublin?

Oh and BTW this rant isnt aimed at the people who didnt like it as a result of the acoustics :rolleyes:

dec2000

have to agree that it was a great night - also got in the pit after arriving at 6.15, majority of people arrived at 8-8.30 which is probably why it was so easy to get to the pit. Sound was amasing ... I think my ears are still effected :-/ Overall a great gig, can't fault anything.

randomfella

lncredible.

Hopped on to the pitch no prob! (had ticket 4 stand obviously) security was lax enough. Cameras were no prob but maybe stricter near the pit.

HelterSkelter

Sound was a disaster. I was on the pitch about halfway up alongside the light stands. Couldn't hear Bono's vocal most of the time. I think it was the worst sound at a concert I have ever been to. At those ticket prices the least you expect is to be able to hear the band properly.

LegacyUser

The "people" that were late getting into the stadium were the band themselves. They pulled up on Jones' Road at the gap between the Hogan and the Hill at 9.05pm, walked straight into the stadium and onto stage. Madness!

kensutz

People using the Luas had to put up with delays because of an incident earlier and also took me 4 hrs to get there from Waterford which was a complete disaster.

Larianne

Thought the concert was good. Got there at 5pm and it was still pretty empty. Got into the pit (the 2nd one).

The Bravery - I'd say they would be good. They looked like they were giving it loads in the small space they had but the sound wasn't very good and the echo didn't help from the empty stadium.

Ash - same as above. You couldn't really hear the vocals and would only be singing along coz you knew the lyrics. Goldfingre brought back memories! :rolleyes:

U2 - Very good. The vocal sound was much better than the other two acts. Although Bono did go on a lot preaching/ranting about poverty etc. It's all very well and good, but I think his point got across within the first half an hour. I think he's abit of a twat!! The edge is an absolutely amazing guitar player. Brillant!! Pity the rest of the band never spoke to the crowd!
And Larry Mullen still looking fine! I thought the encore could have been better to be honest. But some great songs in there. Sunday Bloody Sunday and With or Without being my favs!!

Don't think I'll be going to another U2 gig (as not a huge fan) but I'm glad I went to this one!

Dewey

Well I was at Mondays and Saturdays gig and its hard to say which one was better. I think Monday was for the older U2 fans as they finshed with 40 which is one of the songs i dont really know. But i still did my best to join in anyway for that one.

I didnt think there was any problem with the song for both gigs. Sometimes when Bono talked you couldnt make out what he was say which isnt always a bad thing. But the vocals i could hear fine.

Vertigo is such a brilliant song to just jump and shout too. I have seen that 4 times live now and i would love to see 44 times and i dont think i would get tired.

I was sitting in the Hogan stand Upper Tier in U 328 or something like that and for singing along, It was one of the worst groups of people. No offence. I love singing the songs but at one stage i was sing Mirclue Drug by myself(in parts of that section). But they did sing for the well know songs. So saturday was much better for people joining in in the Canal end.

They have to have another tour, and i hope it doesnt take 4 years for another album. I thought it was 10 times better then Slane. I thought they were brilliant at Slane as it was my first U2 gig but comparing the too Slane wasnt that great.

Pity they arent playing for another 3 nights. I would love to go again.

therecklessone

bruachain wrote:

PS – Does anyone know what the entrance track was for the three gigs??

Monday night was Wake Up by The Arcade Fire. from their fantastic album Funeral.

guest31

Fabulous night .. question ... which song was it ... when Bono ended with 'Black Hills of Dakota ... I can't remember which one it was, the whole experience left me in a trance ! :cool: