Re: (NBC) U2 at The Rose Bowl

Was the show sold out? I have heard the RB can handle up to 90,000+
fans....hence the problems getting out of the place.

Personally, I avoided this tour primarily due to the stage. I saw
pictures of it early on and I felt that the stage and the production
would overwhelm the band, and alot of people have told me the same
thing.

I'm surprised you don't like Stuck In A Moment.... That is one of my
favorite U2 songs.

You were able to park ON the golf course?



On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:45:27 -0700, "The Mighty T.B."
<xoxoxo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The short hit is that this show reminded me why I hate seeing concerts in
stadiums.

Knowing what a clusterfuck parking and navigating into The Rose Bowl, I left
at 3 in the afternoon yesterday for the show which was a smart thing as
although it took me barely an hour to get there, it took another 1 hour to
park in the huge golf course that doubles as a parking lot for Rose Bowl
events once I got off the freeway a mere 2 miles from the stadium.

After kicking back 'til 6pm, I went in the stadium, got wrist banded for my
GA floor access and checked out the massive stage. I got lucky and got pit
access but after hanging out there for seem of the otherwise wretched Black
Eyed Peas' set, I decided to leave the pit hanging out at about the 50 yard
line directly between the stage and the soundboard was the best place to
soak in the show until U2's encore when I went back into the pit.
Amusingly, the people that paid the most for their tickets in the "Red Zone"
next to the pit on either side of the stage probably had the worst view.
The stage is so high off the ground that you can only see the bass or guitar
player and the top half of Bono and the drummer is mostly obscured depending
on which side you're on and you're under the huge cone-shaped video screen
so you have to look at it straight up.

Speaking of the Black Eyed Peas opening set, admittedly a lot of people were
into their shtick but the Rose Bowl really came alive when (ex)Guns n'
Roses' Slash came out to play guitar and they did a decent cover of "Sweet
Child O' Mine" with the chick singer really doing an excellent job singing
the tune - easily the highlight of their set.

U2 came on a little after 9pm opening with 3 songs off their last album. I
have to say, the show never really seemed to quite get off the ground. A
big part of it was the crowd who just didn't have a lot of energy much of
the show. But the band shares a lot of the blame as well. The set is
unevenly paced and the combination of 7 songs off the newest album (which
imo is easily their weakest album since Zooropa) and 5 off "All You Can't
Leave Behind," notably momentum killers "Stuck in a Moment" and "In A Little
While," there was a lot more valleys than peaks in the set. Even otherwise
excellent and long-unplayed deep cuts "Unforgettable Fire" and "Ultraviolet"
which I figured to be highlights of the show kind of fell flat. The "remix"
version of "Crazy Tonight" is terrible with drummer Larry Mullen Jr playing
barely audible bongos at the front of the stage to a heavily pre-recorded
drum track. Probably the low point of the show was when they played "Walk
On," a bunch of fans came on stage on the ramp circling the pit with paper
masks of Aung San Suu Kyi on their faces to protest her continued house
arrest in Burma. Frankly, it was cring-inducing.

Bravely, the band isn't playing some of their biggest live songs this tour -
no Pride, Bullet The Blue Sky, New Years Day or I Will Follow among others.
Unfortunately, it's a shame they aren't playing some other far more
worthwhile songs than much of the stuff they are playing especially from the
previous two albums.

This is all not to say the show didn't have some high points - "Get On Your
Boots" works far better live now than it did when they first started playing
it. Mysterious Ways early in the set momentarily brought the crowd back into
the show and the crowd seemed really into things through a great sing-along
of "Stand By Me" tagged at the end of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm
Looking For." During "Until The End Of The World" and later "Vertigo,"
everything seemed to click. And the last song of the show, "Moment of
Surrender," which is unquestionably the best song off the last album, worked
extremely well as a closer.

The biggest problem with this tour is that the stage production completely
overshadows the band and their music. The stage is simply breathtaking and
the sound is easily the best I've ever heard in a stadium but this "show" is
by far the weakest U2 concert I've seen in decades. It's like the Pop tour
jacked up to "11." Even more awesome production, but even weaker songs and
setlist. Not to mention, imo U2's playing has slipped a notch since the
last tour (although Bono's voice is *very* strong this time around). There
were a lot of happy fans after the show but to a person, every comment I
heard focused on the production, not the band. IMO, U2 is now at the same
point the Rolling Stones were around the Voodoo Lounge album/tour.

BTW, it took me a full 2 1/2 hours to get out of the parking lot after the
show. I will never see another show at the Rose Bowl.

I understand they've annouced their early Summer 2010 North American dates
last night which include an Anaheim Stadium show. Even though that's a much
better stadium and only 15 - 20 minutes away, U2 will have to drastically
retool their set to get me back for another show.

T.B.


.

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