[kj] (NKJ) U2 at the Rose Bowl

[Darren A. Peace]

Did she piss herself?

Splendid review, as always. Thanks for posting.

Darren
Hungerford, UK

On 26 Oct 2009, at 17:41, "The Mighty TB" <planetary at socal.rr.com>  
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  

> would be, 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 one of their weakest  

> albums ever) and 5 off "All You Can't Leave Behind," notably dull  

> 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 dour- 

> faced 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 and a perfect  

> example of the ham-fisted approach U2 often takes to some  

> "political" issues.

>

> 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.

> _______________________________________________

> Gathering mailing list

> Gathering at misera.net

> http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering