Wednesday, October 05, 2005

la la la la la la la

U2 rocks.

Seriously.

It was definitely the best live band concert I've ever seen!!! I say live band because I feel like seeing one individual in concert is so different that I can't compare, but OH MY GOODNESS, they were fantastic. A partner at my law firm had gone to the concert the night before and said that it wasn't much of a "show", just mainly U2 singing on stage and I have to say I disagree. They had quite a few special effects, like this circular stage that had lights circling around the edges, sometimes at opposite times, I guess to create the "Vertigo" effect. There were also these hanging sheets of tiny mirrors that reflected whatever lights or laser shows were bounced on them, so sometimes it was rainbow colors, other times an image of a man walking, other times a face speaking, those mirrors were unbelievable.

Bono walked around the circular walkway and even once pulled a young woman out of the audience to stand on stage with him as he sang "With or Without You." He often met out in the middle of this circular stage with the Edge or another member of his band and they would sing and play together.

U2 played all the new famous ones and all the old famous ones. I'm afraid I'm going to forget so many songs, but they played:
One
Beautiful Day
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Elevation
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sarajevo
I Still Having Found What I'm Looking For
Where the Streets Have No Name
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
All I Want Is You

And several more that are slipping my mind right now. He spent a good 15-20 minutes speaking about basic human rights and flashing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights across a screen hanging above the stage while he talked about poverty and the need to unite to help others, whether they be in Louisiana or Mozambique. It was political, but political on such a basic level of decency that I doubt anyone got offended. Of course, I was ecstatic for him to discuss human rights at the concert given my history.

One of the most powerful moments of the concert was when he asked everyone to pull out their cell phones and make them light up. The lights were shut off in the huge concert hall and it looked like an upside-down planetarium (if that makes any sense). All these little pinpricks of light coming from cell phones waving around and it was surreal. As if we were swimming in the sky.

Before I forget, Keane opened for the band, and they were really good! Very energizing and I surprisingly knew several of their songs. This morning I heard two of their songs being played on the radio so they must be becoming more popular.

I would definitely recommend seeing them, although paying the ticket prices was painful. My firm gets seats to each concert so we were guaranteed good seats but I was shocked at how expensive they were. My one complaint is that a drunk couple snuck into our section (we were in the front row of the first section above the floor but below the boxes) and were dancing and practically having sex right next to me. I suppose the female part of this couple was trying to be seductive, so she kept throwing her hips and arms all over the place and whipping her hair across my face. Josh had to brace his arms around me at one point to keep her from whacking me with her crazy dancing and we asked her twice to knock it off. They didn't actually have seats and were just standing in the aisle and slowly inching their way into our row so we could have called a seat usher, but I didn't want to make a scene with drunk people. I don't know who we watched more for the first half hour, though, the drunkards or Bono. At least they were amusing!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

So! Jealous!

*sigh*

Phantom Scribbler said...

Count me too as So! Jealous!

Also, the experience with the drunk couple pretty much sums up why I don't make much effort to go to concerts anymore. I just don't really like people, you know?

ccw said...

Sounds awesome! I have a crush on Bono, so I am very jealous.

Girl said...

A few things you should know about me...

1) I am the most fanatical about U2. - That does not mean that I am the biggest fan (I don't ever want to get into a competition over who is the biggest U2 fan, because there is no way to win). It means that of all the things that I find amazing and incredible...U2 is on the top of my list...WAY above everything else.

2) My very first, big-boy crush was on Bono after I went to see Rattle and Hum in the theater back in 8th grade with my sister and all of her college friends. I immediately went out and purchased every RECORD (God, I'm old) they had made.

3) On my first date with the boy, a U2 song started to play in the VERY distant background and we BOTH commented on it at the same time. We both discovered our love for U2. He was shocked to discover that I have never been to a concert and PROMISED me that he would take me to their concert the next time they were in town.

4) I still have not been to a U2 concert even though they have now been in town TWICE!!

I am super jealous that you got to go...maybe the cards will be right for me in December.

--Girl

PS - I heard that the girl who got on stage was making things really awkward for Bono by holding his hands down so he couldn't bring the mic up. Apparently he would move her hands and she would just put them back. People like that should NOT be allowed on stage!!

Running2Ks said...

Ooh, that sexy Bono voice.

I have goosebumps!

halloweenlover said...

Oh Girl, if only I knew!!! We had two extra tickets for a while there because (AHEM) momtothelady and her sweetie couldn't come, so until a coworker pounced on them they were available!!!

btw, momtothelady, BWAH HA HA HA HA.

I hate to break it to all of you, but, ummm, Bono wasn't looking all that sexy.

And yes, the girl he brought up on stage was acting odd and hugging him like there was no tomorrow. Like, draped across him hugging. It was very strange. We couldn't tell if she was beyond mortified nervous, like freaking out nervous, or what the story was. She kept holding onto his hands and it was awkward, but I thought it was her nerves and she just didn't know what to do. It was funny, though.

Yankee, Transferred said...

Christ, I'm old. But I'm so glad you had a great time!

Anonymous said...

Glad you enjoyed the concert! I saw U2 the last time they toured, and I thought they were great.

Notes from the Trenches said...

Gee I hope there aren't any drunk seat crashers at the next concert I go to. You think people will be drunk at the Wiggles ;-)

I am so so jealous. Sounds like you had a fabulous time.

halloweenlover said...

Chris, I suggest YOU get drunk at the wiggles : )

RussianViolets said...

Ya know, I saw them much earlier this year, and while I liked the show, I felt like it was just a redux of their Elevation tour, which was the best ever. Of course, it sounds like you had a better show than I did -- silly Bono didn't even sing "With or Without You." Scandalous!!! Best U2 song ever.

KLee said...

I echo Beanie's comment -- so. jealous! I wanted to go so desperately, but they weren't coming anywhere near me. It was going to be at least a three or four hour drive to anywhere to see them.

So no Bono for me. Duran Duran, either, for that matter. *sigh* I HATE living in the hinterlands.