Vertigo from the nosebleed section
Well, its been a Beautiful Day. U2 was awesome, just awesome. Left roleplay about 1:15am (woot 15 xp!) and collected Jamie (that's my ex's ex-flatmate) from his place in Mayfield. Had a great catch up with him on the way down, he is a huge nerd himself. A big fan of free online game thingies like ogame and the marvelous Kingdom of Loathing. Went via nesselle's place to get her and then it was down to sydney. Got there about 4pm, about 3 hours early, so we had plenty of time to chill out, have dinner, and buy U2 t-shirts.
We were, as Jamie frequently liked to mention, way up in the nosebleed section. Nevertheless, we had a clear unobstructed view, and were positioned around close to the stage. And that climb up certainly didn't do our calves any harm. We watched Kanye West flap around on stage like an idiot trying to get the moderately uninterested crowd to sing along to his lyrics and ate twisties. We ate the twisties, not Kanye West. The other guys who we were meeting, friends from high school, arrived about 45 minutes before U2 were about to start, totaly missing Mr. West and not really caring. Good seeing them again too, but of course we couldn't hear each other so it wasn't a proper catch up.
The concert blew me away.. the atmosphere was amazing. Excusing a few tiny Porker gigs in Newcastle and Weird Al Yankovic this was my first proper concert. The lights were turned off as they walked out, and the sea of people beneath us were let up by pinpricks of light from camera phone screens. I took a few pics too, but they are trapped on my phone because I can't get bluetooth to work :(. They played all my favorites first off.. about six in a row. Bono likes to do that thing where he jams the mic into the various band members' unoffending ears and sings into it. I guess this helps them remember where they are up to in the song or something. They had two ego ramps, both well used.
Then the the crowd got on its feet for Sunday Bloody Sunday, us included. In the middle of the song Bono started doing a big artsy political statment, wearing a blindfold with symbols of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam on it, and using fireworks. I knew the man was very outspoken when it came to politics and whatnots, but I was totaly unprepared for it in the middle of the concert. He said lots of things that struck true, and some things that I disagreed with, but the weight of his message, in that concert, with all that awesome music and atmosphere igniting my soul, was overwhealming. Towards the end of the concert Bono asked everyone to pull out their mobile phones and text their names to a number that was scolling down the jumbo screens, to "help make poverty history". Then, after the second Encore, the Jumbo screens scrolled "Thanks for texting:", and a list of people's names flowed down the screen. Was a pretty nice touch.
They ended up doing three Encores, which was a bit silly since everyone knew they were playing until 11:05 anyway, but nevertheless, points for showmanship. The whole night was awesome. nesselle and I got in trouble from my friends for snogging too much in the middle of the music. After the concert we had Gozleme from one of the vendors that were lining the streets outside. I haven't eaten Gozleme since I used to visit sydney markets with bumbklaatt and a few others years ago, so it was a bit of nostalga, even if the Gozleme wasn't as good as I remember it. We took Jamie to the station, then nesselle and I went back to her place. nesselle said it was the best bday present she has ever been given. She probably was just been saying that to make me feel good, but it worked so that's alright.
This morning I took nesselle to work and then headed back to newcastle. Went for a jog on the beach, then back here for assorted relaxation. I've been in an extreamly good mood all day, and gotten lots done. Im about to start plugging away on this novel again. A nice chunk of actual prose is done, and when it reaches a logical break point I'll put it up here for comment. So bye for now :)
Current Food: Gozleme: Its basically spinich, feta, and spicy beef mince (although I'm sure there are other flavors possible) wedged between thin layers of dough, and then fried. Hrm, according to Wikipedia its actually something a bit different. Oh well, nevermind.
We were, as Jamie frequently liked to mention, way up in the nosebleed section. Nevertheless, we had a clear unobstructed view, and were positioned around close to the stage. And that climb up certainly didn't do our calves any harm. We watched Kanye West flap around on stage like an idiot trying to get the moderately uninterested crowd to sing along to his lyrics and ate twisties. We ate the twisties, not Kanye West. The other guys who we were meeting, friends from high school, arrived about 45 minutes before U2 were about to start, totaly missing Mr. West and not really caring. Good seeing them again too, but of course we couldn't hear each other so it wasn't a proper catch up.
The concert blew me away.. the atmosphere was amazing. Excusing a few tiny Porker gigs in Newcastle and Weird Al Yankovic this was my first proper concert. The lights were turned off as they walked out, and the sea of people beneath us were let up by pinpricks of light from camera phone screens. I took a few pics too, but they are trapped on my phone because I can't get bluetooth to work :(. They played all my favorites first off.. about six in a row. Bono likes to do that thing where he jams the mic into the various band members' unoffending ears and sings into it. I guess this helps them remember where they are up to in the song or something. They had two ego ramps, both well used.
Then the the crowd got on its feet for Sunday Bloody Sunday, us included. In the middle of the song Bono started doing a big artsy political statment, wearing a blindfold with symbols of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam on it, and using fireworks. I knew the man was very outspoken when it came to politics and whatnots, but I was totaly unprepared for it in the middle of the concert. He said lots of things that struck true, and some things that I disagreed with, but the weight of his message, in that concert, with all that awesome music and atmosphere igniting my soul, was overwhealming. Towards the end of the concert Bono asked everyone to pull out their mobile phones and text their names to a number that was scolling down the jumbo screens, to "help make poverty history". Then, after the second Encore, the Jumbo screens scrolled "Thanks for texting:", and a list of people's names flowed down the screen. Was a pretty nice touch.
They ended up doing three Encores, which was a bit silly since everyone knew they were playing until 11:05 anyway, but nevertheless, points for showmanship. The whole night was awesome. nesselle and I got in trouble from my friends for snogging too much in the middle of the music. After the concert we had Gozleme from one of the vendors that were lining the streets outside. I haven't eaten Gozleme since I used to visit sydney markets with bumbklaatt and a few others years ago, so it was a bit of nostalga, even if the Gozleme wasn't as good as I remember it. We took Jamie to the station, then nesselle and I went back to her place. nesselle said it was the best bday present she has ever been given. She probably was just been saying that to make me feel good, but it worked so that's alright.
This morning I took nesselle to work and then headed back to newcastle. Went for a jog on the beach, then back here for assorted relaxation. I've been in an extreamly good mood all day, and gotten lots done. Im about to start plugging away on this novel again. A nice chunk of actual prose is done, and when it reaches a logical break point I'll put it up here for comment. So bye for now :)
Current Food: Gozleme: Its basically spinich, feta, and spicy beef mince (although I'm sure there are other flavors possible) wedged between thin layers of dough, and then fried. Hrm, according to Wikipedia its actually something a bit different. Oh well, nevermind.