Mama, don't let your sons grow up to go to a U2 concert
Last Thursday, Marci and I went to see U2. It was, by far, the worst concert experience I've ever had, although it wasn't entirely U2's fault. But let me start at the beginning...
I took the day off and Marci was supposed to leave work early around 2 so we could hop on the Metro and get into D.C. early enough to not fight crowds on both the Metro and at the limited restaurants around the MCI Center. However, she didn't leave work until 3:45, so we didn't get to the Metro station until 4:45, which meant we had to fight crowds, which I abhor. The crowds were especially bad transferring from the Orange line to the Red line at Metro Center in order to get to the MCI Center. We actually had to miss one train and catch the next one because there were too many people. Because of this, I was quite annoyed.
We ate dinner at Fuddrucker's, which is right down the block from the MCI Center. If you've never been to Fuddrucker's, I recommend going when you're in the mood for a burger (they also have excellent fries). Fuddrucker's is expensive, though, especially in downtown D.C. But dinner was good and we actually were able to sit at a table and take our time. We finished around 6:30, which was the time when the restaurant was brimming with people, many who were left without a table. How annoying is that?
The concert started at 7:30, so we had an hour to kill. We walked around the few stores that are on the block next to the MCI Center to kill some time. There really isn't that much around the MCI Center other than restaurants, so most of the time was killed by walking around the block, checking out restaurants for future visits. There is a Coyote Ugly club right next to the MCI Center, but we didn't venture in before the show (although I just checked their web site and we should have because they had specials for U2 ticket holders).
Tired of circling the block, we entered the arena around 7:15 and found our way to our seats. Now, I knew going in that our seats sucked, but I wasn't prepared for the magnitude of suck. U2 tickets are hard to come by for non-fan club members, to which I don't belong, and back when I bought these tickets through ticketmaster.com, this was the only thing left after waiting 15 minutes to get into the system. According to the seating chart on mcicenter.com, the stage should have been set up at the opposite end of the arena from our section. As we were walking along the concourse to our section, I realized that the stage was set up on the other end, or the end in front of our section. Initially I thought this was a good thing, because I thought we'd actually be able to see the stage, but then I realized we now had a worse view of the stage. If the front of the stage is 12 on the face of a clock, our seats were at 5. For most concerts, tickets for this section aren't sold. There's a very good reason for this: Because you're looking at the backs of the band! Sure, every now and then Bono threw the people in the awful seats a bone by turning around, but most of the time the entire band faced forward, and when Bono ran around the circular stage extension, he still faced away from the suckers in the awful seats. Frankly, U2 and the concert promoters were just being greedy by even selling tickets for these seats. Shame on U2.
U2 did have giant screens above the stage in all four stage directions, specifically for the people who have the awful seats, but ours didn't work! It started having problems during the opening band (more on that in a bit), where it kept losing the signal, showing snowy images, and exhibiting general wonkiness. They "fixed" it during the break between the opening band and U2, but 5 minutes into U2's performance it broke again, leaving the people on my side of the arena with no screen and no decent view of the stage. If U2 fans weren't such pussies, there would have been a riot. Seriously, if this was a Tool concert, mayhem would have ensued.
Back to the opening band. It was some member of the Marley clan. I think it was Damien Marley, but I couldn't understand a fucking thing the guy was saying, save "Jamaica" and "D.C." I don't like reggae music, and it's not a good fit for U2 fans, so this was not a good opening band, IMO. Just a further annoyance.
U2 went on around 9 -- finally! I was hoping that, because of the poor view from our section, that most people wouldn't stand and would sit, but nooooooooo. Every fool in that arena stood the entire time. Normally I could care less, because I don't mind standing (hell, I did the entire time during Beck, Weezer, and Foo Fighters), but that night (and still today) I was physically hurting. It felt like I had a cracked right shin and rib from playing soccer Wednesday night, but more on that another time. Suffice it to say, standing was not my friend and just made the experience even worse.
Our seats were in the very last row. I mean, the faux-concrete wall was half an inch behind our seats. I've never, ever had seats in the last row for any sporting event or concert ever, so this just enhanced the annoying factor. But, it turned out to be beneficial because I could stand on my seat with my back against the wall and have a slightly less-obstructed view plus a softer standing surface.
So finally we get to U2. They started off the concert OK. They played a lot of songs off the new album, which is to be expected but I didn't really like because I don't like the new album. But after the first four songs or so, Bono took the opportunity to pimp some cause or make some political statement, which I find very annoying. Literally, he did this before every song. I don't know if it was because this is D.C. and we're political and all that or if he does this for every concert, but it was just insulting to me. A) I'm there to see you guys play your damn music, not talk to me about political bullshit; B) So much of what he said was pure unadulterated pandering. Like when he introduced "Miss Sarajevo" by comparing D.C. to Sarajevo because "both cities were trying to be torn apart by forces." What what what? D.C. is not being torn apart, neither by terrorists or politicians. He was just making a pathetic comparison in order to get a cheer from the crowd.
And the crowd, oh god. What a bunch of ninnies. They lapped up every word from Bono's mouth. Whatever jizz Bono ladled out to them, they gladly guzzled. It was sickening. Most of the morons there probably had no idea what Bono was talking about. "Sarajevo? What's that, a new restaurant? Oh, the rest of the crowd is cheering; I'd better cheer too." Idiots. Sure, D.C. is a political town, but you can't possibly claim that the two high schoolers that were sitting in front of me have any clue to what Bono was referring. Especially not his "coexist" explanation. No, they -- and many other like them -- just cheered anytime it seemed appropriate.
And what gave them that cue? The show was so robotically designed, an infant would have known when to cheer and when to get out a lighter (or cell phone, as is the case at concerts these days), or start clapping. U2's performance was so carefully constructed and designed that it no longer felt like an organic display. Quite simply, it was a machine on stage. The "passion" on display was carefully parcelled out, boxed up in discrete chunks palatable to the audience; the "bits" they did, pulling up a female fan to sing along with Bono during one song, running around the circular stage extension, doing a guitar solo, these things have been practiced to the point where they are now meaningless and not special in the least; the two encores were predictable. (In fact, I overheard one fat, beer drinking, rum smuggling, ex-frat boy football fan moron tell his companion "I guaranty they're coming out again!" after the first encore. Of course he knew, he read it on the internet and U2 is too robotic to break routine. That's what happens when you do the exact same show night after night. People know what's coming and expect it. Pathetic.)
Marci and I left during the second encore. I couldn't take the pain from my injuries nor the pain from the stage any longer. We thought we would get a jump on the crowd by catching the Metro before most people left, but the idiots that schedule the Metro didn't have any extra trains running from the station that night. We had to wait 10 minutes for the next train, which usually isn't a big deal, but the concert ended and everyone was waiting on the platform by then. How stupid is it to not have extra trains running for the MCI Center on nights when there are huge events? You have 20,000 people in that arena, and the vast majority took the fucking Metro to get there. And you treat the traffic just like any old night? Idiocy! The Metro scheduling was smart for Nationals games, always having extra trains running on those nights, but not Thursday night? It was nothing short of a complete and utter lack of planning and recognizance of traffic needs. So yeah, that was a great topper for the evening.
I was so sickened by the horrible concert experience that I didn't even keep track of the setlist. If there's one thing I can bring from this experience, it would be to never see U2 in concert. The fans will annoy you; the music is played robotically; the politics will be slung at you whether you want to hear it or not. I'll never, ever go see U2 in concert again.
I took the day off and Marci was supposed to leave work early around 2 so we could hop on the Metro and get into D.C. early enough to not fight crowds on both the Metro and at the limited restaurants around the MCI Center. However, she didn't leave work until 3:45, so we didn't get to the Metro station until 4:45, which meant we had to fight crowds, which I abhor. The crowds were especially bad transferring from the Orange line to the Red line at Metro Center in order to get to the MCI Center. We actually had to miss one train and catch the next one because there were too many people. Because of this, I was quite annoyed.
We ate dinner at Fuddrucker's, which is right down the block from the MCI Center. If you've never been to Fuddrucker's, I recommend going when you're in the mood for a burger (they also have excellent fries). Fuddrucker's is expensive, though, especially in downtown D.C. But dinner was good and we actually were able to sit at a table and take our time. We finished around 6:30, which was the time when the restaurant was brimming with people, many who were left without a table. How annoying is that?
The concert started at 7:30, so we had an hour to kill. We walked around the few stores that are on the block next to the MCI Center to kill some time. There really isn't that much around the MCI Center other than restaurants, so most of the time was killed by walking around the block, checking out restaurants for future visits. There is a Coyote Ugly club right next to the MCI Center, but we didn't venture in before the show (although I just checked their web site and we should have because they had specials for U2 ticket holders).
Tired of circling the block, we entered the arena around 7:15 and found our way to our seats. Now, I knew going in that our seats sucked, but I wasn't prepared for the magnitude of suck. U2 tickets are hard to come by for non-fan club members, to which I don't belong, and back when I bought these tickets through ticketmaster.com, this was the only thing left after waiting 15 minutes to get into the system. According to the seating chart on mcicenter.com, the stage should have been set up at the opposite end of the arena from our section. As we were walking along the concourse to our section, I realized that the stage was set up on the other end, or the end in front of our section. Initially I thought this was a good thing, because I thought we'd actually be able to see the stage, but then I realized we now had a worse view of the stage. If the front of the stage is 12 on the face of a clock, our seats were at 5. For most concerts, tickets for this section aren't sold. There's a very good reason for this: Because you're looking at the backs of the band! Sure, every now and then Bono threw the people in the awful seats a bone by turning around, but most of the time the entire band faced forward, and when Bono ran around the circular stage extension, he still faced away from the suckers in the awful seats. Frankly, U2 and the concert promoters were just being greedy by even selling tickets for these seats. Shame on U2.
U2 did have giant screens above the stage in all four stage directions, specifically for the people who have the awful seats, but ours didn't work! It started having problems during the opening band (more on that in a bit), where it kept losing the signal, showing snowy images, and exhibiting general wonkiness. They "fixed" it during the break between the opening band and U2, but 5 minutes into U2's performance it broke again, leaving the people on my side of the arena with no screen and no decent view of the stage. If U2 fans weren't such pussies, there would have been a riot. Seriously, if this was a Tool concert, mayhem would have ensued.
Back to the opening band. It was some member of the Marley clan. I think it was Damien Marley, but I couldn't understand a fucking thing the guy was saying, save "Jamaica" and "D.C." I don't like reggae music, and it's not a good fit for U2 fans, so this was not a good opening band, IMO. Just a further annoyance.
U2 went on around 9 -- finally! I was hoping that, because of the poor view from our section, that most people wouldn't stand and would sit, but nooooooooo. Every fool in that arena stood the entire time. Normally I could care less, because I don't mind standing (hell, I did the entire time during Beck, Weezer, and Foo Fighters), but that night (and still today) I was physically hurting. It felt like I had a cracked right shin and rib from playing soccer Wednesday night, but more on that another time. Suffice it to say, standing was not my friend and just made the experience even worse.
Our seats were in the very last row. I mean, the faux-concrete wall was half an inch behind our seats. I've never, ever had seats in the last row for any sporting event or concert ever, so this just enhanced the annoying factor. But, it turned out to be beneficial because I could stand on my seat with my back against the wall and have a slightly less-obstructed view plus a softer standing surface.
So finally we get to U2. They started off the concert OK. They played a lot of songs off the new album, which is to be expected but I didn't really like because I don't like the new album. But after the first four songs or so, Bono took the opportunity to pimp some cause or make some political statement, which I find very annoying. Literally, he did this before every song. I don't know if it was because this is D.C. and we're political and all that or if he does this for every concert, but it was just insulting to me. A) I'm there to see you guys play your damn music, not talk to me about political bullshit; B) So much of what he said was pure unadulterated pandering. Like when he introduced "Miss Sarajevo" by comparing D.C. to Sarajevo because "both cities were trying to be torn apart by forces." What what what? D.C. is not being torn apart, neither by terrorists or politicians. He was just making a pathetic comparison in order to get a cheer from the crowd.
And the crowd, oh god. What a bunch of ninnies. They lapped up every word from Bono's mouth. Whatever jizz Bono ladled out to them, they gladly guzzled. It was sickening. Most of the morons there probably had no idea what Bono was talking about. "Sarajevo? What's that, a new restaurant? Oh, the rest of the crowd is cheering; I'd better cheer too." Idiots. Sure, D.C. is a political town, but you can't possibly claim that the two high schoolers that were sitting in front of me have any clue to what Bono was referring. Especially not his "coexist" explanation. No, they -- and many other like them -- just cheered anytime it seemed appropriate.
And what gave them that cue? The show was so robotically designed, an infant would have known when to cheer and when to get out a lighter (or cell phone, as is the case at concerts these days), or start clapping. U2's performance was so carefully constructed and designed that it no longer felt like an organic display. Quite simply, it was a machine on stage. The "passion" on display was carefully parcelled out, boxed up in discrete chunks palatable to the audience; the "bits" they did, pulling up a female fan to sing along with Bono during one song, running around the circular stage extension, doing a guitar solo, these things have been practiced to the point where they are now meaningless and not special in the least; the two encores were predictable. (In fact, I overheard one fat, beer drinking, rum smuggling, ex-frat boy football fan moron tell his companion "I guaranty they're coming out again!" after the first encore. Of course he knew, he read it on the internet and U2 is too robotic to break routine. That's what happens when you do the exact same show night after night. People know what's coming and expect it. Pathetic.)
Marci and I left during the second encore. I couldn't take the pain from my injuries nor the pain from the stage any longer. We thought we would get a jump on the crowd by catching the Metro before most people left, but the idiots that schedule the Metro didn't have any extra trains running from the station that night. We had to wait 10 minutes for the next train, which usually isn't a big deal, but the concert ended and everyone was waiting on the platform by then. How stupid is it to not have extra trains running for the MCI Center on nights when there are huge events? You have 20,000 people in that arena, and the vast majority took the fucking Metro to get there. And you treat the traffic just like any old night? Idiocy! The Metro scheduling was smart for Nationals games, always having extra trains running on those nights, but not Thursday night? It was nothing short of a complete and utter lack of planning and recognizance of traffic needs. So yeah, that was a great topper for the evening.
I was so sickened by the horrible concert experience that I didn't even keep track of the setlist. If there's one thing I can bring from this experience, it would be to never see U2 in concert. The fans will annoy you; the music is played robotically; the politics will be slung at you whether you want to hear it or not. I'll never, ever go see U2 in concert again.