U2
So we (and around 75000 other people) went to see U2 last night. In the words of the Prodikeys guy "This is rock and roll!"
The tickets I'd bought turned out not to be right up high on the side of the ground, but at the back with a perfect (if tiny) view of the stage. The support act was Kanye West, who Simon had assured me was a very good rapper. For me to consider rap "good" I require it to be
1) Intelligble
2) Witty
3) Lacking in "Uh-huh uh-huh yeah"s
I can't speak for the wit present, as it failed the first test. I did hear "...hands in the air ...like you just don't care" twice, and there were a couple of "Uh-huh yeah" moments. He did have a live string section (celli, violins and harp) which was impressive to see, and they played very well considering they were playing against beats coming from vinyl. The guy doing turntables was good, but the music geek in me can't really get too excited about going to a concert that consists of people playing to someone else's record. Anyway, that was Kanye.
After an hour or so of technical things going on (I think there was guitar problem) the lights finally dimmed and some very loud guitar noodling started over some synth chords, which ultimately turned into City of Blinding Lights. The set list was a good mix of the last two albums and earlier stuff, and Bono was in good enough voice to do justice to Pavarotti's parts from Miss Sarajevo. I gained a lot of respect for The Edge over the course of the evening - I've always thought of him as a competent-if-unexciting guitarist, but he plays with an enthusiasm that doesn't come across on some of the studio recordings. He also sings a whole lot more than I realised, and has quite a good voice. There was only one real technical hitch the whole night (The guitar intro to With or Without You was rather discordant, and there were a bunch of techs running around the guitar amps replacing something when the lights came up). The drummer also got a moment in the spotlight during Love and Peace (Or Else) when they set up a kit on one of the walkways into the audience for him to play on. A pretty excellent gig all round.
The other thing that impressed me was the easy movement of 75000 people in and out of the stadium and to the various transport systems. The last big event I went to was Madonna at Slane Castle in Ireland, which required the whole crowd to walk for an hour to the carpark/bus area. In true Irish style, as we walked through the village there were local townspeople selling bottles of water from their front doors to anyone who'd buy them.
The tickets I'd bought turned out not to be right up high on the side of the ground, but at the back with a perfect (if tiny) view of the stage. The support act was Kanye West, who Simon had assured me was a very good rapper. For me to consider rap "good" I require it to be
1) Intelligble
2) Witty
3) Lacking in "Uh-huh uh-huh yeah"s
I can't speak for the wit present, as it failed the first test. I did hear "...hands in the air ...like you just don't care" twice, and there were a couple of "Uh-huh yeah" moments. He did have a live string section (celli, violins and harp) which was impressive to see, and they played very well considering they were playing against beats coming from vinyl. The guy doing turntables was good, but the music geek in me can't really get too excited about going to a concert that consists of people playing to someone else's record. Anyway, that was Kanye.
After an hour or so of technical things going on (I think there was guitar problem) the lights finally dimmed and some very loud guitar noodling started over some synth chords, which ultimately turned into City of Blinding Lights. The set list was a good mix of the last two albums and earlier stuff, and Bono was in good enough voice to do justice to Pavarotti's parts from Miss Sarajevo. I gained a lot of respect for The Edge over the course of the evening - I've always thought of him as a competent-if-unexciting guitarist, but he plays with an enthusiasm that doesn't come across on some of the studio recordings. He also sings a whole lot more than I realised, and has quite a good voice. There was only one real technical hitch the whole night (The guitar intro to With or Without You was rather discordant, and there were a bunch of techs running around the guitar amps replacing something when the lights came up). The drummer also got a moment in the spotlight during Love and Peace (Or Else) when they set up a kit on one of the walkways into the audience for him to play on. A pretty excellent gig all round.
The other thing that impressed me was the easy movement of 75000 people in and out of the stadium and to the various transport systems. The last big event I went to was Madonna at Slane Castle in Ireland, which required the whole crowd to walk for an hour to the carpark/bus area. In true Irish style, as we walked through the village there were local townspeople selling bottles of water from their front doors to anyone who'd buy them.