U2 IS the Craic!
Two concerts in their hometown ... we's one happy velyr horde, you can bet!
One thing about Dublin, however: it's bloody difficult to find a taxi when you need one! Plus, the nights of the concert, all public transport was tied up, and the gardai had the roads blocked off close to Croke Park. So we walked ... all 85,000 of us ... all the way 'cross town! BAAAAA! We kept waiting for someone to show up with border collies and a crook to herd us along ....
The first night was ... well, a rehearsal for the following night. We got in line for T-shirts ... and one of those sudden Irish downpours soaked everyone on the field ... and then they were sold out of the shirts we wanted ... and they didn't even have any more programs! Then the sound system was wonky, so we could only hear Bono part of the time ... er ... p'rhaps that's a good thing?
We sat next to a very excitable local, who was just bloody thrilled to be there, by god, and was so damn happy nobody could sit close to him without getting a wee bit happy themselves. Evidently, the residents around Crokers had been given a small quantity of tickets for themselves, and he'd managed to snag one ... quite a fun neighbor for the concert.
The second night was the planned tour thing, which got frustrating in the afternoon when the people from E-tours failed to show up in the hotel they'd booked for us, and were late showing up at the secondary location - but everyone managed to find their tickets in the end, and we located a taxi to take us to the club for the preshow party. It was a place called Bar Code and we saved a couple of our free drink vouchers as souvenirs, since velyr are not heavy drinkers. The club was nice, and not too far from Crokers since as you can guess, everyone had to walk to the park once again. We had reserved seats, which just meant one level down from the seats we had the previous night - actually we traded with a fellow whose family was sitting close to us and had not been able to find a seat in their section. We ended up several rows closer, which was nice, though we still needed our binocs to see Edge as clearly as we wanted to could (we WANT to see him in the same room and butt-nekkid, but ....)
U2, of course, rocks whatever city they're playing. 85,000 people dancing sets a stadium to swaying. And there's nothing quite like singing along with 85,000 people who all know the song as well as you do. I enjoyed the opening bands also, especially Snow Patrol and Paddy Casey.
Set Lists:
June 24 - Vertigo, I Will Follow, The Electric Co. / Bullet With Butterfly Wings (snippet) / I Can See For Miles (snippet), Elevation, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day / Rain (snippet) / Here Comes The Sun (snippet), I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, City Of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love And Peace Or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet The Blue Sky / The Hands That Built America (snippet) / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet), Running To Stand Still / Happy Birthday (snippet) / Walk On (snippet), Pride (In The Name Of Love), Where The Streets Have No Name, One / Rain (snippet)
encores: Zoo Station, The Fly, With Or Without You / City Of Blinding Lights (snippet), All Because Of You, Yahweh, Vertigo / Jailbreak (snippet)
June 25 - Vertigo, Out Of Control, The Electric Co. / Bullet With Butterfly Wings (snippet) / Send In The Clowns (snippet) / I Can See For Miles (snippet), Elevation, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet), I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, All I Want Is You, City Of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / The Black Hills of Dakota (snippet), Love And Peace Or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet The Blue Sky / The Hands That Built America (snippet) / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet), Running To Stand Still / Happy Birthday (snippet) / Walk On (snippet), Pride (In The Name Of Love), Where The Streets Have No Name, One
encores: Zoo Station, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Party Girl, All Because Of You, Yahweh, Vertigo / The Boys Are Back In Town (snippet) / Jailbreak (snippet)
Even the taoiseach (that's TEE-shak) was there one night!
Next: the usual blather about anything, plus NaNoWriMo!!
One thing about Dublin, however: it's bloody difficult to find a taxi when you need one! Plus, the nights of the concert, all public transport was tied up, and the gardai had the roads blocked off close to Croke Park. So we walked ... all 85,000 of us ... all the way 'cross town! BAAAAA! We kept waiting for someone to show up with border collies and a crook to herd us along ....
The first night was ... well, a rehearsal for the following night. We got in line for T-shirts ... and one of those sudden Irish downpours soaked everyone on the field ... and then they were sold out of the shirts we wanted ... and they didn't even have any more programs! Then the sound system was wonky, so we could only hear Bono part of the time ... er ... p'rhaps that's a good thing?
We sat next to a very excitable local, who was just bloody thrilled to be there, by god, and was so damn happy nobody could sit close to him without getting a wee bit happy themselves. Evidently, the residents around Crokers had been given a small quantity of tickets for themselves, and he'd managed to snag one ... quite a fun neighbor for the concert.
The second night was the planned tour thing, which got frustrating in the afternoon when the people from E-tours failed to show up in the hotel they'd booked for us, and were late showing up at the secondary location - but everyone managed to find their tickets in the end, and we located a taxi to take us to the club for the preshow party. It was a place called Bar Code and we saved a couple of our free drink vouchers as souvenirs, since velyr are not heavy drinkers. The club was nice, and not too far from Crokers since as you can guess, everyone had to walk to the park once again. We had reserved seats, which just meant one level down from the seats we had the previous night - actually we traded with a fellow whose family was sitting close to us and had not been able to find a seat in their section. We ended up several rows closer, which was nice, though we still needed our binocs to see Edge as clearly as we wanted to could (we WANT to see him in the same room and butt-nekkid, but ....)
U2, of course, rocks whatever city they're playing. 85,000 people dancing sets a stadium to swaying. And there's nothing quite like singing along with 85,000 people who all know the song as well as you do. I enjoyed the opening bands also, especially Snow Patrol and Paddy Casey.
Set Lists:
June 24 - Vertigo, I Will Follow, The Electric Co. / Bullet With Butterfly Wings (snippet) / I Can See For Miles (snippet), Elevation, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day / Rain (snippet) / Here Comes The Sun (snippet), I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, City Of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love And Peace Or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet The Blue Sky / The Hands That Built America (snippet) / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet), Running To Stand Still / Happy Birthday (snippet) / Walk On (snippet), Pride (In The Name Of Love), Where The Streets Have No Name, One / Rain (snippet)
encores: Zoo Station, The Fly, With Or Without You / City Of Blinding Lights (snippet), All Because Of You, Yahweh, Vertigo / Jailbreak (snippet)
June 25 - Vertigo, Out Of Control, The Electric Co. / Bullet With Butterfly Wings (snippet) / Send In The Clowns (snippet) / I Can See For Miles (snippet), Elevation, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet), I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, All I Want Is You, City Of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own / The Black Hills of Dakota (snippet), Love And Peace Or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet The Blue Sky / The Hands That Built America (snippet) / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet), Running To Stand Still / Happy Birthday (snippet) / Walk On (snippet), Pride (In The Name Of Love), Where The Streets Have No Name, One
encores: Zoo Station, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Party Girl, All Because Of You, Yahweh, Vertigo / The Boys Are Back In Town (snippet) / Jailbreak (snippet)
Even the taoiseach (that's TEE-shak) was there one night!
Next: the usual blather about anything, plus NaNoWriMo!!