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"It can be really difficult to re-adjust to having someone living back in the house. . . . Bono always says that he feels like a bit of litter around the house." -- Ali |
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"It can be really difficult to re-adjust to having someone living back in the house. . . . Bono always says that he feels like a bit of litter around the house." -- Ali |
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Column: off the record..., vol. 9-379
@U2,
October 11, 2009
This is my first OTR since seeing the U2 360 tour in person. I was fortunate to see both shows at Giants Stadium as well as the Raleigh show during U2 conference weekend, and I have seriously mixed emotions about it all. From chatting with many close U2 friends, it seems I'm not alone. The shows themselves have been nothing short of terrific. U2 is really nailing it every night, it seems. The songs are great, the production is a sight to behold, and the sound ... wow! Has there been a better sounding stadium show? Ever? I know it was less-than-great at a couple venues, but all three shows I've seen had crystal clear sound, like I'd expect to hear while listening to a DVD on my home theater system. I know from reading and processing the fan reviews submitted to U2tours.com that a lot of people are also amazed by the sound quality. Hats off to Joe O'Herlihy and crew. The mixed emotions aren't due to what the band is doing as much as it's due to the fans I've seen at the shows -- especially the two shows at Giants Stadium. I may write about this in more detail at a later date, but suffice to say that the vibe in the stadium was different than any U2 shows I've seen before, and I've been seeing U2 shows since 1985. It's hard to explain, but it didn't feel like a U2 crowd. I suspect it's partly due to the ease of getting tickets to a stadium show; when you're selling 160,000+ tickets for your New York-area shows, you'll surely end up with a lot more lookie-loos than you will when you're playing 3-4 shows in an arena that seats 18,000. I think there are other reasons for the odd vibe I've felt -- and others have felt, too. Like I said, I may try to put this into words at some point down the road -- not as a complaint, but as an observation. Speaking of the U2 360 tour, if you've been reading Willie Williams' diary on U2.com, you've probably seen him make a couple mentions that there's a "broadcast/DVD" shoot coming up. He mentioned this while writing about the Foxboro and NYC shows.That he specifically used the phrase "broadcast/DVD" leads me to believe there'll be some kind of live element to whatever they're shooting -- live on cable TV? A live webcast? Probably one of those. If you forced me to guess, I'd bet on the Los Angeles show as the one they're targeting. And I'd bet it'll be a live webcast. But that's just a guess. Then there was the U2 academic conference ... what a weekend. We put on our news hats and covered as much of the conference as we could while also participating and helping the organizers. If you missed anything, our coverage recap is here. One thing that I don't think many people blogged about or tweeted about was the "Sunday Night at the Movies" event that we did with Neil McCormick. It was a real joy to sit down and chat with him for about 45 minutes on all kinds of U2-related topics. I prepared a bunch of questions for Neil, we took questions from the audience that night, and we also took questions in advance here on @U2. In fact, it was one of the online questions that led to a nugget of new information I'd never heard before. Erik S., one of our longtime readers, sent in a question for Neil that went something like, What's the best U2 song you've heard that the general public hasn't heard? Great question, and as soon as I asked it, half the audience went, Oooooh! Neil kinda fought his way through an answer while thinking about it; he mentioned liking some of the band's very earliest songs, but then told us that there's "a great version of 'Playboy Mansion' with a gospel choir" that he loves. Nice! Add that to the list of songs we'll hope to hear when Pop gets remastered and re-issued (whenever that may be). Quick site update: We've been shooting hundreds of photos at various concerts so far this tour, so if you're looking for an easy way to keep track of it all, the U2 360 Tour Photos page has finally been updated with links to all of our photo slideshows. Speaking of photos, our friend Greg Wigler -- who shared his U2 at Red Rocks photos with @U2 years ago -- has taken many of those photos and turned them into a video set to "Sunday Bloody Sunday." You can watch it on YouTube. And finally ... 11 yearbook photos that musicians wish we'd never seen.
See you next time! © @U2, 2009.
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