by Andrew Hetherington

Could I please have my Nov 10 06 Sydney concert review replaced on line with this one. Thank you.

Andrew Hetherington




Concert Review: By Andrew Hetherington (33 Years old) for Sydney Concert Friday November 10 2006.



After waiting for 3 A class seats at the AIS Ticketec for 14 Hours, I was waiting for this experience with a great degree of eagerness. (As you would expect!) Having missed the POPMART tour I could not wait for the opportunity to see the worlds biggest and greatest Band (ever). Kanye did a great job of warming up the crowd with some of his well known and best sounding tracks. I felt the beat and bass thump in my chest. His routine was very impressive! Then for the main event. After Kanye finished his set, a millisecond later the U2 Road crew began the bands stage set up and the crowd started to get excited. About ten mins later it started to rain lightly and the crowd nearly started to go off. With two minutes to go the house lights were switched off one by one and EVERYONE, I say EVERYONE was screaming in anticipation as the band was to come out onto the stage. When they did appear, the arena erupted, with the crowd screaming and cheering with some people (in my area including myself) almost overcome with emotion. Most importantly U2's music erupted into the night with a wet crowd greatly appreciating what they were experiencing.
Most of the time the sound was brilliant and powerful, with all instruments sounding in time and how they should (or at least how you would expect them to sound). Occasionally though the Edge seemed to grimace at times at the output from his guitars and fuzz box. I think he was very frustrated, and was trying to improve the situation with his foot pedals. I think the rain did not do him or any of his equipment any justice. I felt sorry for him. Bonos voice was a little croaky at times, but you could hardly notice it. You could see he was frustrated in the early stages of the show and was making a conscious effort to fire up the crowd to give us the best experience possible.
Larry's drumming really impressed me with its heavy sound, his bass drum sounded very prevalent in nearly all of the songs. It was exceptional during Where the Streets Have No Name, (where he almost used only one small drum, bass drum and symbol during the whole song), the new song The Saints are Coming (Song sounds better when they play it alone!)
and during Love and Peace (Where he came onto one of the B stages to use a single drum and symbol, and BONO made use of it towards the end of the song). When I saw him working hard the words that came to mind were that he was a drum machine, seeing him with his head down a little, with a constant look of deep concentration on his face. Adams Bass work was almost flawless adding the 'kick ass' effect to every song, especially with Love and Peace (with lights synchronized to come up with his evil like playing), City of Blinding lights and New Years Day.
Concert highlights include:
-Bono's improvisations during Elevation with introducing "I can't stand the rain" and Kylie Minogue's "I can't get you out of my head" and during Beautiful Day "Here comes the Sun".
-The Edge's customary foot stomp complete with puddle of water during Pride and telling the crowd "to go home to bed Sydney" after the first encore, clearly sucking in some of the crowd.
-The thoughtfulness to include many great songs from "All You Can't Leave Behind" including Kite, which was brilliant including the Didgeridoo in the first and last portions of the song, the Edge's improvised guitar work in towards the end to allow Bono to set/burn the Kite free with the balloons.
-Bono bringing up a girl on stage during the final part of With or Without You, placing his hat on her head, kneeling down, crooning to her and giving her a hug to say thank you; she seemed overwhelmed at the experience and I would be to, not at a hug I would be happy with a hand shake.
-The inclusion of Miss Sarajevo and Bono giving a great Pavarotti like performance in Italian.
-Magnificent lights and light show with the huge screens flashing a variety of images, in an Australian theme and I spent most of the concert alternating from the huge screens, to the small screens and then to the band members.
-Fantastic and very humorous display of images words and unfinished sentences during The Fly and Zoo Station.
-The use of a Kite at the end of the show, what a great touch!
-The performance of Yahweh using an acoustic guitar and Larry on Keyboard.
-Seeing 50,000 plus mobile phones light up a former Olympic stadium before ONE after Bono said turn off the lights!
-So many more I do not have time to list.

Songs I wish were played during the concert: 40, When I look at the world, In a Little While, Stuck in a Moment, Miracle Drug and Original of the Species.

Thing I most regret about the concert experience: Leaving my pocket digital camera in my hotel room after ringing the venue and being told that all cameras were not permitted inside and would be confiscated. Thanks Telstra Stadium! If anyone could please send me some photos of the 10 Nov Sydney concert to- agh736@hotmail.com I would greatly appreciate it!

Overall this concert was an experience I will never forget. I have waited 8 long years to view these masters of rock music live in concert and have just about worn out my concert DVD collection (Live in Boston, Live in Chicago, U2 Go Home etc) preparing for the most pleasurable aural experience I could have ever hoped for, from THE BAND U2. I can now finally die happy that I have seen my musical idols LIVE in action.

Set list for Fri 10 Nov 06 Sydney show complete with my star rating. 5 stars are best rating.

City of Blinding Lights- ****
Vertigo- *****
Elevation- ****
Until The End of the World- ****
New Year's Day- ****
Beautiful Day- *****
Yahweh- *****
Walk On- ****
Sometimes- *****
Love and Peace- *****
Sunday Bloody Sunday- *****
Bullet The Blue Sky- ***
Miss Sarajevo- *****
Pride (In The Name of Love)- *****
Where The Streets Have No Name- ****
One- *****

Encore 1
Zoo Station- *****
The Fly- *****
With or Without You- *****

Encore 2
The Saints Are Coming- ******
Angel of Harlem- ****
Kite- ******

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