by Levi

Just got back from U2 at Giants Stadium. Place was absolutely packed. So were the trains out there. Note to anyone going to Giants Stadium, ever. Do what I did - buy your penn station-Meadowlands train ticket the day before, or at lunch. It will take you an hour to get it at the station if you wait till "after work."

It rained a tiny bit during Walk On, and these little umbrellas came up to cover the gear. Was cool actually.

I like U2, and I think they are a good band with a good show. This was probably my least favorite of the 4 I've seen (one a tour since Pop).

It's a spectacular stage...but something about it seems kinda dubious. They sell this as a (360) tour, but it's really just like any other open stage, like the Police last year. If you are behind the stage, you are watching them from behind most of the time, and I don't think most people like watching bands from behind.

Also...why don't they put this thing in the CENTER of the stadium instead of the end zone, and do a real "in the round" kinda thing. Doesn't make much sense to me, it would just mean repositioning some gear.


I had these "VIP Red Zone" tickets. They cost $250 each, but I bought a pair to scalp so got in for free. I gotta say, the VIP Red Zone is fool's gold. It sucks. You are right next to the stage, which is always a bad view, and these bridges move around and block your view. They also hardly ever come around to where you are.

A bit of a scam, the only real benefit being the crowd is sparse. But you can get the same "open" feeling in the GA area.

So after a few songs we went to the GA area and watched from the 50 yard line center. Much better.

Some shirtless dude got up on stage and bono let him say hi to someone in the audience and "what do you think of my new tattoos?" This happened at another show in 2000, some guy climbed up on the ramp and told Bono "I'm only trying to have a good time!", with Bono responding "Me too."

I'd guess 60 percent of the setlist is post 2000, and that's just too much new stuff for a band like this. They've been around 3 decades...so why is the new stuff over a third of their setlist? They ignore the 1990s almost completely, which is a shame.

The coolest song of the night was Your Blue Room from the Passengers album, which i used to use as a soundtrack to the silent movie Metropolis. Very cool.

The silliest moment of the night...or probably ever...was when the drummer did a bongo solo in the center of the front ramp, thrusting his pelvis about to and fro toward the crowd. I thought this was a little disconcerting.

My summary - U2 is a great band...and a big band that can play these places. But I see them as a fantastic stadium spectacle show, like Pop, or an amazing arena band with a stripped down show, such as the last two tours.

This Claw tour...it's kind of in between, and I prefer this band going one way or the other. It's a "big" stadium show, but it's really not that spectacular once you get used to the size of it. And they should be playing more old stuff, pure and simple. The new album is a bit of a bomb, and most of the 2000s stuff is boring.

There was some grumbling I think when they went "political." Telling us about a Burmese political prisoner, and have Desmond Tutu address the crowd via 360 video. But really very little...certainly no booing or anything...but there was probably a decent percentage of the crowd that could have done without it.

My favorite song of the night had to be the Passengers song...also the disco version of "Go Crazy Tonight" was great...it reminded me of Pop and Zooropa and all that stuff. Also cool to see planes coming in on approach to Newark airport all night, flying over us right to left.

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