by Kevin C

Myself and 2 friends, Wendy from L.A. and Kami from Nashville got there around noon or 1pm. Our intention was just to hang out a while, go see the town and then come back to catch the show, but then we heard rumors it would start as early as 4:30, so we just stayed.

Around 3:00 to 4:00, Bono stopped and said hi. He didn't sign and for the most part there were no pictures taken with him, but he said he'd see what he could do to get us in, so long as the crowd didn't get too big...IOW, don't call your friends ;)

Around 6 or so, Scott and a new guy came out and told everyone to get trid of cell phones, recorders, cameras and so on....I'd already done that, so I headed in.

I then found Out I'd left my Rio Karma (like an iPod only better at playing music, but not as attractive as the iPods) in my fanny pack (essential for concerts, IMO). I was told I couldn't bring it in and then the same person said to go inside (talk about mixed signals).

Well I couldn't bring it in, so I had to hide it in some bushes....I suspect there was thousands of dollars of stuff in those bushes.

As others said, nobody got on the floor. I suspect it had more to do with security than with making sure we saw the lights...still, it was nice to have a shot at seeing the light show...you don't get that from the floor.

You've seen the set, it was mostly good. SIAM was awful. And it was no surprise when it didn't show up in SD. The show literally ground to a hault when they played it. Yahweh wasn't much better, but it works much better with a full house.

The lights were gorgeous, the stage was the same as last tour, more or less and the screen was basically a new take on the Popmart screen.

The downside is that that screen was very low rez, and it doesn't work well in an arena. I suspect it will look great in Europe's stadiums.

The sound was awful, but was acceptable by the halfway point. In fairness, the arena was empty. It's hard to kill all those reflections.

The actual playing was pretty rough. Given what I saw at SD1, I almost think some of it was on purpose. that's not to say that SD1 was perfect (far from it), but it went far smoother than the L.A. rehearsal on Saturday.

Bono's voice sounds pretty good to me....I hope it holds up.

Kevin

Return to previous page | Post a Review of this show!