by DanP

This concert, my 15th U2 show, was the least memorable U2 concert I've seen since the mid 90's.

Past U2 concerts are often magical life-affirming experiences. I am often inspired both emotionally and musically. I'd be on a high for days leaving an Innocence concert at MSG.

This tour is missing that magic. The band plows through the songs. Bono recites his talking points. The video screen is technically impressive. But, the whole show doesn't gel into something magical.

There's comparatively little interaction between the band and the audience. No spontaniety. Even the thing with the cell phones creating "stars" felt planned. Would love to see fans getting pulled onstage to play guitar.

The opening songs were all fine but boring song selections. Bad was the highlight.

Joshua Tree started off well with Streets but became tiring very quickly. By the end of Streets, I was losing interest in the video. The video for Bullet was distracting and took away from the performance.

Then came Red Hill Mining Town - one of my all-time favorite album tracks. Total disaster live. The backing video with the salvation army band is laughable. The remix with the horns is horrible. How did something so dreadful make it into the tour?

Exit was easily the highlight of the JT set.

Miss Sarajevo had meaningful video but it's strange that Bono just stands there during the piped-in opera singing.

Sound quality was OK for a stadium show but not as good as the U2 360 stadium tour.

Some logistical notes: walked into stadium at 5:30 PM and able to get great spot on the GA floor about 6 people deep, less than 10 feet off the top of the tree, on Adam Clayton's traditional side. This is a great place to stand because Bono places himself here a lot and you're dead-center for the Joshua Tree main stage performance.

Lumineers took stage around 7:20 PM for about 1 hour. U2 took stage at 9:20 PM and ended at 11:20 PM.

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