by adrian

DISAPOINTED! i first saw the boys in dublin in july on this tour, it blew me away and that is why decided to see them in cardiff.

1. STADIUM: it is a very intimite venue and really does achieve the arena effect well, compared to the expanse of croke park. not enough merchandise stalls with no qing system, not keen on the free for all, although met some nice people and had a good laugh.

2.STAGE: i knew what to expect of the stage, having seen it in dublin (was in the pit) so we decided to hang about 2 thirds of the way back to take in the whole show. first thing i noticed was that the top 3-4 sections of the spike were missing. not sure why. maybe caus they had considered closing the roof. it did look as if the stage was squashed into the stadium.

3. CROWD: met some really nice people. however there were a few around us that spoiled the first half of the show for me. i go to these shows to loose myself in the music by sing and danceing my heart out. there was a guy infront of me who didn't approve of this behaviour and wanted to caus trouble with me, think he had been drinking toooo much. his girlfriend eventually pulled him out of the area we were standing in, and after that everyone round us was singing and dancing like crazy. i also found that there was a major lack of appreciation for the musci from the new album and it felt like i was the only one going crazy during the 1st 4 songs. real lack of atmosphere compared the the intense energy of dublin.

4. MUSIC: the set list was pretty standard for this tour, was really hoping for desire and elevation. but really enjoyed stay and vertigo. the remix of crazy was also much better than in dublin. didn't hear the hours and wasn't impressed with glasvegas from what i heard while qing for tshirts (truely rubbish)and left the crowd cold for U2 unlike the kaiser chiefs in dublin who were amazing and had us all pumped up and ready to rock and roll.

5. THE BAND: don't think they were on top form. it was very obvious that bono was clearly suffering and it definitely affected his performance. the band were so tight and energetic in dublin, and it felt very sloppy and a 'going through the motions' type of performance in cardiff.

all in all i enjoyed the show but it just didn't come close to my experience in dublin. will definitely line up early to get into the pit again as it is a far superior experience even though you loose out on the full spectacle. for me it is all about the band and the music.

P.S. cardiff sort out you transport problems

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