by jack

Great show. Horrible sound. Let me explain.

Having been a fan for since '86 I eagerly anticipated this show and with my longtime girlfriend tagging along who had never seen the band before, we made the trip up from Gainesville Florida riding high [ahem].

The day started promisingly enough with us actually meeting Bono outside Philips Arena for a nice picture wich I will try to send. He was super nice to everyone and stopped to chat with a few fans before leaving. Great start to the day for sure.

The U2 fans we met beforehand were the nicest I have met yet when compared to recent concerts I have been to [Radiohead, Wilco, DMB] They were more my age, which helps, but also super friendly and approachable. We enter the venue and notice our seats are slightly obstructed by a major desigh flaw- the upper decks are stretching outward over the bottom in the rear sections [behind the basket] and therefore your left feeling claustrophobic and you lose the openess of the arena. You can only see part of the floor and not the other end of the crowd. Err. Anyway, I'm ready for a great show and it is clear this is going to be one of theose night because this crowd is jacked. They even got going early for Institute, who's highlights were the two Bush hits. Now on to U2.

My heart sank a bit immediantly due to the almost total lack of guitar sound from Edge, my longtime hero. After hearing about how loud these shows have been, I was expecting if anything a muddy mix, but at least loud. This was just muddy, with Edge being hardly audible. Blinding Lights was intense as all hell however due to the amazing crowd, who carried the entire show with reckless abandon. I thought Radiohead fans were nuts, but my U2 brothers and sisters were fantastic on this night. My girlfriend had the time of her life, and she goes with me to all the shows I have been to the last few years. She said afterwards she could die now happily, and I myself had a great time too. But the sound at least in my section [219, behind the stage lower level] was godawful. I really wondered outloud if the crowd was louder than the band. Maybe that was the problem because Edge was barely heard the whole night from where I was. I have to say it didn't matter as the show was still great, but the verdict reads-

band performance- B+
sound- D
venue design- F
u2 fans- A+
crowd at show- A+++
worth the money- ask my girlfriend who says she could die happily now

I still love U2, the problems weren't their fault. Sound tech guy needs to be fired. Turn it up guys. If you turn up the guitar, U2 could save the world.

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