by stlmurph

It was an impressive show and great to see the band back in my home town of St. Louis. 

The mix of the stage/video wall/music was over the top great. 

I am not the biggest fan of the new album,  Most U2 albums take time to grow on me and this one is just taking more time than the others.   So I hope they will put back things like Wild Horses.   I know we just got done with the JT tour,  but people like me come for the early stuff. 

Ill get the awkward moment out of the way.  Despite my respect and loyalty for the band, Bono got a little too wrapped up in the US Election in 2016. (Please wait to flame me, I am being genuine here and after all this is NOT FAcebook :) ) Bono was particularly political, which is his right (and I am not defending or discussing the person who was the focus of that poltiical messaging at SalesForce and Iheart Radio 2016),  but he seems to have returned to his roots, promoting causess vis-a-vie candidates or parties; which I appreciate. 

The wall is better than the claw from a few tours ago.  It, really, really works.  We stood GA about "Center Ice" on the Adam side of the room and had a great evening.  It was like a slow-motion tennis match as the action would move back and forth. 

I am not sure if it was unique to our location, but the sound needs a little attention as Edge was muffled/not on the same sound level as the rest of the band  Its only show #2 and this is a difficult production, but the sound guys shoud spend a little time in different spots, because there is some fine-tuning required.

The attendance was down and it was not a packed house  However, the Chicago Cubs were playing the Cardinals at the same , and that is a big rivalry/deal.  Its almost like U2 playing the 3Arena while across town at the Aviva, Ireland was playing Italy in the SixNations, etc. 

I was amazed at how old the crowd was.  Then again, I am 50+ lol.  It was fun to see Moms and dads with their pre-teen, teen and college-aged kids in tow.  I am sure there was a lot of "you know that t-shirt Ive had in my closet for the last 25 years? Well its from a U2 concert. 

As a GA junkie, I could not que this time but arrived about 7:30 and had no trouble finding a good spot.  GA was more important with the typical sports hall concert set up with a stage on one end getting their early was the only way to see the band up close.  With this configuration, GA is less necessary in my eyes.  Then again, I have met some life-long friends in the GA line. 

I have done RedZone before on a number of oaccassions and I dont think its necessary as the band gives a good show on the smaller stage and interacting with the video wall/cat walk system. 

There is no such thing as a bad U2 show.  Some shows are better for different reasons.  The video wall and catwalk made this one very, very amazing.

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