by mardin

A couple of memories stand out from the October 16 show in Wachovia center. One was the horrible sound mix. The opening act, Damian Marley, was so muddled by too much bass that nothing could really be heard, not vocals, or cymbals, or guitars, just a thudding bass drum. I checked out the sound crew, and they looked like they were digging it. I don't think they actually were listening to it. And I was 15 rows above the floor, these were not cheap seats.

When U2 came on, the mix again had too much bass and it was hard to hear anything other than Bono singing. He was in great voice, but how about a little tweaking? I heard Clapton at Wachovia a few months back and the sound was excellent, so it's not the venue.

But the music itself, and the band's vibe, was just great, more than enough to make it a phenomenal show. Great lighting, good mix of classics and new material from "How to Dismantle..." and three encores to satisfy even the die-hards. And the crowd vibe was good too, singing along and working with Bono and the Edge when they were on the runway.

Tip to the band: get a new sound system or a new engineer.

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