Tuesday night marked the fifth time Carrie and I have seen U2 in concert together (I saw them one additional time back in high school). And like all of the concerts that had come before, we hit the road—or in this case, the sky—to see them, traveling all of the way to Phoenix. We were pretty excited, but had some mixed emotions going into the show due to the fact that it was a stadium concert rather than the arena shows we generally prefer. However, the U2 360 tour promised enough bells and whistles to make it all worth while.
The area around the arena was in full party mode by the time we got there about 5 p.m. and began looking for a place to eat, so much so, that every restaurant and club had a line 50 to 75 people deep just waiting to get in. Carrie, having been through this process with me five times before, knew getting me to actually STAND STILL before a U2 show (and be happy about it) probably wasn't in the cards, and recommended we just head on over to the arena and pick something up there.
It was as soon as we walked into The University of Phoenix Arena (that's right, an online college has a football arena), that I first started to feel a bit deflated. Like they had to do in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium and I suspect several others out there, the band was forced to scale down their stage just to get it to fit in the stadium, which meant goodbye to a couple of bells and so long to a few whistles. Granted these were things most people would never have noticed, but I'm probably not most people when it comes to concerts and especially not when the concert involves U2. On the bright side, the seats were good and we had plenty of time to people watch which mostly resulted in Carrie feeling under dressed because she left her sequined corset back at the hotel.
Things continued on an upswing during the Black Eyed Peas set. While Carrie and Park are obviously fans, I was pretty ambivalent going into their performance, however I have to say that they completely kicked ass. Out of all of the opening acts I have seen just with U2 (which includes No Doubt, Garbage and Bjork) they were by far the best and it isn't even close. So, it goes without saying that they did their job, because I was totally back in the zone.
After about 30 or 45 minutes, the lights dimmed and it was show time and I know this is going to be hard for anyone who knows me to believe, but it was a disappointment almost right from the start. Don't get me wrong, it was a good show … and worth the money, but it just wasn't on the same level of other shows I have seen. Basically, it just didn't have the spark. It was virtually lifeless and formulaic. There were even some fumbled songs.
Since the show, Carrie and I have come up with the following reasons why we felt the show fell flat.
1) The arena. Not only did it not provide the intimacy needed for a U2 show, it allowed room for a lot of people who normally wouldn't go to see the band—and sometimes those curiosity seekers can suck the life out of a room.
2) We've been to too many shows. U2 has been accused of being too predictable live and I think by this time in our journey as fans it has begun to affect the experience.
3) Our past experiences. Let's face it, we're spoiled. The last concert we went to was on my 30th birthday and we spent the entire evening in the front row personally interacting with the band. It's hard to top that.
4) We just weren't up for it—literally The two hour time difference had really been playing havoc with our schedules. For me, it meant getting up around 4:30 a.m., working out around 5:30 a.m. and going to bed by 8 p.m. So by the time the concert started after nine, we were already wiped out.
And I left this one for last, simply because I don't want to believe it's true.
5) The band is past its prime. It's bound to happen sometime, maybe this is it. The last album was less than what I had hoped for and now they failed to deliver live. Maybe they just can't break new ground like they have time and time before in the past. I hope I'm wrong.
Of course, there's also the chance that this is all just us. Reviews have been outstanding (even the Phoenix paper gave a positive review following our show) and others of you have told us how great you thought the show was. And I really hope it was. To us, it just didn't have the magic of ZooTV, the religious experience of Elevation, the spectacle of Pop Mart and the power of Vertigo.
But after having said all of that, even a marginal U2 show is still a U2 show and probably better than anything else out there.
2 comments:
Craig-
I totally agree and feel the same way. We saw them here in Dallas and I had much the same experience/feelings. But, Amy thought it was awesome as did our friend that didn't technically go with us, but rode with us and sat right behind us.
I have yet to conclude if it was just me, the venue or the band. But, I'm starting to believe I've just seen them too much.
I also think that maybe, just maybe, the whole 360/catwalk stage thing that they have been doing helps connect to the fans, but leaves the band un-connected. While it has been a while since I have played live, I know how important it is to connect with your fellow players. I don't care how good you are, but if you are standing 80ft away from each other in your own little world, you aren't connecting and at some point that will show in the performance.
Rick
I'm really starting to think a lot of what we are feeling has to do with the venues we each saw them in. Both were not the traditional stadium set up this tour was designed for. In Phoenix the stage was pushed to one endzone like any other stage would be so the whole concert "in the round" thing didn't happen. Even when I've watched different shows online I get a better feeling that I did in person. I have a feeling the Norman show was probably a little better than the one we each saw. I don't think that solves all of the problems and even then I would rank this tour somewhere around Pop Mart.
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