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Gigs
Jul 18, 2009 13:15:19 GMT -5
Post by loraline on Jul 18, 2009 13:15:19 GMT -5
Good for you Jade, have a great time!
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Gigs
Jul 19, 2009 13:05:50 GMT -5
Post by Jade on Jul 19, 2009 13:05:50 GMT -5
Aww, thanks everyone for thinking of me!!  So here I am still on cloud nine because of yesterday's U2 concert which was just amazing beyond belief. No rain, no storm other than the sonical blizzard on stage. I have to admit I haven't been as much into U2 lately as I used to 10 years ago, so I really didn't know what to expect. Never seen them live before and there's so much I have heard and read about Bono and his incomparable charisma as a performer, The Edge's incredible guitar playing but also all the things about U2 being the most overrated band on Earth and Bono being a lousy singer etc. Now it was time to find out myself without any biased appreciation. I went with a friend who is a musician himself, not really an U2 fan and basically hard to please. Both of us enjoyed the show more than words can tell, I've never been to anything that huge (and I'm not only talking about the stage!) and musically perfect, yet intimate and heartfelt. Support act was Snow Patrol. Having seen them perform at a rather small venue only a few weeks ago it felt kind of strange to see them on that big, big stage now. They were really good, but it's always a pretty tough job to perform to an audience desperately waiting for the main act, especially in the daylight, no lights whatsoever. Somehow they looked a bit lost under that huge Claw.  At about 9pm U2 entered the 'spaceship' to Bowie's "Ground Control to Major Tom", a bloodred Berlin sunset and a first big round of ecstatical applause. They opened with "Breathe", then "No Line On The Horizon" and another 2 songs from their current album. By the 4th song, "Magnificent", everyone in the crowd was dancing, singing, clapping, it was an amazing sight and feeling. I was so 'busy' taking in the music and all that came with it that I almost forgot to take pictures. So as always, I can't come up with many pictures let alone some decent ones. Just so you get an idea:    I loved that they played many songs drawn from their previous albums from "The Unforgettable Fire" onwards, all the great ones such as "Mysterious Ways", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Where the streets have no name", "Angel of Harlem" with snippets of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and "Don't stop till you get enough" at the end in honour of the King of Pop. From the new album there was also an amazing dance version of "Crazy Tonight" with a bit of a Frankie goes to Hollywood-feel to it and Larry Mullen coming to the outer stage to play the Bongos. There were more highlights but I can't possibly name them all. They played about 20 songs plus 4 songs encore, including "With or without you" and "Happy Birthday" to Nelson Mandela. "One" was the last song before the encore, and the song I was looking forward to hearing it the most - the stadium was all dark apart from the lighters and flashes in the audience, the stage all blue, everyone was singing along and I had goosebumps all over the place and couldn't quite believe what was going on right now. To fill a stadium with 90,000 people is one thing, to fill it with sound, with light, with life and, I know this sounds downright cheesy, to fill it with love is another. Bono did just that, they all did! Thank you The Edge, Adam, Larry and Bono for the music, the thrill, the pleasure and the goosebumps. One love, one life - long live U2. short video (still gives me a good shiver all around watching it): s537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/itsmejade66/U2%20Berlin%202009/?action=view¤t=U2Berlin2009015.flv |
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Gigs
Jul 19, 2009 14:07:58 GMT -5
Post by missalabama on Jul 19, 2009 14:07:58 GMT -5
WOW! Thanks for the great review, pics and video, Jade! They are amazing! That sounds like a great set list: A little from all of their different periods. Your comment about "filling the stadium with love" was not cheesy to me. I had the same experience at U2. I saw them twice in 1992... Once in the nose bleed section and once on the front row. What I think is amazing about them live is that even if you are up there in the top section with the angels, it is still a beautiful experience. Their music just has an ethereal beauty. That Bowie like space ship is CRAZY!!!! Like you, Jade, I kind of got away from my U2 phase in the last few years... The new album is the only one I don't have. Must now get it... Have to complete the colleciton.
I relate to your experience about being used to seeing Snow Patrol in a small venue rather than in a big stadium. I have not seen Snow Patrol but I had a similar experience with Dave Matthews Band. They used to frequently play in my favorite bar when I was in college. The first time I saw them, it was in a room with about 40 other people. It was incredible and there was this feeling in the air that it was a big moment and great things were about to happen for DMB. The first time I saw them in a huge stadium with about 50,000 other people and the band looking like ants was also the last time I saw them. It's just not the same as being 3 feet away from the band in a 900 sq.ft. dive bar! It really doesn't have to do with wanting to see the band up close, I think there are just certain bands whose music is best appreciated in a small venue. When I saw Blunty, I kept thinking, "I wish I had seen him in his early days in a small club!"
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Gigs
Jul 19, 2009 21:46:20 GMT -5
Post by devlin on Jul 19, 2009 21:46:20 GMT -5
Oh Jade, Thank you soooooooo much for the U2 coverage! So wonderful to see that incredible stage! I've seen pictures of it on their web sight, but it looks so much more massive with all those little tiny ant sized people around it!  |
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Gigs
Jul 19, 2009 23:37:36 GMT -5
Post by Lucy on Jul 19, 2009 23:37:36 GMT -5
Wow, amazing review Jade! I'm not very much into U2 but reading how you described it, I loved it, it's great! Thanks for sharing your experience with us, glad you had a nice time!  |
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Gigs
Jul 22, 2009 11:04:37 GMT -5
Post by gray on Jul 22, 2009 11:04:37 GMT -5
Thanks for the wonderful review, Jade! I love reading all your reviews, they're always wonderful.
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Gigs
Jul 22, 2009 13:28:24 GMT -5
Post by Jade on Jul 22, 2009 13:28:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the wonderful review, Jade! I love reading all your reviews, they're always wonderful. THANK YOU for your kind words! |
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Kati
Full Member
Posts: 226
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Gigs
Aug 3, 2009 9:00:38 GMT -5
Post by Kati on Aug 3, 2009 9:00:38 GMT -5
OMG that looks AMAZING I love stadium gigs Sad I couldn't be there  Thanks for the review and the pictures and the video amazing... |
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Gigs
Aug 3, 2009 13:24:59 GMT -5
Post by annmarie on Aug 3, 2009 13:24:59 GMT -5
Loving those pictures! Great review Jade, what a fantastic show... |
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Gigs
Aug 26, 2009 9:03:47 GMT -5
Post by gray on Aug 26, 2009 9:03:47 GMT -5
Acoording to his blog, John will play in Hunningham this Sunday and Monday...
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Gigs
Aug 27, 2009 3:34:12 GMT -5
Post by Lucy on Aug 27, 2009 3:34:12 GMT -5
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Gigs
Aug 27, 2009 7:20:33 GMT -5
Post by gutbuster on Aug 27, 2009 7:20:33 GMT -5
True story www.redlionhunningham.co.ukOddly there is a link between Johnny and Simon Pegg who stars in all three of the movies we are showing on Sunday & Monday... |
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Gigs
Aug 27, 2009 8:42:07 GMT -5
Post by devlin on Aug 27, 2009 8:42:07 GMT -5
True story www.redlionhunningham.co.ukOddly there is a link between Johnny and Simon Pegg who stars in all three of the movies we are showing on Sunday & Monday... Nice place you have there! Makes me want to jump on a plane and come for a visit! Your description of your food has left me feeling quite hungry!  Are you planning on divulging the link between Johnny and Simon? Sounds intriguing. |
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Gigs
Aug 27, 2009 16:25:43 GMT -5
Post by Jade on Aug 27, 2009 16:25:43 GMT -5
True story www.redlionhunningham.co.ukOddly there is a link between Johnny and Simon Pegg who stars in all three of the movies we are showing on Sunday & Monday... Nice place you have there! Makes me want to jump on a plane and come for a visit! Your description of your food has left me feeling quite hungry! Are you planning on divulging the link between Johnny and Simon? Sounds intriguing. The whole thing sounds intriguing, nice place indeed, nice event too ... with or without the public execution. ;D  |
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Gigs
Aug 27, 2009 23:33:49 GMT -5
Post by missalabama on Aug 27, 2009 23:33:49 GMT -5
Nice place you have there! Makes me want to jump on a plane and come for a visit! Your description of your food has left me feeling quite hungry! Are you planning on divulging the link between Johnny and Simon? Sounds intriguing. The whole thing sounds intriguing, nice place indeed, nice event too ... with or without the public execution. ;D ROFL@ fact that below public execution is says "maybe not" in parentheses! Makes me want to see it even more. Imagining Monty Python antics now... complete with horseless riders clacking coconuts! The red Lion is really idyllic, isn't it? It's like a movie set for a movie set in the English countryside. Makes me want to have many gin and tonics and to read E. M. Forster, Jane Austen and Brontee sister novels. I'm curious about this John and Simon thing too... P.S. Blimey... Do we actually have a male on here other than John and theafroshane?  !!! Hope you come 'round here often, gutbuster! Will try to keep the cackling from the hen house to a minimum... Though I can't make any promises! |
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