U2

[bowiglou]

if any of you have seen the articles on the debacle over U2 tickets, it's all true.......for the opening show in SD, I got on the computer right at 10:00 am and cell phone for ticketmaster (on redial)...well, the ticketmaster site crashed a few times, which puts you back in the que, and by then the show was sold out....and then whilst I was online they added another show two nights later (3/30)..again, the site crashed multiple times, and by then when I connected it was sold out!!......I did get through the constantly-busy phone about 4 times, and unfortunatley each time I got through, "all circuits are busy"!!...needless to say, I did not get tickets, as many other U2 fans.....but what is amazing is when you go to the ticketbroker sites, they got hold of thousands (across concert dates) of tickets...this morning, for instance one broker maybe had a few dozen tickets, and just now I noticed they have over a couple hundred....if you want the rear nosebleed tickets (rear meaning back of the stage!!) you can pay a minimum of $135.00 per ticket........otherewise loge seats are in the 300-400 range, and really good seat are upwards of 700+.....amazing!!!

[ScottsyII]

Ughhhh, that must be incredibly frustrating! Darn Ticketmaster site... it always baffles me that they don't make provisions for these sorts of ticket rushes on their website... I mean, can't they foresee this sorta stuff??!!

[pattentank24]

Sold out Nov 18 date in 3 min. in Atlanta

Great article on the legal scalping agencies in the local fish-wrap

basically claims the LEGAL SCALPERS employ 75-125 people online,in-line to buy all the good seats and 65% of their business comes from people in the industry selling their good seats at 4x the face value

I'm in conflict with this due to most of my free tickets are provided by our Radio's Sponsor who hooks me up all the time using those methods it's only when friends of mine can't go to the show(s) that it really pisses me off

Example

NIN have 2 shows upcoming the FIRST SHOW I WAS TOLD WAS ALREADY SOLD-OUT(FAN CLUBS,RADIO STATIONS,SCALPER AGENCIES) BEFORE THE PUBLIC EVEN STOOD IN LINE,

I got my tickets the day before thru this agency and they told me that
Then my girlfriend's best friend was 2ND IN LINE AND TOLD THEY WERE ALL SOLD-OUT(more demand on-line only stop in the South) said agency WAS ALREADY SELLING 3 DAYS before the show was announced to be on sale

This continues to be a problem for people not working in the Entertainment Industry AS i SAY THIS

I HAVE TICKETS FOR

NIN
INTERPOL
MUSE
MARS VOLTA
TORI AMOS
AND YES, U2 thru them

it's a conflict that's a long way from being resolved

[bowiglou]

like many I got snubbed in trying to get U2 tickets for their opening show in San Diego...anyway, just for the f*&k of it, I went on Ticketmaster.com now, and two tickets in the TErrace section (kinda nosebleed) were released for the nominal FACE price of $52.00!!............so I'm going to U2 next Wednesday...I am so utterly stoked!!!

[ScottsyII]

Ahhhh, god to hear it Bow! Such a reasonable price too... not going to breakthe bank, which isn't a bad thing at all!

[bowiglou]

yeah Scottsy, especially given the "ticket brokers" (and I use that term loosely!!) are selling same seats for > $155.00.......I tell you, that is some racket.....

[strat-0]

I think U2 is getting a bum rap on their new album. I probably missed all that. But I like what I've heard of it.

[ScottsyII]

I came to enjoy and like the new album, probably even more so than ATYCLB, but all of these calls for it being "up there with Achtung Baby" are a bit over the top.... it's solid, very good in some places, but the band have given us better I feel... but that isn't to say it's an awful album, because it's far from it!

[bowiglou]

song list from last night's opening show..:


Set list:
* "City of Blinding Lights"
* "Vertigo"
* "The Electric Co."
* "An Cat Dubh"
* "Into the Heart"
* "Beautiful Day"
* "New Year's Day"
* "Miracle Drug"
* "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"
* "Love and Peace or Else"
* "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
* "Bullet the Blue Sky"
* "Running to Stand Still"
* "Zoo Station"
* "The Fly"
* "Elevation"

Encore:
* "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
* "Where the Streets Have No Name"
* "One"
* "All Because of You"
* "Yahweh"
* "40"

..I"ll post a review after tomorrow night's show...

[ScottsyII]

Nice mixture of their old and new stuff... with a particular bent to stuff from Atomic Bomb... nice to see some Achtung Baby songs in there... can't get enough of those tracks!

[bowiglou]

Excuse this being posted on multiple RS sites, but I'm still on a post-concert high and have to share the experience...all I have to say is U2 were exhilirating, awe-inspiring, and galvanizing....from what I heard, the show last night was much improved from the opening night on Monday...they were a bit more engaging, looser, tighter as a band etc...plus they added Gloria and With or Without You to the songlist. From the opening shimmer of City of Blinding Lights which was a perfect start, they veered headlong into Vertigo, what with an amazing lightshow, was a definite crowd pleaser. All of their songs from "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb", seven of them, were executed beautifully. And the 'egg' on the general admission floor gave fans a true opportunity to virtually be within touching distance.

I tell you, there are not many bands that can turn a piece-of-shit anachronism called the San Diego Sports Arena (now called Ipayone!!) into a forum of intimacy..but U2 literally are able to pull it off. They generate such fan devotion...sing alongs et al, and it's hard for even the most hardboiled cynical rock and roller not to be just a little bit impressed.

I've only seen U2 once before, circa 1983 at the US festival (with Bowie, Pretenders, etc.), but they still have an energy and force that has not diminished a whit. Yes, as Springsteen chided Bono for a "messianic" complex when inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, there is a smattering of that preachiness...but damn it, Bono does at least put his money were his rather large mouth is!!...............Though I'm not easily moved by celebrities, I found myself most inspired with Bono last night. And Edge, my lord...he literally had a different guitar for every song....and the rhythm section of Larry and Adam has to be one of the best in the business (next to Petty's band)............just amazing....

Kings of Leon were OK........they are not ready to be playing mammoth arenas/stadiums yet.......fans were polite, but you know they were counting down the minutes to when U2 would grace the stage!!

**************************************

From a U2 website:

Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Cry - The Electric Co., Gloria, Beautiful Day, With or Without You, New Year's Day, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky - Hands That Built America, Running to Stand Still, Zoo Station, The Fly, Elevation

Encore(s): Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One, All Because Of You, Yahweh, 40

Comments: 'Gloria' is played for the first time since the end of the Lovetown Tour in 1990. Bono invites a fan on stage before 'Miracle Drug' and asks the fan for Spanish lessons. Before 'One', Bono talks about Eddie Vedder, who grew up in the San Diego area and first played music here. Vedder is in attendance at tonight's show. Bono coins a new name for this tour's version of the 'heart' when he asks 'How we doing in the bomb shelter?' before 'Yahweh.'


P. S...only slow spot was Zoo Station/The Fly

[ScottsyII]

I was wondering how the Kings of Leon would go down with the U2 crowd... generally speaking though, I'd imagine U2 crowds are a fairly good mannered, heartfelt bunch, so they wouldn't have been heckled or given too hard a time even if they weren't great...

I personally don't have a great deal of love for the Kings of Leon... they just seem a little ho hum and forgettable to me... but hey maybe their association with U2 will leave them all the better for it. :-)

[bowiglou]

scottsy...fair-to-middlin I think of their CD....actually, the voice grates on me a bit, and I doubt I would have bought it if they weren't openers for U2......but they are just not ready to be playing arenas, at least not yet....

[ScottsyII]

Yeah, that's about how I would rate them too... kinda not offensive but not really very exciting at all... mybe they'll become something someday... Can't say Igo much for the singing and basic musical repertoire they have.

[pattentank24]

Yesterday my buddy who runs his own independent shop hooked me up with 2 bootlegs


1.The Mars Volta- July 21 2003, Toronto Canada(Deloused played in order and in full)



2.U2- 3-28-05 San Diego,Ca(the opening night Lou raved about)

The "Boy" tracks sound better than I have ever heard live before
Actung Baby sounds more alive than the last arrangements on the Elevation tour
One of the best versions of "Where The Streets Have No Name" repersenting Africa and flowing beautifully into "One"
I actually think from listening to this expect the November Atlanta shows I'm going to to be THE BEST U2 SHOWS I HAVE EVER SEEN