miss maggie (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bossymarmalade) wrote2005-04-30 03:55 pm
bossymarmalade) wrote2005-04-30 03:55 pm
Entry tags:
and tell you when your arse is showing
After the last two concerts I had tickets for being cancelled, after missing the U2 video shoot on Wednesday, and most of all after not having been able to afford to see the Elevation tour when it came around and STILL having a HIDEOUS, ENRAGING experience involving people who were in town to go to the show -- my bad, awful concert karma must be paid in full. Because last night, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
silvrsolace and I got to see U2
We got to GM Place at 8:30 in the morning, convinced that there would be lines of people who'd slept there, but in fact there were only about twelve scalpers and four other fans in front of us. By 9:30 our numbers had grown to include "Tiny Girl" from Victoria, the "Leader of the Revolution" who threatened uprisings if anybody cut in line in front of us, "Mr. Thong" whose flip-flops were killing him by the end of the day, and "Brian Kinney" who looked like, well, a kind Canadian version of Brian Kinney. There was also American Girl, who boasted about having been to both Seattle shows and who was gonna go to the Vegas and Chicago shows; she left halfway through the morning without a word and then magically reappeared at six pm, showered and changed and makeupped, and wanted her place back in line. Which Brian Kinney was having fucking NONE OF.
Anyhow. After an entire day of standing, sitting, smoking, whining, and cracking jokes to keep each other from going nuts, the box office finally released tickets at 6:30 pm. This kind of sucked because if they'd released them earlier, we were gonna get one forlance_nerd, but that didn't happen; at this late juncture, silvrsolace and I were ready to take tickets behind the stage, if that's what it took. We grabbed up the first tickets the guy offered us and went inside to find our seats, and we kept going down and down the stairs until we were SEVEN ROWS from the stage walkway. Our seats were on The Edge's side of the stage, about a metre ahead of it, and have I mentioned SEVEN ROWS away? I had to ask the people behind me if we were sitting in the right place and these were really our seats, because I've never had such good seats in my LIFE.
The Kings of Leon opened, and they were fine but whatever. Eventually they went away and U2 came out and the beaded curtains came down and there was an explosion of shimmery confetti and "City of Blinding Lights", and I could SEE them! I could see their FACES! I had a completely unobstructed view, and it occurred that we should have brought cameras but how could we possibly KNOW? Adam kept prowling around the walkway and whenever he reached our side we'd all fling up our arms in adoration and he'd do that cat-that-ate-the-canary smile and nod at us. And Edge, omg, I can't even express what it was like seeing him play the guitar so close up, and his solemn little face! Larry was the only one I didn't see much, but that's okay because for me it always was and always will be BONO BONO BONO.
They did Vertigo, Beautiful Day, Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own, Elevation, Pride (In The Name of Love). Bono put on this gorgeous red-and-black leather jacket for "Love and Peace or Else" and the bass for that song was so primal and just went through your throat and spine while Bono slinked around rolling the lyrics out, and then they did "Bullet the Blue Sky" and he blindfolded himself for half of it and then banged away on the drumset at the front of the walkway like a taiko drummer and it was glorious. When they did "Sunday Bloody Sunday" he ended it with a chorus of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and I got fucking shivers, but when The Edge came up to the keyboard and started playing "Running to Stand Still" it was like something out of a goddamn dream. Remember in the Rattle & Hum show when they show him, all serene and bathed in blue light and those clean clear notes from the keyboard? That was it EXACTLY. And all I had to do was turn my head and look at him, barely ten feet from me and perfect in every way.
There weren't a lot of effects, just the beaded curtains and different lighting cues (especially for songs like "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Mysterious Ways"), but they were totally un-fucking-needed. The crowd responded to every goddamn thing Bono did or said, like when he asked one girl in the ellipse to give him her lipstick (and then proceeded to put it ON!) and about six other lipsticks came flying onto the stage. We sang along to everything, picked up the choruses when Bono was getting a drink (*moment of awed, lust-filled silence*), and cheered loudly for the only other "effect" which was a screen playing footage of a lady talking about civil equality and each person's inalienable right to freedom and fair treatment.
And he went around and around the walkway mouthing "thank you!" at us when we accorded him worship, and talked about Make Poverty History because so many of us were wearing the white bands, pointed out that much of the plans were based on the work of Canadian Lester B. Pearson and made us take out our cell phones, promise to call Paul Martin and chastise him for trying to back out of Canada's monetary committment to the cause, and hold them up as lights while he sang "One". At this point I calledlance_nerd on my cell and just left it on for the rest of the song; I'm not sure if she even got my call, since it was too loud to try and actually *say* anything!
After "One" they left the stage, but of course there were two encores, and to be honest I barely remember what happened because after doing "Zoo Station" they did "Mysterious Ways" and it seemed to go on gloriously FOREVER and left me in a hypnotic trance. I think the other songs were "Original of the Species", "The Fly", and "All Because of You", but who really cares. The important thing is that BONO WAS SO GODDAMN INCREDIBLE AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.
They finished off with "40" and Bono told us that they'd all really loved their stay in Vancouver and they'd taped the whole show, hope you don't mind. *g* He got us all singing the "how long" chorus and one by one their instruments dropped out as they left the stage, Adam first, then The Edge, and it was just Larry playing drums along to the crowd singing for at least eight repetitions; then he stopped and sat there frowning in his Larry way, and then he did a fabulous crashing drum solo before finally leaving the stage as well.
And that was it, folks. And my ears are still ringing and I spent most of the day asleep from sheer exhaustion and my feet hurt, but damn. I'll never have such good concert seats again, and the fact that it was for my most beloved of bands, U2? Sheer ecstatic BLISS. I could see the expressions on their faces, I could see them playing their instruments, and I never ONCE had to look at the screen to see what was going on. It was unbelievable, it was visceral, and I am so, so thankful that I got to see them. I didn't cry at the concert because I was just too overcome with joy at being there, but I think I will now. Excuse me. *g*
silvrsolace and I got to see U2 We got to GM Place at 8:30 in the morning, convinced that there would be lines of people who'd slept there, but in fact there were only about twelve scalpers and four other fans in front of us. By 9:30 our numbers had grown to include "Tiny Girl" from Victoria, the "Leader of the Revolution" who threatened uprisings if anybody cut in line in front of us, "Mr. Thong" whose flip-flops were killing him by the end of the day, and "Brian Kinney" who looked like, well, a kind Canadian version of Brian Kinney. There was also American Girl, who boasted about having been to both Seattle shows and who was gonna go to the Vegas and Chicago shows; she left halfway through the morning without a word and then magically reappeared at six pm, showered and changed and makeupped, and wanted her place back in line. Which Brian Kinney was having fucking NONE OF.
Anyhow. After an entire day of standing, sitting, smoking, whining, and cracking jokes to keep each other from going nuts, the box office finally released tickets at 6:30 pm. This kind of sucked because if they'd released them earlier, we were gonna get one for
lance_nerd, but that didn't happen; at this late juncture, silvrsolace and I were ready to take tickets behind the stage, if that's what it took. We grabbed up the first tickets the guy offered us and went inside to find our seats, and we kept going down and down the stairs until we were SEVEN ROWS from the stage walkway. Our seats were on The Edge's side of the stage, about a metre ahead of it, and have I mentioned SEVEN ROWS away? I had to ask the people behind me if we were sitting in the right place and these were really our seats, because I've never had such good seats in my LIFE.The Kings of Leon opened, and they were fine but whatever. Eventually they went away and U2 came out and the beaded curtains came down and there was an explosion of shimmery confetti and "City of Blinding Lights", and I could SEE them! I could see their FACES! I had a completely unobstructed view, and it occurred that we should have brought cameras but how could we possibly KNOW? Adam kept prowling around the walkway and whenever he reached our side we'd all fling up our arms in adoration and he'd do that cat-that-ate-the-canary smile and nod at us. And Edge, omg, I can't even express what it was like seeing him play the guitar so close up, and his solemn little face! Larry was the only one I didn't see much, but that's okay because for me it always was and always will be BONO BONO BONO.
They did Vertigo, Beautiful Day, Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own, Elevation, Pride (In The Name of Love). Bono put on this gorgeous red-and-black leather jacket for "Love and Peace or Else" and the bass for that song was so primal and just went through your throat and spine while Bono slinked around rolling the lyrics out, and then they did "Bullet the Blue Sky" and he blindfolded himself for half of it and then banged away on the drumset at the front of the walkway like a taiko drummer and it was glorious. When they did "Sunday Bloody Sunday" he ended it with a chorus of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and I got fucking shivers, but when The Edge came up to the keyboard and started playing "Running to Stand Still" it was like something out of a goddamn dream. Remember in the Rattle & Hum show when they show him, all serene and bathed in blue light and those clean clear notes from the keyboard? That was it EXACTLY. And all I had to do was turn my head and look at him, barely ten feet from me and perfect in every way.
There weren't a lot of effects, just the beaded curtains and different lighting cues (especially for songs like "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Mysterious Ways"), but they were totally un-fucking-needed. The crowd responded to every goddamn thing Bono did or said, like when he asked one girl in the ellipse to give him her lipstick (and then proceeded to put it ON!) and about six other lipsticks came flying onto the stage. We sang along to everything, picked up the choruses when Bono was getting a drink (*moment of awed, lust-filled silence*), and cheered loudly for the only other "effect" which was a screen playing footage of a lady talking about civil equality and each person's inalienable right to freedom and fair treatment.
And he went around and around the walkway mouthing "thank you!" at us when we accorded him worship, and talked about Make Poverty History because so many of us were wearing the white bands, pointed out that much of the plans were based on the work of Canadian Lester B. Pearson and made us take out our cell phones, promise to call Paul Martin and chastise him for trying to back out of Canada's monetary committment to the cause, and hold them up as lights while he sang "One". At this point I called
lance_nerd on my cell and just left it on for the rest of the song; I'm not sure if she even got my call, since it was too loud to try and actually *say* anything!After "One" they left the stage, but of course there were two encores, and to be honest I barely remember what happened because after doing "Zoo Station" they did "Mysterious Ways" and it seemed to go on gloriously FOREVER and left me in a hypnotic trance. I think the other songs were "Original of the Species", "The Fly", and "All Because of You", but who really cares. The important thing is that BONO WAS SO GODDAMN INCREDIBLE AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.
They finished off with "40" and Bono told us that they'd all really loved their stay in Vancouver and they'd taped the whole show, hope you don't mind. *g* He got us all singing the "how long" chorus and one by one their instruments dropped out as they left the stage, Adam first, then The Edge, and it was just Larry playing drums along to the crowd singing for at least eight repetitions; then he stopped and sat there frowning in his Larry way, and then he did a fabulous crashing drum solo before finally leaving the stage as well.
And that was it, folks. And my ears are still ringing and I spent most of the day asleep from sheer exhaustion and my feet hurt, but damn. I'll never have such good concert seats again, and the fact that it was for my most beloved of bands, U2? Sheer ecstatic BLISS. I could see the expressions on their faces, I could see them playing their instruments, and I never ONCE had to look at the screen to see what was going on. It was unbelievable, it was visceral, and I am so, so thankful that I got to see them. I didn't cry at the concert because I was just too overcome with joy at being there, but I think I will now. Excuse me. *g*
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