Bono – Stories of Surrender

Bono wrote a memoir. I was really excited when it was announced months ago and preordered it right away. Then as a complete surprise (to me at least) he announced a book tour. What??? Coming to Toronto, what?? I had to go. I knew it was going to be a once in a life time, super rare event, and I kinda didn’t care what it cost. Luckily I have been maintaining my u2.com membership in hopes of an Achtung Baby anniversary tour, so I was able to get a presale code.

Of course, ticketmaster is complete trash. I immediately got in with no wait, got a pair of tickets, cashed out – payment fail. For no reason. Got kicked out, back in the lobby queue, not moving out of it, retrying, going onto the laptop instead, getting in and of course, no tickets available. I was so mad. But I perservered! I just kept refreshing, over 20 minutes later, I was able to snag 2 tickets. Didn’t know where they were, didn’t know how much they were, I just took whatever. Turns out they were pretty great seats mid floor, for a price I was comfortable with. Now to find someone to go with.

I offered them to all my u2 friends and no one was able to go with me šŸ™ šŸ™ šŸ™ which I really found epically sad. Honestly, I didn’t want to take J because he doesn’t care at the level I needed the person to go with to be at. And I know he didn’t really want to go anyway, because he just doesn’t care. So I found a random girl on facebook who was looking for tickets, and it worked out great.

I drove up for the 2nd time in the same weekend, and with all the construction I was kind of lost, but somehow ended up on the street where people were waiting for Bono to arrive at the venue. And there was a parking ramp right there. So very convenient haha. My new friend Kimberlee showed up, and a few other friends of hers came as well, and we all hung out waiting for Bono. It gave me flashbacks to London in 97 (on a WAAAAY SMALLER scale haha). Bono arrived around 530, and various staff had said he wasn’t going to talk because he had to save his voice, and he might or might not sign. So when he arrived, he did a quick walk up and down the line to wave, but no autographs or anything.

I was not sure what to expect when this show got announced. A book tour – I figured it would be Bono talking for 2 hours, reading from the book. The same thing an author might do at a book store for a signing/reading. And I tried very hard not to pay attention to reports from the first few cities. But I was unable to avoid the news that he was actually going to be singing too! It really was like a one man show. Bono with a cellist, a harpist, and a “dj” percussion, keyboardist. There was a simple stage set up of a few tables and chairs, and 2 screens which were used to display Bono’s drawings of various things/people he was talking about. He interspersed songs between the stories he was telling – mainly of the relationships that have made him who he is – parents, Ali, the band. It was very heavy on his father, the way their relationship progressed through the years.

Oh man it was something special. It was emotional, it was funny. He was still Bono, with his Bono mannerisms. Acoustic songs in a different vein than with U2. I find it hard to really discuss. He held the audience in his hands (as usual, but in a wholly different way). It was awesome.

  • “City Of Blinding Lights”
  • “Vertigo”
  • “With or Without You”
  • “Out of Control”
  • “Stories for Boys”
  • “I Will Follow”
  • “Iris (Hold Me Close)”
  • “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
  • “Pride (In the Name of Love)”
  • “Where the Streets Have No Name”
  • “Desire”
  • “Beautiful Day”
  • “Torna a Surriento”

The show ended with the death of his father, and Bono singing opera. He had done a little on Miss Sarajevo on the 360 tour (?) which was impressive then. But holy jeeesus. Given that his voice seemed sore, and the not talking before the show thing, he killed it. Ridiculous.

U2 – New Era Field, Orchard Park, NY 9-5-17

Leading up to the show, J was supposed to teach blackjack and wouldn’t be able to go, so I finally sold his ticket (and another) to my boss Nick and his wife Lisa. Then the class gets cancelled, so I have to buy J another ticket so he could go again lol. So we met up at their house, then went to Ken’s to hang out before hand, have some drinks and food, and head to the stadium. I had wanted to get there around doors open, but that didn’t happen and we got there by 7, which was ok. Found Kate and her boyfriend, and were decently close. Nick was amazed at how close we were, he had never been that close at a concert before. Is he nuts?!?! lol Where else do you go watch a show from?! Ended up meeting up with some other coworkers who found us on the floor, it was a good time.

Beck opened, and he was fantastic. By far the best U2 opener since Garbage in 2001. Lots of energy, good songs, even if I only knew 3 (plus a new one that I didn’t know was Beck, which they play at work).

As for the show, it was basically the same as the previous 2, except they switched out Miss Sarajevo (thankfully), and added Mysterious Ways. They sounded great, though I think Bono sounded better in June. They seemed to be having a good time on stage, which is always a plus. It ALMOST started raining during Running to Stand Still, which LeighAnne agreed would have been epic.

Nick and Lisa were appropriately impressed (they had never seen U2 before, and I wouldn’t call them fans) which is always a good thing. They both said they’d go see them again, and even hours later Nick was still all “what a show!” Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, or get amnesia and see my favourite bands for the first time again. That feeling of awe and being impressed.

from @u2.com: It was a spirited evening tonight as The Joshua Tree 2017 tour rolled into New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. Throughout the show, the spirit of John Lennon provided inspiration as Bono added a snippet from ā€œGive Peace A Chanceā€ to ā€œPrideā€; a snippet from ā€œCome Togetherā€ concluded ā€œI Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking Forā€; and a snippet of ā€œHelter Skelterā€ ended ā€œVertigo.ā€ Bono recalled the band’s first visit to Buffalo in 1980, on the night Lennon was murdered.

Bono also spoke about the DREAMers: 800,000 undocumented young immigrants impacted by the rescinding of the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act) by the current U.S. administration. He said at the end of “In God’s Country,” “We Irish were the DREAMers of our day. Economic refugees. We must not forget that.” He then dedicated “Trip Through Your Wires” to the DREAMers.

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma were also featured during the show. There was a lyrical shift in “Where The Streets Have No Name” — “I want to take shelter from the hurricane.” As in Detroit, “One” encouraged people to text The Red Cross with a donation to help with the hurricane relief efforts. Bono said ahead of “One”:

This country has been a second home for this band and it is an amazing country and we feel very blessed to be a part, even a tiny part, of your lives. America. Not just a country, an idea. A great idea. One of the best ideas ever. Recently, we’ve seen a twisting of that idea. Stirring animosity. Summoning hatred. Bitter division here in the United States of America. After Hurricane Harvey, watching Texans crossing every kind of divide to help their neighbor, that’s helped the world remember the kind of America that is always here.

“One” ended with a few lines of “Drowning Man,” marking only the 30th time that song has been snippeted. “Drowning Man” has never been peformed in full.

Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year’s Day
Bad
Pride
Where The Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
With Or Without You
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God’s Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers Of The Disappeared
Encore
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Vertigo
Mysterious Ways
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
One

U2 Rogers Center – Toronto, Ontario 6/23/17

Another U2 show!! We left around 2 with Ā 4pm ETA so we could meet up with a coworker who I bought tickets for. We didn’t get there until close to 6pm. UGH TRAFFIC!!!! Lei wasn’t leaving until she got out of work at 5, with all the traffic she was kinda worried about making it in time. She missed the Lumineers (who J and I decided all sound the same and were relatively boring), but made it with plenty of time for U2 and found us back on the field. I had told her we NEEDED to see this show together, since we had seen so many together in the last 12 years, and I knew how much she loves Joshua Tree. Plus she was FINALLY going to be able to see Running To Stand Still, and I knew she was going to die. And she did LOL. She cried during Bad in the beginning set, and of course during RTSS she was balling, which made me cry hahaha. I’m so happy she got to see the show, she loved it, as expected. J said it was good but I can’t tell what he really thought. He wasn’t blown away like I always want him to be when I take him to something I love. But it’s the same in reverse, I don’t get excited about his bands either.

The show was a little different than Pittsburgh, adding in Bad (ok apparently they did play Bad in Pittsburgh but I don’t remember it at all oops), and Vertigo, and closing with I Will Follow instead of the new song.

Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year’s Day
Bad
Pride
Where The Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
With Or Without You
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God’s Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers Of The Disappeared

Encore
Miss Sarajevo
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Vertigo
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
One
I Will Follow

It was an excellent show again, looking forward to the Buffalo show in Sept. I’d like to be a little closer, because the stage seems a bit low, so I couldn’t see them that well. It didn’t matter that much, because I focused on the giant screen, and got a different perspective on all the graphics than in Pittsburgh. It didn’t make me feel like I was going to fall haha. Had a great time regardless!

U2 – Heinz Field, Pittsburgh PA 6/7/17

Tuesday night, we were in bed by 11pm, so we could get up early to drive to Pittsburgh for the U2 show. We were going to meet up with Kate and her friends, and later Meredith and her gf before heading home. I did the usual, play games on the phone, read on the phone, to try to get tired while J fell asleep right away, but I just wasn’t tired. Finally after a few hours, I decided to finally try to sleep. J woke up shortly after, played on his phone, got up, came back to bed, got up again. It had been like 4 hours now. No sleep. Finally I sort of dozed off, only to be jarred back awake by J choking. Or rather, throwing up. J hasn’t thrown up in 35 years. But he’s barfing like crazy, clearly sick. Our guess was food poisoning from Pho Dollar, where we had gotten food before going home. We joked around that his shrimp and pork stir fry only had 2 shrimp on it, but thank god, cuz who knows how much more sick he would have gotten (it wasn’t the pork as I had a piece.) Ugh, so now he’s sick, and dying because he’s a boy, so my no sleep continued. Hour after hour went by, 9:30 alarm time inching closer. I tried to sleep on the couch, no luck. He said he was still going to go to the show, but after I got up and showered I convinced him that it was probably not a good idea (which later in the afternoon, he agreed), and sadly he stayed home.

So I picked him up some things, posted my extra ticket on Interference and drove down to PA. Parked at Rivers casino, met up with Kate and the and went over to the stadium. We got in line at about 3:30, got wrist banded (#622), and met up with this guy JD who bought my ticket. I told him he didn’t have to hang out with us after we got into the stadium, but he did, and it was cool, he was a nice guy who had come in from Ohio. Chatted with some other people in line, and got let in around 5. We had been nervous about the weather as rain had been predicted, at least in the afternoon, if not evening as well. It was on the cooler side, and overcast most of the day, which was actually perfect weather for an outdoor concert. It wasn’t hot, I was not sweating and people were not smelly. There was a nice breeze to keep things comfortable and it didn’t rain!

The Lumineers opened. I can’t say it was someone I’d have seen otherwise, and they are not a band I’d choose to listen to but their hour on stage wasn’t bad.

The stage…was HUGE. One huge LED screen, with nothing else on stage for U2. No speaker stacks (must have been behind the screen), no props, just a giant screen with a Joshua tree on it. Trent will probably be jealous because those screens were put to great use displaying super sharp imagery, which sometimes made me ill because it was moving, and it was almost 3d and it made me think I was falling a few times (like how I can’t do simulator rides at amusement parks anymore).

I was so excited when they announced they were playing all of the Joshua Tree, as even though it’s not my favourite album, there are so many songs I’ve never seen, and probably WOULD never see if they weren’t going to play the entire album. I got a little butterfly-y in my stomach waiting for it to start, which hasn’t happened to me in a long long time. The stage also had a walkway with a 2nd stage mid field, as they have had for the last several tours, and they actually started the show by Larry first walking out to a drum kit out there, and the rest of the band members each joining him to open with Sunday Bloody Sunday. They did a kind of “Greatest Hits” of their early era before returning to the main stage to begin with JT. That’s where the screen kicked in, with all sorts of nature, and “Americana” imagery to accompany each song from the album.

Holy Crap. While the album opens with songs that are staples in their sets the last 30 years, so everyone was familiar with them, they still sounded great, and Bullet the Blue Sky may have been the best I’ve ever heard it. I had forgotten just how awesome it is live. The Edge just killed it. He killed the entire show. You don’t think of the Joshua Tree as a “guitar” record, but holy shit, Edge just shined all night. He also played a lot of piano, like the usual New Years Day, but also for Running To Stand Still instead of a guitar. RTSS may have been stronger in the past, but it was still fantastic to see again, and LeighAnne will die when she finally gets to see it in a few weeks when we go to the Toronto show. Kate wasn’t impressed with Red Hill Mining town, but I thought it was really good, and over the last few months I was looking forward to Trip Through Your Wires I had forgotten it was coming, and was impressed and reminded all over again that I had been wanting to see it lol. I never listen to Mothers of the Disappeared but I admit it was well done. The only song I thought was meh was One Tree Hill, and mainly just because of the end, Bono doesn’t do the “it’s raining” part well.

After they finished the album, the “encore” was a “Greatest Hits” of the days following the JT era, like One, and Beautiful Day. They closed with a new song, Kate wasn’t sure I’d like because it’s slow, and I’d say she was right. It picks up at the end but overall it didn’t impress me.

But the rest….the rest was just so good. It was fun to be there with Kate, and I told LeighAnne that even if we don’t drive to TO together, we have to watch the show together. It’s going to be great. And hopefully J doesn’t get sick again (although, if he did, U2 announced a Sept show in Buffalo, which we will also be going to, assuming I get tickets on Monday).

Since I had gotten zero hours of sleep the night before, plus really only getting about 5 before that, I scrapped the original plan to drive home after the show. Driving by myself, in the dark, with no sleep was not going to be a good idea so I crashed on Meredith’s couch for the night, and headed home in the morning. It’s a 3.5 hour drive, and not a bad one at all. I feel like we should visit Pittsburgh more often, I like it far better than Cleveland haha.

Setlist:
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year’s Day
Bad
Pride (In the Name of Love)

The Joshua Tree:
Where the Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Play Video
With or Without You
Bullet the Blue Sky
Running to Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God’s Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared

Encore:
Miss Sarajevo
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
One
Beautiful Day
Elevation
The Little Things That Give You Away

Oh yeah, Exit was fantastic. And before the show JD had asked, what U2 song do you think “defines” them as a band…he picked Sunday Bloody Sunday, Kate picked Until The End of the World, but it was more that it defined them for her, and I picked New Years Day…we got 2 of three. I mentioned I could go the rest of my life never hearing Pride ever again, but I knew that was not happening (like Hurt), and I was going to say I never needed to hear Miss Sarajevo again LOL got that too. The only spoiler I told Lei was “you’re still going to have to hear fucking Miss Sarajevo” since that’s the song that replaced RTSS on the Vertigo tour, which made her never get to hear it (yet).

Also, given that U2 is a political band, and we are in a contentious political era, the show wasn’t very political. He didn’t really say that much, didn’t call Trump out though there was a small old timey (not sure if it’s old or new) video with a character named Trump, who appears to be a charlatan, and didn’t focus on “resisting” or anything like that. Ultraviolet was dedicated to women, and displayed photos of important historic and current women and women groups, but the performance did not sound as good to me as it did on the 360 tour. It sounded muddy like the sound levels were not set right.

Top Ten Teen-years Albums

This was floating around facebook the last few days.

List 10 albums that made a lasting impression on you as a TEENAGER, but only one per band/artist. In approximate chronological order of when I found them.

1. Aerosmith – Get a Grip (1993) – I wasn’t sure this fell into my teen years, until I looked up the release date, and saw that it had to. This is the first CD I remember wanting to buy on my own. My clique of friends all had it, and we were scandalized that there were nipple prints on the CD.
2. Salt n Pepa – Very Necessary (1993) – I loved this record, I listened to it a ton with headphones when I got my first portable CD player, in my room, doing my homework, even though I had a perfectly working stereo. Thinking of this record got “None Of Your Business” in my head last night. Awesome.
3. Stone Temple Pilots – Purple (1994) – While I still don’t really think of them as “grunge”, I guess this is the first grunge cd I loved and listened to all the time (I owned Pearl Jam’s “Ten” but never listened to it).
4. REM – Monster (1994) – I listened to this, and the STP record, all the time when I was playing my Super Nintendo. In retrospect I’m not really sure why I liked this record, but at the time it was great.
5. The Cranberries – No Need To Argue (1994) – Zombie still is a fantastic song. The rest is a bit mellow, but it holds up.
6. Elastica – Elastica (1995) – I heard the song “Connection” while hanging out in Media Play and bought the CD. I remember writing song lyrics on the desk in study hall, only to see that someone had written the next line after. Turns out that someone was Marney.
7. Michael Jackson – HIStory (1995) – 2 records have changed my life. This was the first. It led me to travel, spend a lot of money, and most importantly, led me to meet some of the best friends who I still have to this day. Awww.
8. U2 – Achtung Baby (1991) – Not discovered until I was at Geneseo, and not appreciated upon first listens, when I listened to it months later, it’s brilliance blinded me. So amazing.
9. Nine Inch Nails – The Fragile (1999) – The 2nd life changing record. Even if it took 6 years for it to make a huge impact as far as leading me to travel and meet great people, this was an emotionally impactful record. I really don’t know what my life would be like if I had never fallen down the NIN-hole.
10. Orgy – Candyass (1998) – Orgy was the first band I met, and was the band responsible for getting me into seeing concerts, and following tours, and trying to meet bands and get autographs. They were fun, and super cute, yay boys in makeup.

u2 toronto

U2 on tour again, yay. J ditched me for the show to go see some other show back in Buffalo so I recruited Mary to come with me. She hadn’t seen them before and figured they won’t be touring forever so…We were warned that traffic had been really bad because of the PanAm games, but it was the typical 2 hours and slow traffic on the highway. We were early enough to catch dinner first, and got in line right when doors were opening. (we are officially too old to queue).

No opener!

Bono came out from the zamboni entrance opposite from the stage, which made everyone go nutso. Bono sounds so good, it’s amazing. So many bands from the 90s that we all used to like, none of them can sing anymore. And Bono had been sounding rough for a while, but on 360 tour and this one, it’s incredible. Bravo to his coach and whatever routine that he has now, that he can do back to back nights with no problem.

U2 is such a joyful show. Even when it’s heavy, like this setlist is, it’s still like…a happy show. NIN shows aren’t happy. They’re awesome, but joyful is not a word to use there. But Bono walks on stage and you just feel joy. Even when he’s being annoying and talking too much, joy. It’s such a different feeling.

The band sounded great of course. I always have an issue with their set structures because they always tend to group all the new stuff together. They need to spread it out more. I understand that this tour they are really trying to tell a story, and maybe things need to be grouped, but…even as a giant fan, they start to lose me sometimes.

I don’t mind the new album, tho it’s not super exciting to me, and the new songs sounded much better live. Raised by Wolves, which is one I like, was really good. Until the End of the World was nice to hear, as always, though there was no “bull fight” and we were in prime position for it to happen right in front of us. Super glad they brought back Bullet the Blue Sky, I’d go to more shows just to hear that song.

The stage went the entire length of the ice, with a giant screen running the whole length. I think they must go to NIN shows to get stage ideas, because the screens had a walkway in between that the band went in, and performed behind the screens just like NIN. And the visuals on the screens would part so you could see them, just like NIN. And flourescent stage lights/art just like NIN. hahah.

They performed Mysterious Ways on the small stage, and a girl had a sign that said Me + Guitar etc, so Bono brought her up on stage. Except he couldn’t actually see the sign and thought she was a belly dancer, so she got to spin around with Bono when he realized she wasn’t actually a dancer, and after the song he told her he had glaucoma and couldn’t read LOL They kept her up there and gave her a guitar, and she got to play Angel of Harlem and All I Want Is You with them. And she could actually play, unlike the Hamilton show way back in 2001. It was cool. After that Edge had technical problems with the guitar he needed, and he was mad so they brought out the piano and sent Larry and Adam away and did a different song.

And Bono did the Shine like Stars ending to With or Without You!! I almost cried. So great.

Besides having to suffer through a video break of Johnny Cash singing The Wanderer it was a great show. The new stuff sounded good, the old stuff was great of course (though I can still go without ever seeing Pride ever again), and there were only 2 songs I wasn’t familiar with. It was a good time, kinda wish I got to see the previous night. Hoping they do another leg next year.

The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
The Electric Co. / Send In The Clowns (snippet)
Vertigo
I Will Follow
Iris (Hold Me Close)
Cedarwood Road
Song For Someone
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Raised By Wolves
Until The End Of The World
(Intermission)
Invisible
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
Angel Of Harlem
All I Want Is You
Every Breaking Wave
Bullet The Blue Sky
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Beautiful Day
With Or Without You / Shine Like Stars (snippet)

encore(s):
City Of Blinding Lights
Mother And Child Reunion (snippet)
Where The Streets Have No Name
One

new music!

I always said I wasn’t going to be one of those “old” people who wasn’t in touch with new music, but, here I am, and I’m that person. I realized the other day I haven’t bought or even really listened to music from a band that’s come out in the last decade. Sure I’ve listened to new music, but from old bands. Ugh. And I hate to say new bands suck, but…nothing that I *have* heard on the occasions that I’ve listened to the radio has caught my fancy. So I’ll just put in my decades old music (god, how is it possible that I can even say that!?!), or new music from decades old bands, and enjoy.

Which brings me to this week. New music from one of my fav bands, The Tea Party. Their first in a decade! I was excited and scared all at the same time, as their last album Seven Circles was mediocre, and their live release from last year, or the year before was pretty freaking terrible (the mixing not the performance). But holy crap this record is pretty good. I borrowed it from the internet last week, but crossed over to Canada the other day to pick it up from HMV since American amazon wasn’t offering it. Of course like any record, a few songs I could leave, like yet another Daniel Lanois cover (The Maker), a throw away hidden instrumental at the end, and one I’m not sure of (Black Roses) but over all, the songs go back to their roots, covering all the different sounds they’ve had over the years – zepplin-esque, eastern influenced rock. Thankfully they lost the Tom Morello guitar tone from Seven Circles and went back to the style Jeff Martin is best at. I wasn’t impressed with the initial single, Water’s On Fire, because it’s a ballad, and I thought a poor choice for a first single in a decade, but it’s grown on me and it’s not that bad. Brazil has great rock guitar in it, that we expect from them, Submission sounds like a Gary Numan cover (specifically Cars, and I guess it was intentional) and thus is cool, and the “required” long song The Ocean At The End is reminiscent of Correspondences, and really very nice. I’m very happy with it and excited to see them live again – AS LONG AS THEY PLAY A DIFFERENT DAMNED SETLIST! In looking through my blog archives in search for a date for one of their shows from 05, I discovered Eric and I bitching about them playing the same setlist ALL THE WAY BACK THEN!

And then came the surprise. U2 released their album with no fanfare or build up on itunes as part of Apple’s iphone 6 press conference, for free. Called “Songs of Innocence” it’s been 5 years in the making and is rumored to be only one of several releases coming up. Dave Fanning, friend of U2 and radio guy (?) suspects it’s one of 3 coming releases chronicling U2 decade by decade as this one is all about the 1970s and the band themselves have claimed to have more material ready to be released. My first impression is…we’ve heard this all before. It’s the same sound, same style, same…thing. Even though Eno and Lanois had nothing to do with it, it’s just….U2 I guess. I hate to say it, I’ve been denying it for years, but I don’t want U2 to sound like U2. I like 90s U2 when they did something different and ground breaking, and didn’t just repeat themselves ad nauseum. I was excited when they were working with new people on new music, but in the end, it’s just them. Still. There is nothing exciting on this record, nothing catchy, nothing fun. I hesitate to say it’s depressing, it’s just not exciting. The first song The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) held potential that very quickly went away, devolving into the usual, what I like to call “Miracle Drug”ing of the album. It has the same vibe as How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Electrical Storm. It is rather minimal, with no weird random out of place Eno-esque organs or horns, which is fine by me, but there isn’t anything else there either. (I just looked at a review of the album when looking for the track titles and it said that the album sounds like U2 ripping off all the bands that rip off U2 which reminded me that I had the thought that the album sounded like Coldplay LOL)

So that was my first impression. After listening a few times, I will say the 2nd half of the album is much better than the first because it sounds different! There is some “weirdness”, or well weird for U2. There is strong bass lines that remind you Adam exists, there are female vocals from someone, there is interesting guitar work from Edge, and slow synthy stuff. While there aren’t any lyrics that stand out as cringe worthy, like “people get squashed crossing the tracks” from Bomb, the lyrics aren’t good either. Bono used to be a poet, wtf happened to him? And while there aren’t any songs I out right despise like Moment of Surrender or Yahweh to name a few, there aren’t any at this point that I can say I like either. And that’s sad. I could easily never listen to this again and not miss it. Susan had listened to it before me, since she has itunes, and had said it was edgier than their last one. I’m not sure what she was listening to LOL.

But I will keep listening until I know every word, as I have a history of not liking U2 albums at first listen – yes even Achtung Baby, the greatest album ever made, I didn’t appreciate at first. I’m sure it will grow on me some, but a classic or brilliant album it is definitely not.
***
In other news. I’ve been struggling with my head big time. Since July my headaches have become intolerable. I finally went to see neurologists again, and they gave me a nerve block in my head which was a failure. So now I’ve been put on another preventative rx, topamax. Starting week 2, I’m not sure of it’s efficacy yet. I can up the dosage 2 more times, so we’ll see. I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle the side effects if they get worse with the increased dosage though, as it makes my hands and face tingle, a bit of dizziness and stupidness lol. I’ve started taking dice class, finally after 11 years, so tingling hands and stupidness isn’t really good for that hah. Failing that, I already qualify for botox treatments, as I have a 30 year history of failed treatments, but that also takes time to start working so it’s best to have them under control before starting botox to bridge the gap. I just know I need something to work, and soon, cuz I can’t handle it anymore.

U2 Pittsburgh 2011

my 10th u2 show was with frank and kate in pittsburgh, the last US show of the 360 tour. we headed down around noon, met meredith at a restaurant called Fat Heads which was fantastic – 40 different kinds of beer on tap, and huge portions of really yummy food. found our way to heinz field, which seemed smaller than i expected and claimed our place on the floor. adam side, maybe 20 people back, right near the end of that leg of the claw.

the show was great, of course. same set list as the toronto show, but after they finished “moment of surrender”, they talked for a second and decided to play another song, “bad”. sweet. i felt sorta crappy and hot the whole show, by the time the encore and “one” came along i felt like i was going to pass out so i went out of the crowd and had to sit on the gross metal floor for the rest of the encore. that’s ok tho. you can see everything on the giant claw screens.

walking to the car afterward we got passed by u2’s motorcade, each member in their own suv (so if they crash they don’t all die? like the president and vp? lol). that was stupidly cool to see hahaha

u2 – rogers center, toronto

“Thank you for your patience,” Bono said “Some of you were two years younger when you bought tickets for tonight’s show.”

Finally the day came to see U2 in Toronto. I only had the tickets since November 2009….it was Cassie’s birthday, and she wanted to leave at 5am, so I got out of work, jumped in the shower, LeighAnne picked us up and we headed out to the Rogers Center, getting there around 7am. There were more people there at 7am than there were in 2009 when we got there after 10. Bummer. We ended up numbers 304-306 and settled in for the long, hot, day. I tried to sleep in line but that didn’t work out too well so I gave up. It was hot. It was maybe going to rain but it didn’t. So it was hot. Did I mention it was hot? When the clouds were around it wasn’t too bad, nice temperature and a breeze, but when the sun came out we roasted. It was unpleasant. And I am sunburned, yet again, even though I put on 70 spf at home and used someone’s 45 spf in line…great. They let us in at 5 I think…maybe it was 4, but either way we mostly got the same spot, rail outside, that Cassie and I had in 09 2nd show. And then I got a phone call from a guy I sold my extra ticket to, and someone else’s extra, and it ruined everything. The one ticket (NOT MINE) was invalid, it had been reported lost and a refund issued. Awesome. wtf. So that pretty much ruined my night, as I had to talk to him a few times on the phone and he was understandably upset, and then figure out what went on on the other end. It made me feel sick, plus the fact I hadn’t sleep in 32 hours at that point, I ended up leaving our spot with Lei and heading to the back of the field for the show. I was able to sit/lay down during Interpol (who were so boring), and just relax. I felt bad for leaving Cassie alone at her birthday show, but I know I couldn’t have stayed there another hour before Interpol went on, and an hour after that for U2.

I had stayed away from online setlists, but I think I knew all the surprises anyway. Must say I was very pleased with the setlist, since it was very 90s heavy, opening with 4 songs from Achtung. yesssss. I can still complain, as 2 of the 3 songs from No Line On The Horizon I think are 2 of the worst songs U2 has ever done, and they should change them out for “Breathe” and “Magnificent” but really, overall, fantastic set. The band sounded great, Bono was in top form after his back breaking injury, just excellent. Yes I wish I could have stayed up front, but back on the lawn we had fun too. There are huge screens to watch so it’s not a big deal if you can’t see well.

Even Better Than The Real Thing
The Fly
Mysterious Ways
Until the End of the World (always a highlight)
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
Stay
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Pride
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa (!!! totally awesome to hear)
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I’ll Go Crazy (remix) – Discotheque (snippet, the most we’re ever going to get, so i’ll take it)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Walk On

Encore(s):
One
Where the Streets Have No Name
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this made my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sooooo awesome)
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Refound Cassie, headed out, construction traffic jam in Oakville as always (I’m not sure I’ve ever left a concert where there wasn’t construction traffic in Oakville) and got home around 2am….38 hours awake, not fun. I think this will be the last show I queue for…at least for a ridiculous amount of time. Definitely will never be queuing again on no sleep, that is for sure. Just too old for this now šŸ™‚

Decided to go see U2 again in Pittsburgh on the 26th. It’s the last US show of the last leg of the tour (they added a date someplace in Canada). Managed to get tickets on stubhub for only $50 after fees…!!! Ridiculously cheap ($20 under face). So Kate, who was unable to get off of work for this show, and Frank and I are gonna go. No queueing tho!!! šŸ™‚ And I decided to sell my APC tickets for Pittsburgh in August, cuz I don’t think I’d enjoy sitting through the Emotive setlist again. They are listed on stubhub for $50, hopefully they sell (it’s my first time buying and selling through there).

dream

dream: i was at a u2 show, and there was a part of the show where bono would come up on stage on a bed from below, like he was madonna or someone. and he would always bring a girl on stage (i forget the song, it may not have even been a u2 song at first, but then it turned into “angels of harlem”). so somehow i ended up wandering around back stage and told cassie i was going to go down below to try to get pulled on stage during that part, and voila bono brought me on stage. so i got to dance with bono and then back in the crowd. but then i ended up getting pulled back on stage with the full band, and i got to meet them all and it was awesome.