Carmella and I saw U2 yesterday, and the dominant feeling I have today is one of tiredness and soreness! We had to stand and sit awkwardly all day, so by the end of the night, we were both itching to get home.
Here are some pictures from the day. Remember, click on them to make them bigger.
We arrived at the venue @ 9:15am, and got in line. Civilians start the line patrol, writing a number on your wrist and getting you to write you name on a pad of paper. Our goal was to get into the Inner Circle, and since it fits 2500 people, we were feeling good about our place in line and our chances of seeing the show from where we want.
The people we lined up with were socially able and fun to be around. On girl beside us likes to see at least 10 U2 shows per tour, so she's doing well as this is her 12th. She's an airline server and coordinates her schedule with tour dates. This tour, she's seen shows in Cardiff, Dublin, Las Vagas, Los Angeles, and more. While I find that excessive, I guess she doesn't get tired of standing in lines and seeing the same band over and over and over!
The line begins to move! We're instructed to move calmly into the venue two-by-two. It's about 5:30, so it's been a long day outside in the damp cold, and some light rain. It'll be nice to finally be warm and sheltered!
This is the stage set-up, and Carmella and I are down there somewhere. While we could have been very close to the stage, we chose to be close to the runway that you see encircling the stage. That way we wouldn't have to crane our necks to see.
We're in The Pit!
The Black Eyed Peas opened the show, and I was impressed because I found myself being entertained by them. I know some of their songs from the radio.
U2 came on at about 8:30, and their stage show is huge! There is a big retractable LCD screen, which in this picture is extended down.
Here's Larry Mullen walking on the runway with a bongo.
The Edge and Bono are each on their own bridge, and these bridges moved around. They moved over us, and met in the middle at one point.
Here's The Edge playing very close to where we were. My camera was crapping the bed majorly, so most of my pictures are blurry. The flash wasn't working correctly, so I had to try and shoot with no flash sometimes.
Bono sings for the adoring crowd.
For the song Walk On, volunteers walked onto the stage with masks of Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi.
The masks were given out at the beginning of the show, and we were encouraged to wear them during this particular song.
Walk On is a song about keeping going when it doesn't look like there's hope. Aung San Suu Kyi would win any election in Burma, but the ruling military junta has kept her under house arrest for almost 14 years. This mask-wearing goes a long way in bringing awareness to the situation. I hadn't heard of her before the tour started.
All in all, it was a great show, but it took a lot of energy! I was happy to be so close to the band, but it sure was a long day, and both Carmella and I were both very sore by the end. Here's a short video with bad sound I took with my camera. This is one-minute worth of the song Magnificent. While the quality is what you'd expect from an old, well-used camera, it gives an idea of the stage's layout.
U2 came on at about 8:30, and their stage show is huge! There is a big retractable LCD screen, which in this picture is extended down.
Here's Larry Mullen walking on the runway with a bongo.
The Edge and Bono are each on their own bridge, and these bridges moved around. They moved over us, and met in the middle at one point.
Here's The Edge playing very close to where we were. My camera was crapping the bed majorly, so most of my pictures are blurry. The flash wasn't working correctly, so I had to try and shoot with no flash sometimes.
Bono sings for the adoring crowd.
For the song Walk On, volunteers walked onto the stage with masks of Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi.
The masks were given out at the beginning of the show, and we were encouraged to wear them during this particular song.
Walk On is a song about keeping going when it doesn't look like there's hope. Aung San Suu Kyi would win any election in Burma, but the ruling military junta has kept her under house arrest for almost 14 years. This mask-wearing goes a long way in bringing awareness to the situation. I hadn't heard of her before the tour started.
All in all, it was a great show, but it took a lot of energy! I was happy to be so close to the band, but it sure was a long day, and both Carmella and I were both very sore by the end. Here's a short video with bad sound I took with my camera. This is one-minute worth of the song Magnificent. While the quality is what you'd expect from an old, well-used camera, it gives an idea of the stage's layout.
On the way out, the streets were packed with people. You wouldn't have been able to fit a car in there! While you can't see them, it's like when a baseball team wins a big game, and the fans stream out. Nobody won anything though, we were all just going home. Carmella has never seen so many people in downtown Vancouver!
Today, there is snow in Whistler. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that, as I'm not ready for winter to set in. It could be April before things get green again! I would like to get a few more runs and bike rides in.
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