U2 at Qwest Field, Seattle – Today’s Guest Reviewer!
U2 at QWEST Field - Photo: Seattle Times
Guest Reviewer, Heather--at QWEST Field for U2
My anticipation for this concert has been building for some time, since the tickets were purchased over a year and a half ago, and due to an emergency back surgery for Bono, rescheduled for June 6th, 2011. I had questions, would Bono still have it? Are they getting too old? Would U2 live up to all their past performances. All my questions were answered with a ("12th Man") resounding YES! He's got it, and more! Better than ever!
Arriving at the show venue, Qwest Field, Seattle, home of the famous "12th Man"... I was awestruck by the sheer NUMBER of people, all ages, all colors and styles, gathering in ONE grand place. All hoping to get a glimpse of one of the worlds greatest rock bands, U2. Over 63,000 people in attendance ( much more than a packed out sporting event on a good day) . The stage, one of the grandest things I have ever seen in my life. A giant robo-claw of sorts, adorned with massive lighting, 360º giant video monitors, and a 360º stage, so they could be seen by all in attendance.
Opening act was not to disappoint. Lenny Kravitz, a big name in his own right, doing all his greatest hits. I will admit, I have a new appreciation for Lenny after seeing him and his band live. Not only is he decent to look at, but talented, and a bit of a diva too. Being the first act onstage, there were some technical difficulties (not that in the crowd could really hear or notice), but he made it well known it was not to his standards. In the middle of singing, he'd throw in, " I've only got two notes" , or "sorry, just a little technical $#!#" .
Intermission was with great Seattle flare. I don't know that any crowd can get into it like us Seattle folk, but I've never seen the "WAVE" so enthusiastic in all my life. Anticipation building, fans trying to come up with things to pass the time, volley beach ball on peoples heads... and THEN... THEY entered the stadium, and the roar of the some 63,000 fans screaming and cheering and whistling became deafening. It was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.
GASP!
Taking the stage, the lights died down, and U2 started tearing up the night Seattle skyline with "Even Better Than the Real Thing" And, yes--It was! U2 is SO amazing live. The sound, energy the charisma ... electric.
The setlist for this tour was their best ever ( this being my 3rd U2 concert to date) Here's the rundown.
Main Set: Even Better Than The Real Thing, I Will Follow, Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, Mysterious Ways, Elevation, It's the End of the World as We Know It - Until the End of the World - Where Have All the Flowers Gone, All I Want Is You, Stay, Beautiful Day - Space Oddity, Pride, Miss Sarajevo, Zooropa, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, I'll Go Crazy (remix) - Discotheque - Life During Wartime - Psycho Killer, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Scarlet, Walk On - You'll Never Walk Alone
Encore(s): One, Will You Love Me Tomorrow - Where the Streets Have No Name - All You Need is Love, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me, With or Without You, Moment of Surrender
When the band did come back out for the encore... I was SO STOKED, Bono came out swinging on a hanging microphone, singing to "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" - one of my favorites. I can say his back is not holding him back one bit! He was jumping and swiveling and walking ALL over that massive stage. He, is truly, the most amazing performer, in his element on that stage, and at 51 years young--cooler than ever. Not only is U2 impeccable as musicians and artists, but they are amazing people, great humanitarians, with huge hearts, and put their money where their mouth is.
Upon leaving the stage, the last thing that is so vivid in my memory, is seeing fans lining the exit corridor, and there was a young lady holding a sign that said "On my bucket list... Meet Bono" and as Bono walked by, he saw the sign, and reach out and gave her a high five. The lucky fan went airborne, jumping and screaming and shaking because she, could cross off that item from her "bucket list". A second in time for him, a lifetime of memories for her.
Lovely Heather...
[FANTASTIC review, Heather! AGAIN, I might add! Please check out Heather's Guest Review of Depeche Mode! What would I do without all these wonderful folks who are generous enough to write reviews for Dipped in Cream??]
Written by: Diva Julia
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DivaJulia is a nutty, sarcastic, yet overly-sensitive former model-turned-photographer and writer. She's also the Managing Editor of Dipped in Cream.
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June 7th, 2011 - 12:29
Awesome review. Sounds like a greeeeat time! I’d love to see U2 and Lenny Kravitz, too.
June 10th, 2011 - 01:14
Bono – retch. Glad you can get some enjoyment from this band – i can’t.
Ie: Glastonbury Protest:
“The protest has been provoked by U2′s decision to move their multi-million-pound music and publishing business away from Ireland – thus allegedly avoiding taxes on record sales.
A spokesman for Art Uncut, an off-shoot of controversial group UK Uncut, said the protest would not be violent or disrupt U2′s set – but would be ‘highly visible’.
He said: ‘Bono claims to care about the developing world, but U2 greedily indulges in the very kind of tax avoidance that is crippling poor nations.
‘We will be showing the very real impact of U2′s tax avoidance on hospitals and schools in Ireland. Anyone watching will be made very aware that Bono needs to pay up.’
The U2 frontman regularly meets political leaders to lobby on behalf of developing nations and has visited countries including Ethiopia and Mexico to try to improve the lives of the world’s poor.
But U2 sparked criticism in 2006 by shifting part of their business affairs from Ireland to the Netherlands after a cap on generous tax breaks for artists in their home country.
At the time, Irish politicians branded U2′s move a cynical ploy, leading to accusations that, while the band were urging the Government to give more money to relieve poverty, they were denying it the funds to do so.
Last year, U2 members were the highest-earning musicians in the world, raking in approximately £80 million.
Protesters also aim to draw attention to what they say is the ‘bigger picture’ of the impact of tax avoidance on Ireland’s economy.”
June 10th, 2011 - 10:18
I was TOTALLY waiting for your response on U2…you saw that I didn’t write that, right? It’s odd how Bono’s behavior in terms of his philanthropic (ahem) ventures aren’t terribly detailed in the U.S. Everyone just seems to call him Saint Bono…or say, “Bono for President”.
LOVE that you posted the other side of Pope Bono.
xoxo j
June 17th, 2011 - 03:17
Took me ages to check back – sorry! Of course i knew it wasn’t you who wrote it! And I think it’s only fair that if someone has something positive to say about U2 they can. By the way did you hear about how his/ his wife’s “ethical African clothes” collection was now going to be made in China for economic reasons?
I quote:
“He has set himself up as a champion of the poor and dispossessed in the developing world.
But U2 singer Bono has now raised eyebrows after he and his wife’s ethical fashion house moved production to an undisclosed location in China.
About 15 per cent of Edun’s clothes will be made in the Communist country after African orders proved to be of poor quality. [. . . .]
Factory owners in China are notorious for paying workers low wages and forcing them to work long hours in sweatshop conditions.
Bono and Mrs Hewson launched Edun in 2005 to ‘put our money where our mouths were’ to improve the lives of those in developing nations and make clothing manufacturing more sustainable. [. . . .]
According to U.S. reports, almost all the items at Edun’s New York Fashion Week show were made in China, not Africa.
But wait, if only 15 percent of Edun’s product is now made in China, surely the rest will still be made in Africa, right? Well, not so much, actually, reports the Wall Street Journal:
Together, African produced-products now account for 15% of the company’s sales. The vast majority of the fashion collection, accounting for about 70% of overall production, is now made in Asia, with the remainder coming from Peru. Ms. Hewson says the company’s goal is to produce more of its fashion line in Africa over time.”