Im not a religous person. But last night I was a believer! Telstra Stadium has never looked, felt, or sounded so good (not even when Sydney are playing Collingwood)!! Before this event, Ive watched every U2 dvd, listened to every U2 song, and learnt every U2 lyric. While growing up, Edge was my hero, and every album was an inspiration.
The first CD I ever bought was the seminal Rattle and Hum. The most listened to cassette was Live Under A Blood Red Sky. The most riffed was Until The End Of The World. The video with the most auto tracking was Zoo TV Sydney. From all the music, all the songs, all the video, you can get a sense of the band. You can feel the emotion in the songs. But nothing at all compares to actually hearing the Edge slice it up on stage. Or to seeing Bono walk around blind-folded with his now ubiquitous Coexist bandana.
The staging was a masterpiece. The backing screen was ENORMOUS, almost higher than the stadium walls behind it. And it was ingenious – it wasn’t a typical video wall. it was more like a curtain of lights that could display video, but also let light through, or reflect lights, or fold up to reveal spot lights. Super clever.
Our seats, while not being amazing, were good. Nothing blocked our view, and thanks to the screens just mentioned, we got a really great sense of the emotion that was onstage. And the sound – apart from when Bono was speaking – was excellent.
So now I’ve seen U2 live. It was overwhelming – and I think I may need a little break from their music, just to put it all into perspective.
Maybe a little JayKay to sooth my ringing ears….
