Boston in the fall

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Boston in the fall

Postby macrae11 » Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:09 pm

Well I'm to Boston to see U2 this weekend. I'll tell you all about it when I get back.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:54 pm

Look for me in your luggage. See you in a bit!
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Postby Malcolm Boyce » Fri Sep 18, 2009 6:46 pm

U2 are legendary for hits and misses in the FOH dept.

Enjoy... Let us know how it is.
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Postby Greg H. » Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:43 pm

Nick's going to kill you for this...
He was denied U2 by his parents because of UNIVERSITY
Have we mentioned that Nick despises any type of schooling anyone has ever tried to give him, unless its directly related to music?
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Re: Boston in the fall

Postby Nick H. » Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:00 pm

macrae11 wrote:Well I'm to Boston to see U2 this weekend. I'll tell you all about it when I get back.


So how was it? I heard good things from people who went...
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Re: Boston in the fall

Postby macrae11 » Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:47 pm

Nick H. wrote:
So how was it? I heard good things from people who went...


A little impatient are we? Well it's a bit of a story, and I'll probably forget most of it but here it goes:

It was quite an ordeal just to get to the concert. There simply isn't great logistics for getting 65,000 people into a small suburb of Boston. It took us 2.5 hrs to drive 25 miles. We completely missed the opening band, and were worried for a little bit that we might miss the opening of U2. They had a long pause for everybody still stuck in traffic, so we didn't miss anything. I wasn't too disappointed about missing Snow Patrol, but if it had been one of the Muse shows I would have been pissed.

Anyways so after finding our seats, we had about 15 minutes before the show started. I snapped some shots with my crappy cell camera, left my digital in the car. facepalm I also took a few higher rez photos with a friends cam. I'll get them posted after a bit. Visually it was the most stunning stage I've ever seen in my life. The lights, video, effects, everything. Words really can't describe.

They started the concert off with Breathe, and No Line on the Horizon. (Full set list here)Not my most favourite songs, so I snapped a couple of more shots, and adjusted my ear plugs. It was just slightly on the loud side for me, but way to quiet with my -15's in, so I left them out, and my ears adjusted pretty quickly. Pretty much the perfect volume. By the time they were into Get On Your Boots, the mix was pretty well perfect. My only slight complaint, was that the bass could have kicked a little bit more. I'm going to chalk that up to the fact that it was an outdoor stadium, and we were right behind a delay line, which would have been slightly more top heavy. I'm guessing if we were a little closer, in front of the delay line it would have been perfect. Just could have used a little more thump where we were, certainly not a deal breaker.

Magnificent was... well, magnificent, great intro, and then they went into Mysterious Ways, also not one of my favourite songs. They had a slower, funkier groove than the standard version which was cool though.

Then Beautiful Day, Elevation, and Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For were all awesome. Great intro and outro on Beautiful Day, Bono did some great 1/4 tonal stuff. Must have been an influence from making some of the last record in Morocco.

Somewhere around this point the giant video screen separated and stretched downward to be twice as tall. It look to be only about 15-20 above the stage. Very cool. When it stretched there were gaps created between all the sections, which gave all the moving video a stutter effect. The only downside to this was something went wrong, and two sections of the screen went down on our side, so we had maybe 5% of the screen go blank for the rest of the show, right in the middle of the screen.

Very nice acoustic version of Stuck in A Moment. Just Bono and the Edge on a SJ-200 and singing backup. Really gorgeous. Once the Edge strapped his electric back on though, something went slightly off somewhere, and his guitar jumped at least 6 dB, and stayed that way until the end of the concert! It was very distracting, and at times it even drowned out Bono's voice some. Some songs it was worse than others, but it was too hot for the rest of the night. This also pushed the overall volume up out of my comfort zone, so the plugs went it. The guitar actually sounded quite a bit better with the plugs in, as they deadened the real high piercing guitar tones up around 8k.

They did a "remix" of I'll Go Crazy If I don't Go Crazy Tonight which I really didn't like. Totally ruined a great song, but it did give Larry a chance to come out into the circle and play a djembe for a bit. All the other songs were great, and some of the visuals and the messages were quite moving, Sunday Bloody Sunday, being played over images from the Muslim world for example. I know, it totally could have the wrong connotation, and been offensive, but it really wasn't. Also had a very moving tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi during Walk On, and One.

Then Streets was on, which is always fantastic. The whole end of the concert was great, very nice lighting, and the Edge's guitar was slightly more manageable.

Getting home was slightly less of a nightmare, due to taking back roads instead of the highway.

Overall U2's portion of the concert was a 9/10 for me. Great visuals, mostly great sound, good energy. Although it would have been nice if they played a few more songs that I would have chosen, but what are you going to do? They played Stay the next night which really pissed me off! One of my fav's

The biggest disappointment for me was the crowd. I don't know if it's because it was mostly Americans, the fact that the traffic was so bad, or because it was an outdoor stadium. Either way though, they sucked. It didn't feel like they were into it at all, There were people leaving for there cars during a slight break after Sunday Bloody Sunday. I would guess that at least 5000 people left before the encore, which stunned me. Perhaps this felt worse for me because I saw them on their last tour, and it was a totally different event. The music and visuals were very comparable, but the feeling at the Air Canada Center 5 years ago was nothing compared to Boston this weekend. This was just a good rock show, in Toronto, it was almost a religious experience. The two aren't even comparable in my mind, and I was fairly disappointed because that's what I was going in expecting. I was especially shocked because it was Boston, and there's such a large Irish community there.

Because of this, and with all the parking and driving woes, I would rate the entire event a 7/10, as opposed to their previous show which would have easily been a 12/10. I don't think I'll go to another one of their concerts unless I can get general admission, and get close to the stage. Being that far away with the poor atmosphere, and with such a high cost, I'd just get the DVD next time. If you've never experienced it before, it's still worth it though. The people I went with thought it was awesome.
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Postby LarryS » Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:21 pm

I've had the pleasure of seeing U2 in California four times. All the shows were remarkable!!! I know what your talking about "The Experience" the vibe was incredible at all shows.

As an American musician I must say IMO that, aside from what I personally witnessed on the west coast, Americans as a whole do not seem to listen/appreciate music as they do in Canada. I happen to be a half breed, my father is Canadian, my mother American. I find that I personally identify with my Canadian brothers and sisters more so than the majority of folks here in my homeland. I must admit I would personally rather play to a half empty room of music loving Canadians than to play to packed house of unappreciative Americans.

I hate to stereo-type but I have found the neoconservative majority here on the east coast of the US really suck.

end rant.
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Postby macrae11 » Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:08 pm

What tours have you seen Larry?

I don't know how many neocons there were at the concert, but I did see one "Palin in 2012" bumper sticker. :shock:

My wife thought it was more because of the outdoor stadium, but in my mind the stadium shouldn't have made that much difference. It just seemed like people were more interested in drinking 9 dollar Coors Lights, smoking up, and partying than getting into the concert.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:14 pm

macrae11 wrote:...but I did see one "Palin in 2012" bumper sticker.

You're clearly making things up now. I mean are they for real?
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Postby macrae11 » Wed Sep 23, 2009 3:01 pm

Yeah it was in the parking lot. I was walking by it and I laughed out loud when I saw it. Then I realized that their window was open and there was someone inside who could hear me, which made me laugh even harder.
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Postby LarryS » Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:34 am

What tours have you seen Larry?


I saw Zoo TV in San Diego and Las Vegas and LA. Then witnessed the first show of the Popmart tour in Las Vegas. I did not think Zoo could be out done. I was mistaken the Vegas show was off the the hook!!!!

The San Diego Zoo show was one of the best concert experiences I've ever had. Just a great vibe. U2's performance for Popmart was flawless!!!

Palin fans should be outlawed!! IDIOTS
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Thu Sep 24, 2009 1:40 pm

LarryS wrote:Palin fans should be outlawed!! IDIOTS

No offense... but the evangelical movement in your country that allows her to exist and matter irks the fuck out of me. You guys have a 35% chunk of your populus that was convinced that dinosaurs roamed the earth 4000 years ago. WTF, over.
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Postby LarryS » Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:36 pm

No offense... but the evangelical movement in your country that allows her to exist and matter irks the fuck out of me. You guys have a 35% chunk of your populus that was convinced that dinosaurs roamed the earth 4000 years ago. WTF, over.


No offense taken!! It is embarrassing. :oops: I would move to Canada in heart beat...if only I could convince my wife. She not a big fan of change.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:41 pm

LarryS wrote:No offense taken!! It is embarrassing. :oops: I would move to Canada in heart beat...if only I could convince my wife. She not a big fan of change.


That's ok. You seem like a great guy. I won't lump you in with em... ;-)
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Postby Jef » Thu Sep 24, 2009 3:46 pm

Drumwaiter wrote:
LarryS wrote:No offense taken!! It is embarrassing. :oops: I would move to Canada in heart beat...if only I could convince my wife. She not a big fan of change.


That's ok. You seem like a great guy. I won't lump you in with em... ;-)


LarryS is the most Canadian American I've ever met.
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Postby Nick H. » Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:38 am

I heard that they've been playing Ultraviolet as an encore, how was that?
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Postby macrae11 » Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:29 am

That was great, although they played Stay the next night, which I was pissed about because that's one of my favourite U2 songs.
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Postby Nick H. » Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:51 am

macrae11 wrote:That was great, although they played Stay the next night, which I was pissed about because that's one of my favourite U2 songs.


Yeah, I actually liked Zooropa a lot, it was quite different from their typical releases, probably because of how quickly it was recorded...
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Postby macrae11 » Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:01 am

They also had a lot of dance and electronic influence on both that album and Pop, which I think turned off a lot of their regular fans. There's definitely some gems on those albums though, that are often forgotten.
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Postby Nick H. » Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:22 am

macrae11 wrote:They also had a lot of dance and electronic influence on both that album and Pop, which I think turned off a lot of their regular fans. There's definitely some gems on those albums though, that are often forgotten.


I didn't like Pop much at all, except for maybe Starring at the Sun, which is cool when they do a live acoustic version of it.
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:05 am

Nick H. wrote:I didn't like Pop much at all, except for maybe Starring at the Sun, which is cool when they do a live acoustic version of it.


You know, if we had a U2 forum on here, Nick would probably have more posts than me.
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Postby Nick H. » Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:52 pm

Drumwaiter wrote:
Nick H. wrote:I didn't like Pop much at all, except for maybe Starring at the Sun, which is cool when they do a live acoustic version of it.


You know, if we had a U2 forum on here, Nick would probably have more posts than me.


I doubt it, the real reason I've been posting a lot is university, which is awful. My teachers don't actually teach anything, and don't speak english at all. Add to that the wireless internet in all my classes, I think I'm going to have a lot more posts now...
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:54 pm

Good to know!

Start a memoire, be cool like warrbeat and I.
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Postby Nick H. » Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:55 pm

Drumwaiter wrote:Good to know!

Start a memoire, be cool like warrbeat and I.


I probably could with my university experience... I hate it enough to, but unlike you and Warren, it has nothing to do with audio...
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Postby Mathieu Benoit » Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:57 pm

There's a place for that stuff... and I run that place. Come on in!



http://forums.middleaudio.com/viewforum.php?f=4
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