U2 Croke Park 2009 - all discussion, no ticket sales.

D-Boy

They played Stay which was from POP buy was the most conventional song on it.
I felt the concert was really to suit people who bought the Greatest Hits etc cos they didnt play any of the gems that you find in the old albums.
Ill watch the Zoo TV Sydney show on dvd later now that was a show!

mad dave

782378 wrote: »

Was in the Cusack premium stand for the gig last night, could feel the stand swawing up and down when everybody was jumping to certain songs, Kinda freaked me out, did anybody else notice this?

Yes we did too. We were in upper cusack 704. We thought the show was amazing. Best live gig we ever seen, definitely beats the Stones in Slane two years ago. It's the first time we seen U2 live and we were not disappointed. I coud hear Bono's voice fine most of the time, the odd time he seemed to have lost his voice but most songs you could hear it clearly. And the guitar sounds and keyboard sounds were fantastic. Very clear. I think the lads enjoyed doing the show, you should have seen the look on Bono's face when people were continuing singing the songs after they were finished... He was loving it!

jasonb

D-Boy wrote: »

They played Stay which was from POP buy was the most conventional song on it.
I felt the concert was really to suit people who bought the Greatest Hits etc cos they didnt play any of the gems that you find in the old albums.
Ill watch the Zoo TV Sydney show on dvd later now that was a show!

Stay ( one of my favourites ) is actually from Zooropa. I love hearing a song they don't normally play ( like Ultra Violet or Unforgettable Fire last night ).

Zoo TV in Dublin was my first U2 show and will always be a special memory for me, it just blew me away...

J.

D-Boy

Sorry got albums confused doh!

magicwok

Just as well he didnt sing Miami, new orleans, london, belfast and Dublin cause that just wouldnt have sounded well, now that i think of it Dublin is such a crap name for a place

thatsnotmyname

Went to Croker last night and friday night
Fantastic performances
Glad to say my faith in large concerts has been restored since the Slane Shambles good to see a real show and a band who actually wanted to be there ! !

The Edge was on fire! that stage is class
Nice crowd ,Great atmosphere ,very little Q's, two great nights

Thanks lads.

HorseRadish

5th and 6th U2 gigs for me Saturday and lasy night,better than the "rehearsal" in the Nou Camp,Saturday was the best but last nights ticket was 30 quid so cant complain

Dcully

Ive followed this thread from beginning to end and the general concensus seems to be the concerts rocked bigtime.
I must agree,i was at Friday nights show and it was the best gig ive ever been to, closely followed by U2 slane and ACDC in punchestown.
Nice to see the many u2 haters we have here on boards stayed out of the way in this thread

wow sierra

Brilliant gig - I was in the upper Hogan but would have preffered to be on the pitch where it must have been amazing. Even where we were the crowd were jumping around dancing etc. and at least you had a great panoramic view. Some people saying the pitch looked empty??? Seemed to be a huge crowd on it - nearly full.

Some of it I hated - shouldn't have started with Breathe,( probably should never be played live IMO) Get on your boots is another one I wouldnt play but if they had to maybe they should have started with it at least. I'll go Crazy if I dont go crazy tonight is my favourite track on No line so I hate that they messed with it - would love to hear it done live the original way. I think it would be a great stadium song. Despite that the remix was actually great and I really enjoyed it.

Anyway on to highlights City of Blinding lights worth the entrance fee(and justified the Claw which I had no interest in seeing) The light show for that was brilliant, great song then straight into Vertigo. Brilliant. I think just after that Bono started preaching and brought down my mood - but thats his right!!!

Stay ( Far Away So Close) and Walk On and Unknown Caller were excellent.

Having seen them in Croker in 1985 - when they were like the Script and thrilled to be playing there - I really enjoyed the old anthems like New Years Day, Unforgettable Fire, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride and Bad. Thrilled to hear Bad - even if it wasnt the best rendition of it.
Think Moment of Surrender is the perfect song to finish with - I think it worked very well.

All in all at times Bono seems arrogant, some of it seems overly stage managed(well most of it;)) but at the end of the day it was still an excellent 2 hour plus entertainment. Before it I wasnt really looking forward to it - now I am thinking of looking for tickets for some of the rest of the tour.

PS: The Script were brilliant. Had the crowd in their hands. It was a pity there was such a gap after they finished before U2 came on.

Nunu

Was in the pit for all 3 concerts. Saturdays edges it for me - the boys were on top form all 3 nights but the whole crowd was more into it on Saturday. On both Fri and Mon the stands were like statues for the first half hour, on Saturday everyone was up dancing the moment they came on stage.

Saying all that the most memerable moment of all 3 for me was last night during 'One' when virtually the whole stadium had their phones in the air - some sight looking behind us all around the stadium.

Really thought they'd push the gig on until 1115:(
Heard them play 'I WILL FOLLOW' 'and 'ELECTRICAL STORM' right through in their soundcheck - but didn't feature last night, would have been two great tracks to end the gig.

wow sierra

The stewards wouldnt allow people to stand where we were for the first bit - I suppose people are entitled to be able to see while sitting. Everyone got up for after while though.

Also maybe some of the people who were sitting in their seats for the gigs are U2 fans for the last 30+ years who maybe are gone beyond the "Pit" stage of their lives. Been there, did that in the 70s and 80s. Doesnt mean they werent enjoying the show. Just a thought.

Rosser

wow sierra wrote: »

Having seen them in Croker in 1985 - when they were like the Script and thrilled to be playing there .

U2 headlined the Croke Park gig in 1985 and were supported by REM so they were hardly like The Script now were they?

wow sierra

I was there - I know they headlined:rolleyes: My point was they were thrilled to be there headlining. Still at the stage where they were thrilled with their sucess. That was the comparison I was making - not very well obviously.

TarfHead

Rosser wrote: »

U2 headlined the Croke Park gig in 1985 and were supported by REM so they were hardly like The Script now were they?

Are you sure ? I think I was there in '85 and I thought it was The Alarm who supported them ?

[Edit] My bad - that was 1987

melekalikimaka

anyone got info on the residents protest? i was doing take down and we had to stop at 3am, the residents went on protest ove the gig. cost the band/mcd serious money. and delayed the trucks... more than likely missed their ferry to sweden...

ascend

Lastnight was unreal. I was in the pit.

During the soundcheck earlier that evening, they played I will follow, Electrical Storm, Drowning Man (from War album) and New Years Day. Unreal.

Jason D

Dcully wrote: »

Ive followed this thread from beginning to end and the general concensus seems to be the concerts rocked bigtime.
I must agree,i was at Friday nights show and it was the best gig ive ever been to, closely followed by U2 slane and ACDC in punchestown.
Nice to see the many u2 haters we have here on boards stayed out of the way in this thread

I was there on Friday too and have to say it was unbelievable. I'm not the biggest U2 fan in the world and had my doubts before hand to be honest, but was blown away.

People complaining about a subdued atmosphere or the first four songs obviously weren't in the pit where it was crazy from the word go.

I've been in the pit for lots of big gigs recently and there was nothing like the celebratory atmosphere and jumping about – probably because it was properly jam-packed unlike others I've been to.

When the bridges moved over it was just insane. A brilliant, brilliant gig.

Lucky for us it wasn't a full 360 as well – got to see far more of the band.

If I had one slight negative it would be that the first two thirds was so consistently brilliant that the end was a bit of an anti-climax – it peaked at City of Blinding Lights for me and then they seemed to stop using the walkways as much.

Agree on ACDC - just knocked down the order for me too. And my head doesn't feel like it's been hit by a sledgehammer four days later, which helps.

cork*girl

782378 wrote: »

Was in the Cusack premium stand for the gig last night, could feel the stand swawing up and down when everybody was jumping to certain songs, Kinda freaked me out, did anybody else notice this?

ya, I was in the Hogan Stand on Friday night and I could feel this too. Freaked me out aswell - we are fairly high up like! Fantastic Gig.

McGrath5

I'm suffering today from yesterdays concert, totally worth it though. Is anyone here going to the show's in Wembley?

kennyu272

Perfect Choice wrote: »

I'm suffering today from yesterdays concert, totally worth it though. Is anyone here going to the show's in Wembley?

Yeah i'm heading over to the first wembley show on the 14th august.
It will be my 5th show of this tour.(barcelona,dublin1,2,3)

grimm2005

melekalikimaka wrote: »

anyone got info on the residents protest? i was doing take down and we had to stop at 3am, the residents went on protest ove the gig. cost the band/mcd serious money. and delayed the trucks... more than likely missed their ferry to sweden...

I was also doing load out. Found the whole protesting very annoying. Was supposed to be working till at least 6am meaning obviously more pay but could also get a first bus home. Had to get a taxi thanks to that.
Yeah, i heard their ferry was at 4pm or so today, really can't see that happening now.

gscully

kennyu272 wrote: »

Yeah i'm heading over to the first wembley show on the 14th august.
It will be my 5th show of this tour.(barcelona,dublin1,2,3)

You're a lucky sod Kenny

Tell me...is it true that the volume used in Croke Park is not as loud as at other venues? I'm thinking if that's the case, I'd rather venture further afield to see them next time. There are too many issues with Croke Park that seem to put a small dent in the enjoyment (such as curfew, Hill 16 etc). Saturday night was amazing though - just a shame I couldn't buy the t-shirt on the way out like I did in 2005

kennyu272

gscully wrote: »

You're a lucky sod Kenny

Tell me...is it true that the volume used in Croke Park is not as loud as at other venues? I'm thinking if that's the case, I'd rather venture further afield to see them next time. There are too many issues with Croke Park that seem to put a small dent in the enjoyment (such as curfew, Hill 16 etc). Saturday night was amazing though - just a shame I couldn't buy the t-shirt on the way out like I did in 2005

I thought the sound on friday when i was in the redzone was perfect and loud.Saturday on the other hand it seemed very low i was lower cusack.Last night the sound seemed loudest of all i was hogan upper in line with the stage.So i think the sound varys in relation to where you are in the stadium.

jclare56

heya,

I was there on Friday evening, thought it was a great show to be honest. I was on the pitch and there was a great atmosphere - at first I was a little disapointed that you couldnt bring drink on to the pitch , but then I realised it is much better without people going to the bar the whole time.

The sound was good on the pitch, but I thought they could have played more songs from pop...

acdc just about pip them for gig of the summer - ya just cant beat angus

robby^5

grimm2005 wrote: »

I was also doing load out. Found the whole protesting very annoying.

I'd say the residents were a little more annoyed than yourselves.

Not only do they have to put up with the setup for and actual gigs themselves, but to have that followed by 44 hours of continous work in stadium with trucks coming up and down the roads is ridiculous. It's not the residents fault that the schedule for the next gig is so tight, they should have thought about this to begin with.

Must say I really feel for them after seeing this on the news, what an insult after what they already have to put up with.

HorseRadish

gscully wrote: »

You're a lucky sod Kenny

Tell me...is it true that the volume used in Croke Park is not as loud as at other venues? I'm thinking if that's the case, I'd rather venture further afield to see them next time. There are too many issues with Croke Park that seem to put a small dent in the enjoyment (such as curfew, Hill 16 etc). Saturday night was amazing though - just a shame I couldn't buy the t-shirt on the way out like I did in 2005

You can get some tour shirts at u2.com,dont see the Croker ones up yet though.

HorseRadish

Was hoping to hear Electrical Storm especially after the soundcheck...no joy though:(

kuku

i was on Friday night and last night , and as many people here i think it was good craic and wouldnt complain about atmosphere at all, taking the fact people came there from work and with another early morning in mind - it was very big crowd and very good atmosphere. I think on saturday everyone had a time to go for a pint or two, have a bit more fun at start;) and during the gig too, while people yesterday had to consider next day as a work day, not lie in day...
i thought the performance wasnt any worse and really wish i could go to some of next gigs in Europe...

HorseRadish

kuku wrote: »

i was on Friday night and last night , and as many people here i think it was good craic and wouldnt complain about atmosphere at all, taking the fact people came there from work and with another early morning in mind - it was very big crowd and very good atmosphere. I think on saturday everyone had a time to go for a pint or two, have a bit more fun at start;) and during the gig too, while people yesterday had to consider next day as a work day, not lie in day...
i thought the performance wasnt any worse and really wish i could go to some of next gigs in Europe...

Yeah me too,just checked some of the hotels around Wembley and Hampden,either sold out or ridiculous prices

evolutionix

was at the friday night gig and also last night.monday won hands down.bigger crowd and the crowd was also more up for it imo. super weekend. sound and the whole gig was top class. 10th time seeing u2 and last night was electric! forums wouldnt survive without critics but i thought the concert was faultless!