As many of my friends will tell you, I have often sworn off of going to concerts at football stadiums. Not only are the venues beyond huge for a musical performance, but the huge crowds also tend to lend themselves to various frustrations. So, when I first heard about U2 kicking off their North American 2009 "360" tour at Chicago's Soldier Field, I said "no thanks".
However, my wife was being sent to McCormick Place for a trade show that her employer was having a booth displayed. She was going to be working at the booth from Friday thru Monday. She was looking for something to do for the weekend, and came up with the idea of trying to see U2 on Sunday night. It turns out that Soldier Field is within walking distance of McCormick Place, so I said maybe I'd come along. She asked if I could find some tickets. We found a guy on CraigsList who was in Grand Rapids, but had two spare tickets for Sunday night. He had bought four, and could only use two. He was letting me have the other two at face value. So, we took the chance, got the tickets, and had a surprisingly good time.
We walked over to the stadium, from the Hyatt hotel. I waited until we got into the actual venue before pursuing some souvenirs. In 2005, we remembered getting U2 tour shirts that ended up being "form fitting". So, I had my wife help me come up with a choice that hopefully is a bit more "loose' fitting. They had a nice "Soldier Field" specific shirt, but those were mostly sold out by the time I got to a vendor (I checked about 4 different tables). So, I settled on a shirt and a program. I chose to use a credit card, and their "wireless" systems were running very slow. Turns out that some of the stage technical gear was causing problems with other systems around the stadium. I'm sure it had something to do with BlackBerry sponsoring the showing - LOL.
The "360" tour features a custom "spaceship" stage, with a 360 degree minimally obstructed view of the band. There is also a 360 degree video screen that would descend and ascend as needed. Check around the internet for details, but the story we see says this contraption takes 2 days to put up. To say massive is an understatement. Yup, it's a bit much for 4 guys playing music on stage.
Opening band "Snow Patrol" kicked things off right around 7:15pm (local time). They played about 40 minutes of very U2 influenced pop (think a more bouncy Coldplay). They were OK.
Around 8:30 local time, the lights went down, and David Bowie's "Space Oddity" started playing. After the first verse, a separate ambient track came in, and the band emerged from a back stage entrance. They individually walked up some stage stairs, with drummer Larry Mullen being the first on stage. Edge, Bono, and Adam followed, and the band kicked into songs from their new CD. Sorry, I can't remember the song titles. Check here for setlists
The band played a little over 2 hours. There were plenty of songs off the new CD, and they seemed to be picking other "obscure" tunes. We still got staples like "With or Without You", "Where the Street Have No Name", "Vertigo", "Beautiful Day", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", etc. But we also got treated to "Until The End Of The World", and a nice acoustic version of "Amazing Grace". What we didn't get was "Pride (In The Name of Love)".
Edge seemed a bit more animated that I remember him being in 2005. Bono seemed to get the most enjoyment out of being close to the audience around the stage perimeter. Adam is adequate, and does what he is supposed to (the luckiest average bass player on the planet). Larry actually impressed with his consistent drumming all night long. All four worked well as a single unit.
The stage is amazing, and they must have an entire I/T department to keep the thing running. It's a technical marvel, not unlike some of the best ideas Genesis has had in the past. And each band member did make at least one complete trip around the entire outer circle.
In general, I'd say the show wasn't quite as "energetic" as the 2005 show we saw in Detroit. This year's setlist didn't seem to pack the same punch, but the band was more interactive.
The attendance numbers have indicated there were around 65,000 people there. For that huge of a crowd, U2 still managed to make it feel like a much smaller venue. Bono truly tried to connect with the audience.
I'd say it was worth the trip, but I'm not sure I'll be endorsing the football stadium concert idea yet. It's still something very few bands can pull off. U2 is a rare group in the regard.
Keep in mind that U2 is coming up on 30 years since their first CD, and it still is the same four guys. Not bad, if you ask me. They seem to continue to evolve and yet maintain their own style. I don't mind calling myself a fan.
One point of note: This is the second time my wife and I have gone to Chicago to see a band that was not making a stop in Detroit. Chicago is becoming the town to see the "special" shows. Sorry Detroit.
Thanks to Scott for setting us up with the tickets.
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