Comments on: What if I just want to see the band?

By: brett (macmango)

brett (macmango) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:05:11 +0000

These are dangerous little devices, indeed. Perhaps by 2013 the fascination will have faded, and we’ll go back to our disarmed approach to concert going. Or, even better yet, U2 will put it all out there so we don’t have to make our own scrapbooks; commercial audio and video ‘bootlegs’ produced overnight and distributed electronically. How long to sing that song?

By: p8ru2

p8ru2 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:30:16 +0000

360 Chi1 was the first show I’ve ever brought a camera to in a three decades worth of concert going, and mainly b/c I was hooking up with international friends met from the boards here . I’ve always otherwise been totally into the watching the concert & being in the moment, so I think its a valid point.

Aside from being distracting, annoying & an sightline obstruction, it can most definitely take away from the concert experience. Taking a few snapshots here and there is fine by me but there are some people who take pictures incessantly. I think many of those people are more interested in saying they were “there” than actually being present & listening to the show. (Same goes for the beer quaffers during the main show).

As for arm waving, cheering & singing, that is part of the concert experience for many, myself included. Not 100% of the time either but to be expected & its an energy that U2 and many bands feed off of for their performance.

Lastly – For tapers there could be a separate area for sure but I’d say the primary purpose of a concert is the live experience, first and foremost. Not the photos or boots, which are secondary.

By: m2

m2 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:18:29 +0000

@PACulltion – I’ve seen probably 1,000 – 2,000 photos from this tour so far, thx to reviewing all the fan reviews/photos submitted to U2tours.com. There are hundreds of photos I could’ve used to make the point in this post, all of which have throngs of fans reaching cameras as high as they can in the hopes of catching a photo of the band. The pictures are from throughout the entire concert, whenever the band goes out on the bridges and whenever they walk around the circle. It’s not just one moment, one song, when people are doing what you see in this photo. It’s the whole show.

By: U2isABLE

U2isABLE — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:05:33 +0000

I’ll take camera interference anyday over second-hand smoke or second-hand illegal substance items anyday.

The interesting theme that seems to be appearing – cell phone reception is on overload in the stadium based on certain carriers. I think the photo M2 posted shows why.

By: PACulliton

PACulliton — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:32:46 +0000

There was a lot of picture-taking. (And it wasn’t really a band decision to allow photos… that is something the promoter has the decision-making power over…but when everyone has a device with a camera in it, it is logistically impossible to try to rule it out.)

However, in that shot you wrote about above, I’m about 99% certain that was at the point in the night where Bono requests everyone to take their cells out & light them up. In fact I was disappointed when half the crowd took them down after only a minute into the song.

By: iluvu2

iluvu2 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:32:00 +0000

I am 5ft 4 and was at the u2 Cardiff gig and yes I had to stand on tippy toe and to try and see over raised hands it was not very good as i only wanted to see and sing along with the band, yes bring back fan club only seats good idea. I just want to get lost in the music

By: K2

K2 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:25:57 +0000

All the more reason to line up early for GA – to get a spot on a rail so the cameras can’t go up between you and the band. Thanks for the heads up!

By: miarrem

miarrem — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:08:19 +0000

I never thought about how annoying all those cameras would be – you guys make some great points that really should be considered…

By: sw

sw — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:53:17 +0000

When attending some of the shows of the European leg I really started longing for the good old times when there was no digital photography and people couldn’t take photos or shoot videos with their mobile phones. Though I took a couple of pictures in some concerts as well I must say that I found it sad to witness people holding up their cameras all the time during concerts instead of cheering, dancing or singing. Fact is, the atmosphere in shows was better 10 years ago, and it’s not just at U2 shows, it’s a problem at every concert I’m going to these days. Sometimes I get so annoyed with people who don’t want to put their cameras down. I found the concertw where I didn’t take my camera with me to be the ones I enjoyed most in the end, simply because I could get lost in the music.

By: phunnell

phunnell — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:38:48 +0000

*sigh* I was at both Chicago shows and was thinking that I would love to be able to sit with all the other hard core fans like in the early days when whole sections of tickets were reserved for club members-people who knew the songs, knew when not to let out an ear-piercing whistle (hint-not during One or Walk On or Moment of Surrender), didn’t get puking drunk or call Desmond Tutu the n-word. That last one made me leave my seat, the idiots were just too much to bear. Can we petition the fan club to seat us together?
Aside from the louts, both shows were good but I liked Sunday’s better, Your Blue Room was a fantastic treat! even if only a handful of people knew it.