So this is something new, I’ll try to do two show reviews,
same band, same tour, a few weeks apart.
U2
TD Garden, Boston MA
Thursday June 21, 2018 (Night 1 of 2)
Then
Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
Tuesday July 3, 2018 (night 1 of 1)
The two shows ended up being my 23rd and 24th
times seeing the band (at least I am pretty sure, I’ll check my information and
make the edit) Basically seeing them is
not a “new” thing for me. Over these
years, tours and shows I’ve grown to expect certain things, hope for more
things but always leave pretty happy I went through the effort of getting
tickets and getting to the show.
For the Boston show I had GA/floor tickets. I have been VERY lucky the last few tours in
that I’ve been getting GA tickets with relative ease (knock on wood) and at
face value. The pre-sale has always
worked for me which is a good thing.
My pal Doug and I took up a spot about 15 feet back from the second stage. The second stage was towards the front of the
area, nearly using the whole floor as a catwalk to get there. Having seen the previous tour where this same
lay out was done I knew where I wanted to be.
For me, being taller is a help. I
settled in towards the back and took in the show. Once the band did their “second stage”
portion I was 2-3 people off the rail and was able to be “one of those people”
where I watched more of it than I should have through the lens of my camera
phone (camera phones have lenses right??).
It was a solid show and the band did focus a LOT on the new record,
which is fine. It has grown on me over
the past few months and the songs are solid live.
For the second show I was behind the stage. I actually did this semi on
purpose. Mohegan Sun was added late, it
is and was the smallest venue on this leg of the tour, and to my surprise was
only about a 10 minute longer of a ride than a show in to Boston would be for
me. Being the night before the 4th
of July (ie No work) I looked in to tickets.
Tried for GA, but was only pulling tickets further away than I’d like
and for more money than I’d have liked.
I saw $40 options for tickets so I tried, it was behind the stage and I
said why not? They were cheap, I’d be in
the building and I’ve been VERY lucky with tickets in the past so maybe this
is/was some sort of sacrifice for the other fans in that I’d give up my “good
seats” in the hopes the ticket gods would bless me down the road. We shall see.
My wife came along to this show. We don’t’ get to many shows together but she
said she had a good time. I felt bad due
to the sight line(s) and all that. Even
though she didn’t know much of the new stuff she said she had a good time. The balcony was steep and most people around
us were either standing for the rowdy songs, or sitting for the other
tunes. I just played along largely just
taking it all in. The second stage stuff
was pretty lost to us. The huge screen
that separates the floor was basically right in front of me so it was impossible
to even see Larry sitting at his drum kit.
I hate to watch shows on the screens, but I was glad they were there.
The venue was pretty good for a show and I think I’d try to
go again. Would have been nice to have
made a night of it, stay down there but a $500.00 per night room rate kept me
out.
Here are the two set lists and I’ll break some of that down. Actually, it is just one since it was the
same both nights.
TD Garden and Mohegan Sun Set lists:
Love is All We Have Left
The Blackout
Lights of Home
I Will Follow
Gloria
Beautiful Day
The Ocean
Iris (Hold me Close)
Cedarwood Road
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Until the End of the World
(Second Set)
Elevation
Vertigo
Desire
Acrobat
You’re the Best Thing About Me (acoustic)
Staring at the Sun (Bono/Edge) (acoustic)
Pride
Get Out of Your Own Way
American Soul
City of Blinding Lights
E:
One
Love is Bigger Than Anything in its Way
13 (There is a Light)
Okay, so time to break things down some.
The band opens with three brand new tunes. That is okay, it is after all, a tour for the
new album. For “Love is All we Have Left”
Bono is inside the screen about ½ way in to the area and then the full band
joins him. Sort of a neat touch to
immerse yourself in the crowd early on.
I’ve seen “I Will Follow” a lot. It is a fun tune, but it’s sort of a tired
workhorse for them. They’d been teasing
the Electric Co a few times and that would have been a bit more welcome. I think it’s time to sit on I Will Follow for
a bit. “A Day Without Me” would be a
nice as would “Stories for Boys” heck blow our mind with “A Celebration”, that
would be wild. All that being said “Gloria”
was fun to hear and I am not sure I’ve hear it very much, if at all in all the
years I’ve been seeing them. “Beautiful
Day” is still fun and gets people going.
“The Ocean” tease was really a chance for Bono to talk as they lead in
to “Iris (Hold Me Close)” which is a song that builds and the payoff is usually
good. I see this song going away though
(like “Kite”) after this whole tour is done.
“Ceadarwood Road” had the same intro and graphics as the previous
tour. Feels played out and campy
honestly, but that riff the Edge has is awesome. This leads in to a stripped down version of “Sunday
Bloody Sunday”. Here the band all comes
to the catwalk and Larry just has a single snare drum. The tempo drops considerably and the message
feels a little lost. The band does some
heavy reliance on the graphics. I am
torn on this tune. The full “Under a
Blood Red Sky” version I could do over and over again, a stripped down version
is not really a favorite. The first set
wraps up with “Until the End of the World”.
It was neat to see this from the stage view as Both Adam and Larry
return to the stage, but Edge and Bono do a catwalk thing and then disappear
down under the stage from the front.
There is then a few minute break as the second stage gets
set up and a piped in version of “Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me” is played
on the PA. I don’t miss this tune at
all.
The next six songs are done via catwalk and second
stage. If you have GA this is great, if
you have behind the stage a lot is missed.
“Elevation” and “Vertigo” still get the crowd worked up and they are
fun. “Desire” was thrown in there and
they put a little twist on the tempo. It’s
more of a sing along tune these days than a breakout. The band did dust off “Acrobat” from “Achtung
Baby”. A track many fans have waited
years to be performed live, we got it. “You’re the Best Thing About Me” was
done full band acoustic. I think this
tune will stick around, but I’d like to hear it “electric” next time
around. Adam and Larry disappear and Bono
and Edge play an acoustic “Staring at the Sun”.
Its okay, never been a huge song on my wish list of songs to hear live.
“Pride” follows. A
this point Bono is on second stage, Adam and Larry are now on small stages
about ¼ back from the main stage and Larry is on his drum kit. I like how the band continues to be “approachable”
in the sense of getting out there “close” to the fans. Pride has been a staple of the set lists for
ages and when it comes on the radio I usually roll my eyes and move on, but
live it always grabs me. Two more newer
tracks in “Get out of Your Own Way” and “American Soul” get us just to about the
close and we bang out “City of Blinding Lights” as the closer. This is another track I’ve always been sort
of “meh” on, but live it just goes up a level.
For now, I hope it sticks around.
The band leaves and we get a three song encore. “One” is up first. Here is another one that I’ve heard countless
times live and, much like Pride, I skip over it on the radio, but live it pulls
me back in. “Love is Bigger than Anything In Its Way” translates well but down
the road, if it remains, its better suited for a mid-set “mellow” section. The final track is “13 (there is a light)”. The band played this on the Joshua Tree 30
tour and I left. Night 1 in Boston I
also left. In CT I stayed through the
end. It’s honestly a pretty lousy closer
after a pretty high energy night. Bono
walks the catwalk, then in to the crowd and out one of the side exits…show done. Sorta of anti-climactic, but it is what it
is.
U2 has been doing this for a long time and I will continue
to listen to/buy their new material and see them live when I can.
As a longtime fan my wish list is probably not unlike anyone
else’s. Toss out some of the same old
staple tracks, dig a little deeper in to your 40 years of history and make each
show be “unique”. I was saying to my
wife it would have been nice that if in CT on the final night they pull out
something they hadn’t done on the tour.
I am not a huge fan of bands with a catalog like theirs doing cover tunes, but
heck “All Along the Watchtower” as an example is a basic tune for them to toss
out there.
The shows all skipped Joshua Tree tracks. This was okay, but man “Where the Streets
Have No Name” is sorely missed.
Songs from this tour/shows I wouldn’t miss:
Sunday Bloody Sunday (this version at least), I Will Follow, The Ocean, Iris,
Cedarwood Road, Desire and Staring at the Sun.
Songs I’d really love to see come back:
Surrender and or The Refugee from War.
They’ve never played The Refugee Live so maybe this can be the new “Acrobat”. “I Threw a Brick Through A Window” would be a
trip as would “Zoo Station”.
So you are probably wondering what did I really think?
The Good – The band still sounds great. You can tell they like what they do and enjoy
playing live. I didn’t hear bum notes
and Bono seems to realize his vocal limitations which is good.
The Bad – stagnant set list.
There are just no “surprises” to make the evening feel like you REALLY
had to be there. Sightlines for night
two were a drag, but night 1 made up for that.
In conclusion – They still have it. If you are a casual fan this tour might not
have been for you. Lots of focus on the
new stuff but they give you a bang for the buck. Considering they are in their late 50’s they
still give a good 2hr+ show. See them
while you can, but seeing them on multiple nights is probably not necessary.
Finally...tail of two "views"
Boston:
CT:
Labels: live review
