U2 in Toronto – recap
U2. SkyDome. Toronto. 60,000 of my closest friends. My wife beside me the whole time. Doesn’t get much better than that. My first – I’m hoping not last – time seeing U2 live and from what I hear these guys are on the top of their game.
The show ran 2+ hours and U2 pulled out all the stops – the local Toronto references to Yonge Street and the Toronto International Film Festival, old and new favourites and of course the ridiculous stage setup nicknamed “The Claw”. Everything about the night was impressive – the look of the SkyDome with the roof wide open and the CN Tower looming overhead, the ridiculous LED screen above the stage, the live concert DVD quality content that showed up on those screens, the audio mix, on and on and on.
A couple of strange moments – at the end of one song Bono’s wireless mic began losing signal and there was a good amount of static for 15 seconds or so. I’m sure someone got fired. Then towards the end of the first set, things turned a little and became less about “the show” and more about U2′s message. For this tour, the band is focusing on raising awareness for the situation in Iran as well as in Burma and they used two songs – Sunday Bloody Sunday and Walk On – to do that. To be honest, I’m a bit beyond artists using their platform to simply “raise awareness” for issues without giving the audience an opportunity or an encouragement to be mobilized in some way. It seemed to lessen the original significance of those songs and the Walk On moment, particularly with the volunteers holding up masks and walking the stage, came off a bit high school talent show for U2.
(Hit the pause button. I’m not saying that the two issues they are hilighting are not worth the awareness. I’m saying that the WAY Bono and U2 did it seemed to be very disconnected from the rest of the night.)
All in all, this was a night I hope I’ll never forget. It was worth every dollar, every moment, every bit of lost sleep once we finally pulled in to our driveway at 2:30 in the morning knowing our kids would wake us up four hours later :)
If you want a bit more of a play-by-play of how the night progressed, here’s my twitter feed from the show –
#Toronto #theclaw on Twitpic">
#Toronto #theclaw on Twitpic" target="_blank">#U2 #Toronto #theclaw
#panorama on Twitpic">#panorama on Twitpic" width="631" target="_blank"> The roof is open at SkyDome for #U2 #panorama
iPhone battery is proving to be pretty lame compared to BB Pearl I switched from. Not sure if it will last.
Space Oddity. Here we go!
“We’ll take this spaceship and boldly go where this rock band has never gone before!” -Bono. #U2
– Get On Your Boots. I don’t really believe what I’m seeing. #U2
“I’m not a stranger in the eyes of the Maker” Bono is preaching it. #U2
I Still Havent Found with a choir of 60,000. I think I just peed myself.
– Look up. Look waaaaayyyyy up.
A kid named Lucas is living a memory he will never forget. #U2
“Blessings. Not just for the ones who kneel, luckily.” -Bono. #U2
It cost $40 million to build this stage. I hope the guy who designed it got paid at least that much. Ree. Dick. You. Luss.
– We’re having a little church tonight. Here’s the steeple. #U2
– With or without. #U2 Skydome as a snowglobe.
The biggest question I’m left with after the #U2 show: What am I spending my life on? Thanks fellas.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
