Verdict on U2?

[tevaburger]

Very disappointing.

[anoldhippie@60]

Always wanted to see U2 and was not dissapointed. Loved it

[CaledonianGonzo]

It was a game of two halves, I think. They came out of the traps swinging like prize fighters and pumelled me into submission with hit after hit and with the Zoo TV-style word-blip graphics.

However, the second half of the set was more uneven, with the more recent stuff certainly not having the clout of the Achtung Baby and Joshua Tree tunes. This was particularly felt with the encore and it became apparent that there'd be no BB King guest-spot. Inevitable with the rain and King's seeming infirmity, I suppose, but a little bit of a downer.

All in, not a complete triumph but not a disater, either. Bono's nerves were evident, but even as someone quite sceptical about him he really didn't put a foot wrong, at least with regards to his onstage banter.

However - their crowd seemed pretty petite. I got into the arena 20 minutes before showtime and walkin ghere I couln't help but notice the pyramid field was almost empty. I'm sure it filled up a bit, but the fact that Beyonce was a bigger draw by miles can't just solely be down to the weather...

[wbarenno]

I have seen u2 on the vertigo tour and the 360 tour and they are by far the best live band ive seen. The sound on the 360 tour was by far the loudest clearest bang on sound ive ever heard at a gig , when you think 2 of the claws legs have the same or more speakers then that of the whole pyramid field.

I was right at the front for the gig which always helps , i remember going to see oasis in 2004 and i thought they were great but i think that always goes down as one of the worse sets ever at glasto , but i was right down the front loving every minutes of it.

Back to U2 the opening song was very rough in my opinion the edges guitar was too low i couldnt hear bono very well and the remix sounded different to the one ive got use to from the 360 tour. Then all that changed when it came to the fly then from then on in they were great i thought. I thought the set list was great but the sound did go abit low towards the end.

All in all a great gig at the time i thought it was the best id seen them but on reflection 360 in dublin and cardiff was problay better mainly down to the sound.

I think it came across great on tv after watching it back

[jimmyt]

However - their crowd seemed pretty petite. I got into the arena 20 minutes before showtime and walkin ghere I couln't help but notice the pyramid field was almost empty. I'm sure it filled up a bit, but the fact that Beyonce was a bigger draw by miles can't just solely be down to the weather...

[Morse Code]

A huge disappointment.......... but I don't blame U2 for it.

It was a fantastic set list (as a 41 yr old with a love of their earlier stuff I honestly couldn't have asked for more) and Bono was totally respectful to the festival and not preachy at all.

The problem was that I'd built this up in my own mind pre-festival (actually pre 2010 festival!!) to be the event of a lifetime and it was ruined by the weather.

Due to having a baby with us we'd positioned ourselves towards the back of thd field. The plan was that my wife and daughter would stay there with the baby and my son and I would get towards the front. As it was so miserable I couldn't bring myself to leave them so stayed at the back.

The sound was absolutely shocking (particulary the 2nd half when there was presumably a sound fault?), the people around us clearly didn't know much of the material and either failed to join in any crowd participation or just talked loudly through the entire set, and the wind and rain had long since soaked us through.

I went back to our CV and cried a little.

[the_hedge]

A huge disappointment.......... but I don't blame U2 for it.

It was a fantastic set list (as a 41 yr old with a love of their earlier stuff I honestly couldn't have asked for more) and Bono was totally respectful to the festival and not preachy at all.

The problem was that I'd built this up in my own mind pre-festival (actually pre 2010 festival!!) to be the event of a lifetime and it was ruined by the weather.

Due to having a baby with us we'd positioned ourselves towards the back of thd field. The plan was that my wife and daughter would stay there with the baby and my son and I would get towards the front. As it was so miserable I couldn't bring myself to leave them so stayed at the back.

The sound was absolutely shocking (particulary the 2nd half when there was presumably a sound fault?), the people around us clearly didn't know much of the material and either failed to join in any crowd participation or just talked loudly through the entire set, and the wind and rain had long since soaked us through.

I went back to our CV and cried a little.

Edited June 28, 2011 by the_hedge

[kokoku]

You're the first to mention a sound fault - I got the impression there was either a fault with Bono's mike, or he had trouble with his voice - during Bad. Ge usually belts out the And so fade away... I'm wide awake... part at the end, but on Friday seemed a bit quiet for one of the reasons above. It kinda felt to me that that threw people, so people weren't singing along as much as they might have. And it seemed that the Edge just launched into Pride to pull things back. From that point on they just seemed to lose their way a bit for me, as it felt that something wasn't quite right.

Having said that, I was fairly near the front (about two thirds back towards the sound desk), and the opening Zoo TV (the first time I saw them) looked and sounded incredible, and already seemed way better than the 360 show. They seemed to have a real urgency about it, and the rain seemed to give it a suitably dramatic edge. (Although I suspect that would have been lost further back up the hill).

People talk a lot about moments at Glastonbury, and whilst it may not have been for everyone, I did think the link up (I'm guessing pre recorded, but have read that it was live?) with the space station was pretty incredible.

The setlist overall was almost as good as it could have been I think - the opening Zoo TV section, plus a good selection of other stuff. Perhaps they could have done a few others, but its all personal preference. I think City of Blinding Lights could have gone down well, and Unforgettable Fire is an obvious classic. If Moments of Surrender was a wrong move, maybe something like Love is Blindness or Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World would have been more familiar. Or maybe end with something like Running To Stand Still (if they want to close with a slower one). And I love Ultraviolet. heck, they should have just played all of Achtung Baby, and then a greatest hits set!

As for Bono's preaching, I sometimes think that a lot of people have just read so much about it, that they're preprogrammed to think that he does way more than he actually does. Case in point, I saw Mark Thomas in the Cabaret Tent, and the compere guy over there had a dig at Bono for complaining about his jet lag through the set by way of apology for a lack lustre performance, and how it was alright for him, swanning in, staying back stage as a VIP, and still whinging. Which got a big cheer from the crowd. Never mind that all he actually said was something about how it felt very special to be there, maybe because of the lay lines, maybe because of the jet lag, but whatever the reason, it felt special to be there.

And so I'm sure people will have spread that they'd heard Bono was a whinging git the whole show, and the whole Bono is an arsehole thing self perpetuates itself a little bit more.

Edited June 28, 2011 by duklaprague

[ministe2003]

Thought they were superb, it was basically a best of but lets be fair to U2, they've had so many hits that a full Best Of set would last for hours and hours so you have to accept that they might not play your favourite. Miles better than the preachy bore that I saw in Manchester a few years ago. My only disappointment was that BB King didn't come out for When Love Comes To Town. I thought since they were on the same stage on the same day a duet was inevitable!

[MummaMoto]

Coldplay pissed all over U2! Fact..

[ministe2003]

You're the first to mention a sound fault - I got the impression there was either a fault with Bono's mike, or he had trouble with his voice

Edited June 28, 2011 by ministe2003

[Big Vern]

as a "hits" only U2 fan, I had a fanf**kingtastic time! Was about 3 deep from the front barrier and thought it was an excellent show. The guys perform effortlessly and from watching the BBC coverage and the post-show interview, they seemed (apart from Larry) to really enjoy it and be genuinely concerned that they got it right, without been too slick (take note Beyonce).

There was no preacyness at all, unlike Morrissey beforehand

Larry stated in the BBC interview afterwards that he struggled with the distance between them and the crowd which I wholeheartedly agree with, there is too much of a gap at the Glasto stages between acts and fans.

Plus the weather was horrendous.

Starting to get a bit pissed off with the comparisons of the crowd sizes though tbh. Who gives a flying fart through a donut if Beyonce or Jessie J got bigger crowds than U2 or Primal Scream etc! It's obviously down to the demographics given the amount of pre-pubescent kids there wetting their pants over pop acts and for them there was probably nobody else on that they were torn to see during those 2 acts. Whereas for the older music fan, there was probably 3,4 or 5 other acts on at the same time to choose from. I was gutted I couldn't go and see Primal Scream, but was rewarded with an excellent U2 gig imo

Edited June 28, 2011 by Big Vern

[the_hedge]

I thought they were absolutely rubbish.

I'm a fan of U2, I saw them at Wembley last year and was absolutely blown away, they were amazing. This was the opposite. The sound was terrible but I was stood to one side and the weather didn't help, so I'm not laying any blame at their door for that (although I had other friends stood elsewhere who felt the same). My main gripe was the set list - I thought it was appalling, overly self indulgent, and crowd unfriendly. I've loved the last couple of albums apart from the lead singles, so I'm usually prepared to see a couple of numbers I don't enjoy, but on Friday the lows just kept coming. The encore was terrible apart from With Or Without You, and Jerusalem? Bono didn't even know the lyrics (sadly becoming more frequest these days when he steps away from U2 stuff). As for Bono himself.. that was my other gripe. I'm not one of the Bono haters (in fact I think the criticism he gets is for the most part unwarranted), he's not everyone's cup of tea but he doesn't bother me, however - his performance on Friday was embarrassing. He spent far too much of the show focused on the cameras & the TV audience (doco prob coming up I'm guessing), and generally acting the clown, then engaging the crowd, which is unforgivable at any gig, nevermind Glasto. As for the whole thing with the guy in the space shuttle - I almost turned and left. Ridiculous. Without a doubt the most disapointing performance of the week for me.

[the_hedge]

Fair enough, I did mention that I haven't been a fan of their recent single choices and most of them got an airing, and obviously you you can't please all of the people all of the time, but I am surprised to see so many positive reviews when I, and many of my friends, thought they were pants.

[fat_man_joe]

Did not impress me at all. Fair enough I only really know the big singles, but even they were just alright. I was expecting to be blown away. I had a bit of a sing a long to the big hits, but the ones I didn't know just melded into one. It jsut seems strange they're so huge, yet bands I'd never even heard of impressed me 10x more.

[jimmyt]

Coldplay pissed all over U2! Fact..

[airwaves]

Felt it was a 'dialled in' performance at best

Weakest Pyramid headliner of the weekend

[elias]

I fully enjoyed their set despite the bad weather. Having said that I can understand the view that it didn't quite live up to expectations. It never really became an 'iconic' Glastonbury moment.

I feel sorry for some of the really huge name bands at Glastonbury. The expectation levels are so great that it wouldn't matter if they bent over and pulled live badgers out their arses, some people would still say it wasn't enough. Bruce Springsteen suffered from this as well to an extent. How do you win over the neutral when they are expecting the greatest live act on earth?

Edited June 28, 2011 by elias

[windy_miller]

I thought they were great, but yes the encore was badly judged. They should have ended on With Or Without You which was the song of the set I think.

By the end of the the performance though I was completely drenched and drained and after trudging back to the tent, had to go straight to bed.

[Gregcharlie]

Most bands look bad on television though, there is no replacement for actually being there in the midst of it all.

Will say I wasn't that close, (not too far from the second barrier and to the left of the sound stage) but I thought they were incredible. I didn't wear a poncho all day, was soaking wet by the end of the night but U2 really were brilliant. And this was just after I'd seen Radiohead.

[sifi]

How do you win over the neutral when they are expecting the greatest live act on earth?

[Weekend Cigarette Smoker]

Not a U2 fan but friday changed my opinion of them. I wasnt expecting much but I really enjoyed it. Maybe it was my lack of expectation (I only watched them cos' my mate is a massive fan) that led me to enjoy it so much

[Dan R]

I really enjoyed their set and it does annoy me when people say about how they didnt have as many lights or fireworks like coldplay and beyonce, when before everyone was wanting them to do a stripped back set. I think the big thing was that there were so many neutral people, and unlike the other headliners, their hits aren't as recent and recognisable.

[redmosquito]

I thought they were average at best. It all felt too rehersed for me, there was nothing there to make it a stand out gig and I never felt for one minute that what I was seeing would sound in any way different from any of their other gigs. surely a band that has been together as long as they have can improvise a little? Also the whole spaceman thing was total bollocks, it just shows that they need to rely on fancy crap to feel comfortable rather than their skills as musicians to put on a good show. It was all way to over produced and practised for me I'm afraid.

The sound and weather didn't help but I don't them being any better would have turned it into a stand out performance.

[Bobser]

Just looking back over the footage on the tv....it doesn't really come across that great tbf. They should have had faith in the BBC rather than hiring their own personal director. The shots were terrible, not nearly enough shots on the crowd. Also, the few shots on the crowd were pitch black. Too many things went against themon the night....some self-inflicted and some not. As someone mentioned earlier, a 7/10 that should have been 9/10.