My dad (far right) looks like The Edge plus glasses in this photo!
Yes it's true, I was very fortunate to attend the U2 concert last Wednesday (That's how long I've held off publishing this blog; the concert was October 28th)! Let me tell you that it was UNREAL! I probably shouldn't try to describe it in words because it would not do the concert justice. The Black Eyed Peas opened up, which was quite strange considering their genre difference. But they performed amazing and our crew (consisting of my bro, cousin, and sis; photo below) were the only ones up and dancing in our section. 'Meet Me Halfway' was defs one of the best songs they played. 'Where is the Love?' was also stellar (as always) and it got people finally going too! They closed with 'I Gotta Feeling' and it set the pumped-up mood for U2's set! It was during the intermission between bands when I found out I was sitting beside the top field manager for all of the Western Canadian Boston Pizzas! With him was the manager of the Pembina Boston Pizza here in Winnipeg! It turns out that this concert was his 13th U2 concert that he's been too (I can't exactly remember the number, but it was shocking)!! So, after talking about random Winnipeg things for about 5 mins, I scored a free pizza and soft drink coupon (coo-pon, not cue-pon!) for BP!
I was overwhelmed with excitement as the lights went down and the show was about to begin! I must have had chills during each song. U2's performance and the effects from their amazing "claw" stage just blew me away! It was just phenomenal. They went through their newest album No Line On the Horizon, while playing some of their well known favourites from U218 Singles as well. Here are some very interesting facts about the stage that they used:
It's dubbed "The Claw" and was dreamed up over dinner in 2006 with a model built using forks. It has a spaceship-like design and has four leg-like steel structures with a massive video screen suspended, looming in the middle. The total weight is around 54 tons and is 27 metres tall with the central spire extending another 22 metres! The stage was built from scratch at a reported cost of $30 mill! It takes four days to set up, so to keep the tour moving, three versions of the stage travelled across North America ahead of U2! The video screen itself weighs 48 tons and is made up of 888 LED smaller screen segments which open up/spread apart vertically to cover 14,000 square feet (it grows to seven stories). Each side of the stage has its own full-sized sound system, with more than 450 hidden speaker cabinets. There are two rotating bridges that connect the main inner circular stage to the surrounding circular catwalk and between 5,000 and 6,000 fans are able to watch the show from inside that space. There are hundreds of lights everywhere (and a lightning-arresting disco ball, whatever that means) and three spotlight operators per leg that follow the band in 360-degree rotatable followspot chairs. The show also uses 47 smoke and haze machines.
So this concert was ridiculous! To sum it up, this stage was off-the-hook which resulted in an off-the-hook show! Take a look at this time lapse video displaying the setting-up of the stage!
What a great night! One to remember, for sure!
Here is the fam dance crew who danced the night away!
crap...that would have been a SICK show. and yes: COO-pon, thumbs up.
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