peterferris8

Hoping Wild Horses comes back at some point, glad to see Acrobat hasn't been ditched yet. Think it's a shame they're not doing the third verse on New Year's Day this time round, because the Joshua Tree tour rendition of it was absolute perfection. Still a pretty brave setlist overall. This is quite a minor complaint but I'm not keen on the blue lighting on the stage floor for this show; it makes the room look kinda cold. I preferred the yellow stage floor lighting on I&E, but again, this is a pretty minor complaint. One thing I will say looking at the choreography for this tour I have no clue where in the arena I want to be standing. For I&E it was an easy decision - Edge's side, near the main stage - all round a pretty good view as a result (though I couldn't see Bono when he went screenwalking during Cedarwood Road, and had to tiptoe to see the band when they were on the b-stage). For The Joshua Tree tour it was even easier: close to the tip of the b-stage, and as a result up close to the band when they came down to it and also a great view of the main stage and screen. For this tour I have absolutely no idea, because theoretically wherever I stand I could be close a member of the band at any one time. My brain hurts!

Just finished watching all the footage on YouTube and my God...that looked and sounded incredible. For a tour opener it wasn't as ropey as the opening nights of I&E & The Joshua Tree '17 sounded. Bono was maybe a bit scratchy in places but he always seems to get the hang of it further into the tour (sounded incredible at Twickenham last summer two months into the tour). Adam's bass tone and playing sounded pretty gnarly in places. Setlist wise that's pretty ballsy. Some really good cuts in there we haven't heard in a while...All Because of You, The Ocean, Staring At the Sun, Wild Horses...all sounded great. And ACROBAT! They actually went and did it! I'm sincerely hoping they don't relegate any of those songs to the "rota" (where it gets played one night then doesn't get played the next) because I was kinda gutted not to hear A Sort of Homecoming last summer. I'm really happy they're still playing some of the best tracks from SOI - Iris, Cedarwood Road and Raised By Wolves were all highlights of I&E for me so I hope they stay. The SOE tracks are sounding good too, although frankly the new version of Best Thing probably isn't gonna be a highlight for me when I see them this October. Also, I'm a bit gutted they're not including Little Things, because that's by far the best song on the album and possibly of the last 10+ years, and was a highlight for me last summer. I'm hoping it gets added further down the line, because hearing the album version for the first time brought me to tears. When I read the Rolling Stone interview with Edge last year where he touted the idea of not playing anything from The Joshua Tree I was kind of torn on how I felt about it. I still am as of having just watched all the footage from the show to be honest. While it's nice to get a break from WOWY and Bullet (can't really speak for Still Haven't Found as I only heard them play that last summer) there's something about a U2 show without Streets that doesn't quite sit right. Hopefully it gets added further in. In regards to the stage show, the augmented reality section looked impressive - although I do hope that Bono starts actually singing Love Is All We Have Left rather than letting the PA do the work. Seeing MacPhisto back was something else, and the way Bono seemed to just transform into him between Desire and Acrobat was superbly creepy. The AR thing is cool but I'm definitely gonna make sure my phone's fully charged before the journey from Brighton to London! This has definitely got me shivering with anticipation for the O2 in October. Just gotta hope that setlist stays (roughly) the way it is now!

Seating layout for San Jose. Looks like it's going to be the same stage layout as I&E.

I just watched the entire thing. Was great that they intercut One Tree Hill with tributes by other bands and artists, and the sheer variety of performers that came and played the show just shows how much Chester meant to so many people, myself included. Amazing gig.

Also, just watched last night's One Tree Hill for Chester Bennington. Goosebumps.

So ends a spectacular tour. Here's picture I took from 8 July in London, best show I've ever been to - only thing that could have possibly outdone the Innocence + Experience shows I saw (my first U2 shows) was The Joshua Tree tour. Roll on Songs of Experience - and the Experience + Innocence tour!

Apparently extra cameras were present at the second night in Rome.

When I arrived on Saturday the venue staff were handing out numbered wristbands of their own. I was #689. So hopefully that deals with the check-in system.

I think with sound it depends on where you are in the stadium. I was lucky to be directly facing one of the speaker stacks hanging over the stage so I got a nice, clear sound (although not as good as the I&E sound, mind you).

Last night was just the best. Wish the same for everyone going tonight!

Trying to upload photos but can't, link here: http://peterichardferris.tumblr.com/post/162782277137/saw-u2-at-twickenham-stadium-in-london-last-night

Gotta say, absolutely stunning. Best gig I've ever been to by a country mile. Thought Bono was on great form, got shivers when he started singing Bowie during Bad. A lot of people on here thought the daylight start would affect the visuals, particularly during Streets, but trust me, the contrast between a blue early evening sky and the bright red of the screen looked amazing. NOEL PLAYED WONDERWALL! That came out of nowhere, wasn't expecting it at all. I was quite close to the tree stage, so even though the band were far away for most of the set, I had a good view of the screen, and when they came down to play the first 4 songs, it felt like we were right in the heart of the action. Was great to hear The Little Things - my appetite for SOE has only been whetted! Getting Noel up at the end was something else - it's normally the second night of the two-night stopovers that get that it was a great surprise. Even though the setlist is pretty short, it still feels like an all-nighter, particularly during the Joshua Tree section. Exit was a massive highlight. Overall, just incredible.

No worries! And you thought right. Have to say it's a bit weird how one line has been started for 2 separate entrances.

That feeling when four Irishmen appreciate the British emergency services more than our own government... (apologies if this is off-topic)

I don't know at this stage. I know an unofficial fan line has been started across the street from the stadium but I haven't been able to find any word from the venue or promoter on it. I'm probably not arriving until around 12pm so I'll be quite far back but I hope the venue do have some kind of official wristbanding/numbering routine in place - I feel sorry for the people who arrive to queue all day at 8am but arrive to find 100 people who turned up 2 days ago, put their name on a piece of paper and then went back to their hotel for 2 days are magically in front of them without even being there.

The unofficial fan-run queueing system really annoys me. I'd much rather everyone stuck to the guidelines set out by the venue/promoter.

Any word on whether the venue are handing out GA wristbands?

Current forecast for tomorrow:

Here we go! Been waiting all year, can't wait to finally see this tour for myself.

Soundcheck is underway!