zooropamofo

Red Zone was brutal on this tour for me, and I've been doing RZ since 360. They jammed in way more people in on this tour, compared to the IE version. It was longer, skinnier, and further removed from the stage. The RZ bar service at previous shows on 360, IE and JT ran until last call as it would anywhere else in the arena, and on this tour it shut down before the show even started (like 8:05pm)! I can appreciate the contribution that the RZ ticket makes to a worthy cause, but strictly from an enjoyment perspective, the RZ experience for EI completely sucked compared to the 360, IE and JT versions. I enjoyed night 2 closer to the B stage.

I know some of these are pipe dreams, but.... Dirty Day Last Night On Earth Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses The Electric Co. Summer Of Love The Blackout Kite New York Heartland Van Diemans Land Hawkmoon 269

I heard from a reliable source that there are venue holds on the Air Canada Centre that prevented U2 from working Toronto into this leg of the tour. Most likely the reason for no arena show, as there is no other suitable venue in the proximity other than Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. They should have played Ottawa though, while they were that close to MTL. Ottawa is a strong market for them and would be a guaranteed sell out for multiple nights at CTC.

Full arena lights on, Living on a Thin Line (The Kinks) as intro music, waiting for the band to come on, at end of song kill the lights) love is all we have left (lights go out, arena is completely dark, band is on stage but we can't see them, Bono is singing) you're the best thing about me the blackout until the end of the world gloria red flag day new year's day lights of home city of blinding lights get out of your own way american soul the fly (lady with the spinning head snippet) then back into the fly acrobat desire (full band) down to the b-stage (arena is black, freedom for my people is playing) summer of love (b stage) the little things that give you away (b stage) bad (starts on b stage, band moves back to main stage) where the streets have no name with or without you band leaves for short break please/sunday bloody sunday (transition at part where sbs drum fills enter please single) i will follow vertigo one (hear us coming lord) lights come up, wake up dead man plays in background

Good perspective.

Ordered The Blackout on vinyl. The closest vinyl shop to me is 1.5 hrs away. I called that shop today and just asked a simple question: Hello! Would you be able to confirm if you are offering U2: The Blackout as part of your Black Friday Record Store Day selection? I didn't ask them to hold a copy. I didn't ask for multiple copies. I didn't even ask for the price. The answer, in a rather rude and condescending tone: We DO not discuss what the in-store offerings will be. That's the point of Record Store Day offerings. That's the policy, you HAVE TO come to the store, no exceptions! I politely noted that the only reason I was asking was due to the fact that I have a long commute to the store and I just want to know if I have a shot at a copy. No dice. I should note that I have worked retail non-stop for the past 22 years, so I do know a thing or two about customer service coupled with bricks and mortar retail. Also, when I contacted the same store this past spring, they gladly advised that they had limited stock of the Red Hill Mining Town RSD Vinyl...so I went to the shop and bought a copy of RHMT along with another $110 of product. Retail is quickly evolving, and there will soon be no line on the horizon between a physical store and web offerings. I always try to support local stores, but with service as such...I just said "to hell with it", pulled out my credit card, and snagged The Blackout online. Sure I paid more, but at least I am guaranteed a copy. Rant over....thanks for reading, lol.

Love The Blackout....YTBTAM really grew on me after a few listens, American Soul sounds pretty cool, and Get Out Of Your Own Way is a bit too syrupy and some of the lyrics make me cringe. Overall, I feel optimistic about this album and I am really looking forward to it.

Apologies if this topic is opened already, but I see a second Montreal show listed now for Wednesday, June 6th.

Good perspective and insight!

It doesn't cost anything to think, and I was pondering this last night: Something that U2 could consider for future tours, when playing during the spring/summer/fall months. Based on fan feedback from the experience, innocence and Citi presales, a significant portion of U2's devoted fan base simply wants access to great rock 'n roll with GA admission. This concept runs counter to an arena style tour, simply due to the fact that you can't fit 15,000-20,000 people on a hockey arena floor. What about a companion event? Example: the band books the arena tour. We all know that corporate "ins", season ticket holders, venue and promotional holdbacks etc, etc. impact the supply of tickets that are available in US/Canadian arenas. So fine, proceed with the arena dates that they want to have, let's say for the sake of argument 2 shows per arena. But for each city, they could also do a mostly GA concert at a location such as the Hippodrome in Montreal, Trafalgar Square in London (I know this would require approvals and planning for some spots), Central Park in NYC (again, approvals) etc. etc. Don't worry about intricate and costly conceptual staging...just two large video screens and a simple, effective festival style stage. Sure, they could offer a bit of expensive VIP side-stage seating at these "GA" shows for the people who want to feel special about themselves (like we do in Ottawa, ON for Bluesfest) but for the most part it would be one, simple affordable price (say $100.00 per GA ticket, all fees/taxes in). This would take care of four requirements: 1-It would increase the supply of U2 GA tickets in a given market for those who wish to see a U2 show from that vantage point, thereby impacting the pricing that scalpers can charge: More supply = less demand = lower prices. 2-It would still allow U2 to play arenas with their tour-specific conceptual staging, and stay profitable. Remember, the staging/setup for the GA larger venue/field show would be far less intricate and costly to setup, tear down, and run. 3-It would satisfy those who wish to see the tour in the arena as it is currently, have the disposable income for premium ticket prices, while also offering some GA options and sensible pricing in the arena for those who are lucky enough to score the seats. 4-It would give the band an opportunity on the GA specific show to deviate from static set lists, play new tracks, b-sides etc. since a larger proportion of that audience is likely to be of a die-hard, longtime fan type. I think without a rigid structure to adhere to, U2 could really do some amazing things and let the music speak for itself....maybe re-discover the "Slack Alice" sound, as Bono once said. I know that you can't please everyone, and unfortunately, the current model being employed doesn't seem to be pleasing anyone. Bottom line, as a concept, this would produce a show that a lot of die hard GA loving U2 fans would probably appreciate, and make more GA's available to the general public. If the power of technology can weed out scalpers, the power of technology could also go a long way to making such shows special...think of a live Twitter fan vote for a segment of songs to be played during the show. Personally, I love all of U2's work, would go to all types of shows, and I am not a huge fan of GA. My wife is 4' 11" tall, and I'm 5' 7". So unless it's a stadium show, GA is useless to me because someone taller than me always blocks my view. Therefore, I tend to spring for the seats, or Red Zone on this tour. I'm lucky in that I am ok with paying for the VIP Gold or Silver seats. I don't spend on much else unless it's guitars, U2, Bruce Springsteen or Eric Church, and I know the days for which I'll be able to see Bruce or U2 perform are numbered. So though I think ticket prices have gone up significantly, I realize that supply and demand sets the market and I cut back on other expenses where I can to subsidize my concert fix. Anyways, YMMV, just some thoughts, I realize that some of these ideas may run counter to the basic concept of economics.....coincidently, so did the ZooTV tour ;-)

I'll actually be quite happy when this whole I&E / E&I staging setup is retired for good. I find it to be obtrusive and divisive to a great concert experience. Some of the best shows I have ever seen were from the opposite end of the arena from the stage (Vertigo, Toronto 2005) where you get to really take in the entire perspective, Streets alone from that vantage point is amazing. On this tour, those seats have been reduced to limited view and wasted. The sound on this tour will be excellent, through their recent advances, but I really hope they take a step back and exercise a sober second thought about that screen down the centre. The cons far outweigh the pros IMHO.

The Toronto Maple Leafs won't go that deep into the playoffs, so plenty of opportunity exists for E&I shows at the Air Canada Centre ;-) Having said that, I snagged Montreal with my experience code, and I'll wait to see what shows/cities are added later.

2 Redzones for the missus and I. I didn't have any issues during the experience presale. Was in & out in 4 minutes. I also think we are lucky to have been through Evenko, sounds like TM was a disaster.

The Blackout would be a killer opener for sure, followed up by The Electric Co!

That Nassau plan really doesn't appear correct. The staging is a rehash of the I&E stage, according to every other link. It won't be revised for a single show. The mix control section is where the B-stage goes, and there are no red zones indicated.