U2

Last night went to see the final U2 show at Telstra Stadium. It was a fantastic show, and Niki and I had a brilliant time. Seats were B Reserve which meant at the far end of the stadium but with elevation. This meant we were able to see the full (read 4 story high) video wall front on and the light show was excellent. Sound was clear with the exception that you had to strain to hear what Bono was saying when he went into his little monologues.

This all was a damn sight better than when Niki and I saw U2 at the SFS during their Zooropa tour (was that 1994??). That day, the sound was crap and the show was ruined. But last night, for the first time ever, I had a good experience at an outdoor concert. We only got the tickets on the cheap after one of the girls at work couldn’t go, so I am glad I went.

The concert itself was excellent with a mix of very old and new songs. In the very old playset was New Years Day; I Will Follow; October; and amazingly the very old B side song Party Girl. It seemed that the only people who knew the words to that song was myself and the guy on the other side of Niki. Everyone else around us was “huh?” and even U2 themselves stopped mid way through when Bono apologised for stuffing up the lyrics and called the band together half way through the song to sort it out.

“I know a girl, a girl called Party… Party Girl!”

Anyways, the night was also excellent on the transport front… drove from the city and parked at Lidcombe (across the road from Rookwood Cemetery – Niki was most impressed) and jumped on the Sprint Train into Olympic Park. Met Niki outside the bar at the Novotel and spent about half an hour inside with a beer and listening to the Rattle And Hum cover band. Then it was a kebab and straight into the stadium with no hassles.

Coming home was easy as well and I was really glad my car was at Lidcombe instead of trying to get a train back to the mountains as it was a pretty late night… the show finished after 11:00pm.

So in short, for those of you yet to see the show in other cities – enjoy!