U2start.com | Shows | 2015-11-02 - London, England

Audience microphone

Origins: Audience microphone
Credits: Chris Voynet (Audio Taper)
Equipment: Neumann KM 140 (Microphone), Zoom H6 (Audio recording device)
Lineage: Neumann KM140's > ZOOM H6 XLR STEREO > SANDISK ULTRA 30mb/s 32GB
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Downloads: 511

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Bit depth: 16, sample rate: 44100, channels: 2

Audio / MP3

Bit rate: 192, bit depth: 16, sample rate: 44100, channels: 2

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Here you can find and post reviews of this show. We encourage everyone that either attended or listened to this show to write a review. Currently we have 4 reviews for you to read.

review by u2fancat

8 years ago

Performance

This was one of those nights when Bono wanted to connect with the audience - there was that kind of mood in the room, and when his voice broke I think it was with emotion. So there were two songs where he removed his glasses, and during Volcano he reached into the audience, just to hold hands..

Sound

This part is only rated, not commented on

Audience

The crowd was extremely lively - the first Mexican wave I've seen in London went around 2.5 times, before stopping at our section (boo, hiss!). And you know, it's just nice to be close to the energy of the floor.. and again, they were in fine voice. Nobody famous came onstage that night, but the mood was fantastic, and we don't need gimmics. This is what really makes a U2 show great.

Overall

The boss & his wife were to come to this concert too, but he did warn me that there might be a last-minute hitch. All went well though, and while on the Tube at Victoria, I got a text from him saying they were on their way - I eventually met them at the O2. Speaking of Tube journeys - now, this was my fifth trip in recent times to the O2, travelling at roughly the same time every day, but that night's was by far the worst overcrowding I've seen. The District Line was crammed, although I had got a seat after just one stop, conveniently. But changing at Westminster was a nightmare, and it wasn't until the fourth train that I managed to squeeze on..

The fog had lingered, lending the O2 something of a surreal appearance.. I made my way in past the merchandising stalls - considered buying another t-shirt, but you know, I already have three from this tour, and am planning to buy a Dublin-specific one too! So I passed, and headed straight to Water Margin, wanting to have as much time as possible to eat. I asked for a table for three, ordered a drink, and started on the buffet. I was on my way back to the table when my companions arrived. As it happened, they weren't terribly hungry, and skipped dinner, just having drinks. This turns out to be perfectly ok as long as you mention it to a server, who will make a note on the drinks bill that some people weren't eating. The bill is only for drinks, you see - the food is fixed-price, and unless you tell them otherwise, they'll assume you had dinner.

I was stuffed by the time we left - just before 7:30, with probably an hour to go before showtime. We all used the same entrance, and after a cursory bag check we were in. I alighted from the escalator at Level 1 - they were up in the gods, at Level 4, and had another escalator to climb. I am assured that they had an excellent view though, just a bit far away. As for me..?

I was pretty goddamn close to the stage! It turns out that Row C is the front row, so I was only two rows away from the floor - Red Zone, in fact. And had a better view than they did. Not only that, but I had an aisle seat, so could move a bit to the side and had the space to jiggle around as much as I wanted! As more people moved onto the stairs, later in the show, no stewards came to move them in, either. Which was nice.

After a blistering start, Bono had a little chat with us, telling us how they came there last night by boat, and how amazing the light looked, refracted in the fog: like a Turner painting. The couple beside me - Portugese, I think, having sneaked a look at her text messages - can't have been to any of these shows before - they were suitably surprised at some of the video tricks. For once, Bono's wife was NOT in the house! At the start of Song for Someone, he remarked that he missed her.

Bono flings sheets of poetry into the audience towards the end of the first set - gee, I was nearly close enough to get one! but not quite. However, I was close enough to the i stage that I'm sure he looked right at me at one point - he could hardly have missed me, frankly! Hard to tell with the sunglasses, though.

As for famous people - well, Jimmy Page and Brian Eno were mentioned as being in the audience, as well as Peter Rowen, the boy on the cover of the Boy and War albums, who's now a photographer. And someone in the row just behind me - whom I only noticed on the way out - was the spit of Dave Fanning, who was the first Irish DJ to play U2 on the radio..