1. In this series we will be regularly interviewing fans during the tour to ask them about their personal experiences. Today we have an interview with darlingnikki44, who attended the first and second Denver shows.


    "Having seats one night and being GA the second night was the perfect choice!"

    You attended both Denver shows; which was better in your opinion?
    I had tickets for seats the first night, which was great to be able to get the overall effect of the show and see all of the visuals, but had much more fun during night#2 when I had GA tickets and was right down by the "e" stage -- so I'd have to say the second show

    U2 have a special history with Denver, and these concerts were just around the 32nd Red Rocks anniversary. Did you get a sense of that during the shows?
    Bono talked about it the first night, with it being the day after the 32nd anniversary. I liked the story he told about how bad the weather was and how they thought about calling it off, but it went on anyway... We thought for sure we were going to hear "40" during one of those nights, but unfortunately it didn't happen...

    Did they play a song you didn't expect to hear? And did you expect any song that didn't get played?
    The first night seemed pretty standard for this tour, but loved hearing "Stand By Me" at the end of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". The whole crowd sung along as the band walked off stage. LOVED hearing "Volcano" and "Ordinary Love" on the second night!! I love "The Troubles" and would've liked to have heard that live. And while ending with "One" was beautiful during night#2, I still would've loved to hear things end with "40"...


    Where were you standing or seating in the venue? How was your spot regarding the visuals and sound?
    Sitting in the first-level arena seats on the first night was great for getting the overall effect of the show -- it's hard to see everything that is going on when you're down on the floor. (I think one of my favorite parts of the show is during "Until the End of the World" when Bono appears to have Edge in his hand up on the big screen... That part wasn't the same from the spot where I was, down by the "e" stage...) Having seats one night and being GA the second night was perfect! I thought everything sounded great both nights, I like how the speakers are suspended from the ceiling.

    Were you trying to be spoiler-free or already knew some (or all) details of the show? Did you regret or enjoy your approach, whatever it was?
    I couldn't help myself at the beginning of the tour! I started reading the reviews and checking the playlists, then once they were in San Jose, I started downloading recordings and listening to the live streams every night (thank you, Sil Rigote and U2 Start!) No regrets at all -- listening to the shows has made me feel like I was there (almost...) But, while I'd watched a lot of the Meerkat streams, I hadn't watched much video, so that was really cool to see how it all came together. l like to know what to expect when I'm going to see U2, there's a "comfort" in it for me. And, that approach makes it even better when they play a song we're not expecting!

    Are there any ways in which you think the band could improve their current setlist?
    Of course, I think the most common request we have as U2 fans is for the band to add more variety to their setlist from night to night, but having listened to most of the shows on this tour so far, they seem to have been trying to do this where they can -- I hope this continues and it's not just a matter of them trying to find their rhythm... It does seem as though they're conscious of the fact that they should change it up from night to night when they're in the same city, so that is awesome for those of us attending multiple shows in one city. It seems as though they've shortened the setlist by one song since the tour started, so I was a little disappointed about that. That being said, I like the flow of this show and am overall happy with the songs and versions (love this version of "Until the End of the World"!!) they've chosen to play. "Streets" will always be my favorite live song, so I'm glad it's still around. Hoping we'll see more surprises as the tour goes along, like "Crystal Ballroom"...

    And here's hoping they come back to North America and to TEXAS after going through Europe…

    ---

    Thanks a lot, nikki!
  2. Great interview! I have to agree that doing a GA/seats combo pack does allow you to get the best of both worlds. I did that with my 2 LA shows, but in reverse (1st GA, 2nd seats). From reading these interviews, there's a huge sense that there's a lot to get from being both near to and far from the stage.