I was going to post this a bit earlier but Since I've seen both U2 & Pearl Jam in the space of a week, I'll do this all at once.

U2 played AAMI Stadium in the Kingdom last Thursday night to a crowd of 60,000 odd, which is the biggest concert turnout since Dire Straits played to 50,000+ way back in 1986 & as big as U2 are, I would have preferred a DS show. From that, you can deduce that I'm a casual fan of U2 (& a Mark Knopfler groupie!), so I have a few of their cd's & dvd's but I was still quite excited about joining in with the 6% of the city attending. I managed to get a good seat & knew that I wouldn't have a view up Bono's nose like those in the semi-ellipse, but having an elevated seat meant I was going to see a hell a lot more in my height challenged capacity. To those who complained that they couldn't see what colour pick The Edge was using, what did you expect in a stadium?!?



Was it a good show? Yeah, & quite spectacular from where I was, but the ability of a really good band was missing. Anyone who has seen the Vertigo Live from Chicago, has pretty much seen the show from AAMI Stadium, which is disappointing because it needing a spark & something completely unexpected to get the crowd going. We'll not mention the big finale with the song Kite, which ended up not floating away but either getting caught in the lighting rig or being captured by a fan (as reported).



If the show had ended after the first encore, which included amazing versions of Zoo Station & The Fly, everyone would have been happier than the rather flat second encore.

Crazy Huh!

Pearl Jam on the other hand played two shows at the Entertainment Centre, worked though 53 tunes of which only 6 songs were repeated during both gigs. Now that's nothing short of impressive!

I was around eleven rows from the stage in the middle with a crowd which bounced with their arms in the air for the duration. That's certainly not a criticism because I did the same & at the end I only have one true regret - I wish I could have scored a ticket for the first show! Thankfully, both shows will be available for download in a few days.



Ed has apparently been a bit ill during the Australian tour but I only found that out after reading it on a forum today. He sounded in top form & seemed to enjoy the show, as did the rest of the band. Mike McCready had a great night, playing a massive solo during Even Flow & throwing picks in every direction. Side note: I just saw one of Mike's picks on Ebay for $50. The seller says it's rare, but considering how many he threw last night, I would say they're quite plentiful!

A couple of t-shirts later & my current season of concerts is over until February next year when Eric Clapton rolls into town.