Archive for Europe
U270°
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Side view of the U2 360° Stage known as "the Claw". This photo is from the July 17, 2009 Croke Park show in Dublin. Note the stage, outside circular walkway, and floating bridges.
This year, I repeated a favorite experience – that of seeing U2 live in concert, in their homeland city of Dublin no less. This tour follows what I consider a lackluster album release. The tour however has a complex stage (which reminds me of the Pop Mart tour with the huge lemon) providing the audience with what is billed as an unobstructed 360 degree view of the band. The stage is also designed to allow the band to interact with the audience. The stage layout is an extension of the previous Elevation and Vertigo tours where walkways allow the band to venture out from the core stage. The core stage for this tour is a large disc surrounded by a circular walkway connected to the main stage by two floating bridges. The whole complex is topped by an four post umbrella to which the speakers and video system are suspended.
Photo provided by my friend Mark Coffey in Ireland of the U2 360° Stage with the spire lit. This photo is from the July 17, 2009 Croke Park show in Dublin.
A vertical spike adds visual depth as well as the strobe and moving light systems. The full effect of the lighting system is best seen from a distance as the sheer scale of the structure prevents one from seeing the tower from close-up. This structure is visually stunning. As the night draws darker, the stage begins to reflect the color of the lights used, much like a chameleon matches its surroundings. For the show in Croke, it changed between its natural light green and orange through dark green, yellow, orange, light and dark blues and red.
The video unit is rather unique. At first look, it appears as a smooth screen for all sides of the stadium. This whole structure can also move vertically as needed.
Notice the topmost position of the video screen in this photo by Mark Coffey.
Notice the screen lowered in this photo by Mark Coffey.
The most intriguing aspect of this display is that it can change shape (see photos).
Note the geometrical pattern the screen is comprised of. Photo by Mark Coffey.
The geometrical pattern in the screen expands, effectively doubling the size. You can see the expanded screen in the top portion of this photo by Mark Coffey.
Notice the screen expanded to its maximum size in this photo by Mark Coffey.
Enough about the stage – let’s move on to the band.
I titled this post U270°. It’s sort of a joke, as Croke Park required modifications to the stage which eliminated the far section of the stadium as usable seating. So much for 360 degrees. I wish that was the only reason for the post title. The band hardly moved from their positions on the main stage. There was very little interaction with the audience in a manner provided for by the stage design. The set list provided a nice balance from the catalog of songs and the band as usual performed at a top level. The newer songs worked well with the stage design and the 2 hour concert seemed to pass by very quickly. I look forward to comparing this European show to the upcoming Atlanta show in the US.
360° Tour 1st leg: Europe
2009-07-27: Croke Park – Dublin, Ireland
Support Acts: Bell X1, The Script
Setlist:
1. Breathe
2. No Line On The Horizon
3. Get On Your Boots
4. Magnificent
5. Beautiful Day
6. New Year’s Day
7. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / Movin’ On Up (snippet)
8. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
9. Unknown Caller
10. The Unforgettable Fire
11. City Of Blinding Lights
12. Vertigo
13. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight / Relax (snippet) / Two Tribes (snippet)
14. Sunday Bloody Sunday / Rock The Casbah (snippet)
15. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
16. MLK
17. Walk On / You’ll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
18. Where The Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love (snippet)
19. One
20. 40 (snippet) / Bad / Fool To Cry (snippet)
Encore(s):
21. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
22. With Or Without You / Shine Like Stars (snippet)
23. Moment of Surrender
Were you at the show? What did you think?
Don’t let unrealistic expectations skew the experience
Posted by: | CommentsI write this as I am being served coffee and breakfast about an hour and a half of remaining flight time from Dublin Ireland. That’s not all. The flight has a complete entertainment package of individual movies, tv shows and games all delivered to your seatback video display. The only item lacking – the new wireless WiFi service from GoGo! How dare this flight not offer it! Of course, I am being sarcastic. I may have been planning on writing a few e-mails, modifying some blog settings, etc. How quickly, I forget this capability didn’t exist a few years ago.
That brings me to the main reminder – we all take things for granted. sometimes they are large things, and sometimes they are the small details. Seriously, I was planning on doing a little bit of work. I figured I would not be able to sleep on the flight – luckily, that premise proved incorrect. I was also going to log on so that Barb could do the provisioning for a last minute order she received while we were at the airport waiting for our flight to leave. This item remains to be done only because the website was not very friendly to the iPhone’s Safari browser. OMG! – Again sarcasm. We, collectively as a society, have become reliant on instant gratification. And sometimes, that desire for instant gratification gets in the way of customer service.
In this situation, I could go away thinking about all the things I couldn’t do or that I didn’t receive because I am used to them elsewhere. Or, as the Irish say, I can enjoy the craic (good fun). I may not get instant gratification, but being able to write a blog post at 30,000 feet as well as queue up some e-mails for delivery later is just plain cool.
So where have your customer experiences been skewed by your own unrealistic expectations?
