U2 Experience and Innocence Tour - London, October 2018

Greenwich, London 22nd October 2018

We arrived in London the day before our first concert and soon settled into our lovely apartment overlooking the Thames in Greenwich. We had a meal in the Slug and Lettuce in the O2 and finished off with macaringues which we both loved!

23rd October 2018

After breakfast we went out for a walk. There was a lot of building going on and some new buildings since we'd last been there. We walked right round the O2 a pleasant walk in the sunshine.

Edge looking good, me not lol!

Later we went to the pier to wait for the band arriving, there weren't very many fans. The band's boat arrived and Edge was the first to come off. He was lovely, shook hands and chatted with people. Then Bono arrived and it got a bit chaotic with two big men pushing people out of the way. I just stood back then I noticed that Edge was still meeting and greeting further on so I went across said, "It's me again" and asked if I could get a photo with him. He said of course and I looked behind me thinking Debbi was behind me (to take the photo) and she wasn't. I mumbled that I wasn't very good at selfies (which is true) and Edge immediately said, "I'll do it for you" and took my phone, set it up, was impressed that I had a countdown on it and snapped the photo. I thanked him and he said, "No problem." It was a good photo of him but not so much me lol! Such a lovely man.

We went back to the flat as our friend Marian was joining us there, and, after a cuppa, we all went to the O2 to find somewhere to eat. It was very busy but we managed to find a table at a place called Iguana and had a real good meal there.

Moon rising over the Thames

We then went into the arena which took a long time with all the security checks, but that's not a problem for me, it's to keep everyone safe. We had good seats on the same side as the Manchester ones but a bit higher up.  Again the shows was great, the Zoo section being my favourite part. There was a slight change to it, instead of finishing that section with Stay they did Wild Horses and it was very impressive as the screen came down around them as they played and disappeared from sight. The crowd took a long time to get into the show but they eventually did. Bono managed to mess up the lyrics to One but he covered it up well lol!

Afterwards we walked the short distance home (bliss after the awful hike we had last year when they played Twickenham.) We had some prosecco and chatted well into the early hours.

October 24th 2018

Marian left to go home first thing, I saw her off and then went back to bed as we'd had a late night. In the afternoon we went to the pier again to see if we could meet Bono this time. There was a lovely security woman who was chatty, her main job was in social services looking after troubled children which she loved. She did the security work when she could. At one point some people who were waiting for the London Clipper boat mistakenly stood with the fans, eventually security sorted it, the boss asking us are you waiting for the clipper or ....? So funny, not really trying to keep quiet about who was coming as most security people do.

Bono arrived quite late and although there were more fans they were well behaved. He looked his 58 years (he told a fan further down the queue to wash her hand after shaking his as he had a f------ virus.) He was warm and friendly as usual and shook hands with people, didn't talk much as he was saving his voice. He was soon past us and that was it.

The security woman came back and she was all giddy she had spoken with Bono, Another woman who'd been on the pier had a lovely photo of her with Bono, she was giddy too lol. The effect he has on females!

For this night's show we had GA tickets. Debbi went into the crowd by the b stage but I stood back a bit as I'm small and would just be looking into someones back if I was in the crowd. There was plenty of room and I could easily move if someone got in my way and I had a good view of the b-stage and screen. The show had minor changes from the previous night and the atmosphere was good.

Towards the end I moved to where Bono would walk out at the end and soon Debbi was there too.  Security was keeping that way clear but a woman wanted to go back in the arena and went ballistic when she wasn't allowed to. She roughly just pushed me out of the way, screamed at the security people and tried to hit one of them. Everyone tried to calm her down and she did a bit , she was standing in front of me and I asked her to move which she did. Security ended up letting her back in which I thought was wrong as it only encourages that kind of terrible behaviour. Anyway, Bono passed right by us shortly afterwards as he left the arena and that was the end of the London shows. I'd been a bit concerned about having GA for the show as I'm not a spring chicken anymore but I was fine, I think it helps if you can walk about a bit and lean on things.

Once home we had a few drinks, pizza and chatted much of the night away. I love when we are on tour like this!

25th October 2018

We had decided to have another day in London after the shows as we wanted to do our usual afternoon in Claridges which had become a bit of a tradition for us when visiting the city. We had sharing platters of duck spring rolls and cheese and biscuits washed down with a lovely bottle of white wine. The bar is very relaxed and not snobby at all and you are well looked after without the service being over-bearing. We stayed for three hours and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was a great way to end our visit to London, next stop Dublin!

U2ie Tour, Part One - London, The Tour Madness Has Started!

Saturday 24th October

I know I am guilty of neglecting my blog recently, but I'll make up for that in the next few weeks as the U2ie Tour shows have started for me - at long last. We got the tickets almost a year ago and it seemed so far away, and in a strange way, it also felt unreal, even when my friend Debbi and I arrived in London on October 24th. We had rented an apartment a ten minute walk from the O2 with a glorious view across the river Thames, which turned out to be perfect. We explored the area and got shopping in and had a relaxing evening really looking forward to the concerts to come.

Sunday 25th October

We got up late and had a leisurely breakfast. Later we wandered up to the O2, what an amazing building it is, like some huge white flying saucer. We had a Mission this tour. My friend Debbi and I have collaborated to produce a book of her writing and my paintings. We have put together a first draft and wanted to give one to Bono, and we were determined to fulfil The Mission!

We hoped to see the band arrive but didn't so we had a meal at the nearby Cafe Rouge, I had Garlic Mushrooms and Chicken Breton and a glass of very nice champagne. I will write a full review of the meal at a later date.

Afterwards we sat by the river watching a beautiful sunset then it was time to go into the O2 and find our seats. We got in the queue and waited and waited and waited. It was at least one hour and a half minutes before we got in, never have I had to wait that long to get to my seat at a gig. We found out later that the scanners had broken down. Technology is great when it works.....

Our seats were wonderful, in the lower tier almost directly opposite the e-stage, I certainly was glad I wasn't in the upper tier, very, very high up and scary. At the other end of the floor was the rectangular i-stage which was connected to the round e-stage by a long catwalk. I will be seeing a few shows and won't be reviewing them in detail here, I'll just pick out certain bits.

At around 20:15 Patti Smith's People Have the Power rang out and Bono entered the arena via an entrance just below us, he clapped and ambled along in his inimitable way and walked up some stepa and onto the e-stage. Then the opening chords of The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) thundered out and Bono walked the length of the catwalk and onto the i-stage to join his bandmates and the song started properly. Great start.

I was kind of overcome at the beginning of the concert, it had been a long time coming and right until that moment it had felt almost unreal. Then suddenly there was the band I've been a fan of for 32 years doing what they do best, playing live, and it was REAL!

Photo by Christine Moeller

The sheer power and energy of the opening set of songs, The Electric Co, Vertigo and I Will Follow was stunning, and it was just the four band members playing on the i-stage, no gimmicks just four musicians giving it their all. It really showed how good they are.

The mood changed with he next song Iris, a song about Bono's mother who died when he was fourteen. A huge video wall (almost the length of the catwalk) descended and it showed various images including including his mother. It was incredibly emotional. He said when she died she left him an artist. He was singing about himself in that song, but the gist of it can apply to anyone who has lost a loved one.

This was followed by Cedarwood Road, the street where Bono grew up. Wonderful images on the video wall of the street and images from Bono's youth that it conjured up. At one point Bono got into the video wall and was walking along within the video, very clever. I found the songs from the new album stood up very well live, especially Raised With Wolves which was amazing live.

There was a short interval when a virtual Berlin Wall completely separated the two sides of the audience. Then, one of my favourite new songs, Invisible, began. Then there were areas where the wall disappeared and showing glimpses of the band members inside the wall. It's hard to explain really, but it was very cleverly done and so in tune with the song. I think initially some of the audience thought the images of the band were part of the video, not humans within technology/

Photo by Christine Moeller

Bono got a woman up for Mysterious Ways, Trish from Canada, whose vintage style must have caught Bono's eye. She was really good, she danced well and flirted with Bono but didn't go too far. She was given a phone to film the audience which apparently was being broadcast live all over the world.

A few songs on they did a reworked  Bullet the Blue Sky, which was absolutely amazing! At one point Bono argued with his 19 year old self who said he sold out and had private planes and lots more. At the end Bono said wearily, "I know,  I know." We are all very different people from when we were 19. Edge's guitar solo in this song was wonderful.

After this the final segment of the show they did a run of some of their most popular songs, including
Streets, Pride, With or Without You. Streets was so uplifting, the audience sang most of it with Bono looking on in wonder. They finished with One. 

Photo by Christine Moeller

In conclusion for me it was a stunning, powerful gig, the sound was good, video screen was amazing. They used the catwalk and stages very well and the setlist was well put together. All in all a brilliant concert. U2 are definitely not past it.

As Debbi and I walked home we hardly said a word, the show just blew us away and we initially couldn't find words to describe the experience. One home we opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate the start of our U2ie Tour.