scribex6

Jenny Lewis

Since no one else has yet, I figured I’d share my experience seeing U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas last week. (I’m a little behind as I was traveling after the weekend and busy with catching up on work.) I live in Southern California, so it wasn’t a long trip for me. I went two nights, Oct. 20 and 21, with my cousin, a friend of mine who lives in Vegas, and his wife.  My cousin and I are both members of the U2 fan club and were lucky enough to get general admission floor tickets for both nights. The floor at the Sphere is pretty small, about 1,200 capacity, so it felt like seeing them in a club or theatre setting, really up close and intimate. 

While you can find plenty of photos and videos of the Sphere online it’s quite something else to see it in person. The video images are crisp and clear and the full surround effect is amazing. Since we were on the floor, we didn’t get the full effect of the visuals but my friend and his wife who were in the seats did and it looked pretty cool from up there.

The clarity of the sound was one of the best I’ve heard in an arena. It never felt loud and overpowering and I didn’t need to wear earplugs. There were some technical issues on the second night when the vocals went out briefly and there was a little bit of feedback.

Of course, what matters the most is the performance. I thought they sounded great and fill-in drummer Bram did a good job. It’s not the same without Larry but both the band (and Bram) know that and acknowledged and paid tribute to him. Achtung Baby is my favorite U2 album so it was great to hear it in full, especially songs like “So Cruel” and “Love is Blindness” that haven’t been played since the Zoo TV tour.

The only criticism I have is that the setlist seems pretty static. It would be a shame if they don’t incorporate some Zooropa songs at some point.

Another aspect of it I enjoyed is that because it’s a destination concert, I felt like I was part of a whole community of U2 fans for the weekend. You’d see people with U2 T-shirts all over the adjoining Venetian casino, which also had a U2 exhibit and screening of films. I got to meet and talk to interesting people from all over including fans who came from Brazil, Australia, and two women from New Jersey who were seeing their hundred-and-something U2 show along with their 80-year-old mother who seen almost as many.

Here are some photos I took.

Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service.

Wilco

Japanese Breakfast

1 hour ago, remphish1 said:

I always feel old no matter what show lol! I have seen her maybe 4 times now biggest change in an audience in the shortest time. I saw her in 2018 and show was half sold (mostly 30/40 year olds in attendance) in a small venue. Saw her at radio city last year and was lot of teens. Not sure what changed but I still enjoyed it! 

 
I saw Mitski’s LA show last week and she was amazing. As an older fan (53), I did not feel out of place. It was a good crowd, quiet for the acoustic performance.

13 minutes ago, Brian F. said:

 

Yeah, I had the same problem. I couldn't find any numbered seating map anywhere on the internet. The only thing I was able to find out is that the rows get longer as they go back (i.e., some of the front rows are only partial rows). For a couple of shows, we got seats 31-32 and I'm assuming they're also on the outer edge whereas there's a show where we got 13-14 which are probably closer to center.

I was having the same problem trying to find a good seating chart. I was able to figure out my seat by clicking through this interactive map although it’s not very clear. https://3ddigitalvenue.com/3dmap/clients/ace-hotel-theatre/

I was considering sitting this one out since my concert calendar in October is pretty full with Death Cab/Postal Service, U2 in Vegas, Weyes Blood and the Walkmen. But it’s hard for me to pass up Wilco so  I got a ticket for one of the Ace Theatre shows and the Bellweather in LA. 

New fall dates are up

https://wilcoworld.net/shows/

Boygenius!

Sharon Van Etten

Ride and the Charlatans UK.

Largo just released more tickets for these shows on its website. Just got one for Friday.

Saw New Pornographers last night and Liam Kazar was the opener with Spencer Tweedy on drums.

I was happy to see this is becoming an annual tradition. I’m in for Saturday.

First night was great at Largo was great. I also saw them Monday at the Fillmore which was fun. I’ll be back Tuesday for Jeff solo. Looking forward to that. Hope he mixes up the set list a bit.

Going to the 2/24 and 3/1 shows.

Yeah, hope they do as well. Saw them at Desert Daze in November and they were great.

I guess it’s just the reality that any show is tenuous these days. The Rage show I was going to see in April just got postponed again and I’m still waiting on Pearl Jam to reschedule their tour.

I got the emails too and yes they reversed the order. The first twoshows are Tweedy and band and the last three are solo ones. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to get a refund to one of the shows as it’s the same night I’m seeing the War on Drugs.

Ticket sold.

A friend is not able to attend so I’m selling an extra ticket for the Oct. 26 Wilco show at the Orpheum. Ticket is in Orchestra, Row M, Seat 48. For sale at face value of $84. It’s a hard ticket and can meet you at the show? Message me here or email scribex6@aol.com

On 4/15/2021 at 8:14 PM, kidsmoke said:

 

I nabbed tickets today for Waxahatchee in September, at 2 venues I couldn't choose between...The First Congregational Church of Los Angeles on the 24th, then out in the boonies of Pioneertown at the legendary Pappy & Harriet's the following night. We're inbetween the 2 venues. Gonna be a lot of driving for a couple days!

These may be my first forays back into live music. I can't wait, but it's going to be weird to have people close after avoiding them for over a year!

I’ll be at the Waxahatchee show at Pappy and Harriet’s also. I bought tickets long ago so glad to see it rescheduled. But it’s already looking like there will be a lot of show conflicts coming. OhanaFest, which I was considering going to, is also that weekend. Lucy Dacus also is playing around that time.

I’m still waiting for the Wilco and Pearl Jam shows I have tix for to be rescheduled.

Finally got this in the mail after ordering it more than a month ago. Unfortunately, it had dark smudges on the top corner of every page. Anybody else have the same problem?

Anyway, looking forward to diving into this. I skimmed through it. Looks like a lot of interesting articles through Wilco’s history. It was amusing to see that the Uncle Tupelo article says there’s no acrimony among the members while other articles mention the bitter split.

I was able to get Largo tickets. Any other socal VCers?

I’m in for the Sunday show. Great to be going back to Largo.

He didn’t single out the kid. He actually apologized to the kidand gave him a gift when he realized he was there with his father who should be blamed for acting like an ass and embarrassing his kid.