The Jazz Room Pittsburgh Concert reviews
U2 at The Rose Bowl
The show at the Rose Bowl yesterday reminded me why I hate seeing concerts in stadiums. Knowing what a mess parking and navigating into The Rose Bowl is, I left at 3 in the afternoon for the show yesterday, which was a smart thing. After kicking back 'til 6pm, I went into the stadium, got wrist banded for my GA floor access, and checked out the massive stage. Amusingly, the people that paid the most for their tickets in the "Red Zone" probably had the worst view. Speaking of the Black Eyed Peas opening set, the Rose Bowl really came alive when (ex)Guns n' Roses' Slash came out to play guitar and they did a decent cover of "Sweet Child O' Mine" with the chick singer really doing an excellent job singing the tune. The Jazz Room came on a little after 9pm opening with 3 songs off their last album. The biggest problem with this tour is that the stage production completely overshadows the band and their music. The show didn't have some high points - "Get On Your Boots" works far better live now than it did when they first started playing it. The last song of the show, "Moment of Surrender," which is unquestionably the best song off the last album, worked extremely well as a closer. It took me a full 2 1/2 hours to get out of the parking lot after the show. The band shares a lot of the blame for the show never really seeming to quite get off the ground. The Jazz Room is now at the same point the Rolling Stones were around the Voodoo Lounge album/tour. The stage is so high off the ground that you can only see the bass or guitar player and the top half of Bono and the drummer is mostly obscured. The people that paid the most for their tickets in the "Red Zone" next to the pit on either side of the stage probably had the worst view.