People have described the U2 concert as "a religious experience" - religious or not....it will definitely go down as one of my most memorable experiences! We cued for ages, drank loads of beer, ate lots of junk, walked for miles, screamed till we were blue in the face and felt worse off for it the next morning!!!! BUT ...it was well worth it, and I would do it over again in a heart beat.
There has been a lot of negative feedback around the organisation of the concert. People have complained about terrible cues, beer running out, food running out, transportation issues (just to name a few things). I think if one considers the fact that this is the biggest concert that South Africa has ever seen (nearly 100 000 people) it was a phenomenal feat to put on a concert of this magnitude. The logistics that go into it must be scary! It wasn't great having to cue for things, but then what did people expect??? This is a learning curve for the concert organisers and perhaps next time things will run smoother. I know that I am so grateful to have been a part of this experience and despite all the negative aspects, I thought it was worth it.
Although I did not know all the songs that U2 played, I enjoyed every one of them. Of course they played the favourites like "With or Without You", " Beautiful day" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday", but ALL their songs were amazing! There is something to be said for a band that has been going for over 3 decades! This was evident from the diversity of the crowd - there were very young people as well as very old people and everything in between. This just shows that U2 has captivated that attention of a very wide audience. Not many bands can say that. For me they are right up there with the legends - The Beatles and Queen.
I think one thing is clear - U2 have a message.
They have become very political, and Bono is a well known activist, and I must say that I never quite understood it until I watched him in action. On Sunday night as I sat there watching Bono speak and sing to thousands of people about Mandela I got goosebumps. I felt a sudden surge of patriotism, I felt proud in that moment to be South African, if he could rouse this feeling in me, imagine how many people in the audience must have felt the same way! I understood in that moment that U2 have this amazing opportunity to reach millions of people around the world, why wouldn't they have a message more meaningful than music alone! They have a platform from which they can send a message out to people all over the world, and I think that it is commendable and wonderful that they do so!!!!
For me the most memorable moments were seeing the picture of Mandela on the screen and hearing Bono sing Amazing Grace, these two moments brought me to tears and made me realise that I am a proud South African, Christian woman!!!!
U2 ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I will try post some pics later)
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