The presale commenced less than 30 minutes ago for U2’s next Toronto concert on July 3 next year. I just got 4 floor tickets, again, for this. Cameron, who is 8, is excited, because after the concert last month I promised I would take him to the next U2 concert in Toronto. I didn’t expect it to be so soon again, but that’s okay. However, it’s going to be a long 8 months wait now, but at least it’ll make the winter more bearable!
The night I’d been looking forward to for a long time came and went on Wednesday when I got to go to the first Toronto show of the U2 360 tour. I wasn’t disappointed and came away fairly happy and quite hoarse!
I travelled down with three friends from Elliot Lake, two of whom were attending their first U2 show. We had floor tickets, so we made sure that we got there fairly early and found a decent place to stand. The crowd was 58,000 so we were glad to be as close as we were and kind of felt sorry for those in the nosebleeds.
Snow Patrol opened up for U2 and they put on a good show, with a little humour thrown in.
Reading about the tour and the ’spaceship’ stage don’t fully prepare you for the experience of being there and seeing it all from a close distance. I’ve wondered how U2 would be able to top some of the previous tours I’ve seen them on, but I’m glad to say that they managed it again.
My personal highlights were:
There was good mix of old and new stuff and it was great to hear seven songs from the new album. I posted some pics and short videos on my flickr. They’re not the best of quality, but they might give you some idea of how awesome the night was, although they really can’t do it full justice. You just had to be there! Here’s the set list for the show (courtesy of U2gigs.com):
I wish I had tickets for some more of the shows on this tour, but I’m not that rich, I’m afraid. At least I was fortunate to get to this one.
We had a teen worship band, The Remaining, from Sault Ste Marie at our place today to lead us in our Sunday gathering. We started off with a spaghetti lunch and once it was cleared away we got right into a time of worship. The place was rocking. The band has only been together for 13 weeks and are aged from 14-18, but it seemed like they had been together for longer than that. A couple of young ladies from the group shared some thoughts, along with some of their story, and left us with the challenge to get out of our comfort zone and find ways of connecting our respective generations with Jesus and the Good News of the Gospel. We plan to have them back again for sure.
Some pictures and video here.
The current economic situation should bring us freedom and simplicity, but for the people that I work for it seems to be bringing a barricading in mentality.
A cold shower first thing in the morning can be a good thing, but it’s not best if it is spraying out of the back of the toilet.
I dislike being told that I ‘have to participate’ in something that I believe is not good for me or for those around me.
The one good thing about the Leafs always missing the play-offs is that it frees up my evenings after the first week of April.
Reading books can seriously challenge one’s complacency and that’s what I like the most about it.
If I’d known what I know now, I may not have chosen the path that I did, but did I really have a choice at the time?
‘Unknown Caller’ is one of the best U2 songs ever.
It all boils down to ‘Love God and love your neighbour as yourself’. Without that nothing else really matters or makes a difference.
The above CD and DVD arrived in the mail this past week and so I was reunited with an old friend. I have had this on vinyl for a number of years (it was released in the mid-80s), but nearly all my vinyl is thousands of miles away in Orkney at my folks’ house, so not so easy to access these days. For whatever reason it was only released on CD just over a year ago. I was finally able to get my hands on a copy, so I am well pleased.
If you’re a fan of the diversity that is David Byrne, or like small wind ensembles mixed with spoken word, then this CD is for you. If not, then you should try to check it out anyway. Who knows, you may enjoy it!
The following is probably my favourite track. The other tracks are available at YouTube as well. Enjoy:
“What is the difference between Tradition and Traditionalism? Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” (Jaroslav Pelikan from The Vindication of Tradition)
“…the truth will set you free.” (Jesus in John 8:32)
I just spent over an hour composing and sending an e-mail of ‘truth’ to someone higher up ‘the system’ than me. I felt relief as I openly shared in this way. There was freedom in sharing like this. I never quoted Pelikan in the e-mail, but I did touch upon what he says in this quote. I’m not sure where the e-mail will go, but I just wrote what I felt needed to be written and left it at that. Maybe it’s something I should do more often, who knows.
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A month of not eating meat and it’s almost like it’s all I ever did. I’ve lost weight, I feel fitter, and talk of juicy steaks no longer induces mouth-watering.
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If you haven’t listened to No Line on the Horizon yet, then why not? I can’t stop listening to Unknown Caller. It’s definitely the best track on the album, maybe even one of their best songs ever. Listen to the last couple of minutes – just awesome!
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This Sunday will not, after all, be our last gathering in our present location. By mutual consent, Easter Sunday (12 April) will be instead. Not sure when our first gathering will be in the new place. The work is a little behind, but it will be ready well ahead of the grand opening on 23 May.
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Looking forward to seeing Monsters vs Aliens with the family on the weekend. Looks like it’ll be lots of fun.
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(P.S. Don’t look for any hidden meaning in the inclusion of the demotivational poster at the top. It’s just the one that made me laugh the most today)
I took out a subscription at U2.com last year with some money I got for my birthday. As well as an exclusive t-shirt and double live CD, this membership gave me access to the first round of the pre-sale for any of the concerts on the forthcoming U2 tour. So, at 10.05am this morning I was able to complete the purchase of 4 tickets for September 16 at the Rogers Centre, which is great because the general sale doesn’t start until next Monday. So, membership can sometimes have benefits! Looks like it’ll be a great show. Hope they play ‘Unknown Caller’.
Cameron is a little sad and disappointed that he can’t go, but I promised I’ll take him when he’s older. He really want to go to an As I Lay Dying show sometime, too, although their upcoming tour doesn’t work out for us at all. He did tell me that when he puts his band together they’ll tour every year. I asked him if he would need me to play bass guitar for him, but he declined, telling me that I’d be too old by then and that he doesn’t want any grandpas in his band. Oh well.
Well, today was the day I finally got to download ‘No Line on the Horizon’ the latest offering from U2. There’s certainly been lots of hype leading up to this release, and on the whole it does live up to that hype. After all it is their first full studio offering in over 4 years, so there’s been a long wait. My favourites so far are ‘Magnificent’, ‘Moment of Surrender’ and ‘White as Snow’. It’s hard to pick out a weak track, so I won’t.
Next Monday the tour dates will be announced. I had to go to Auburn Hills to see the Vertigo tour, as I missed out on getting tickets to any of the Toronto dates. This time I should be okay, because as a subscriber to U2.com I’ll get a heads up and chance for pre-order. I’ve only missed one tour since the Joshua Tree and I have no intention of missing out on the forthcoming one.
If you’re looking for some different music, then check out NoiseTrade (Fair Trade Music). There’s some great stuff in there for all tastes. One that I’d recommend is ‘Sons and Daughters’ by C.J. Bergmen - the last track, ‘Song for the Broken’ is awesome. You can pay as little or as much as you like for any album you download from this site, but don’t short change them – these guys and gals need to eat and make a living as well. Another one you might want to check out is Derek Webb’s ‘The Ringing Bell’.
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