Leaving New York
oct 24, 2009 U2, groupes celebres
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Monday 12th October 2009. Dallas. Show day
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Baggage call was 10am so I did most of my packing last night. We’ve been in this hotel for months, it feels like, and the possibility of leaving things behind is very real so I took my time doing a couple of thorough idiot checks before heading out.
‘Leaving New York never easy,’ as somebody once sang and I did feel very sad to go. I’ll be back of course, but I think I felt a bit of a pang at having been based here for so long and had absolutely no time to make the most of it. Not a single art museum visited, barely a purchase made, barely a sight seen.
The flight to Dallas was a good deal longer than we’re used to on show day, but it did give a chance to do some work and catch up with people with whom you might normally share such extended proximity. The downside was arriving at the venue at 6.10pm for an 8.45 show, which meant it was pedal to the metal from arrival until Space Oddity.
The venue’s strange. It’s the new Cowboys gazillion dollar Stadium which is absolutely vast, with multi-layered bars and restaurants overlooking the field, concourses, corporate suites and a 95 million dollar video screen. It should all add up to something spectacular but it really felt like playing in the atrium of a shopping mall. The fact of the house video screen obliterating the top half of our stage didn’t help, but all the same it felt pretty soulless. There was a good crowd though, so no real complaints and before we knew it we were heading back to the airport. The building did sound good though, which was a relief because it has a roof and often these enclosed metal and glass rooms sound awful.
One nice thing was receiving a random email from a U2 fan who asked if the visual environment for ‘Unforgettable Fire’ in our show was inspired in any way by Coventry Cathedral in the UK. As it happens it wasn’t, but looking at the images of the two things you can certainly see a connection. I love it when that happens.
Copyright 2009 U2 France / http://www.u2france.com/actu
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