Midgets in leather keks

Went to see U2 on Monday night, very good it was too. Even if you weren't a big fan you'd struggle not to get whipped up in the atmosphere with 80,000 folk going potty and such a massive spectacle as the claw, or spacestation as Bono called it.

I only bought a ticket on Monday afternoon. When tickets went on sale months ago (and sold out in hours) I decided not to bother - it was over seventy notes a ticket for stadium floor standing by the time booking was involved, and no one I knew showed any interest in going. I actually thought it'd been on about a week before as they'd been in Sydney for various things and had been in the papers and on the TV etc knocking about by the Opera House. it was my work's Christmas party last Friday and I was chatting to a couple of work mates who said they were going on Monday, and with 80,000 tickets sold, there were plenty to be had on Ebay/Gumtree so I got one for a few bucks cheaper than face value on the day, the lad even dropped it off at my office!

The setlist is here, though disappointingly, I preferred the setlist they did the night after, which had All I Want Is You and Pride in it instead of Where The Streets Have No Name and Bad. We did get a brilliant version of Hold Me Thrill Me though... which was relaced by Ultraviolet the next night.

All in all, very enjoyable, though Australia's shite at putting on big events - there were teams of police walking through the crowd and generally lurking around (all those middle aged U2 fans being well-known troublemakers and drug takers), and as with quite a few big gigs I've been to here, they shut the bar well early. I was one of the last people to get served and there was still a good 45 minutes of the gig left, which in a two hour set is virtually half way through.

Jay-Z was the support, which was good as he's someone I wanted to see but I wouldn't have lashed out cash and gone to one of his own gigs. He was good.

The lad in the picture is my work mate Iain, who's from Glasgow. We were trying to pulling weird faces but it's ended up looking like he's just grabbed my nuts.

Speaking of gigs - The Complete Stone Roses are playing here in January! They're doing a two hour set including playing the whole first album all the way through, the stand alone singles and some b-sides. On a Friday night no less! Know why I won't be going?

...IT'S THIRTY QUID A TICKET!

Fuck me! We paid twelve to see them at The Garage what, eight years ago? Fair enough prices only rise, and I might have gone to twenty, but thirty notes to see a tribute act!? I'm quite pissed off 'cause they're great, but that's taking the rise. Primal Scream are playing Screamadelica in the same venue the night after for fifty quid - and for that you get the actual band playing their early-90s classic album all the way through, not a bunch of Scottish chancers playing someone elses. I remember when I interviewed Ian Brown (have I mentioned that before?...) and he said he makes about three/four grand a year in performace royalties from the Complete Stone Roses. Based on these prices that'll be into five figures now... except it won't, because they're currently touring the UK and it's fifteen quid a ticket, which includes support from the "Kings of Lyon" no less! (Quite funny that I'm wearing a Stone Roses shirt in the U2 photo above.)

Gigs here generally take the piss - how much were The Scream in London recently? It's well seen there ain't been a recession here.