U2 Weekend/Gay Tampa

The "starship" - one of the most expensive, biggest and most elaborate stage settings for a concert - ever!

Here's an insight to the tour - The 360 degree tour saw U2 having one of the most impressive structures ever to grace a concert. The premise behind the name of the tour is that the structure and massive screen wold allow the fans to see the band regardless of if they are in VIP or the grass area. It therefore brings the band closer to their fans and allows everyone to see them. 

The band had a life satellite feed and interview with GUY LALIBERTÉ - the founder of Cique De Soleil and the millionaire who paid $35 million to be in space. He is also the founder of "ONE DROP" Foundation, which is greared towards fighting poverty by making water accesible to everyone.

The band also paid tribute  with the song "Walk On", to Burmese peace campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Well this post is a bit long overdue so forgive me - it's a follow up on my trip to Tampa to see U2, and on the gay scene in Y'bor (or Gaybor as the fellow citizens there call it).

Me and my partner had VIP tickets to see the band, so we had our own VIP parking area (we could not find the access area so we ended up parking in the general area). There was also a reception area for us with fellow VIP'ers, food and drinks. Wanting to make the most of this, we arrived at around 5:00 p.m. to make the most of the free offering and get a bit of a buzz before the show (and also getting drinks at a rock concert is a pain in the arse).

Food was good and they had everything from gyros; pasta; oysters; breads; cheeses and loads of desserts. They had no vodka - :(

Despite no vodka - I was still happy.

The concert actually made front page two days in a row - the first being the day of the concert which was forewarning people about the traffic and congestion and the second was the day after the concert which boasted that the concert had around 72,000 folks and broke attendance records at the Stadium - WOW - rock does rule!

My review on the concert - well - they played quite a bit of new stuff and I am really a fan of the older stuff and their 80's material. They did not play anything on "Rattle and Hum" (Desire / Love Rescue Me etc.) or "Pop".

They also did not play "New Years Day" or "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" - two of their classics (and which started the band off into super-stardom and heavy rotation on MTV).

The best track for me was their soulful strip down of "I Still Haven't Found" which had the entire crowd singing along at the top of their voices and to every word (including me). This then kicked into "Stand by Me" (the classic Ben E. King song) along to which everyone continued to sing note for note - I really enjoyed this.

It was a bit unusual that as part of their encore they did "Ultraviolet Light" - but it was great to see Bono in his jacket that looked like a runway - all lit up in red lights.

Overall - it was a good concert - I have to give it a 4 out of 5. 


Here are some pics from the concert:

The 360 degree screen - Bono

The Edge and Adam

The concert stage - in awe!

Bono

Larry and Adam

The 360 degree screen - The Edge

There were some big fans there - there was a couple from Ohio whom we shared a table with in V.I.P. who saw the concert in Chicago a few days ago and then travelled to Tampa to see the band again (on their vacation) - cute couple.

All in all - I would go back to Tampa - particularly Y'Bor which is the gay area. There are numerous gay friendly bars and clubs along the main street and throughout which made everyone feel welcome. Couples were also openly affectionate in public so I found this cool.

Also - the traffic is not too bad and the infrastructure in Tampa is pretty good. I also heard that Tampa was voted one of the best places to live manly because of the good infrastructure.

So peeps there you go - I will write another piece on the clubs I have visited in Tampa in case you are there!