Amid the rattle and hum before U2's Rose Bowl show

U2 at the Rose Bowl: Last of the really big shows?

There was an air of intense excitement at the Rose Bowl for Sunday night's concert, but there was also a sense of urgency -- the era of rock bands selling out a 95,000-plus-seat show in America is, as they say, rapidly fading.

"The days of the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd and all those stadium tours, all of that is winding down; U2 may be the last band of that type," said Dan Bell of Monrovia, one of the fans who attended the biggest concert in the history of the venerable venue. "You won't see shows this big that aren't festivals."

The worry was that the show might be too big. The Rose Bowl has had notorious problems in the past for concerts, which have traffic patterns far more condensed than, say, a college football game with its tailgate trickle-in.

The gates opened more than half an hour after the advertised 5 p.m., and there was grumbling from sunbaked fans, especially those eager to get a spot on the field, which was general admission.

The opening act, L.A.'s own Black Eyed Peas, brought along special guest Slash to play "Sweet Child O' Mine" -- this really was a stadium show flashback -- and the crowd went wild.

There were plenty of limos, of course, for a show of such pedigree, and pre-show party famous faces included Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor, Paris Hilton, J.J. Abrams, Chris O'Donnell, Cindy Crawford and Michael Bay.

Also part of the spectacle is the Claw, a giant, alien-looking contraption that has generated far more media attention than any recent U2 song. The 90-foot-tall structure took about four days to build and was inspired by the Theme Building at LAX.

U2's 360 Tour is in support of its early 2009 release, "No Line on the Horizon." The album has sold just over 1 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. A respectable number, no doubt, but it took U2 about 30 weeks to reach the seven-figure sales mark. By comparison, rapper Jay-Z hit the milestone in less than two months with his "The Blueprint 3."

Nevertheless, U2's touring power has never really been in doubt, and Sunday's sold-out Super Bowl-sized show was streamed live on YouTube.

geoff.boucher@latimes.com

U2 will back in Southern California in 2010. The band will perform in Anaheim at Angel Stadium on June 6. Ticket on-sale information has not yet been announced.

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Photos: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Noel Bell]

Credit to You Tube for handling the increased traffic on their site.

[vanessa]

What a spectacular! U2 not only entertains us with thier great music, and out of this world stage, they also instill in us a call for action. PEACE.

[Daniel Conway]

I've seen U2 probably over 20 times over the years and the organization of this concert was a complete mess. The general admission line had ZERO security. You had 3000+ people - alcohol was available from 8am until entrance time - in line to get in with ZERO security - so that when the line started - line ceased to exist and you had a tidel wave of moving people squashing the front. I have phones - it was a disaster. Lots of yell and screaming....AGAIN...ZERO organization and very little security. My 12 year old girl was terrified and had a nose bleed in the middle of this.

Once inside, the front circle was completely over capacity. Way too many people. You couldn't move and my daughter was again squashed and couldn't see anything until we moved to the back of the venue.

My worst U2 experience by a long shot.

[Kris]

My wife and I attended the concert Sunday, and in general had a good time, but we won't be rushing back to go see concerts at the Rose Bowl any time soon.
The show itself was great. We have seen U2 several times and they never disappoint. But the Rose Bowl Event Staff and security was terrible that night. We were crammed into our seats like sardines (we were in the bleacher-type seats). My wife got up to use the bathroom during the opening act. She was able to quickly get to and use the rest-room, but then it took her nearly 25 minutes to get back to her seat. The lines inside the tunnel got congested because people were blocking all of the isles trying to find their seats. Apparently the row numbers are not lit up and none of the Event Staff was helping anyone find their rows or seats. So people started just standing in the middle of the isles watching the show.
96,000 people in any one place can be a logistical nightmare, but certainly it could have been handled better. Add all of the drunk fools there, to the mix, and you can imagine how fun waiting in lines were that night.
My advice: don't go pee during a show at the Rose Bowl. And, hire better Event Staff!

[Chris Morgan]

Not sure what concert Daniel Conway was at, but his post wasn't even close to the reality of the show. As a veteran GA floor concert attendee I prepared myself for the normal onslaught of a wild maddening floor crowd. I dressed light, armed only with a camera and a bottle of water. Standing 6'4" I am more than comfortable seeing over the crowd and holding my own space, but what I found there was an incredibly unique experience. I drove in to the golf course in under 30 minutes at 6pm nontheless. Walked in after only 10 minutes at gate D. Waited for a few minutes in the wristband line, walked thru the tunnel fearing the worst finding that at 7pm only minutes before BEP I could walk up within a few hundred people of the front. Everyone was courteous, I never had to elbow block an idiot pushing thru after an elusive lost girlfriend, people genuinely helped each other position to see the show as best as possible and even as the night transitioned to U2 and the crowd filled in tighter everyone was working together to maximize the experience. In fact I was amazed at the unity of the group.

Great show all the way around. U2 is much different now when the soul and true energy poured out into the crowd, with Bon now more of a mockery of himself and their music. I for one couldn't imagine his personality without the Edge keeping him in check. Bono is more of a dancing puppet now, with his voice fading from the power of those epic shows in the 80's and even 90's when the band poured out melodic 8-10 minute gems and improvised the lyrics. Event the magical With or Without You had an abreviated performance devoid of the extended verse. They played what they had to and seemed quick to do it. The extended songs and variations were contrived and predictable as the band was prisoner to their bloated image and rediculous (but visually impressive) monstrosity of a stage.

This is not the band of the magical youthful call of War or Joshua Tree Tours, we now have laser suits and flashy mics that pop and hiss as Bono tries to fly around the stage, which I'm sure is also very well rehearsed. Gone is the real magic of U2 4 amazing talents standing on a stage and speaking with their music. However the Edge is still their and as he walks around pained by the excess of Bono's exhuberance and in a corner of the stage plays his guitar into the night the magic the soul of U2 sting rang out in the night and I longed for a night in Sun Devil Stadium when I saw the greatest live band to ever step on stage with all 4 members in attendance.

And Daniel, a piece of advice, if you have a 12 year old daughter or stand less than 5'8" buy a seat and enjoy the show.

[katie]

I completely agree with Daniel & Kris. No security whatsoever. We got there at 4:30 am and were told we had to police ourselves. I was in the front of the line and ended up half way around the stage. The "security" couldn't control the crowd going in and people were getting pushed and shoved. It was chaos and I don't ever plan on going to an event there again.

[Lorena]

This was my first U2 concert and I loved the band! The BEPs played a great opening act...
That being said, I will NEVER attend an event at the Rose Bowl! Security? What security?! This wasn't just in the GA area but throughtout the stadium. Too many obnoxious drunks and no one to check them! My sister and friend were threatened with physical violence by some jerk and no one came to assist them.
And the mess that was getting out of general parking was unbelievable! No one was directing traffic and no signs to point out the exits. What a joke! Rose Bowl and the event staff suck!