Here's a recount of my experiences Saturday in Moncton at the final show of the tour, as told by photos and videos. The videos are taking a while to upload as my phone records in HD and they're huge.
We snuck up to the back road the day before the concert to snap a few photos. Unzoomed view from the Road.
The Mirrorball at the top is a nice touch.
Here's a view clear enough that you can see Larry Mullen Jr's Drum tech working on the stage. (so says RB)
Concert Day came, we made it to Moncton from Saint John in the driving rain. We kept an eye on our smartphones for the weather radar and were hopeful that the weather would clear up by the time showtime hit. We hopped a bus to the Concert site, had lunch at the Magnetic Hill Theme Park resturant and by the time we were done, the rain had stopped.
The view from walking through the muck towards the Claw.
We had seats in the rear Grandstand (#5), and didn't take the same entrance as the rest of the Crowd, instead walking through the VIP entrance. While I was buying a shirt, Neely swears she saw The Edge coming out of one of the RVs behind the stands in a cordoned off area.
Me and my Fiancee, Neely (RavenBlue) in front of the Claw.
The view from our seats in the Rear Grandstand (Grandstand 5)
Before the show, Win Butler of Arcade Fire chats it up with some of the crew.
Later, Arcade Fire took the stage and opened their set with 'Ready to Start'.
Arcade Fire - Ready to Start (Live @ U2 360 Moncton) - YouTube
I wasn't very impressed over the lady who wanted to walk in front of me while recording when there was no one sitting on the bench behind us, but jokes on her, she's now immortalized in a youtube video with a view of her ample chest as she tells me off.
I also got a clip of Arcade Fire playing 'Haiti'.
Arcade Fire - Haiti (Clip)(Live @ U2 360 Moncton) - YouTube
I also got a full video of 'The Suburbs'.
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (Live @ U2 360 Moncton) - YouTube
RavenBlue already posted my CF18 flyover video.
U2 360 Moncton - CF18 Jets soar overhead (720p HD) - YouTube
Then U2 took the stage once the sun was down, and the Claw could dazzle with it's epic light show. (Already posted this above, but it's awesome). They came on with the usual Space Oddity and then opened with Even Better than the Real Thing and The Fly.
U2 360 Moncton - Opening - Even Better than the Real Thing - The Fly - YouTube
Somewhere in that amorphous blob of light and smoke is The Edge tearing it up.
On-screen animations during Mysterious Ways.
Bono walks away after singing to us fans in the Back.
Later I captured a bit of the Springhill Mining Disaster snippet, but Ravva has a better version as she was already recording ISHFWILF when it happened.
U2 360 Moncton - Springhill Mining Disaster (720p HD) - YouTube
Sadly, my Phone battery finally gave out while recording this video, but I did manage to capture a good video of the Space Station Linkup. I would never stop recording Beautiful Day by choice.
U2 360 Moncton - Space Station Linkup (Intro to Beautiful Day) - YouTube
Neely got more video and photos afterwards... The show was mind blowing. I didn't expect much of Carney, but was surprised they weren't half bad. Arcade Fire was amazing. The Jet Flyby was mind-blowing, then my mind got blown again once U2 took the stage and lit up the Claw.
The view from the Back was surprisingly great, U2 made a tremendous effort to cover all sides of the stage, even Larry Mullen's drumset turned around to the back on occasion.
The sound was good. I've heard some people say Bono's voice was strained, but I didn't notice anything other than what could be attributed to a 50+ year old singer choked up with finishing a 25 month long tour that made the record books. We were just happier than a pig in s**t that we got to hear such an amazing U2 show in the comfort of our own home province.
The show was great, the only downside was the drunk guy who was horsing around behind us. He bumped his butt into Neely's head, spat on my shoulder (and my new $40 U2 T-shirt) fell over on my friend Mike who came with us, and accientally Sat on me at one point.
It was sad and heartbreaking to see Bono hanging up the Laser Suit for the last time. Then as we got sad they Cheered us right back up with Out of Control. And followed that up with "40" as a closer.
The show ended around Midnight, after that it took about 3hrs to wade through the zombie-walk of people to the buses and back to our parking spot, and got home around 5:30am.
Today was a wasted day of doing nothing except being sore and voiceless, but absolutely worth it.
Hope you guys had fun.
