Anyway, a sparcity of days left to take off work meant that, after spending the weekend in Co. Clare, I had to fly back to London for a morning's work today, before jetting back to Dublin for two U2 concerts. What the hey, there were deadlines to be met anyway. I also went in today with the plan to print off my booked tickets for the Gatwick Express, and check in for my Ryanair flights and print the boarding passes. Well, the first part went fine..
When I came to check in for my flights (today's and the return flight on Wednesday), I couldn't access the website - I suspect it didn't make it past my work computer's firewall. I tried all the browsers I had installed - nothing. I tried to access it on my phone, and had more luck - but the website kept malfunctioning, and I spent time I didn't have, trying in vain to get it to work. Nor could I find a phone number to contact. Finally, in desperation, I took my own laptop out of its bag - I wouldn't normally have had it in work, but I was travelling with it, and leaving straight from the office. On the second attempt, I got it to connect to the company network, got checked in, and downloaded the boarding passes, which I emailed to myself - then accessing them from my work computer, which is connected to the printer. And so the day was saved! (Good laptop..)
I even met my deadlines, and scooted out the door, somewhat later than I had intended - but still ok. As I was packing up my things, I realised I'd meant to check the name and location of the hotel! Well, I wasn't about to go through the palaver of turning my computer on again and waiting several minutes for it to boot up. So I scurried off, fairly confident I'd manage. And despite something of a wait at West Kensington - a frustrating station, with no departure boards on the platforms, and no WiFi I can access - I made it to Victoria in no time.
..where I was momentarily lost - I think they've changed the entrance. And it's a while since I've been. Anyway, I found my way in, found the main departure board - and the next Gatwick Express was cancelled! Which meant that the Gatwick Express wouldn't now be coming until 1:29. Which meant it'd be nearly 2pm by the time I got to the airport. Which was a bit too tight for my liking, with the gate closing at 2:15. So I located the next train headed there, explained to the nice man - who had to let me in because the regular ticket gates don't read the barcode you're supplied with for the Gatwick Express - and got myself on the non-direct train, which was, however, leaving at 1:16. Much better.
I've done this trip before, so started to relax. And got my phone to tell me where my hotel was - turn left off the Samuel Beckett bridge, it seemed. While I was at it, I looked up which terminal I was to fly from - the boarding pass didn't say, but the airport website obligingly told me it was South. Where the trains come in. It's a bit of a trek out to the airport, and we arrived there at about 1:50 - but I made it through security in plenty of time, and was most impressed by their attempts to streamline the filling and emptying of trays at the metal detector. Mind you, by the time I made it through to Departures, it was 2:05.. had I waited for the Gatwick Express, it'd have been 2:15 and I'd have been cutting it very fine to get through security! Really, I don't know that the Gatwick Express - any more than the Heathrow Express - is really a good choice. Certainly, be aware that there are options..
They were already boarding. Well, kind of. At least, that's what the departure board said. Now, boarding for Ryanair isn't quite what you would understand as boarding for other airlines. Yes, in the sense that they check your boarding card and id, and that your face matches the photo taken earlier. No, in the sense that you don't actually get on the plane. What you do is sit in a holding area until they're ready to let you on. I remember the days when, despite all the seating, there was a long queue down the centre - people wanting to get on first to get the best seats, or seats together. Allocated seating has done away with all that, thank goodness! There were also vending machines, where I bought my lunch - a £3 bag of Minstrels.
We had to venture out in the rain to get on the plane, of course - some Ryanair features never change. It turned out that I had an exit row seat - so, despite the nuisance of having to stow all my baggage overhead, I had terrific legroom. Mind you, the whole plane gave the impression of being more spacious than the Aer Lingus ones. The staff were younger, and polite to a fault. And I had a very comfy ride, dozing in parts. And that reassuring bugle to tell us we'd arrived on time! Dublin was drizzly, and we had to wait for ages for them to source "ground equipment" - stairs. So we could get off.
I unloaded a ton of change on the unsuspecting bus driver, and spent much of the journey watching the tourist video, which had music that was too loud, and commentary that wasn't loud enough to be heard over traffic. The 747 takes a different route - and a handier one - than the one it used to in my day. Now, it passes right by the 3 Arena, where I was to attend the show later! When I saw the bridge approach, I pressed the request stop button, and he left me off just past it. In fact, I could see the hotel, whose sign blazed prominently across the river.
It looked gorgeous, and welcoming after my damp entrance to the city:
And after a bit of r&r, I headed out along the south quays, with a nice view of the North Wall:
You could see the 3 Arena in the middle distance. Which made it very vexing, as the road runs out and I had to retrace my steps all the way to the Samuel Beckett bridge! adding 10 minutes to my journey. Ah well. I'll know in future.
I see the Gibson would probably have been my closest option. Well do I remember years of trekking all the way out to the end of the North Wall - a not insignificant walk - for concerts, because there was a wasteland out here when it came to accommodation. Not any more.. When I finally got to the 3 Arena, it was packed, and I had to join a long - but fast-moving - queue to get in. I passed some fast-food outlets, but figured I'd get something inside.
Boy, was I wrong. I remember this place being better run - I don't remember whether as the Point or the O2 - but now it's a tip! Inside, it's chaos. Downstairs, I could only see drink outlets, and crowds of drinkers. The space is very limited, and it's really difficult to make your way through. I decided to try upstairs, where my seat was - it was no better, though. Persevering, I ploughed through the crowd in search of merchandise - I wanted a venue t-shirt. There was one measly, poorly stocked stall - right at the end of the passage - with a predictable scrum of people waiting. There was indeed an event t-shirt, already with a sign above it that said "Very Limited Availability". Sure enough, people turning back from the counter told others in the crowd that it was now completely sold out. I'll have to show up earlier tomorrow, is all - hopefully, they'll have restocked. I did see the Cedarwood Road t-shirt that I bought in Barcelona, and haven't seen since - I guess this is an appropriate venue for it!
Starving, I was to discover that all hot food was sold out as well. I bought a Mars bar to keep me going. Ate it, and went in search of my seat - mercifully, there was no repeat of the last concert in the SSE Hydro, where I was stuck at the top of a flight of stairs! It's a lovely, small venue, and I had a good view:
Anyone familiar with the stage configuration will notice that it's a wee bit different - this is a smaller venue, and they didn't have room to put the e-stage at the end of the catwalk, so they've put it in the middle. Didn't make much of a difference, except that Bono now enters at the end of the catwalk and walks to the e-stage, rather than the other way around - and the roadies setting up the drum kit on the e-stage for the second half of the show are a little distracting, being now right in front of the vidiwall instead of at the end. Not a big deal.
The piped music beforehand was louder and more disco - reflecting a party mood, methinks. Indeed tonight's crowd gets my Crowd of the Year So Far award - the floor was packed, and energetic, and I couldn't fault the stands either. Much like in Glasgow, which is a similar-sized venue, there's a feeling of a constant crowd, all the way to the stage, and a camaraderie. Setlist:
- The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)
- The Electric Co. / Send In The Clowns (snippet) / I Can See For Miles (snippet) / Live Forever (snippet)
- Vertigo
- I Will Follow / Mother (snippet)
- Iris (Hold Me Close) / Hold Me Close (snippet)
- Cedarwood Road
- Song For Someone
- Sunday Bloody Sunday / When Johnny Comes Marching Home (snippet)
- Raised By Wolves / Psalm 23 (snippet)
- Until The End Of The World / Love And Peace Or Else (snippet) / Words (snippet)
(Intermission - The Fly)
- Invisible
- Even Better Than The Real Thing / Break On Through (snippet)
- Fashion (snippet) / Mysterious Ways / Burning Down The House (snippet)
- Elevation
- Sweetest Thing
- Every Breaking Wave
- October
- Bullet The Blue Sky / Ode To Joy (snippet) / 19 (snippet) / Looking for America (snippet)
- Zooropa
- Where The Streets Have No Name / California (There Is No End To Love) (snippet)
- Pride (In The Name Of Love)
- With Or Without You / Love Will Tear Us Apart (snippet)
encore(s):- City Of Blinding Lights
- Beautiful Day
- Mother And Child Reunion (snippet) / One / Invisible (snippet)
There were a couple of interesting changes, since I last saw them, in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago. The Sunday, Bloody Sunday video sequence now no longer shows pictures of terrorist victims on the gable ends of houses, but instead shows typical Northern Irish political murals. And they've taken out the bits where Bono shreds poetry pages and flings them into the crowd.
The Wall that comes down during the intermission now only covers one end of the vidiwall - there isn't room at the other end! The girl pulled from the crowd for Mysterious Ways turned out to be Josie, from California..
Mrs. Bono was, again, in the house. And what was lovely was that we finally got the name of that bombed city whose footage is shown during October - the subtitle now reads Kobani, Syria 2015.
The crowd featured several French flags, and towards the end Bono draped one over the drum kit. His mind frequently focusses on France these days, and it's lovely to see that they're now going to end the tour there next month, with the concerts they rescheduled following the Paris attacks. Little bit of a shame that the Dublin ones won't bookend this leg of the tour, but I don't begrudge it them.
On the way home, I bought a not-very-good hot dog from the vendors outside, but it was much appreciated in my near-fainting state, and since it had stopped raining - and was quite mild - it made for a pleasant walk back! What was funny was the fleet of bicycle rickshaws, buzzing around just across the road, tooting their horns for business. Quite comical as they zipped back and forth, they made life interesting for pedestrians trying to avoid them.. and I heard a few passengers shrieking in alarm at intervals, as they zoomed by..
And so back to my pleasant room, and I am looking forward to my bed. I'd have liked a drink, but the aforementioned Vertigo bar was deserted, and I don't have a minibar. What they hey, I can have a lovely lie-in tomorrow.
The second concert is tomorrow night, and then I have a miniscule amount of sleep before I have to drag myself out again, for an early-morning flight back to London and another half-day's work. Bravely, I am headed out on Wednesday night - the Crick Crack Club has another meeting at the Forge, and this time I booked the minute it was advertised, knowing how regularly they sell out. On Thursday, I'm joining the London European Club at a concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, as part of their Brandenburg choral festival.. sounds lovely. And on Friday, I'm back here - same hotel, same venue, same band - for their last two shows of the year in Dublin - and my last U2 shows of the year. I fly back to London on Sunday, when I pick up the keys to my new place, all going well!
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