Got my merchandising purchased beforehand, went straight to the correct door this time. It was quiet enough that the nice lady showed me straight to my seat. Managed to get my blog done while I waited. And it occurred to me to wonder whether others in the crowd had been the night before - they seemed to know when to start cheering. But the crowd last night was more high-octane anyway: a terrific crowd, that swept us all along in the excitement.
I'm guessing the band come out through a tunnel to the vidiwall. Anyway:
setlist
- The Blackout
- Lights of Home
- I Will Follow
- All Because Of You
- Beautiful Day
- The Ocean
- Iris (Hold Me Close)
- Cedarwood Road
- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Lord Of The Flies (snippet) / Until The End Of The World / Introduction (snippet) (Intermission - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me)
- Elevation
- Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car (snippet) / Vertigo / Rebel Rebel (snippet) / The Jean Genie (snippet)
- Even Better Than The Real Thing
- Hall of Mirrors (snippet) / Acrobat
- You're The Best Thing About Me
- Summer Of Love
- Pride (In The Name Of Love)
- Get Out Of Your Own Way
- New Year's Day
- Ode To Joy (snippet) / City Of Blinding Lights
- Spanish Eyes
- One
- Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way
- 13 (There Is A Light)
encore(s):
Seems Ali was in the crowd, last night- wonder how she liked it. Things I forgot to mention from Thursday: well, Larry now sports Clark Kent-style glasses! Meantime, last night they replaced Red Flag Day with All Because of You.
Other things I forgot to mention from Thursday.. you know the scraps of paper that rain on the audience at the end of that terrific video sequence for Until the End of the World? Well, Thursday was my first time actually to get some- at the 20th concert where I saw it happen! Actually, two were passed to me by people around me, bless. Got one last night too. So I can finally testify that they mainly seem to comprise pages from Alice in Wonderland - although one is torn from The Divine Comedy.
The intermission sees Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me played softly as a backdrop to a clever cartoon strip sequence that depicts our Fab Four as superheroes, at the end of which Bono achieves his transformation to Mr. McPhisto. As a knowledgeable U2 fan, it's fun to spot the in-jokes here.
I also forgot to mention that Pride is reworked as an ode to love in all its forms, as we get a video montage of all sorts of odd-looking young people. And the added extra last night was Spanish Eyes- well, they could hardly avoid it! Mind you, I think it was mostly lost on the non-English-speaking crowd. Apart from the guy at the end of my row, who was jumping out of his skin all night, bless him. Another massive fan, there.
Thursday's was awesome, last night's even better- largely due to the extra energy funnelling from the audience. Back in the day, they'd have built that into a phenomenal show- these days, it tends to get dampened down during the video sequences. But hey, they have different priorities now.
I'm staying for the weekend - it makes a change from Barcelona, which is great, but I've been so often before - and having been to Madrid before and seen most of the city sights, I always wanted to go to El Escorial. Well, I did this morning.. way too early, ugh! English-language tour, with Ticketbar.
Dragged myself out of bed- good thing I set the alarm! Google Maps told me to get a direct Metro from Goya - unfortunately, Goya has so many entrances that I just got confused, then had an argument with the ticket machine. So I missed my train. Happily, it didn't take long, and I wasn't that much later than specified on the ticket. Bless Google Maps in the old town though, where street signs are rare and I wouldn't have had a clue what direction to head in but for the little blue dot..
More photos here. The ticket said something about checking in, so I asked at the desk ofJulià Tours, where they gave me a colour-coded ticket, and I joined the waiting crowd outside. Not all of whom turned out to be on our tour, so the colour-coding was a good plan.
About five minutes late, our guide appeared, to muster us and lead us all the way to the underground car park at the Zarzuela Palace. On the bus, we were given what turned out to be electronic receivers, with earpieces, so we could hear her when she spoke into a mic - good idea. And the trip to El Escorial took about 45 minutes, during which I really wanted to go to sleep..
It's in the mountains that ring Madrid- do you know, it's at about the same height as Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland! Carved out of granite- wears well, but I'm surprised it only took them 21 years! A combined monastery and palace, it was the vision of Philip II, so we heard a lot about him.
Parts are still a monastery, and private- but you can catch a glimpse of the spectacular art collection that he and his father began. And we saw fascinating royal tombs. Unfortunately- as usual- NO PHOTOS INSIDE! Not even of the ornamental gardens, which we only saw from the windows. Most frustrating. Also be warned- the place is full of staircases, so a lot of climbing is involved.
On, finally, to the Valle de los Caídos - Valley of the Fallen. Just down the road from El Escorial, this enormous cross, visible for miles, was built by Franco to commemorate the dead of the Civil War. He also tunnelled a huge church underneath, longer than St. Peter's, but as it was longer than St. Peter's, it couldn't be consecrated! So he only has the back bit consecrated.
Building started in 1941, and it's a spectacularly showy example of the architecture of the time. A grand front patio has incredible views of the valley:
Again, NO PHOTOS INSIDE! Not that everyone was obeying that rule, but as a tour group member, I felt a certain obligation. Anyway, there's a tiny gift shop at the entrance to the tunnel, where you can buy guides to both here and El Escorial; weirdly, the only gift shop I saw in El Escorial was in the middle of the building! And these guide books do have a reasonably representative selection of photos. So you, too, can peruse pictures of the Lord of the Rings-style statues in the Basilica!
Wrecked by the time I got back, I had a lazy afternoon. Tonight, I'm finally fulfilling my ambition of seeing a flamenco show in Madrid - love Flamenco! La Quimera is just up the road from the hotel - show includes a meal. For which reason I passed on a couple of nice-looking restaurants earlier, so I hope it's worth it!
I fly back, exhausted, tomorrow. With Ryanair, carefully avoiding any of their strikes. On Monday, back with Let's Do This for Duo at Wilton's - always a great night, there. Always great company with them, too!
On Tuesday, our team was supposed to be going for drinks- cancelled yesterday, probably because of work pressure. Mind you, I might be meeting someone else that evening- watch this space!
On Wednesday, finally back with London Literary Walks for his final walk of the year. Vanity Fair, and I'm the only one has signed up for it - tsk! Damned if I'm missing this one, though.
On Thursday, I'm with my £3.60 club for the final night of Between Us, at Theatre N16. Then back to Ireland again for the weekend.
On the 1st, back with North London Friends for Every Day I Make Greatness Happen, at Hampstead Theatre - which I hear great things about. Nice to get a group discount, too.
And on the 2nd, another thing I've heard great things about - I'm taking myself to Eugenius, at The Other Palace. Finally, after all the praise I've heard of it.. This theatre used to be known as St. James', and is dreadful for legroom - take an aisle seat if you're at all lanky of leg!
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