1. Among the many things LeBron James can do that I can’t, add this: Get his Smartphone to have Internet service at Wednesday’s U2 concert (oh, yeah, and get a souvenir with Bono). His lieutenant, Maverick Carter, tweeted out this picture of LeBron and partner Savannah Brinson that by the timeline took place about 9 p.m. Wednesday – or just before U2 went on concert.
Bono gave an in-concert shout-out to LeBron. He also said something about liking the Marlins (as he should considering he sent them to Seattle to play a “home” series).
If you think this is a cheap way to get a blog from the U2 concert, you’re partially right. The other part: Was anyone else frustrated by being unable to use the phone FOR ANYTHING during the concert?
Or am I so tragically unhip that this is now the norm for stadium concerts (full disclosure: This was the first stadium concert I’d been to since Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in The USA” tour in 1985 at the Orange Bowl. Just not a fan of big-stadium music).
I decided at 5 o’clock to go to the concert by getting on Craigslist and lining up a couple of tickets with a responsible-sounding guy. Not sure if he went to Plan B without me or he just couldn’t get phone service, but we never did connect.
Thanks to the ticket-buying public in South Florida, though, there were good seats left to buy (what, you think it’s just the sports fans who are apathetic here?)
My concert review?
Great stuff. My favorite song was “Walk On,” which started with video of a young Aun San Suu Kyi at the start and video of her talking at the end after being freed this year. In mid-song, as people walked around the runway with Amnesty International lamps, Bono sketched the story of Cuban dissident Oscar Elisa Biscet and asked everyone to raise their hands in solidarity and proclaim, “one day soon Cuba will be free.”
2. The new Marlins stadium is going to be a huge threat to SunLife Stadium as far as concerts. Aside from U2, how many bands play 70,000-seat stadiums? The Marlins’ 37,000-seat stadium will provide better sound and relative intimacy for most groups.
3. I think LeBron’s group represented the only blacks in the house. U2 was like going to a lily-white Jimmy Buffett concert in that regard – except with a lot of Hispanics. Along these lines (somewhat), Bono had a pretty good line: “The Irish are like Latins but they don’t know how to dance.”
4. I did notice a Marlins T-shirt kiosk was open for business — but can’t say anyone was there buying anything.
5. A salute to fans after this night. Took 90 minutes to get to the concert (normally half-hour drive to the stadium). Took the same to return. Throw in the hassle of parking, and the soft sportswriter in me says I’d watch games on HD at home.
strong>Follow me on Twitter at davehydesports or on my facebook site.
