One word to describe it all: AH-MAZ-ING! The concert was crazy good and lots of fun--U2's music is even better live and they played a good mix of their old and new stuff. The crowd was electric--we did the wave while waiting between sets and the crowd was on their feet the entire concert when U2 finally came on.
And man, the lighting and sound...I don't have words for the sheer awesomeness of that stage! At one point in the concert, I realized Lee wasn't really dancing or clapping or anything--he was just gazing at The Claw, mesmirized with the ginormous screen, which is made up of smaller elongated honeycomb-shaped screens. Throughout the show, these screens would expand and collapse along a scaffolding skeleton. Pure engineering genius!
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| The Fray |
Despite all of our preparation with coats and blankets and ponchos (yes, it's been raining a lot in Utah), we completely forgot to bring ear plugs.
To put how loud the concert was into perspective, I talked with some friends the next day who live over a mile away from the Rice-Eccles Stadium--they went out on to their porch and the music was coming in crystal clear and at the right volume for them to enjoy.
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| The Claw: It's starting to get darker. |
Yikes! Ear plugs are a necessity, but we were up a creek without a paddle.
Lee went to get us a treat and came back with some popcorn and Twizzlers and told us that a pair of foam ear plugs were $2. $2!
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| It looks like a cooked lobster claw! |
That's when Lee became MacGuyver. (For those of you who don't know who MacGuyver is, I pity the fool! (Name that super obvious reference!))
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| On top of The Claw was the biggest disco ball I'd ever seen |
Here is Lee's/MacGuyver's tutorial on how to make your very own Impromptu-Earplugs-For-Really-Loud-Concerts:
Step 1. Go get treats for your group. This may seem unrelated, but it's completely necessary for the tutorial. Plus, your group will think you're the bee's knees!
Step 2. While you are getting treats for the group, get some popcorn. I promise, someone in the group will eat it.
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| Lee made these Popcorn Earplugs for me--how sweet! |
Step 3. Find two good-sized pieces of popcorn.
Step 4. Break off the rough edges of the popcorn so you are left with two small yellow balls.
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| This requires careful placement--you don't want random bits of popcorn floating in your ear! |
Step 5. Carefully place them into your ears and adjust them to suit your audio comfort level.
And voila! You just made your very own Impromptu-Earplugs-For-Really-Loud-Concerts!
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| I'm sportin' the new fashion which is also very useful...and tasty. Actually, nevermind, that's pretty gross. |
I have to admit that it felt a little weird having bits of popcorn stuffed into my ears and I'm sure my ears smelled like that Super Buttery Bucket o' Butter Blaster stuff they add to theater popcorn, but heck, it saved my hearing!
So if you're ever in a bind at a really loud concert AND you need a snack, popcorn works rather nicely to protect your little ears.*
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| The Ballerina, Thing 2, Lee and I after the concert |
*This public service announcement has been brought to you by the MFAHLF (aka the MacGyver Fans Against Hearing Loss Foundation).
We were pretty amazed with The Claw too. It is so stinking huge and a picture cannot adequately capture it's ginormity.
ReplyDeleteYeah. We wished we had earplugs too! Our ears were ringing afterwards. Good MacGyvering!