threesunrises
Well-Known Member
Was at the Beacon Theatre yesterday for the taping of Bono's SoS show. They have not disclosed exactly how it's going to be released, but I did hear rumblings that it's for a streaming service (maybe AppleTV or Disney+)
Apparently Monday night's show was filmed, and yesterday they filmed parts of the show, specific songs, dialog and audience reaction.
It was a LONG day. General admission seating, so the die hards were out and queuing early. I was a plus one and met my group of friends at about 10am (they had gotten there about an hour earlier) We ended up in excellent left orchestra seats, row B (6th row).
Taping started at around 2:30ish and ran until 6:30. Lots of down time, the first part was about one hour, and they encouraged the crowd to stick around for the second round, which was much of the same material, just shot from different angles. The audience reaction shot part was very brief, maybe only 5 minutes worth.
There were times when Bono was dissatisfied with his performance, and asked to do it over, but it is evident that he has this show down pat. (teleprompter notwithstanding) A truly consummate professional, it was a treat to see Bono "the actor" taking his direction and hitting his marks, rather than the frontman we are all so used to seeing perform live.
The crowd was mostly U2 fan club members and for good reason - we know what to do, when to sing and know all the lyrics. I think we saw three renditions of Desire. Only highlights were filmed, this was not the entire show and the backdrops were not used. The crowd was super enthusiastic (even during down time) and we sang Happy Birthday to him once while he was backstage to encourage him to hurry up and get back out as well as again towards the end of the session. He seemed genuinely touched and appreciative, with that huge Bono smile plastered on his face.
After Jacknife Lee confirmed that they got all the footage they needed, Bono did sing the opera song in Italian (I don't know the title) to end the day and after 4+ hours of talking and singing, his voice sounded perfect - absolutely brilliant.
It was strange seeing bits and pieces performed out of order, some repeated more than others, but it was an incredible experience as a long time U2 fan, worth having our phones and smart watches locked up for 6 hours and having nothing to eat!
Apparently Monday night's show was filmed, and yesterday they filmed parts of the show, specific songs, dialog and audience reaction.
It was a LONG day. General admission seating, so the die hards were out and queuing early. I was a plus one and met my group of friends at about 10am (they had gotten there about an hour earlier) We ended up in excellent left orchestra seats, row B (6th row).
Taping started at around 2:30ish and ran until 6:30. Lots of down time, the first part was about one hour, and they encouraged the crowd to stick around for the second round, which was much of the same material, just shot from different angles. The audience reaction shot part was very brief, maybe only 5 minutes worth.
There were times when Bono was dissatisfied with his performance, and asked to do it over, but it is evident that he has this show down pat. (teleprompter notwithstanding) A truly consummate professional, it was a treat to see Bono "the actor" taking his direction and hitting his marks, rather than the frontman we are all so used to seeing perform live.
The crowd was mostly U2 fan club members and for good reason - we know what to do, when to sing and know all the lyrics. I think we saw three renditions of Desire. Only highlights were filmed, this was not the entire show and the backdrops were not used. The crowd was super enthusiastic (even during down time) and we sang Happy Birthday to him once while he was backstage to encourage him to hurry up and get back out as well as again towards the end of the session. He seemed genuinely touched and appreciative, with that huge Bono smile plastered on his face.
After Jacknife Lee confirmed that they got all the footage they needed, Bono did sing the opera song in Italian (I don't know the title) to end the day and after 4+ hours of talking and singing, his voice sounded perfect - absolutely brilliant.
It was strange seeing bits and pieces performed out of order, some repeated more than others, but it was an incredible experience as a long time U2 fan, worth having our phones and smart watches locked up for 6 hours and having nothing to eat!
