U2 in Berlin: experience my experience - part 2

I was lucky enough to attend U2's historic free concert at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on November 5th. Click here to view my first post, which contained videos. Now I will post some pics.... just a few from the hundreds I took!

Here I am drinking glühwein (spiked with rum!), waiting for the concert to begin...
Arriving early provided a special treat, getting a preview of the light show as they did the final technical checks:

The Brandenburg Gate being used as a computer screen... look, see the drop down menu that the tech must be mousing over? heh.

This was the perimeter security wall, limiting the audience to 10,000 attendees. There was a lot of controversy about this wall (the irony of building a wall to celebrate a wall coming down), with criticism of MTV (who sponsored the event) as protecting their investment. Click here and here for more.

Folks outside Starbucks without tickets trying to get a glimpse. I didn't feel smug to be inside (though very glad!), just felt a bit sorry for them. Oh, well.... off to get some more Glühwein...

This TV crew was from Spain, had a nice time chatting with them after they'd finished this spot. Two of them live in Berlin, and the other had come up just for the anniversary week. They were unanimous about the fact that Germany was cold!! lol. And, no, they did not ask to interview me. (Also look at the office building behind... funny how they are all working late this evening, lol...)

The perspective from portapottieland....

I took a few random shots of spectators while waiting for the concert to begin, and I thought this guy personified what I thought Berliners would look like before I got here.

It started to rain a bit, prompting this guy to use this brightly coloured bag as a hat. I am sure the beer consumed so far that evening had nothing to do with this seemingly rational decision ;-)

Saw this guy a few times, wrapped up in his flag from a country I have yet to take the time to identify...

OK, here we are, the concert has begun!!!! This was from the first song, "One Love" and this is what the lighting changed to later in the piece. Awesome!!!

Here's the set list:

• One (I always thought it was One Love?)
• Magnificent
• Sunday Bloody Sunday (including special guest Jay-Z who I'd honestly never heard of before, apparently I was the only one!)
• Beautiful Day
• Vertigo
• Moment of Surrender

I would like someone who knows about photography and composition to tell me why I love this picture so much? There is just something about it...

More clapping.... BTW, someone asked me how close to the front I was, well, you can see I am quite a ways back, probably half way... When I arrived I actually could have stood practically in the front row (about 3 people back), but that would have required standing in one spot for 3 hours... naw, not my style...This kid had the best seat in the house, on the shoulders of the tallest dad in the crowd! She definitely had a good time. Oh, I discovered the Germans are a tall lot, I wasn't towering above people as much as I was used to...

One of the rocker guys by me... loved the spirit and energy of the crowd, everyone was so happy!!! This was a hard core U2 crowd, all knew the songs and were singing along...

My new friends that I was closest to during the final lead up to the band, and all during it. The couple (on the left) and the girl on her own were all in Berlin for the evening, living in smaller communities about an hour away. The couple drove in and the girl took the train. They found a Canadian's perspective on the whole experience rather interesting!

After the concert.... Once again, I'm looking for a photographer to tell me why I like the composition of this random pic....

... and this one... I think it has something to do with the clarity of a single part of the picture and the blurriness of everything else... But if I could learn what it was, then maybe I could learn to take this kind of shot intentionally - and better! - than them just appearing every 100 pics or so in my e-stack!

All in all, it was an amazing evening and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In closing, a shout out and hello to all those folks back home in Vancouver who I understand were rooting for me to get a ticket, crushed for me when I didn't, and excited for me when I finallly did! Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into what it was like...