Have not Worked with U2 but from experience with a few other mega bands, the
stage and crew operation is a lot more complex than what you might imagine.
A lot of the bands are going with relatively low levels of actual sound on
stage, (you would be amazed how many time the big amp stacks are not really outputting ANYTHING, and it is all coming
thru the PA, and also that all the effects
etc are being controlled centrally. One of the megabands has a pit area in the middle of the
stage where the techs run most of the stuff for the band.
\
So the 02r is being used to create a special
monitor feed for the support crew that is very different than the artists on
stage, and
FOH, typically it is taken from the subs on the main
FOH mixer.
If you are at a concert that has delayed speakers out in the audience for better coverage, you can get quite a good
pick up from them with a relatively decent mic setup, you are far enougth away from the
foh speakers, but you are time aligned to that the
FOH sound is not going to conflict
How do you get in with the gear ;-)
Most use hidden mics that come up throught their shirt, and are attached to a baseball cap they wear. The recorder is usually placed inside their jeans along with having a large metal belt buckle in close proximity of the recorder. It is the old have something obvious that distracts the person doing the checking. Most security crews at Concerts are not overly watchfull
Obviously some of the bands at one time offered board feeds, and board tapes were the rage, now some of the megas' have a full protools rig running, with a dedicated mix going on back
stage off in the
venue, and by the time the concert is over the have compressed it, and uploaded it to the bands website for quick
purchase, after bands realized that people did like to have a copy of the exact concert they went to
Sharyn