U2 in Barcelona: Concert Tour Begins HERE!

The perennial Irish rock group U2 will play a second concert tonight in Barcelona's Camp Nou Stadium, home to the city's FC Barcelona football team.

Tonight's was an add-on show after a sold-out show on June 30, the actual first concert tour date on the 2-year "360-degree" tour schedule. Tonight's U2 concert is also sold-out.

90,000 tickets were quickly sold-out for the first show upon going onsale and the second add-on show, well, also sold out quickly. So much for economic crises, right? Tickets were sold anywhere from 150 Euros to 350 Euros each.

About $100,000,000 was spent on the 31-city world tour but it seems to be money well-spent as U2 concerts typically sell out.

A friend of mine - a member of the U2 Fan Club - had 2 tickets to sell to tonight's concert. HE WAS ONLY ASKING FACE VALUE for them, too! That's 45 Euros each, folks! Why didn't I buy them?!?!?

Barcelona wins Copa del Rey 2009

I don't normally write about sports topics on my blogs but this one warranted mention.

Last night, F.C. Barcelona beat Athletic de Bilbao 4-1 to secure their 25th Copa del Rey title, their first since 1998.

After Athletic de Bilbao's initial goal by Gaizca Toquero 9-minutes into the match, Barcelona answered with goals by Yaya Toure, Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic, and Xavi Hernandez.

The win was clear by the end of the match. But the mystery and controversy came to those not present in the stadium. TVE, Spain's national television station, did not include the audio of the Spanish National Hymn at the beginning of the match when both teams were lined up on the field at attention. Why? It seems to me that the hymm was rendered inaudible due to the Catalan and Basque fans' whistles and boos of disapproval of not only the King's presence at the match, but also the fact that both regions are fighting for their independence from the country. Later, TVE replayed the Spanish National Hymn but with the jeers and boos edited out. Someone on the radio this morning, debating last night's game and TVE's presumed censorship, commented that there should be a separation of Sports and Politics. I couldn't agree with that more.

(see video below of the hymm and the goals)