I really like the band and think that they do a great job. I especially enjoy the performance by "Bono". He plays up the hand gestures and, of course, sports the eye wear synonymous with U2's lead singer (click the photo below to enlarge for a closer look).
One of the reasons I enjoy this band is their enthusiasm, but more importantly their appreciation. They truly appreciate the opportunity to perform at Epcot and say so, taking time to thank all the cast members and the audience. 2U was celebrating their 4th season at the Epcot Sounds Like Summer concert series and was looking forward to the opportunity to perform a fifth time.
Unfortunately, for the band, the sound engineers had the volume entirely too loud. We experience this from time to time with different bands. I often wonder if the sound engineers have suffered hearing loss and cannot tell exactly how excruciatingly loud they are playing the music.
It is loud to the point of not being able to hear the performance. You can't understand the lyrics and the music itself is puncturing ear drums. The picture above is from the first minute of the opening song. Soon afterwards, children are crying (and being carried out by parents). Many people are holding their ears and making painful faces. The more prepared in the crowd (usually seniors) are wearing ear plugs. I've been known to make ear plugs from crumpled napkins. I'm sad to say that even ear plugs could not save today's performance.
We got up and walked out of the American Gardens Theater as the third song began. As we reached Japan, the music sounded perfect. Still very loud, but you could finally hear the words and enjoy the music. Although we could no longer see the band, we could better appreciate their talent from this distance.
I'm just not sure why some Epcot concerts are appropriately loud and others are unbearably painful. Hopefully, next year will have better adjusted sound.