by Don Conrad

I just got back from the Baltimore show and it was great! I've seen
them a bunch of times, all the way back to the War Tour in 1983 and
this was the absolute best show I've seen them put on. I was at both
D.C. shows in June and this blew those away. It might have been the
small venue or the emotion from 9/11, but it was an extremely emotional
experience.

They opened with Elevation, BD, UTEOTW as usual. Then followed up
with New Year's Day. During NYD, someone threw an American flag
up to Bono near the tip of the heart. He just cradled it and hugged it
like he was saying a prayer for the fallen people from last month. After
that, Bono did a rap like they were 18 again. "Hi, our band is called U2
and we'd like to play our first single for you. We hope you like it." Then
they launched into Out of Control. Outstanding. After that, the setlist
order gets a little fuzzy. Somewhere along the line, a guy held up a sign
saying Knockin' on Heavens Door with the chord progression. Bono
pulled him up on the heard and they brought out Edge's acoustic for him.
He did a great job. I was suprised that they remembered the song as it's
been a while since they've played it (Lovetown?). They also changed the
words to New York much more than the Notre Dame show. Much more
directly relating to the tragedy. Then Kite. They also played Please.
That was great and the first time I'd seen them play it. Also in there they
did the When Will I See You Again/Stuck in a Moment combo. Angel
of Harlem was also played. The crowd went nuts.

Then into Streets and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. They
finished up the main set with Pride. The encore began with Bullet the
Blue Sky and then What's Goin' On. I swear they do the best version
of that song that I've ever heard. Bono then paused and asked everyone
to quiet down and he then talked about how during the height of the IRA
that innocent people with Irish accents would be beaten in England just
because of how they talked. He then asked for people to be kind to
innocent Muslims and not hold them accountable for the lunatics that are
causing the problems. Then One. I had read that they were scrolling
the airline passengers names on the screen and was waiting for it but
it still really got to me seeing it while they were playing. The names
finished
scrolling as they went into Peace On Earth and then Walk On.

I'm sure I missed a couple things but I'm sure u2tours.com will have the
complete and accurate setlist. Now I just need and audio and video
boot for this show.

As an aside, my buddy and I were talking and, although I'm sure there
are plenty of places in Europe, is this the first place they have played in
the U.S. that the Beatles also played? It was definitely their first time
in Baltimore (they usually play DC) but I was trying to think of another
US venue where the Beatles played that U2 also played.

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