by Kent

GA HOLDERS, REPEAT AFTER ME: "MUST GET INTO HEART, MUST GET INTO HEART...". That was without a doubt the best concert that I have ever seen or will ever see in my lifetime! Any show I ever see again will be automatically compared to last night in Tacoma. It is simply too overwhelming to describe the feeling of Bono crouching over you at the front of the stage or Edge coming over for a wailing solo only 3 feet away from you.

This will be a LONG post-- need to do a complete brain dump here for my memoirs. Apologies if you didn't want this much detail...

GA LINE- I got to the dome at 8:00am and was the 12th person in line. By noon I'd say there were 100 and by 3 or 4pm there must have been 250-300. The crowd was very cool, despite the spitting rain and wind. People were slipping out for food/coffee, but everyone knew each other (at least the first 50), so getting back in was no problem. To be honest, the time flew by. At 4:00pm, the ragged single file line was moved up 50 yards and formed 4 single file lines. Our floor wristbands were handed out at this point. At 6:00pm, they did a "visual search" only and let us go down the steps and into the building. If they had done a slower, real search, that probably would have slowed the crowd down enough to avoid the ensuing door crush. FYI, cameras with lenses less than 2" were let in. BTW, it really sounds like the whole GA process varies from venue to venue, so take all this with a grain of salt.

At the entrance to the building, our tickets were checked and we were counted via turnstyles as we entered the building. From there it was a fast walk across the floor to the back corners of the heart where our tickets were checked again. Lots of security around telling us to just walk and take it easy. I couldn't believe turning the corner into the EMPTY heart with the front railing WIDE OPEN! My brother-in-law and I were #1 AND #2 INTO THE HEART-- man, what a feeling! The 10 hour wait was already worth it. Once inside the heart, we were given 2nd wristbands. Once full, the middle of the heart was pretty wide open since everyone was glued to the front and to the edges. The pushing and shoving didn't seem that bad to me.
BTW, a security guy who traveled with U2 for the Joshua Tree tour said that the main part of the stage was identical to what was used during Joshua Tree (minus the heart of course). Talk about recycling!

PJ HARVEY- I didn't know squat about her, but by the third song she was starting to click with me some. I could see her 10 song setlist taped up to a keyboard, and I kept thinking "5 more songs to U2, 4 more songs to U2...". PJ made lot of eye contact and smiled at the heart folks and was pretty responsive even though the arena crowd was luke warm at best to her. Someone yelled out "Glad you're felling better" which she really appreciated.

U2 TAKES THE STAGE- Man, what a rush. The place just erupted. Edge wore a red #33 shirt; everyone else looked pretty standard. House light were still on. They went right into Elevation and Bono got right into our faces. Incredible! They sounded awesome. LOTS of energy.

I'll just hit on a few highlights. One of Edge's strings did break during Until the End of the World and he started staring down at his tech for assistance. He played through most of the song, even did the solo FLAWLESSLY, until finally swapping back to the guitar he used for Beautiful Day to finish out the song.

On I Will Follow, BONO, YES, BONO WAS PLAYING THE MAIN RIFF on his green Gretsch guitar. I was really surprised to see this, but I am certain this is what was happening. Very cool. Desire sounded great with just Edge and his acoustic guitar.

It was awesome to hear so many of the older tunes. The crowd was very into all of them, I Will Follow, New Year's Day, SBS, Pride-- they all sounded fantastic. Total of 3 girls on stage: Edge's daughter (looked 12 or so) at the heart tip during In a Little While, the gal right behind me got pulled up for Bad, and another gal at the heart tip during WOWY (I think). They all got kissed on the hand.

The sound up front was very good. It was not too loud with the exception of Bono's guitar which was turned way, way up (at one point during the show, he started kicking the crap out of his amp). Sometimes it was a bit hard to understand Bono while he was addressing the crowd.

The front of the heart was great. I'd say Bono spent 1/3 maybe 1/2 of his time out and about on the heart. To be honest though, it gave a great perspective seeing him
work the main floor crowd from behind, with the lights defining his silhouette. It was like two simultaenous shows: Bono and the crowd in back, band up front. All the eye contact and body language between all 4 of them was really interesting to watch as well.

THE BAND- Early on, Bono introduced the band. Larry came all the way out to the tip of the heart. He introduced Edge by saying that he had "more children that Abraham" and commented on his "beautiful tenor voice". Adam hopped up onto the side stage and
waved, but I don't recall him walking the heart.

Bono had great energy and his voice seemed right on. He really seemed to take to the Seattle crowd (the "rain" comment was great). He extended out his hand to us in the heart probably 7 or 8 times throughout the night. I couldn't believe how profusely he was sweating by the 3rd song. During the last few songs, I kept trying to get Bono to take my camera, but I could never get his attention (even by tapping my camera on his foot!). Larry was all business, as usual, working very hard on the drumset.

Adam was very fun to watch, which kind of surprised me. The gal next to me desperately wanted to get up on stage and dance with him, and when he finally heard her say this, his pulled up his bass and playfully cowered behind it. CLASSIC! There were several times during the show when it seemed like he was trying his best not to bust out smiling. At the end, after hesitating a bit, Adam came over a shook a couple hands, but then kind of pulled back abruptly with sort of a sheepish boy look on his face, almost like he was embarrased or something. Maybe he doesn't usually shake hands? Anyway, it seemed like a really genuine moment.

And then there's Edge. I spent a lot of time watching Edge, but could never get his attention. He was very focused on the equipment and pedals at his feet, and also closed his eyes quite a bit when doing vocals. Finally, I had my moment when he came front and center for his solo on Sunday Bloody Sunday. Right as he was finishing w/ the solo, I held up my hand and when he was done he reached out and grabbed it! For a split second there, it felt like just me and him. I felt SO lucky since he was being such a tough nut to crack. He just about dropped his pick, too, from us squeezing hands. That was the total CONCERT HIGHTLIGHT for me. Unbelievable. He shook hands
again w/me and the guy next to me at the end as well, but that was it in terms of fan interaction I think, so I feel totally lucky!!! A few other lucky fans got some picks from his tech.

They did two encores that night if I recall-- well I would call it two. The main set ended with The Fly, then they came out with Bullet, WOWY, and Pride. After Pride they said goodnight, etc, and then everything went dark. Then they came back for One, some of Unchained Melody and Walk On. Maybe it was that way at other shows, but it was a pleasant surprise to me.

I'll put up my photos over the weekend. I don't want to cause a panic, but the heart was so awesome!!! It really felt like seeing U2 in a small club-- I was pretty oblivious to the other 20,000 fans. I'm sure the tip of the heart is good also, but there was so much energy up front.

Finally, I couldn't believe how quickly the crew started tearing down the stage. I'm not kidding-- before the house lights even went up, there was a guy at my feet
unscrewing the barrier. And before the heart was even half empty, there was a semi truck pulling right into the arena. On to the next stop I guess.

OK, my brain has gone totally fuzzy now... Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic time whichever show you attend!!!

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