by mick and ellie james

A cold night in Adelaide. And the last show of our U2nerary that began in Brisbane. As we lined up under the burning Adelaide sun in a bid to make it into the ellipse one final time, we couldn't shake that sickening 'almost-over' feeling, even though we know we've had the time of our lives.

Being an Australian Rules football field, the GA area of AAMI Stadium was easily twice as big as the rugby fields U2 played in Brisbane and Sydney (20 thousand capacity compared to ten), and therefore it was twice as hard to get into the ellipse, but thankfully the gods were smiling upon us.

Being from Sydney, we quickly realised that Adelaide smells of weed – really strong and plentiful decriminalised weed – which, along with the fact that AAMI Stadium is a 'dry' (as in no booze) venue, may explain why the crowd were amazingly subdued in comparison to the earlier shows of this most triumphant leg of the Vertigo tour.

Despite the 10-degree drop in temperature once the sun set, the band, unusually rugged up in jackets and hoodies, again performed to the high standards that we’ve been extremely fortunate to witness so far.

Having bought the U218 album the next day and watching the DVD filmed last year in Milan, we've had our suspicions confirmed. Bono's voice has been exceptional on this leg, reaching and sustaining notes that are missing from the filmed performance. We really are the lucky country to hear the boys in their best, rested form.

I Will Follow made an early appearance once more, replacing Walk On, while Angel of Harlem was moved into the main set instead of the encore and was performed on the b-stage.

The Fly was particularly tight tonight, and The Saints Are Coming (unsurprisingly now a #1 single in Australia) was belted out with its biggest sound on the tour so far. Unfortunately some spoilsport managed to catch the string of the kite after Bono released it for the finale, kind of ruining the effect. Come on people! Where is the love?

Despite the band's best efforts, it seemed that the chronic Adelaide weed cloud affected everyone tonight. Bono was keen on everyone getting out their phones to 'light up Telstra' (as in Sydney's Telstra Stadium) as a mammoth 'AAMI Stadium' sign faced the stage. His inclusion of a snippet of Singing in the Rain must just be a favourite ditty, because it was a cloudless night, but the most obvious gaffe had to be his apology for not returning to Adelaide in 8 years, when it was actually a much longer thirteen years that U2 had been away.

This show wasn't as polished as the previous gigs on the Australian leg, especially as we were fresh with the memory of three huge Sydney shows the previous weekend, but this one was still just as fun.

It has to be said that out of the five we saw, the Saturday night show in Sydney was by far the best. That one had the most 'it'. That indescribable uplifting feeling that the crowd knows it will get when it queues to see the spectacle that is four forty-something Irish blokes who have the ability to transform tens of thousands into one.

"What was that?! Gimme some more of that!"

We're with you Bono. See you next time!

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