by Mark Polishuk

You can have a nice day just walking around Toronto. My pal Trevor and I have been to T.O. a good thirty times each, but a good day was still had doing touristy things like checking out the Eaton Centre, the big HMV store, etc. Trevor, hilariously enough, was the unfortunate victim of a defecating bird, and had to actually buy a new shirt.

But I digress. The entire day was built up to the U2 show at the ACC. It was my first U2 concert, and I had worried that I had built the event up so much in my mind that there would be a letdown. BOY WAS I WRONG!!!! The show was absolutely incredible, and my high expectations were easily met.

Notes....
*My seats were almost behind the stage, but the vantage point was still great. The 360 stage means that there is literally not a bad seat in the house. I missed the Heston video and the New York screens, but that's only cosmetic stuff.

*Maybe the only problem with the seats is that the audio was muffled, so Bono was sometimes hard to understand. Some of the lyrics came through a bit garbled, but that may be because it seemed like EVERYONE in the building was singing along. During the end of the show, Bono made some comments about how Canada was leading the charge for the Jubilee campaign, led by our finance minister (and maybe future prime minister) Paul Martin. Talk about free publicity, eh?

*Bono's voice didn't seem in great shape. He was still a solid A, but just not an A+. Edge sang the high notes of In A Little While, but I couldn't tell if Bono hit the parts in Bad or Bullet the Blue Sky because (like I said before) the crowd was loudly singing along. Bono might've been drowned out.

*The band was as tight as they've ever sounded. Edge let loose amazing solos during UTEOTW and Bullet the Blue Sky, and like I said before also pinch-hit for Bono on some of the higher parts. Larry and Adam had the rhythm section pounding all night; the beat was shaking me in the upper deck.

*Bono mentioned his baby about 5-6 times, most memorably during Beautiful Day; a lyric was changed to 'a beautiful baby.'

*Setlist was as per usual, but they could've played anything and I still would've loved it. Highlights for me included In A Little While, Streets, Discotheque/Staring at the Sun, One, the Fly...well, let's just save space and say that entire show was a highlight. The only difference was some Bob Dylan stuff tonight, from the cover of Forever Young to inserting a verse from Mr. Tambourine Man (I think) into Elevation. Happy 60th, Bob!

*I would be remiss in not mentioning PJ Harvey, who was very good herself. Anybody who incorporates a double-bass into a live show gets my kudos. She somehow packed about 11 songs into 45 minutes, and they were sounding good.

As I sit typing this review, my voice still raw from singing, my feet still sore from standing, and my hands still sore from clapping, I can only thank U2 for putting on such an amazing show.

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