by neal weichel

Sigh! Hard to believe, but the incredible journey that is and was the Vertigo tour is over. I have posted reviews of many of my favorite shows over the years and this would be in the top 5. Some insight then for those of us that would like nothing more than to travel for a U-2 show. First, having been to several European Stadium shows, this venue was signifigantly smaller. I thought at least 4500 fans would get into the front section of the ga's and I was dead wrong. We got there at about 10:30 and made it by no more than a few hundred fans. Shockingly, they capped the front section off when the crowd was only 5 or 6 deep from the rail until they let in hundreds (thousands?) of VIP's and ticket holders with special orange bands that came with their tickets at about 8 pm-not die hards that waited all day. Still, it was not packed like sardines which was nice. Also, it was the most organized ga line up I saw-surely appreciated by those that got in line on Thursday (!) for a Saturday night show. I mean I'm die hard, but not THAT die hard. Still, a lot of care was put in by the facility to make sure that no one jumped the line, bathrooms and food were available etc..a nice touch. As such, the vibe for the show was great, but I was concerned since it was a very easy ticket that either it wouldn't sell out or the crowd would be a little blase. Uh, no problem there. The energy was fantastic! Which brings me to Pearl Jam. I have always respected their integrity without ever having seen them, though lots of my friends have said-"you have to see them". Now I understand why. Simply stated, Eddie Vedder was born to be a rock singer and his band SHREADS. Them being the opener totally raised the bar for the show, and the encore of "Rockin in the Free World" was a buzz generating highlight. Especially the end. Bono-in typical Bono form-says "i don't know how to end the song". And Eddie-without missing a beat-shouts "I love the Edge" which they then use as a chorus to end the song, as if it had been written that way all along. When you hear the boot you will know what I mean but trust me-IT WAS PERFECT, and one of those moments you could not plan. Just one of those great moments you hope for in a show ending, TOUR ending show. And there were plenty- from the scrolling of all the tour dates (nice for those of us that started in San Diego almost 2 years ago) to the incredibly heartfelt and moving thanks by Bono mid show to the Edge, Morleigh, Sian etc for really being supportive of a tour that almost didn't happen. And what a tour and what a show-ragged surprises like the impromptu "Wild Horses" (and it was unplanned-apparently the guy was pulled up in St Louis and when pulled up here, insisted he could only play piano to "Wild Horses" and the look on Edge's face-I guarantee he was thinking-"Why does Bono do this to me?"-yet it went off ragged and wonderful. And songs that I personally can at this point do without like SBS (freshened and improved with the "Rock the Casbah" bit) and "Bullet" with the incredible graphics/sonic Edge assault, actually bringing the house down. And after the show, all I kept humming was the 2 new songs that I was so thrilled to hear for the first time, and glad that Billie Joe came (just for the show?) to make it memorable. And on and on it went...a grateful crowd, fun little snippets (The Hawaii 5-o theme during Vertigo-not yet mentioned), and a band at the height of it's powers blowing our doors off after 100 plus shows and a Pearl Jam opener that said "can you top this?" A long show, a great show, and like so many others i am thankful that a band this great, this meaningful exists for us to enjoy and party with. Happy Christmas-and hopefully it's 2 years, not 3 or 4 before we all get to meet each other again. God Bless

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