by MarkW

Wow!! What a fantastic performance once again!! U2 did not disappoint!

I have been fortunate enough to see U2 on every tour beginning with Zoo TV and I'm proud to add this one to my collection. My last U2360 show was at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. During that one, we had GA tickets and made it into the circle after one of the most pitiful crowd controls in U2 GA history! For this Anaheim show, we also had GA tickets. We showed up at the queue around 8:30 that morning and realized we should be in the first 500. There ended up being two queues - one on opposites sides of the stadium. The queue was managed well for the most part, except for when security told us to put away our chairs and belongings at NOON instead of the more reasonable 3 pm! Most people didn't heed that instruction and still put away their stuff at their leisure. Anyways, we made it inside the circle, dead center, just a few people away from the catwalk!!

As for the show itself, it was really polished! "Even Better.." being the opener was interesting and got the crowd going right off the bat, especially after segueing into "I Will Follow". All the songs were fantastic, but for me, the highlights were when Bono thanked the crowd for its patience (this show was originally scheduled for June 6, 2010) and then asked The Edge, "What do you want to play now, The Edge?" and Edge went into the "All I Want Is You" riff! Awesome!! Then they played "Stay" which was powerful with just Bono and The Edge. "Zooropa" was incredible with the screen coming all the way down to shield the band and it really took us back to 1993. Loved hearing more of that song instead of the very little were heard on bootlegs during the Zooropa tour! Another highlight was "Scarlet"! I should also mention that during "One", they showed footage of them in Berlin during the Achtung days driving around in a tribant. Then they segued into "Streets" which featured footage of them in the desert during the Joshua Tree days! This really took us back. One of my friends said he got a little teary because of those memories -- and he's 40 yrs old!! Note: During the ZooTV tour, they also played this footage during "Streets" but now 20+ years have passed, so it was even more moving. Another highlight was "Miss Sarajevo". I love Bono doing Pavarotti's part!! The show was just incredible and Angel Stadium of Anaheim was filled with fans standing all around. It's always great to turn around to watch Bono on the catwalk singing to the stadium and we get to see what he's seeing. I just can't explain that sight. Sorry for being long-winded, but this was a great experience once again! I'm 37 yrs old and I was a kid in a candy store again.

Another interesting note... the band did extensive soundchecks of "Ultraviolet" (minus Bono), "The Fly" (full band), and played the opening riffs to "Bad". None of these songs were played, but there is speculation this may be a warm up for Glastonbury next week.

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