by Nathan

A fantastic show. I've seen Zoo TV, PopMart, and Elevation, and in my honest opinion this show was as good as (if not better than) Zoo TV. About halfway through the show my wife turned to me and said, "They just get better!" It was true. Bono's voice was strong through the whole show, and Edge's playing was on fire -- so much so that he broke a string during "SBS" and needed a new guitar, hence Bono's vamp of "Edge has got it under control."

We arrived about 9:30 and were 123 and 124 in line. As opposed to SD's security policing the line, there wasn't much policing going on -- lots of line-jumpers and what not, but for the most part nothing to get worked up about (security did come through and kick out a guy who tried to cut right to the front of the line). There was also no real explanation for a while about whether the U2.com membership card was going to be honored -- until we eventually found out that it wasn't. Guess that worthless hunk of metal continues to be just that.

About 3:30 the band showed up. Larry was first, he buzzed right past the crowd waiting -- about 50-60 or so. Edge and Adam came next, and then police chased most of us off by saying everyone was in -- but Bono showed up at 4:30 (April Fool's?), popped out briefly and apologized that he had to run in, but it was still cool to see King B in the flesh.

The doors opened about 6:15. I think the GA line actually went faster than the U2.com line -- though it seems more people from the U2.com line got into the ellipse. (My wife and I, our friend Kevin, the five people in front of us, and the five behind us didn't get in either.) We wound up being three people back on Edge's side, however, and it couldn't have been a more perfect spot.

Kings of Leon came right out at 7:30. I will always maintain that the lead singer's voice sounded like a can opener. If they swapped charisma with a head of cabbage, the cabbage would come out ahead. By 7:45 it felt like they'd been out there forever.

It was a brilliant trade-up of the setlist. The lights all went to black, and spotlights emerged as the ominous bassline to "Love and Peace" rumbled through the house. What a surprise to see the boys come out this way, after everything I'd heard about "City" being the opening. But as they launched into the song, with Bono singing to my section for the whole first half, I was instantly reminded about how U2 seems to sound best when they're angry about something -- and the opening suite of "Love and Peace", "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (even with Edge's broken string mucking things up a bit), and "Bullet the Blue Sky," left no doubt that U2 has an agenda this time...

By contrast, the tender rendition of "Running to Stand Still" provided a nice contrast, but no less pointed message as it melded right into the Declaration of Human Rights ("No torture" seemed to get the biggest response from my section). In this politically-minded context, "Still Haven't Found" seemed to be right at home, and probably could have been the theme for the night, as Bono spent a great deal of time talking about Africa later in the show. "New Year's Day" capped off what you could probably call the political section of the show -- and Bono's voice sounded frankly amazing. No rasp, no strain -- he didn't just hit the notes, he blew the roof off some of them.

It's hard not to think about Terry Schiavo when Bono sings "Miracle Drug." It was great to hear Edge's vocals during this song, even if his mic seemed to cut out on the last bit of his vocal. And the four screens overhead focused on Bono exclusively for the only time during the night during "Sometimes", the focus seemed to only strengthen his voice as he hit The Note, and pulled out an incredibly emotional performance from a song that he has already sang countless times.

After these two emotive songs, "Beautiful Day" was something of a catharsis -- a celebration that the audience couldn't get enough of. During "Pride", Bono couldn't seem to decide if he wanted us to sing, cheer, or listen -- which may have led to a slightly weaker response than he was seeking when he cried out that Dr. King's vision was for the whole world. But the crowd made up for it by singing "oh-oh-oh" long after the band had faded out. "Streets", with the African flags behind them on the curtain, and "One" in this new context were quite powerful, particularly if you've been to Africa or have had friends who have been there.

The break was slightly surprising there, since I knew that that last Africa suite was usually reserved for the encore -- so the question was, what on earth could they possibly play next? We didn't have to wait long for the answer, as after Bono said, "Give us a few minutes," the band came back and launched right into "Zoo Station." "ZS" is one of those strange songs -- so rooted in the land of Zoo TV, it seems a little awkward as a standalone song. "The Fly," however, was balls to the wall rock and roll -- Bono hit most of the words this time, even if he had to repeat one of the verses, and for sheer uninhibited performance value, it brought the house down.

The stripped-down"Elevation" was a nice surprise, especially with the revised arrangement. U2 is one of those bands that always manages to come up with an amazing live arrangement, nowhere more evidenced than on "Mysterious Ways." Tiffany may have been a bit over the top, especially with her dance moves, but the look on Bono's face as he escorted this Fly/MacPhisto hybrid around the ellipse was priceless. "Some people dress up to go out, and some people DRESS UP to go out." (Tiffany was interesting -- she was in the U2.com line looking as cold as a china doll, but when she got through with MW, she had the face of an innocent child star-struck by Bono.)

"City of Blinding Lights" for some reason sounded off-key with Edge's guitar, but listening to the show again later, it's spot-on -- my eardrums must have been useless after a while. It's amazing that one of the show's highest-energy songs, "Vertigo," was saved for the end -- Bono must have endless reserves of energy to be able to muster a performance as high-energy this late in the show. To launch from that song into "All Because of You" (which in a perfect world would have been the correct sequence for songs at the beginning of How To Dismantle), was great, though after "Vertigo" it was a little anticlimactic, especially considering how perfectly Bono hit the "fee-eel" notes, and the interlude of "Stories for Boys."

"Yahweh" and "40" brought the show back to a more reverential place. "40" sounded a little tentative; Adam didn't play much lead guitar, perhaps trying to figure out which key the song was in, while it looked like Bono was trying to make sure he was in the right key himself. (He adjusted his ear moniter a few times.)

It's an amazing show that can keep people in their seats for ten minutes after the songs end, singing "How long to sing this song". But people didn't want to leave, even after the lights came on. Yes, there was some boos at the fact that the boys didn't come out again, but at this point they had played for two hours and close to 24 songs -- there was nothing left for them to say, sing, or prove. Best band in the world? Only band in the world.

See you boys in Dublin...

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