by Darren

I was a little harsh with my review of the tour opener so I felt it necessary to post my review of this show. It was outstanding. Love and Peace or Else is a fantastic opener. This show's first three songs just kept building up the energy. It was this intensity that San Diego 1 lacked. Bono's voice was great and overall he seemed much more energetic than the tour opener. When he's into it, the crowd responds. Adam was smiling again....and why not? The crowd was certainly responsive. Bono actually interacted with the crowd more. Between his touching stories of the Pope, to pulling a young girl on stage, to viewing things through Larry's eyes (He found himself standing on Larry's riser and commented something like "In twenty-odd years of doing this, I don't think I've ever stood here"), this show brought the audience into the magic of U2.

I'm not a huge fan of Mysterious Ways but it really sounded great during this show. The crowd really got into it. The crowd's intensity led to a rather interesting visual: cell phone's are this generations lighters. During the intermission, the cell phones were opened and waved like stars in the night. The whole arena was lit. It happened again later and Bono was so amazed that he asked for the spotlight to be turned off so he could appreciate it. Pretty cool.

In my first review, I predicted that by the time the band heads east, they will have improved things significantly. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were much faster than that. The tour may not be perfect yet, but this show had that U2 magic that I've never seen rivaled by any band. Now...if they can just get rid of the stupid GA lottery..........

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