by Phil

WOW! This was definately the best concert I've been to! My wife and I were right against the wall a few feet from the tip of the heart. I was a little bummed at first because we didn't get into the heart, but that all changed once U2 took the stage.

I'll never forget the anticipation as the entire arena waited for the bands arrival. There were a couple of false alarms and then..... there comes Adam..... Larry...... Edge......and Bono. It was awesome! Elevation and Beautiful Day were played from the main stage. Elevation really rocked. Then came Until The End of The World. Man, Larry was really punishing those drums as Edge came in with that angry guitar. This was one of my favorite songs of the evening as Bono and Edge made full use of the ramps and were within a couple of feet of us as they did their duel. Bono stepped into the crowd at the tip which really surprised my wife. She hadn't really been looking forward to this concert but she immediately got into the show with Bono working the crowd. Then the lights went down for the beginning of New Year's Day. Adam is playing his opening baseline as Bono is leaning down and getting a breather. Bono then stands up facing us as he lets out the opening cry for the song. Unforgettable! I was really looking forward to them playing Kite and I was one happy guy when they did. Sunday Bloody Sunday sounded great! I have been reading some reports that this song should be retired. Well, I am happy to report that Sunday Bloody Sunday is alive and well and the crowd loved it even though Edge broke a guitar string. Edge broke another string during Angel of Harlem and made a nice recovery by continuing the song while Bono used his improvising skills to make a wise crack. Where The Streets Have No Name got the biggest response from the crowd and took the atmosphere up to another level. Streets is just one of the best concert songs ever! Onto the Fly, where again Larry continued his punishment on the drums as Edge ripped it up with the guitar. One of the best performances of the night. No diving into the crowd though for Bono.

During the encore I surprisingly noticed that the camera that was on Larry had the set list in view. Did anyone else notice this? The reason I ask is that I am pretty positive that there was one more song listed after Walk On. I know that Walk On has been the closing song so I was surprised to see another song listed afterwards. I wished I could have made out the title. It was a longer titled song and I thought it could have been When I Look at The World but the words just didn't look right.

Well, enough about the song they didn't play. One and Walk On were my favorite songs in the encore with very good versions of each song. Walk On ended with Bono thanking a lot of people and almost sounding like a farewell. I was waiting for U2 to come back onstage but then the house lights began to come back on and it was over.
What an incredible and memorable experience!

One last note. While exiting the floor I happened to notice U2's photographer Anton Corbijn. He was chatting with some people towards the rear of the floor. Too bad I didn't have a camera. I could have had a picture of my wife shot by U2's photographer!

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