by Sean Horne

Well, I think a good time was had by most. But what can you say about Vancouver crowds and venues.

First off, U2 put on a grand show and played their hearts out. Unfortunately, the accoustics of the "upside-down toilel bowl" that is BC Place as well as all the empty seats (WHY?!?!) made U2 sound not much better than their opening act, Smash Mouth. Fans will have enjoyed this show (they all sang along and knew the lyrics). The crowd was into the band coming onto the stage and playing Mofo and I Will Follow- but the crowd really quieted down for the new material. So much in fact that Bono asked the audience after "Gone", "Where are ya?" Real thing was tight, but too slow. I think in bad accoustics slower songs sound better than if they were played fast. Last Night on Earth seemed ill-received until Edge played like a wild man possessed at the finale. Until The End of the World got the crowd interested and New Years Day woke up the sleeping fans into a good ol' U2 frenzy of old. Pride was good, the oh oh oh oh's did not go on too long. But the spirit was there. ISHFWILF (I'm really tired now) was well done.

I loved hearing All I Want Is You in it's entirety (about time guys! - the ZOO TV teaser in '92 licked )- that was a real highlight of the show. U2 really Rattled and Hummed for that song. Staring at the Sun was nicely done as always as was Edge's Sunday Bloody Sunday. Bullet somehow sounded like a mixture uf the ZOO TV version and POPMART version. It did not seem as funked out as in other shows. It simply rocked. By now the audience was really getting into the show and Bono was responding in kind by playing up the Castro-like character. Please was 100 times better than POPHEART, I kid you not. I swear, the emotion spilled from the stage throughout the stadium. Streets was killer as usual with Adam just rocking the house. Please Adam, go back to NYC for another year if that's what it did for you. Kudos.

The encores were standard, complete with a show stopping rendition of With or Without You. HMTMKMKM was awsome as was Mysterious Ways- extremely tight and well played. One almost made me cry. The show closed with Wake Up Dead Man (the whole thing I think).

It was nice to hear Bono say "This is a cool city." But, I really think the crowd did not honour the band as much as I thought they would. Maybe it's just that whole West Coast thing. Bono actually looked pissed off at the crowd at the beginning and was jumping around like a mad man trying desperately trying to connect. I thought it was simply sad and I was embarrassed to be a Vancouverite at those particular moments.

I think back to my experience in Edmonton, June 15th. Night and day was the differnce between audiences. In Edmonton, the audience was animal from the get go and it was reflected in U2's performance (Get that Boot if you can!). And indoor stadiums really bite. I think U2 should have gone stereo for the indoor shows. Oh well. I think tonight's show in Vancouver is yet another good reason to rip the roof off the dome.

In the final analysis, I'm really glad my wife and I made the long trip from Vancouver to Edmonton in June. That is the POPMART show I want to remember, not tonight's unfortunately.

PS, I really missed Miami, Karaoke - and I really wanted to hear "Do You Feel Loved". Well, I can always hope can't I? I can hardly wait to see what the next leg of the tour brings... new songs, new album? Who knows..........

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