by Carla7399 (Sweetesthing)

Where do I begin??? It’s 1 week later and my emotions are still “out of control”! The countdown to the ultimate U2 weekend began back in March, when my Buddy (aka ZooTv) and I scored amazing tickets to both Montreal shows – our $40 membership to U2.com was definitely worth it! I could have gone to the Toronto shows > but rumour had it that Montreal has the craziest and LOUDEST fans! ;)

My first memory of U2 dates back in 1992 > I was home watching TV one Saturday > I put on Much Music and there’s this cool guy dressed in black leather, with really big black shades, singing “Even better than the real thing” > I was mesmerized by the video > crazy instant frames changing every 2 seconds, in every each way... and I later found out that the cool guy was Bono in character as “The Fly”. At 12 years old, I knew this man and this band were something special & I here I was, 14 years later, going to finally see them LIVEEE! As you can imagine, I had 14 years of high expectations built up and I knew we were not getting the big ZooTV/Popmart productions > but we certainly got 2 solid rock & roll shows! They definitely exceeded my expectations > but I’m a bad example, I understand no one is perfect, and certainly not every chord was perfect, but these guys do no wrong in my eyes, anyways! ;)

We get to Centre Bell & Arcade Fire was just about finished their set (we waited a bit outside to get in) > the crowd is already going nutz when they see Edge’s guitar tech, Dallas Schoo, on stage tuning!

And the moment arrived... Arcade Fire’s show opener “...ohhhh ohhhh ohhhhh wake up, wake up” followed by: EVERYONE, EVERYONE...EVERYONE... and then the opening riff to “City of blinding lights” > the crowd is on their feet, and did not sit down EVER AGAIN!!!” The apparition is there (Bono)... at the tip of the ellipse – confetti everywhere - I’m crying tears of joy, I’m hugging my fiancé -- oh what “a beautiful day!!!!!!!” A fabulous performance indeed. It was the most energetic, soulful, charismatic rock & roll performance I’ve ever been to, not to mention LOUD!!! At one point during the show, Bono stops in the circle and looks at the crowd in awe... “WOW YOU GUYS ARE CRAZY!” He couldn’t believe how loud we were!! Take that Toronto, New York, Boston & Chicago!!! Montreal is officially U2’s loudest choir!! We carried on through every lyric of every song – from beginning to the end... when Bono finished... we continued! It was the most amazing experience, and everyone knew this was something special!! U2’s songs are anthems! No other words to describe them!

I loved that Bono spoke French & on his many rants between songs he said: “U2 VIENT VIVRE A MONTREAL!!” The crowd, as you can imagine, went nutZZZ! He also described Arcade Fire as "troubadours" -- what a perfect description, I thought!

Now, I’d would write forever about the show and describe my emotions through the set list, each song took me to a moment in time. I’ll just say that I was in awe with the whole performance -- with the band’s energy -- with Bono’s charisma, and I was blown away with Bono’s voice, particularly during “Miss Sarajevo” when he sang Pavarotti’s tenor part in Italian. This man was blessed with a voice -- WOW -- he sang better on that song than on any of his regular songs! Bob Hewson’s passion for opera is quite apparent in Bono himself!

The Edge was rockin’ those riffs. Larry works those drums like a mad man, and Adam, calmly rocked back and forth with a huge smile on his face the whole time. He was so feeling it!!

It was beautiful from the beginning to the 1st encore, then the 2nd encore & until the end when Daniel Lanois joined the band during BAD - the show closer! The crowd refused to leave – we just carried on “How long... to sing this song.. how long!” The band is off stage and we’re still chanting --- lights come on – we’re still chanting – what a feeling of comraderie. When it was apparent that we weren’t getting a 3rd encore, the crowd started to hurry off and I just sat in my seat looking at the stage absorbing it all > I was “stuck in a moment” and I really didn’t want to get out of it!! > I went back in time to the age of 12 when I first saw “Even better than the real thing!” & then I realized what I had just seen!

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