by Emile Blokland

Hello Elevators,

Here is a review of Tim and Emile from The Netherlands. We have seen the U2 concert on the 17th of July in the Bercy in Paris.
After checking out Paris for a couple of days, the big day was finally there. At 10 o'clock in the morning we entered the line in front of the Bercy. We noticed that we were not the only people from the Netherlands which was very nice. After a long day with rain, our efforts resulted in what we wanted: bracelet around our wrests and go for the heart. YEAH!! We've seen other U2 shows near the stage before, but this it was really close! The distance and height between the heart and stage is really small, so we were able to see our heroes very well.
We saw Stereophonics outside the heart, at the end of the hall. Maybe people disagree with us, but we didn't care about these guys. When they were finished with their show, we bought another beer and hit the heart. Everyone was ready, from the heart till the end of the hall. Elevation. We didn't have to wait very long then and soon we heard the intro tune. When Elevation slammed, the crowd got wild and completely out of there minds. And this would be the scene of the following 2 hours.
When Bono used his guitar, for the first time at Kite, we saw he had a button on his guitar band. Although we still have some doubts, we are almost sure that on this button a picture of Herman Brood was printed. Herman Brood is a Dutch artist who was a friend of Bono and he committed suicide recently. Bono also dedicated Gone to Herman. After many wild songs, we went outside the heart to get a beer and to see a couple of songs at the end of the hall. U2 did these songs at the tip of the heart. When our beer was finished we went back quickly. Soon Bad started and the whole crowd was singing along. A special personal moment for Tim happened when Bono was singing Where the Streets have no Name. With two fingers I showed the peace-sign to Bono while he was looking in my direction. A few seconds later Bono himself showed the peace sign to the audience. After this song, Mysterious Ways was jamming and then The Fly started with his known fantastic intro. The end of the set is great. Bono is running around the heart two times and when the song ends, Bono bangs to the light wall, sticking like a fly. After this song, the light effects became normal again. Only with the Fly, the light effects we more present in comparison with other songs. Of course, there were some well thought elements, like projecting some text and the Walk On suitcase on the audience. Bono also used a spotlight during Bullet. The extras were cool too, with Wake up Dead Man as a surprise.
Not using much light-effects fit into the thoughts about the show, which we really appreciate. During the day, waiting outside in the line, there was some discussion about this issue. Some people prefer the ultra-show like Popmart, others prefer the pureness of Elevation. Anyhow, U2 is always making the crowd go wild and seeing this show only once is not enough!!! So maybe we see you all somewhere else in Europe, in Arnhem for sure. ELEVATION!!!!!

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