by Rebecca Hunt

Perth was U2's smallest show on the tour with the highest prices of tickets, but I'm not going to grumble about that. I left the stadium that night in a state of stunned shock and devastation. Imediately after the gig and well into the next day i was sti ll recovering from the intense experience of Pop mart. The crowd were a little slow to respond as most of the people at the front had paid $300 for their tickets and were over the age of 40 and wouldn't know rock and roll if it smacked them in the face.

Right from the first song - MOFO - U2were no longer the worlds biggest rock stars sitting up on their pedestal laughing at the world but they were human and mortal, just like the rest of us. The only difference was they write fucking brilliant songs. The classics were well recieved, such as pride (where the crowd sustained the last who ho who ho ho for a good minute after the band stopped playing and Bono took out his ear piece and thanked us all. No, thank you. When pop came out it wasn't my favourite album but the concert changed all that. Each song from pop was brought down to the ground, leaving out the over produced bollocks that came with the album. Acoustic versions of Staring at the Sun were exquisite, as were the other songs. Mofo and Discotheque kicked ass as great rock songs do. One of the highlights was Edge's perfect surreal Sunday Bloody Sunday alone on the B stage with just his guitar and 16000 voices and hands. There was and evergrowing feeling of war though the middle of the set as they played Bullet the Blue Sky and Until the End of the World. You couldn't help but think of the looming war in the gulf and the Australian troops that were flying over there that night. Mysterious Ways brought the mood of the audience to an all time high with funky moves by the Edge out doing Bono and stealing his limelight.

This mood was soon to change. With the end looming near the band went into their final songs. Dedicated to Michael Hutchence from INXS, who killed himself last November, Edge played the opening chords to One. The crowd clapped in appreciation of the acknowledgement of one of Australia's only superstars. It wasn 't until the picture of him was placed on the screens that the pain of it all and the poignancy of the moment kicked in. It didn't stop there. One finished and Wake Up, Dead Man started. The tears came down. Everyone felt the pain that Bono felt at losing a great friend. We were finding it as hard to cope with as Bono was. They finished. They put down their instuments and walked to the front of the stage and bowed. We clapped and they were gone. INXS's song Never Tear us Apart came on. The crowd stayed, sang, and cried and then clapped as it finished and then left in silence, stunned by the beauty and sincerity of the whole occassion. Bono stated afterwards that he thought the crowd was stoned, we all were. We had inhaled the drug of U2 and it had left us spellbound.

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