by Brent Schultz

U2 played to a crowd of about 45,000 screaming U2 fans the other night. It wasn't as many as 62,000 who packed into Camp Randall Stadium in 1992, but still a good showing. I think the high ticket prices kept a lot of people away. The opening of the concert was great as the band ripped through some of their older tracks and a couple new ones. Gone, off of POP, was a special treat, and also one of the only songs off of POP that kept its edge in concert.

Two disappointments for me were "If God Will Send His Angels" and "Staring at the Sun." Both of these songs are much more impressive on the CD, especially "If God..." For me, that song is one of my favorite tracks off of the CD. Also, two of my other favorite POP songs, "Do You Feel Loved" and "The Playboy Mansion", weren't played at all. They also failed to incorporate any songs from Zooropa. I think they should tone down the amount of songs they play off of Pop. Nine songs is a bit too many. On the Zooropa tour, they only played six from that album. Why have they decided to play so many this time?

Personal highlights for me were Discotheque (where U2 turned Camp Randall into a disco as the lemon disco ball turned shining lights all around the stadium) and HMTMKMKM (where The Edge really gets to shine.)

Overall, it was a pretty good show. There were a few more songs they should've played, they should've interacted more with the crowd, and I personally think they could have done better versions of a few songs. Still, I would have to say this has got to be one of the best encores that they've ever put together. Also I really loved the sing-a-longs in I Still Haven't Found, Stand By Me, Pride, and Daydream Believer. Those were a lot of fun. Hope to see them all again soon!

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