by Michael Carpenter

Well, what can I say? For the first time, I saw U2, and to make it better, it was Bono's birthday. But the biggest thing of the day for me is meeting Adam Clayton - yes, the greatest bassist ever - just before the doors opened to the show. I got a picture of him with me and an autograph on my ATYCLB CD - unbelievable.

Conseco Fieldhouse is a beautiful arena, the nicest I've ever been to hands down, and the perfect setting for a concert - not a bad seat in the house. PJ Harvey started things up, and she was decent, though since I know none of her songs I didn't enjoy it as someone who might have all her CD's and knows all the lyrics. Everyone at Conseco, however, was waiting for U2 - in fact one guy, when Harvey finished, said, 'Thank God its over!'

The little intro to 'Elevation' started playing over the speakers, with the house lights up, and it seems most people recognized it as the crowd went into a frenzy way before the band even came out - must be a lot of bootleg owners out there ;-). With the lights still up the bashed into the song, and at the second 'A mole, diggin in a hole', the lights went off. Bono sang a little bit of the Beatles 'Birthday' as a coda, and then after 'Elevation', they went through hit after hit - 'Beautiful Day', 'Until The End of the World', 'New Year's Day', 'Gone', etc.

The highlights for me: 'Where The Streets Have No Name' - the crowd went berserk when the Edge started playing the intro, and then Bono did a sprint around the back of the stage and the catwalk - unbelievable. Then, on the wide video/graphic screen behind Larry, it flashed 'Happy Birthday Bono!'
'Mysterious Ways' was hilarious. Towards the end of the song, Bono brought one girl up on stage to dance with him, then he asked another, then another, and soon two dozen or so girls were up on stage with him dancing around the catwalk, with Bono smiling and saying 'It's my birthday!'

Other notables: 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' was a little less energized than previous versions, and it was played a few keys lower to. But when it hit the chorus the crowd didn't seem to notice it, everyone shouting 'How long, how long must we sing this song!' at the top of their lungs. Also, just a note - it says the band played In A Little While, which I don't recall them playing that or Sweetest Thing.

Just to let you know - if you want to meet a band member, simply find the area at the arena where the semis and trucks go into, the loading area place, and wait there 1-2 hours before the doors open.

What a day! Now I need to go develop the pictures - so long for now!

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