by Jeff

You've already read a million reviews from the last night at the Meadowlands, but I'll throw my 2 cents in, just for kicks ....

This was my fifth Elevation show, and the previous four were all pretty damn good. There was Pittsburgh, when Bono talked and talked and talked. And the two in Philly; the first night easily one of the best shows on the tour; the second, well, still pretty good. And second-night in D.C., which was a total rocker.

But Friday in NJ simply blew me away. We were up top and in the corner (206, row 20), but what a great view of the whole heart and stage show.

And U2 didn't disappoint. It was a simply amazing show. My personal highlights:

1. Sunday Bloody Sunday: I've never seen a crowd so into this song. The place was going so crazy, in fact, you could feel (and see) the upper mezzanine level in the Meadowlands SHAKING ... up and down. It was nuts. During the song, Edge breaks a string, and while he's waiting for Dallas to bring out a new guitar, Bono sings: "Edge is switching his guitar ... and brothers, sisters torn apart" It was just such a great version. The place erupted.

2. Streets. What an incredible, incredible song. So powerful. And such a build up in the intro. We all know that any arena on any night goes crazy during this one, but on this night, it was extra special. Nobody was sitting. Everyone was up clapping and yelling; even the strange family of 4 in front of us who were obviously at their first U2 gig. I had the great opportunity to view this show with a fellow U2 junkie (his review is posted under Mal), and we were just going nuts and loving every minute of it. When the lights popped back on during Streets, the place was so loud you couldn't hear a thing. He nudges me on the shoulder and shouts into my ear: "look at the f*cking place!" We checked out the whole arena, and everyone was bopping up and down. It was simply amazing.

3. Wild Honey: After Desire, Larry and Adam headed back to the main stage and Bono introduces Daniel Lanois, who pops out, grabs a guitar and sets up shop in front of the drum kit. Edge has an accoustic out at the tip and starts strumming this song that didn't sound familiar. Bono says they were going to try something new. A tech guy taped a lyric sheet on the heart, and Bono belts into Wild Honey! It was rough, and he screwed the lyrics up a few times. And Edge struggled a bit with the chords. But it was cool to hear that song performed for the first time. I figured they do something different because it was the last show of the leg. This was different, alright. By the way ... Daniel Lanois was there because? And did he really need to strum some chords during Ground Beneath? Hey Daniel, stick to the producing. U2 doesn't need a fifth wheel.

4. With or Without You: Perhaps the most moving version on the tour (and I've heard about 25 shows so far). Passionate. You could feel it in Bono's voice. And at the end, he pulled out the line: "we shine like stars in the summer night" Not sure if anyone else noticed it, but the diehards certainly did.

5. Will they come back? After Walk On, the house lights stayed out for a good 5 minutes and the place was going totally bonkers. But they did not come back. We were hoping for a few bars of 40 ... or maybe even Tick Tock or Out of Control. Oh well.

6. Getting in: Security at the Meadowlands totally blows. There were no signs. Nobody knew where to go. They actually had a gate around the entire arena, and you had to pass through said gate before you went in to give them your ticket. And the lines were SO confusing. They were letting people from the GA line in one at a time. One! And there was a will-call line. We stood around until nearly 7 before seeing another line on the side of the arena. It was screwy. Shame on the Meadowlands for not putting up a few stinking signs so we knew where the hell to go. What a mess.

7. The tour, in general: What a great, great time. And a great, great tour. I've said this on other posts ... any U2 show is a great show. But there's just something about U2 in an arena. If they never played stadiums again, that would be just fine in my book. There's something about being that close to them. And hearing every note and every drum click and every sequencer. That stuff gets lost in stadiums. But for the last few months and five times in person, we really got to see and hear U2. No theatrics. No huge stages or TVs or video screens or lemons or arches. Or MacPhisto. Just the band, playing. Keep it indoors, guys. And please come back. After seeing 5 shows, I'm already dying for more. I hope everyone in Europe enjoys the shows ... U2 is really cooking right now, folks. They're in top form for you! That was very apparent after the NJ show last Friday.

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