by Quin

ok, so many things to say and so little time. this was the third time i got to see U2 on the elevation tour. and yes, i'm pretty much a die-hard U2 fan. but that doesn't mean i'm willing to be completely biased in reviewing the show on sunday night.

i'll start with the good. i was a little disappointed the first two times that i saw them, it just so happened that the set lists from the first night in philly and the first night in new jersey were EXACTLY the same. so this time, i was really glad to hear "new year's day", "please", "what's going on", and "all i want is you". i thought "all i want is you" was pretty much the highlight of the show in terms of the setlist, it was done really well. also, i really liked the song clip of martin luther king that played during "pride." it just so happens that they used the same clip on a live recording that i have from dublin in 1993. i thought the names going over the moniter during one was a nice touch, definately not too overbearing. other than that, "where the streets have no name" will always have a special spot in my mind. i love that song. i'm also a big fan of "until the end of the world," although the whole "bull/matador bit" gets a little old the third time around.

bono's voice sounded pretty good on the whole, although it did seem to be a bit raspy during a couple of the early songs. thankfully, he seemed to recover. i thought the energy level was extremely high, and the crowd reacted very positively during the show. i wouldn't say that i'm the biggest patriot in the world, but for some reason i found myself getting into the "USA" chants that went around the arena on more than one occasion. overall, i thought it was a great show, and well worth the price of admission.

that doesn't mean it was perfect though. much like everyone else, i'm still a bit disappointed by the overall lack of variety in the set lists. they've got so many amazing songs to choose from. i'd have given anything to see a song like "exit" or "ultraviolet." also, it did seem like the show was a bit on the short side. but in all honesty, i really didn't think about that one bit during the show. and while i did like some of the changes to "new york," it just seemed way to choppy this time around. and yes, i would agree that having the american flag planted there did take away from some of it's power. anyway, i wanted consider any of these major compliants. if i had to pay another hundred bucks to see them play the same songs from up in the nose bleed seats, i'd do it.

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