by MG

So this was my first time seeing U2. I've always been a fan, and have been listening to the band since I was very young.. my dad was an original fan, having seen them in '81 at Barrymore's. Last March, I braved the malfunctioning capital tickets and managed to score a pair of 200 level tickets, as well as a pair for a couple friends..you owe me YK.
Getting there last night, I could really tell this would be special. I go to most shows that come to Ottawa, and they usually have embarassing turnouts.. it was nice to see a sold out house. While we were there in record numbers, crowd participation was low, but that's our city, it won't ever change.
This was my first real exposure to critical darlings The Arcade Fire. I really liked them. Definetly a band to watch out for, because I could see them going places, and selling out a tour in a few years.
Finally, the lights dimmed and the four of them walked out. By the time Bono appeared on the elipse, Ottawa was genuinely shocked.. we all knew they were coming, but we needed to see it to believe it. They started with city of blidning lights, which is typical for the tour. They followed it with vertigo and elevation. THey played consistenly well up until Sunday Bloody Sunday, when things really kicked into gear. Finally, the crowd got up. Bullet the blue sky was unreal. Bono doing the Abu Girab pose with the coexist bandana was incredibly powerful. Miss Sarajevo led to a powerful video on human rights. It was right about here where it was obvious what separated U2 from all the other rock bands out there. The fact that they made 18,000 people care about human rights on a Friday night showed that this was no ordinary band. We were eating out of the palm of their hands. This led to Pride, and from here, there was nobody sitting down. The sheer power and emotion of that song, dedicated to Dr. King, really riled the crowd up. Arms were pumping in the air and everybody was screaming at the top of their lungs... ladies and gentleman, anybody who said rock music can't change the world was out of their minds. Following where the streets have no name, we got a long cry to arms regarding our great country, and an urge to make a stand. We have an election coming up, but at that point, the person everyone in that room wanted to vote for was Bono. This led to one, which had a raw power and emotion. It sounded fresh and extremely relevant. The message of this song cant be fully understood until it's heard live, and once it is, it changes you.
Our first encore was pretty funky,and more straight up rock. Mysterious ways made a very welccome appearance, and the first encore closed with with or without you, which still hasn't lost the haunting beauty and yearning that has made it legendary. The second encore contained an acoustic stuck in a moment, which was great, and the show ended in typical fashion, with yahweh and 40. Bono, followed by Adam, followed by The Edge, all left one by one, until only Larry was playing a beat. By the time it faded and he left, everyone applauded in awe. We had just seen the defining rock show of our lives. It was intense, it was passionate, it was raw, it was sheer U2, and I'll never forget it for as long as I live.
-MG

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