by Ronan Muldoon

I'm Irish, and live in Glasgow, so managed to get to the Hampden show and the Monday Croke Park show. I was on the pitch for both shows.

By the second song in, Monday's gig was already twice as good as the Hampden show. The elevated stage meant that everyone could see the band, and the sound quality was far, far superior. And as for the crowd.... Quiet?!???!!(as some have said). I have never heard a noise like it when me and the other 79,999 folk in the stadium roared EL-EV-AY-TION! at the boys. From start to finish (and even before they started, with mexican waves) I thought the crowd was amazing. Practically every word of every song was being sung by all and sundry, and most didn't stop bouncing from beginning to end. (As my calves would loudly testify to on Tuesday morning!)
When Bono finished "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", he drew breath to announce the next song, only to smile broadly at the horde in front of him. We had managed what not many have managed, to make Bono wait until WE were finished! And he seemed more than happy to do so.
Even Bono's impromptu bits at the end of songs were sung with feeling!!! For anyone who wasn't there, try to imagine 80,000 folk trying to hit the high notes in "Unchained Melody"! Hilarious, but everyone kept on going anyway. Hearing "Dirty Old Town" sung by every voice in the ground is something I will never forget either. It was like being in the biggest snug in the world... lazing around an open fireplace with 80,000 of your closest friends.
Even after the second play of Vertigo, most people didn't move from the spot. I would venture to say that most people who did had seen at least one other show on this tour, and believed the giant screen when it said that it was "the end".
There was something different in the air that night, something tangible, and most knew that it was not the end. Arms upraised, belting out "How Long To Sing This Song" as much as bruised vocal chords would allow..... We knew there was more! Our call was answered by a moving version of Yahweh, begun in darkness due to it's spontaneous nature. What followed was the song that we had already previewed for the band. An outstanding "40", where the band left the stage one by one in an echo of older days, leaving the crowd singing until the last drumbeats and beyond.
I go to a lot of gigs, indoor and outdoor, big and small. Last Monday night will live on in my memory as the greatest live show that I have ever witnessed.

Just my two cents ;)

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