by Dean Flynn

Wow. What a crazy day. After finding out about this show on Sunday, I went to college (University of Maryland) on Monday morning still undecided as to whether I'd make the trip. I was in a team meeting at 9.30am, and decided that I'd go for it. I grabbed my friend Christian in the corridor, and we headed for the train station. Got to the train just in time (3 mins to spare) and jumped on, bound for New York.

During the 3-hour trip, I was receiving updates on my PDA from U2log.com (thanks Caroline et al). The show was supposed to start at 3pm - our train was due at NY Penn at 2pm, so I figured we'd have time to get to Brooklyn and into the gig.

After the train was delayed in New Jersey, we finally arrived at NY Penn at 2.40... Christian jumped on the Subway and went to Brooklyn, where we met my cousin Danny and my brother Brian. Danny had somehow barged his way to the front of the queue - there were thousands of people in line, all the way down the street. Anyway, Danny grabbed me and Christian and pulled us into the line. I kind of felt bad for skipping the queue... but not bad enough to go to the back!

Anyway, the gates opened and everyone barged through. We ended up about 20 yards from the stage, (stage-right, under one of the boom cameras). After an hour or so (about 5pm maybe??? not sure about the time), we saw a load of helicopters, and sure enough the band came over the Manhattan bridge on the back of their flatbed truck. It was surreal to see the 4 boys playing on the back of the truck as it drove towards us. The crowd went nuts.

About 5.30, the band came onstage...

VERTIGO
This song rocked. The performance was very similar to other recent performances on TV - e.g. Saturday Night Live.

ALL BECAUSE OF YOU
Bono introduced this as a "love song to the who". It was great.

MIRACLE DRUG
Bono told the story about the student at Mt. Temple, (Christy?) who the song was written about. This is my favourite song on the new album, and it sounded very solid live.

SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T MAKE IT ON YOUR OWN
"Sometimes" sounded good, again it was like recent radio/TV performances.

CITY OF BLINDING LIGHTS
Ooh, this song was fantastic. As Bono introduced it, the crowd gave a big cheer. Bono asked "how the hell do you guys know all these songs?" (the album was only released in America the next day), then laughed and said "Edge, I think I know who stole your CD" - a reference to the theft of a pre-release CD from the Edge the previous August. The crowd loved it, and belted out the "Oh you look so beautiful" chorus with gusto.

ORIGINAL OF THE SPECIES
Again, this song was really good live, I hope it makes the 2005 tour setlist. It's not as "rockin'" as some of the others, and not as chilled as "Sometimes" - it's just a really cool mid-paced tune.

SHE'S A MYSTERY TO ME
Wow. Didn't see this one coming. It was a full-band, 2-verse version of this rare tune. Beautiful.

BEAUTIFUL DAY
As you can imagine, this one got the crowd going! It was pretty-much the standard Elevation Tour version of the song, and it was brilliant.

I WILL FOLLOW
Crowd went ballistic for this tune! Then it got even better:

OUT OF CONTROL
Out of control, indeed. The crowd went absolutely crazy. I had never heard this song live, and it's one of my all-time favourites so it really made the whole day worth the $150 train ticket! Great stuff, sounded incredibly fresh for a 25-year old song. Really hope this one makes the tour, too.

VERTIGO
Bono introduced this as "once more for us". I guess it was a second take for the cameras - and, sure enough, it sounded a little "tighter" than the first take. Great way to end the show.


All in all, a fantastic prelude to the upcoming tour. U2 looked on top-form and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. I also spotted Ali Hewson and Paul McGuinness in the backstage area, and Ali especially looked a bit bemused by the whole thing.

Christian and I said our good-byes to Danny and Brian, and jumped back on the next train bound for Washington DC. I got about 4 hours' sleep before I had to get up for class the next day, but it was well worth it.

Roll on the Vertigo tour.

--DF

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