by Eduardo

This one was a special gig. It was a fantastic culmination of the otherwise bitter days. First We had to stand the long waiting for buying the horrifying expensive tickets (the most expensive ones from the whole tour!, neverthless, to be honest, fortunately I got a ticket by a contest!), the organization mess, the tedious waiting outside the stadium, the arrogance and stupidity of DG Medios (Argentinian company in charge of U2´s shows both in Chile and Argentina) who denied TVN (Chilean Television)to broadcast the show!, etc.

First, Franz Ferdinand was a great surprise for us. A very kind people and an extraordinary live act... then...

U2 on stage !!!. I´m not gonna put here cliches as "beyond description, I have no words" and all that stuff. Having attended to the landmark Pop Mart show in 1998, this one was a honourable way to meet Chilean fans again. Fortunately this setlist had half of the PopMart´s. And songs like Mothers Of The Dissappeared and Sunday Bloody Sunday were radically different. Another good thing for me (giving I´m not fan of U2 2000) it was that they performed only 5 songs from HTDAAB and 2 from ATYCLB. But I missed my personal favorite Running To Stand Still, as well songs from Pop and The Electric Co instead of Elevation.

The band was truly on fire, and Bono´s voice (something REALLY important for me) was rich, bright and strong. No rough voice!. IMO, the overall performance put Chicago DVD onto shame. Also the crowd was simply LOUD and outstanding. Having seen Sao Paulo show on TV, the Chilean crowd was far more enthusiastic and the band really noticed that. You could see them having a wonderful time, very relaxed, tight and with excellent humor. All they were smiling, trying to comunicate with the audience (despite Bono´s extremely poor Spanish!) and giving it all on stage. Even on Yahweh Bono didn´t start singing, rather he went to join the Edge, then he told him some words and after several bars finally Bono began to sing!. He didn´t worry. He really was having a wonderful night.

Edge performing Mothers Of The Dissappeared with Charango was a huge surprise. How come he learned how to play it in just a couple of hours?. What a guy!. Other memorable moments was the first bars of One, in which Bono invited us to rise our Cell Phones and light the stadium. That brought me to my memory the memories of when we lit the candles during I Still Haven´ Found in unforgettable PopMart 1998 show. The First Time was another very emotive moment. And the rocker songs sounded like if they were going to be played for the very last time!. Achtung Baby encore was a delight.

Later Paul McGuinness pointed out (according to u2.com) that Santiago show was ‘one of the very best - the band were on top form and the crowd outstanding.’

Rumors say that we weren´t allowed to carry cameras and recording systems because the band was about to film this performance for an official Vertigo Tour DVD!. Well, I think that was true, because I realized that many cameras were filming the concert.

For my foreing friends, you have to know that Chicago DVD was from the vertigo tour... and Santiago DVD will be from the VERTIGO TOUR. Do you know what I mean?.

In the end I still feel that Pop Mart Santiago Chile 1998 was insuperable. It had a different feeling, more indefinable, closer to us. Also the sound was clearer and better. That show has been unequalled.

Cheers

Return to previous page | Post a Review of this show!