by ejsphilly

IMHO, the first night in Philly was a tight, if not exceptional show. As I've been tracking the setlist from night to night, I was a bit underwhelmed by routine choices for a city that's given so much back to the band (which Bono made the point of stating a few times). For the life of me, I can't understand why Pride is still hanging around. First of all, most of us have likely heard it 1000 times live. Second of all, despite the fact that they've taken the key a notch down to help him, it still seems to be particularly difficult on Bono's vocal chords.

I don't want to turn this posting into yet another setlist gripe (which I'm bordering very closely on), but I would MUCH rather hear more new material (the exclusion of WILATW just boggles my mind) and more of the acoustic tip o' the heart stuff. A personal highlight last night was the amazing performance by the girl Bono brought up on stage who closed In A Little While. She sang brilliantly (and if she's out there, I'm single . I couldn't tell, but it looked like she was wearing a Ramones shirt, which she tried to give to Bono. He wouldn't let her, but I believe he said, "You never know where a Ramones shirt can get you..." I just think there are so many songs (So Cruel, Wild Honey, Angel, etc.) that would just melt 'like budda' during that acoustic section of the show.

I was quite moved by the Edge's homage to Allen Iverson by wearing the number 3 (he he). It sort of occured to me last night that, when they go on tour, the band is sort of like the Scooby Gang, or the Simpsons, in that they wear the same clothes every night. I said to my friend last night, "I'd love to see Edge's closet, which likely has one of those little number three shirts for each day of the week!"

I was in the seats last night, tonight I'll be down with the masses. I hope to see many of you there. From the seats, it appears that the Elevation opening (does anyone out there know if there's an MP3 for that cool intro???) leaves the crowd a little confused. They want to go crazy, but the house lights are up and they feel a bit self conscious. Forget about that...the boys want to see the floor move and shake, so let's ROCK THE FU CENTER TONIGHT!!!

Sixers in 7...

"I'll see you again, when the stars fall from the sky, and the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill..."

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