by Jo-Man

Ooooh what a lucky man he was....

Had a coincidental biz trip to Philly for Thurs and Fri – and a friend scored outlet tix for Golden Circle Seats Sec 114, Row 5 for way less than what nosebleeds behind the stage were going for on E-Bay - it was sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Apologies to U2 and the Philly crowd on behalf of Section 114 for their lackluster participation. If you saw the two bodies bopping in a stagnant sea - that was us! Due credit must be given to the one woman in Row 6 behind us who was well in the groove - so OK - there were three of us.

Anyway -highlights -

Elevation - Pure kick butt. Bono gyrating like he was on the ZOOTV tour.

Beautiful Day - Big. Bold. Beautiful.

Until the End of the World - Always a great and noisy spectacle. I wonder when Edge's Les Paul Goldtop is finally going to succumb like a pinata to Bono's kick?

NYD – Only one way to call it – Bono Vox.

Out of Control – Good groove and energy. I was bumming for the Philly Crowd that they didn’t get the full play act in the middle when Bono pretends to be himself at 17 trying to woo a Record Exec. I saw this in London (8/24) - where the history actually happened – a really cool and surreal treat. Get the mp3 - well worth it.

SBS – Especially poignant these days – U2 must really be thrilled to see the IRA actually disarm.

Stuck in a Moment –The word of this song used to have me – but its R&B groove snuck up on me somewhere along the line and now I’m stuck in that moment...

Kite – I think this is consistently the best song of the tour. Bono’s vocal is just stunning.

Wild Honey - 1st time for me – HUGE treat and pretty funny actually with Edge blowing some chords and Bono giving him the “what was that? look".

Please- #1 highlight for me. I’m one of the 3 fans who loved POP – and this song has always been a high for me. For as well as I know the song, I was really taken aback at the current relevance of the lyrics. Powerful and frighteningly eerie in their clairvoyance.

Bad/40 – Again – Bono Vox. And how cool was that when Bono kept the crowd singing 40 well into Streets?

Streets – Always the high point of crowd frenzy.

SHFWILF – Philly makes a great Gospel Choir!

Pride – Good to see Martin Luther again. Takes you way back and reminds you that the individual does make a difference – and love can in fact prevail over hate.

Bullet the Blue Sky – Speaking of hate. Edge's guitar was especially angry. And if you were fixated on Bono you probably missed Edge making all kinds of strange noises and getting feedback from his Strat via a no-hands hula dance - I think he was actually mocking Bono's herky-jerky dance at the start of Until the End of the World. Edge must be taking some belly dance lessons from his wife…

What’s Going On – Campy version, powerful impact.

New York –I really like this on the CD and I think Bono should have added a verse to express the new thoughts versus changing the lyrics. The original words would be equally if not more meaningful – but hey. Not my name on the song credits – so what do I know?. Love the Statue of Liberty.

One –Without question the most powerful moment of the night. I watched the rolling screens in a combined state of awe, sadness, pride and anger. During the FDNY list, the names just went on and on and on and I realized that despite all of the news I have absorbed since Sept 11, the personal magnitude of that specific loss had not really hit me.

Peace on Earth/Walk On – OK sacrilege time. As it was keyed to the screen events – it played very fine. In general for the tour though – I have to bicker. I think POE should have been played in full and I think Walk On should have been left on the CD. Walk On is a great tune – but it does not play well live. At every show they get out of sync, they pull back as a result, it gets sloppy and loses power and then Bono ends up giving a hand tempo signal to get them back on beat/sync. Too late now maybe – but they should have changed it out. The saving grace is Larry’s wild crashing drum finish.

Gotta go gotta go gotta go gotta go gotta go gotta go – sure did miss The Fly and Mysterious Ways….

Hurry back boys – can’t wait to hear what’s next….

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