by Josh M

I left the show last night realizing that I had just seen the best concert in my life. Ever. The energy was phenomenal, and I really got the sense that the band, especially Bono with the vocals, was giving its all, not holding back anything. This was evident in New Year's Day early on when Bono hit the high note and immediately clutched his throat afterward. Throughout the rest of the concert, it was obvious that many of the vocals were difficult for him... but, instead of going down an octave or going falsetto, he stuck with it and, with great effort, hit them. The crowd definitely picked up on this and roared its appreciation.

More than any other U2 concert I've seen, though, the spotlight was on The Edge tonight. The band had new extended jam sessions in some songs, and Edge went nuts, and we all loved it. "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" in particular was an incredible addition that they jammed in for quite a while. The crowd went berzerk over the beautiful rendition of "All I Want is You."

Bono spoke to the audience a lot more than in previous concerts on this tour, telling what he wished he'd said to Michael Hutchence and then apologizing to the crowd for the "expletives" he used, explaining that he's tried to be good on this tour. Later, he related a story from the Boston Globe about a certain official saying that African AIDS victims wouldn't benefit from medication because they don't have wristwatches. "Unbelievable," Bono said. "So 25 million people can go to [expletive] hell because they don't have wristwatches?" He them promised that the band would be "making a lot of noise about this" in the coming weeks.

Cheers for the band rang out long after the last lines of "Walk On" and its ending chorus to "leave it behind." The energy of the band combined with the electricity of the crowd made this not only the best concert I've been to, but one of the best times I've ever had in my life.

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