by Megan S.

I’ve never been to Boston but from what I saw of it,it’s a great city. Our seats were the absolute last row in the balcony, on the Edge’s side. However, they were amazing seats because they allowed us to see the entire stage and all the spectacular lighting while still being somewhat close to the band. The Kings of Leon were okay as an opening band. I only knew a couple of there songs but the set seemed to drag on.
There was a lot of anticipation between the two bands. The crowd kept getting our hopes up by randomly cheering and getting excited. At one point,everyone had turned to one of the side sections and was cheering. We thought maybe a member of the band had been sighted over there but all we saw was a somewhat gray-haired man sitting in a suit sitting down. Later on, we found out it was Al Gore.
Around 9 pm the “Everyone” thing started playing and the crowd went off. It seemed like everyone knew when the band was coming out. From our seats on top, we could see the band make their way to the stage with their lights. They started off with “City of Blinding Lights.” This was my first time seeing the band live and just being able to hear this incredible song in person got me all choked up. It was surreal to finally be able to see the Edge do his foot stomping and Adam swinging from side to side in person, after watching them do it so many times on video. Bono was full energy, jumping around and capturing everyone’s attention. The light curtains were a stunning effect, adding to the magnificence of the songs. Bono added a
bit of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” to “Vertigo” and “Dream On” to the end of “Beautiful Day.” I finally realized that Aerosmith must have been in the building when he mentioned them again in his talk before “Miracle Drug.” Bono definitely played to the crowd by calling us “Sexy People” during “Elevation.” They played a couple of their older songs, including “The Ocean”, in which Bono changed the lyrics around to talk about the beginnings of the band.
The song I was looking forward to the most was “Love and Peace or Else.” I just love the sexiness of it and get all giddy whenever Bono and Larry sing together out at the foot of the ellipse. The lighting for the song was impressive. It starts out just pulsing but when the entire band kicks in, the lights all go red and yellow, filling the arena with color and vibrance. It gave me goosebumps just watching it.
U2 always surprises me with the technology they use on tour. Before “One,” Bono tells the audience to text him. Then, during the song, the image on Bono on the video screen zooms in and you realize that the image is really made up of smaller images of audience members getting out their cell phones to text them. It was a great visual effect that I’ll never forget. At the end of the song, names of those people start scrolling across the screen. It was amazing how fast U2’s crew could do that.
I was so excited to hear the band jump into “Until the End of the World.” I was hoping Bono and the Edge would do their little fight on the ellipse but they didn’t. Bono did jump into the crowd, which was cool. However, when the song was over, the beginnings of “With or Without You” starts playing. Bono, who is still out on the ellipse, starts saying “Adam Clayton. Out of Control. Adam Clayton. Adam Clayton.” He starts up the bass line for it and Larry comes in with the drums. Poor the Edge is standing there without a guitar trying to figure out what’s going on. He eventually gets the right guitar and the band plays the song. It’s just amazing how Bono changed the set list up like that. He just calls out songs and the band plays them. The spontaneity of it is crazy. I was so happy to be able to witness something like that. Bono also decides to throw in “Original of the
Species” and dedicated it to pregnant women. Edge was having a rough night in terms of being prepared for these songs. He slipped up slightly on the piano but it wasn’t that obvious. Bono changed the lyrics up to apologize to the Edge for not warning him.
The band ended with “Bad” and Bono sang some of “40” over it. It was such a great ending to such an amazing concert. The band seemed to be really having a great time on stage , except for the Edge who was thrown off track a couple times. Bono’s voice was in good form and was able to hit all the notes he needed to. I am so happy to finally have been able to experience U2 live. It was everything people told me it would be and more. I hope to remember the way I felt there for the rest of my life.

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