by Ally

it was a great show. what a wonderful way to end the first leg by treating the fans to the debut of 'who's gonna ride your wild horses.' i didn't win the lottery, so ended up on the railing at the outside center of the ellipse. i actually LIKE the kings of leon, so was dancing and jumping during their set. (the bass player is hottt, by the way!) just before U2 came onstage, a few techs came down and pulled out the drum for LAPOE. i had only seen them open with 'city of blinding lights', so i was excited to see how this song worked as an opener. it was really cool to see all 4 band members come out w/ flashlights as they walked around the ellipse, and the crowd was rocking during that song. however, i have to say that i prefer 'city of blinding lights' as an opener- i just think it's such a joyeous way to open the show!

i'm not going to give a song-by-song review, but i'll just mention some highlights:

- during 'an cat dubh', bono took a sparkly hat from a girl in the front row and strutted around with it on. he looked ridiculous, but it was totally classic bono!!!

- at the end of SYCMIOYO, bono didn't do the 'no regrets' snippet, but instead was talking... i couldn't make out what he was saying, so will have to wait for a boot to surface (knock on wood!)

- during COBL, bono brought 2 kids onstage, a boy and a girl of 12 years old. they were adorable- i had met the girl and her parents in line, and they were all really sweet. he led the kids all the way up the ellipse ramp, and sat them next to larry's drumkit for the rest of the song.

- 'new year's day' made a triumphant return- the crowd was really into it.

- during the intro to miracle drug, bono talked about how this was the tour that almost didn't happen... he went on for a while, can't completely remember what he said.

- UTEOTW rocked! i love this song- wish bono and edge had gone out onto the ellipse and done the whole bullfight thing, but bono made up for it by taking a flower and feather boa from a girl in the front row, and then sang 'in the garden, i was playing the tart'... it was really funny!

- bono introduced the next song by saying "ok, we're gonna play a song we haven't played in 10 years...' WILD HORSES, baby!!! i had never heard this live, and just about died!! it has a lot of personal significance for me, and i almost started crying... beautiful version!!! we had heard them soundchecking it before they let us into the venue, but i am so glad they actually decided to play it! no Mysterious Ways, which was a bit upsetting since i adore that song live, but WGRYWH more than made up for it!!

- just before 'yahweh', bono gathered the whole band together on the mainstage to tell them something. they came out to the tip to play 'yahweh', which i was quite pleased about since at NJ1 they stayed on the main stage. i have really come to love 'yahweh' live- it is a gorgeous song, and i think the accoustic version captures something that is missing from the album version.

- after yahweh, bono brought a huge poster onstage, saying that they had received it from the Mayor of Boston earlier that day. he then goes, 'larry loves this stuff', and proceeded to tell the crowd that the Mayor had declared May 24th "U2 Day". well, the crowd went nuts. next thing we know, bono runs and grabs a bottle of champagne, and says that he's off for a week in the south of france just before taking a big gulp of the bubbly! then the band rips into 'party girl', which was awesome despite the fact that bono screwed up the lyrics. one note: he sang the "when i was 3 i thought the world revolved around me..." part, which he didn't sing in chicago. he sprayed the crowd with champagne.

- one final 'vertigo' to brought a fantastic end to the night and the 1st leg. bono once again took the sparkly hat from the girl in the front, and posed and preened for the crowd.

it was a great night, one that i didn't want to end. thank you, U2, for a fantastic first leg- i can't wait to see you again in the fall!!!

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