by Michael Caiozzo

May 28th The good the bad and the ugly
As a long time U2 Fan, I have mixed emotions about last night’s concert at the Garden. The concert I felt had some very strong points as well as some points that left me asking my self why.
Lets look at what I considered to be low moments in the show. The first and biggest thorn in my side about last night’s concert was the playing of “Vertigo” twice! With a band such as U2 whose music catalogue contains so many amazing songs, I feel there is no need to play the same song twice in one show. Maybe substitute the first “Vertigo” with “In Gods Country” or “Angel of Harlem”.
My second complaint is more with the crowd then the band it’s self. I understand that with the release of “All that you can’t leave behind” and “Vertigo” a whole new generation of fans are now turned on to U2. I feel this a great thing, except spend some time before the concert and listen to some of U2’s older stuff. The fact the crowd’s reaction during “Party Girl” was so week really doesn’t sit well with me. I was hoping for a live at red rocks “Under a Blood Red Sky” experience.
Finally my last complaint, which is a minor one, is that I was a little disappointed that Bono didn’t go whip out the spot light and do the whole “Rattle and Hum” routine during “Bullet the Blue Sky”. But hey I understand that bands need to mix things up and not always do the same routine.
Ok enough about the bad moments in the show, lets talk about the good! The first strong point for me was “Beautiful Day”. This is the third time that I have seen this song live, and I feel that it was the best yet, especially how they went into “Here Comes the Sun” at the end. Also the visual effects during “City of Blinding Lights” where out of this world. And on the topic of visual effects I thought it was awesome when during “One” Bono had the crowd open their cell phones, instead of the archaic use of lighters, giving us a glimpse into the future of crowd illumination at concerts.
Perhaps my favorite point in the night however was when they played “Running to Stand Still”. In my eyes they nailed that song. The crowd was very much into it and it was just an amazing experience. Also getting to hear “Wild Horse” live for the first time in 10 years was a treat that will not be easily forgotten.
As expected, “Streets”, “Pride”, “One” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday” were high points in the show. All tolled I give the concert an 8 out of 10. I look forward the next time I get to see them in December.

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