by Rob Knubben

In the Netherlands we have a saying "Kort, maar krachtig" which means something like "short, but powerful". That describes the second concert in the Netherlands pretty well. It was good, but not as good as the first night.

Altough I arrived really late at 16:45 (yesterday I was there at 10:00) and the gates already opened at 17:15, I almost had the same spot as yesterday. It was a little bit less close to the band, but I had a much better overview and much more space around me.

Like yesterday Kelis was the opening act. I believe their set was much shorter than yesterday (has anybody with influence on the show read my review? If so, please let Bono sing the extra verses of 'With or Without You', that alone would be worth my third ticket:-). The sound check took much longer though. The uplifting songs through the PA systems were also shorter. I believe they only played 3 this night.

U2 played the 'standard' set list for a second day (see other pages on this website). One of the hightlights of this day: Bono dedicating 'Kite' not to his father, but to the father of the little girl he danced with during 'Bad' yesterday. Only the happy few understood that (I was actually quite amazed by the many familiar faces I saw today). Another highlight was singing 'Happy Birthday' (and a Dutch variant) to a fan called Anna after being asked by Bono.

Altough the band started again at about 21:00 they were finished much earlier today (which made it possible for me to stay the entire encore despite of the lack of
cooperation from the Dutch railways). I
do not know whether they do that every night,
but it was really cool to see all four
members walking around the entire heart
after having played 'Walk on' (which was in
my opinion the only song which was better than yesterday). Final highligh was 'Out of control' after this parade, which Bono introduced with the following words (I do not remember them exactly): "We are a young Irish band. We have a new album out. It is called 'Boy'. This is our first single".

Again a great concert. I do not know what to expect for the third concert, but hey, since it is U2, I expect nothing ... but the best!

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