by Flying Padre Jr

This has been the most amazing week for me. Three nights almost in a row. It felt very weird on Thursday night when I was not at a U2 concert. All three shows were excellent, but all shows got different highlights. This last show was most special to me, even though I had the worst seat with regards to the sound quality. I was seated right next to the stage (excellent view except for the back curtain) where you could hardly hear Bono's voice in the louder songs. I am going to review all songs based on all three concerts (between brackets 1, 2 and/or 3 means nights 1, 2 and/or 3):

Elevation (1, 2, 3): a grand opening following Sgt Pepper's. I love it how they flirt with the Beatles status. Now the Beatles don't exist anymore U2 really has taken their place. Second night was the only night I had a floor ticket and that is the place to be with Elevation. Seems weird but feels great to see virtually everybody jumping while getting elevated. The moment the lights go out is unreal.

Beautiful Day (1, 2, 3): my favorite song of the album and a great crowd pleaser. The sound quality was not yet optimal though! I felt kind of worried on night 3, because I was really bothered not hearing Bono properly. It changed with no.3:

Until the end of the world (1, 2, 3): The Edge rules! But we all knew that didn't we? But yes it got confirmed once again. I wasn't bothered anymore on night 3. But I believe it was night 2 that was the best version. Edge played his riff extra long and it went on and on. Fantastic! I read somewhere on the internet (just a fan's thought, but I agree) that this probably is one of the few songs U2 will keep playing just because they like it themselves no matter what. If they continue for 20 more years they will still perform this song. On night three a couple of photographers were invited on the catwalk. Awesome Bono and Edge performances.

New Year's Day (1): a one time appearance. Funny is that song no. 4 was different on each evening. New Year's Day, Mysterious Ways and Pride. New Year's Day sounded great. The friend whom I was with at this concert ( a "casual, non-obsessed" fan) said to me: did they ever write a better song? I said it's hard to beat songs that get such great responses after almost 20 years.

Mysterious Ways (1, 2, 3): it was being played at it's normal position on nights 1 and 3. I think that is the place for it. Night 3 it was one of the 3 or 4 best performances, but played as no. 4 on night 2 it got somehow lost. It felt wrong and -worse- it sounded not so great. My general feelings were that each night the sound improved after the first two songs, but with Mysterious Ways as no. 4 it didn't. Very strange, because night 3 as I said it was absolutely fantastic. This has probably also to do with the fact that Bono sings his verses while Edge keeps still and his voice could be heard crystal clear. Night 3 curiosity: Bono brought a girl on the catwalk to dance with him but she ran away from him and started to dance alone. She looked a bit crazy and it appeared that Bono didn’t like it but I could be wrong. The girl refused to leave when Bono was fed up with her and security had to drag her down.

Pride (2, 3): Pride did work as a no. 4 and way better than on night 2 before the encores. It sounded very fresh that early and a little bit obliged on night 2.

Kite(1, 2, 3): dedicated to three different people: night one to Bono’s dad who unfortunately is still ill. On night two to the father of the little girl who was on the catwalk with Bono during Bad the previous evening. On night 3 to Bert van de Kamp a Dutch rock critic of Oor Magazine (Bono sang: the last of the rock critics in stead of the last of the rock stars). Fantastic sound quality and I was really impressed with the way Bono almost looked like a singer/songwriter during this song. This was Bono and his guitar with a back up band. And I mean that positively!

Gone (1, 3) Played to perfection on both nights but it is a fact, even in the Netherlands not a lot of people know Pop. Because it is such a strong song it fortunately didn’t “kill” the magic. It was very interesting to see that the people who did know the song went totally crazy and others looked around: hey this is great but what is it? On night 3 Bono made his first Herman Brood reference. He yelled his name before the song started.

New York (1, 2, 3) It seemed the curtains weren’t working properly on night 3 (not all went down, and not at the same time). But very impressive! A lengthy version on night 2 and I could just gaze. The song tells a great story and it provided for a moment of physical rest (not mental). It somehow seems that U2 is giving a bit extra of themselves with this song. I think they are very proud of it but acknowledge that it isn’t the easiest song to instantly like. Maybe that’s also why they have already released it a couple of times as a b-side.

I will follow (1) The extra long version with a minute of Ring Those Bells and the “your eyes make a circle” part. I can only agree with all people who have stated that this song is the one that is being played a lot better than on Popmart. The energy level is amazing.

11 O’Clock Tick Tock (2) Yes! I wished for it and it did happen. I never considered this to be one of U2’s finest songs before the Irving Plaza appearance of it. U2 has grown and this song has grown with them. It fits them and it seems to fit them even better after all these years. The sound of Edge’s guitar is deeper and Bono’s voice is also deeper. It proves even rock songs can mature (but let’s not talk “full circle” too much, how about half the road?).

Out of control (2, 3) The only early song that was played twice. And what a difference between the two nights! Night 2 it was the final encore and night 3 it was the no. 8. Night 2 it was probably the most special moment of the evening and night 3 it was, well, a big disappointment. I don’t know, but I hope for the rest of the crowd that this had to do with my seating beside the stage. But to start with the finest moment, night 2: U2 had just performed Walk On and I think they realised that they had played a bit short. I would love to think that they loved the crowed so much that they wanted to give them something extra but I think it was the 1 hour 50 minutes that did it (night 1 they played a full 2.5 hours!! –night 3 was in between-). Anyhow, they decided to stay and play one more song. No more stage effects just the 4 guys. And Bono started to talk in the present as if it were 1979 again. He said something like: “we are u2 and our new album Boy will be out soon. This is going to be our first single of it. One day we will be the biggest band in the world.” It was a perfect moment never to forget and the way they performed it was unbelievable. As I said on night 3 it was not half as good. The sound quality had leveled down once again: it all seemed one big blur of noise and Bono’s voice? Well, did he sing?

Sunday Bloody Sunday (1, 2, 3) No, no, no this song has not aged a bit. Nights 2 and 3 Bono made a little speech about human rights and Amnesty International, which was cool but on night 1 the song was glorious and truly showed that U2 is a band with a cause. Bono was angry! He ranted about the G8 summit in Genoa for a couple of minutes. He told the audience that he had been there and that all he could feel now was anger. The entire song went on for -it must have been- over 10, 12 minutes. The band sounded in optima forma: boom in your face, never forget Sunday Bloody Sunday is one of U2’s defining songs and their platform for political statements.

When I Get Home / Stuck In A Moment (1, 2, 3) Every night Bono sang When I Get Home, a Nick Cave song that has been performed by Herman Brood as well. He sang it a cappella for 1.5 minutes. Impressive. For those who don’t know the story yet, Brood was a Dutch singer/painter infamous for his drug use. He killed himself a couple of weeks ago by jumping of the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton hotel. U2 and he knew each other for a few years and were friends. They were to meet him last Thursday (according to a Dutch newspaper Brood would design the cover for their new album, I don't know if this is correct). On night 3 Bono also made a little speech about Herman that he really liked him as a human being, but a very sad person as well, therefore not a great advertisement for drugs as some say. He did this before In A Little While. To make the Brood references complete: the closing music with the lights on again was Herman singing “My Way” ironically his latest hit single. After this the band performed Stuck In A Moment, dedicated to Herman on nights 1 and 2 and dedicated to “friends” on night 3. Beautiful sweet song. A true stand out and great sing along. To my girlfriend who was with me the last evening it was the best song of the evening. We both have had some tough moments lately and this song has meant very much to us. On our way back home after the concert we heard it again on the radio and sang our lungs out again. Fabulous!

In A Little While (1, 3) This song sounds even more relaxing live than it does on the album. This was one of the songs on night 3 that all sounds seemed perfectly balanced (from my seating). “That girl, that girl she’s mine” brings an even more intimate feeling to the show when your girlfriend is standing right next to you.

Sweetest Thing (2) Sweetest Thing was played after Stuck on night 2 and the opening of the different direction night 2 made compared to nights 1 and 3. To sum this up: on night 1 22 songs were played of which 19 were played on night 3 as well. Night 3 had 2 different songs (both also played on night 2). But on night 2 21 songs were played, of which 8 were not played on night 1. Night 2 seemed to be the most spontaneous night, the band seemed to really enjoy themselves, but my general feeling is that the other nights were of a slightly higher level. The opening tones of Sweetest Thing were the only moment that I actually was wondering which song it was going to be. For a brief moment I thought about the Unforgettable Fire. I like the Sweetest Thing a lot, was glad to hear it once but I got the feeling it could have been better.

Desire (1) More or less full band version at the tip of the heart with Larry playing a single drum. Great rhythm and a bit to my surprise one of the songs that everybody seemed to know by heart.

Staring At The Sun (2) Bono and Edge at the tip of the heart with the same acoustic version as Popmart. I must have listened to the Popmart version a couple of hundred times, this time it was the same but somehow it sounded a bit thin. Not nearly as grand as Stay the other nights.

Stay (1, 3) Night 1 Bono introduced this song as the most beautiful song they’ve written. I couldn’t exactly hear what he had to say, but the bottom line was that you don’t write songs this great but that they are given to you (well, probably not to you or me). The song filled up the entire stadium (unlike Staring At The Sun) and was pure heaven for your ears. On night 3 Bono messed up the words in the beginning and the song was a bit shorter than on night 1. But it sounded awesome anyway.

The Ground Beneath Her Feet (2) Preceded by Happy Birthday and its Dutch equivalent Lang Zal Ze Leven, Bono and Edge performed one more acoustic song together at the tip of the heart. Bono said that the birthday girl Anna (a fan from Belfast / Belgrad??) had requested that they’d play The Ground Beneath Her Feet. He said: we’re playing all these love songs now, but will do some more hits for you later on. I felt great hearing this one, I believe it’s one of the most touching songs they’ve written.

Bad / 40 (1, 3) with snippets of Norwegian Wood (1) and Wild Horses (3). What can I say? U2 sounding like U2 and U2 performing like U2 at its very best. On night 1 it was touching to see Bono picking up a little girl from the outside of the heart and putting her on his shoulders. He sang “she’s wide awake” and “she’s not sleeping” in stead of the “I’m…”etc lines. She seemed to have great fun (and what a memory now). Bono also brought her dad on the catwalk and then placed them both inside the heart. But after a couple of seconds he pulled the girl up again held her hand and ran the entire heart lap with her. It all took quite a long time and Bad was played over 10 minutes. It brought shivers to me to hear Bono sing a couple of words of Wild Horses on night 3, because the Stones are my other favorite band.

All I Want Is You (2) Even though there was no orchestration behind the band it sounded as overwhelming as it does on the record. Another one that highlights the guitar skills of the Edge.

Where The Streets Have No Name (1, 2, 3) Night 1, Streets was the show’s highlight to me. So powerful and such great coloring. To overlook the entire floor going crazy is fantastic and participating (night 2) even better. Of course Streets has always been one of the stand-outs at every U2 show but this was amazing. I especially liked the intro after Bad (better than after All I Want Is You).

The Fly (1, 3) The Fly sounded not so good on night 1 which was a disappointment to me. I had looked forward to it a lot since it was supposed to sound so awesome according to all reviews. I think it did have to do with the place I was seated that evening (in the back). It was way too noisy. On night 3 on the other hand it was entirely different. Even though it was very loud, the structure of the song became clear to me and the sound of Edge’s guitar was just right. I loved it!

Bullet The Blue Sky (1, 2, 3) The first of the encores. On night 1 they didn’t even bother to leave the stage which was fine. It sounded best to me on night 3. On both night 1 and 3 Bono acted as if he were Mark Chapman at the ending. What Streets did for me on night 1 Bullet did on night 3, filling me up with the most powerful music you can imagine. On nights 1 and 3 the Charlton Heston video was shown and on night 2 the 5 biggest gun traders clip.

With Or Without You (1, 2, 3) Didn’t do a lot to me on nights 1 and 2 (I could only think, I’ve heard this being played better in the past) but really struck me on the last evening. This was probably due to my girlfriend standing next to me and I felt glad. I also realized that the last show was coming to its end, which made it a bit sad as well.

One (1, 2, 3) Ever since listening to the Irving Plaza gig bootleg I keep hearing Walk On at the end of One. Which isn’t a bad thing but it sounds refreshing to actually not hear it (yet!) at these concerts. One will always be special and I love it that they play it right after With Or Without You.

Wake Up Dead Man (1, 3) Bold and beautiful! I myself am a huge fan of Pop and the fact that Bono and Edge played this together almost at the end was unreal. Night 3 Bono thanked the audience for three special evenings. He then added that he would also like to thank the Dutch fans for the way the Popmart tour was received in the Netherlands. This made me proud.

Unchained Melody (2) Less bold but also beautiful. The crowd knew all the words and to hear an entire stadium humming along made it special.

Walk On (1, 2, 3) Perfect closer. The words shown on the audience effect was really surprising and brought a warm feeling. For personal reasons I changed the lyrics each night by singing along slightly different: home is where the heart is! But this week it was also at the Gelredome. Imagine that, being an Ajax fan.

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