by Donovan

Well...

When Popmart hit the world, I remember the lads getting a lot of criticism for the mono soundsystem. And I agreed, when I went to Popmart in the Feyenoord stadium the sound was, well, not the best I ever heard.

So I was pretty glad when I entered the stadium and saw a full rig of speakers, both left and right of the stadium. Damn, was I mislead. The sound was crap. I'm writing this a full day after the show, and the more I think back, the less I like the sound. You'd think that after 20 years of touring and an entire indoor first leg already behind them, band and crew would know how to get this done right. The sound was way too loud, too sharp, too much Edge (something I never thought I'd write) and not nearly enough vocals. Most of the time, Bono's vocals got drowned in the noise. Edge's guitar also sounded way too sharp (like some beginning band masking a lack of quality with a lot of noise).

I guess the opening act, Kelis, should have been ample warning. They sounded like shit as well. But not just because of the sound-settings. Whoever booked them is a cruel man or woman. Cruel to us and cruel to Kelis. I do remember Bono once saying that you should be a very good live act if you wanted to open for U2 or the audience would eat you alive, and that's what happened to this band. After a song or three, the boo's and the middle-fingers got the upper hand in the audience, but Kelis would just not take the hint. In fact they decided to end their performance by raping Nirvana's "Smells like teen spirit". So the majority of the audience was happy to see them go - and not just because it meant most of the waiting was over.

But luckily, then there were the lads. I had seen some footage over the net of their entry with the houselights on, had read reviews about it, but to see this happen - I think it's the coolest show opener of all times. Forget the Zoo TV opening sequence, forget the Popmart entry through the crowd, this kicked ass! I'm also wondering if there's a statement with playing Elevation through the PA before opening the show with it. Something like "this is the single, but it's much better live". Well it is.

Show was solid, high on emotion and energy. New York has just a few too many slow moments to be a great live-song, Bono added something among the lines of "we will never grow old as long as your love for us stays true" to I will follow. It was very nice to hear Larry start a full version of Sunday bloody sunday again (acoustic Edge during popmart was impressive, but it's such a great beat), with Bono venting a *lot* of anger during the song. Desire and Stay were definite highlights (Larry kicking in the full drum halfway - wow).

Bono was superb during Bad, pulling the girl out of the crowd - he had to do quite a bit of managing in the audience before he could get her up there. He added some extra lyrics on the fly ("I once met a girl, or rather, she met me") before laughter got the better of his inspiration. But changing the lyrics to "She's wide awake" was a nice touch as well. Returning the girl to her father on stage rather than in the crowd shows you Bono's a daddy himself. I totally loved the Fly (Bono put on his Zoo TV fly-glasses again, and I laughed my ass off when bono stuck himself like a fly to the videoscreens at the end).

I have a bootleg of a Zoo TV show in Sweden with a very agressive Bono during Bullet the blue sky, but that was absolutely nothing compared to tonight. Don't know what the man was ranting about, but even without hearing what he said (could only make out Mark Chapman, Lenon's assasin, at thend), it was impressive. Although gun control is not such a hot issue here, the Charlton Heston / little girl with gun video did give me goosebumps all over the place. Powerful stuff, and a nice way to set the mood for the song...

The best example of band interaction during the concert to me was One, with Bono directing Edge into a great solo. Great stuff. Walk on is a great show-closer, leaving us in just the right mood.

Got home at two in the morning, tired, sweaty and my ears just getting back to normal again, but -despite the sound- it was well worth it. I'd rank this concert below Zoo TV (saw that one in the Goffert park, with crystal clear sound) and Popmart (more of a happy show, and better sound) though. I am less disappointed from not having tickets for the next concerts than I was after Popmart.

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